Blog

Posted by dani cass on February 13th, 2009

Once again I thought I would share with you the cool webby type things I have found since last week, and most of them seem to focus around something that’s caused quite a buzz in the studio this week, social networking sites.

Firstly, I would like to let you know that you can now share our blogs with your social networking friends by scrolling to the bottom of the post and clicking on the relevant link.

So, the first social networking site I’ve seen mentioned a lot this week is Twitter. Twitter is a site that allows you to microblog (tell people what you are doing in 140 characters or less). Twitter seems to be attracting a whole variety of users including the media to post the news stories, and celebrities such as Stephen Fry, who recently kept fans updated on a whole hour of being stuck in a lift! 

Twitter allows people to share their life experiences in real time. Twitter is also being used by more and more people as a way of raising money for charities. A writer called Paul Smith, will be spending the whole of March ‘twitchhiking’ to raise money for charity; Water. The aim is to see how far he can get using transport and accommodation offered through Twitter, and he has received offers from as far away as New Zealand! He is hoping to raise at least £3,000 for the charity which provides clean drinking water in developing countries. You can follow the Twitchhikers progress at http://twitter.com/twitchhiker

Last night saw another charity event on Twitter. Dubbed ‘Twitter does Live Aid’, the Twestival is aiming to raised £700,000, again for charity; Water. Money will be raised by selling tickets and t-shirts, raffles and donations, with website http://twestival.fm featuring some great tracks donated by bands such as Bloc Party and Imogen Heap. Tracks are available on a pay-what-you-like basis and available until 19th February, so check it out. 

You can also now find Studio 2 Online on Twitter at www.twitter.com/studio2online Don’t forget to follow us to keep up to date with all the latest news from the studio as it happens!

Another social networking website that has been in the news quite a bit this week is Facebook. Facebook celebrated its 5th birthday last week, and to celebrate it offered its 150 million users a special free gift of a thank you graphic – sweet you may think, but after reading an article this morning about how much money Mark Zuckerberg has made from the site, I couldn’t help but wonder whether he was thanking us for our support or the phenomenal bank balance!

A social networking site called ConnectU, which has less than 100,000 members, has successfully sued Mr Zuckerberg for £45 million, because, they claim, he stole their idea. In October 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share in the company, which sounds small until you find out that it cost them £169 million! The website is now valued at £10.6 billion, which just goes to show how profitable online advertising can be!

In my blog on 30th January, I gave the link to 50 social networking sites that every business needs a presence on http://www.insidecrm.com/features/50-social-sites-012808/. But why is it so important for business to appear on Social Networking sites? Aren’t social networking sites just a place for people to over-share and post embarrassing pictures of their friends? Well, it appears not.

Social Networking sites offer an insight into your company and allow people to become familiar with the team they will be dealing with. Social Networking sites also allow users to be updated with new products and promotions, and, as my earlier mention of Facebook shows, Social Networking websites can be extremely profitable in terms of business advertising, allowing you to reach new audiences. Social Networking also opens you up to a global market, with websites such as Facebook with 150 million users – just think how many of them may be contemplating purchasing your product.

A couple of quotes from Twitter that caught my eye, “one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” – The New York Times,  and, “Suddenly, it seems as though all the world’s a-twitter.” – Newsweek. If the hype is right, can your business afford to ignore the power of the Social Networking site?

Finally, something I found a few days ago which I’ve become quite addicted to. 25 boxes is a braintraining game that tests your peripheral vision. You are given a list of numbers, letters and symbols that you need to find in one grid and then click on the correct box in the next blank grid – all against the clock! It is very addictive! http://www.mindjolt.com/games/25-boxes;jsessionid=4914344CECA567F09AA324FA26BB1310 Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Dani
Studio 2 Online
Internet Marketing Leicester