As we say hello to warmer weather for springtime, we say goodbye to the first quarter of 2013. For those of us working in social media,  we’ve been on our toes keeping up with all the latest updates Facebook and Google have rolled out to us in past three months.  Get ready, we’re about to recap the biggest announcements in social media marketing so far this year.

Facebook

Facebook announced three big updates in Q1:

• Graph Search [Beta ] – January 15^th, 2013
• New Looks for News Feed – March 7^th, 2013
• Improvements to Timeline – March 13^th, 2013

Facebook Graph Search was created, “to make the world more open and connected,” according to Facebook.  This differs greatly from a web search in the sense that users won’t be searching by keywords, but rather by combining phrases. For example, you could do a search for a “Pages liked by fans of Internet Marketing Inc.” (See below) to help you find other pages that interests your fans. Take this a step further and start sharing articles from those pages as your brand page and you’ll become even more popular with your fans. Get on the waitlist for Facebook Graph Search today! 

As an attempt to reduce clutter and focus more on stories from people you care about, Facebook created new news feeds for users to explore. Users can choose from all friends, photos, music, and following (where brand page posts lie); with bigger and more vibrant photos. You’ll also experience the same look and feel across all devices (see right). Get Facebook’s new news feed today!

The most recent announcement from Facebook relates to a new timeline design that helps users express what’s important to them.  Instead of scrolling down the timeline, reading from left to right, the left side will showcase a more detailed about me section, followed by apps you choose to feature. Facebook gives the following example, “If you’re an avid reader, you can keep track of the books you want to read or add more with Goodreads” (see right). The right side of the timeline is where your posts and posts from friends will be displayed.  Facebook is continuing to roll out the new timeline to personal pages in the coming weeks.

YouTube

Google recently announced a complete redesign for YouTube channels, what they are referring to as “YouTube One.” The new design has three distinct features. First, brands can now win over new subscribers with a trailer video that only appears to non-subscribed viewers. Second, similar to Facebook’s new design, branding works across all devices (see right).  Lastly, brands can organize and present their videos and playlists to reflect their one-of-a-kind style. You can see an example of the new YouTube One design below; notice the social icon links to help with cross-promotion. YouTube has even created a “Channel Setup Checklist” for brands to follow to ensure they are getting the most out of the new design. Make the switch today!

Pinterest

Pinterest users are now given the option to “Switch to the new look” (see below). The functionality within Pinterest all stays the same, just a sleeker design in my opinion. The real update is Pinterest web analytics. Brands can now track their pinning activity by reporting how many people have pinned from their website, the number of impressions versus the number of clicks. Brands can also learn what pinners like by analyzing the Most Repinned tab to find out which pins get the most repins, and then tailor your website and Pinterest boards based on the information gathered. One thing to note is to make sure you’ve verified your website on Pinterest and switched to the new look in order to view Pinterest Analytics. Analytic reporting will not begin until you’ve verified your website. 

Social Media by the Numbers

Now that we’re aware of what’s been happening in the social media space this past quarter, check out where the channels stand against their competition in regards to number of active monthly users:

Source: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/

If  you know of any other  big updates, I’d love to hear them in the comment section below!

As social media continues to be a big influence on consumers as to whether they decide to purchase with your brand versus a brand not on social media, some of us may be asking, what happened to SEO? Although I’m still a firm believer in professional search engine optimization services, we internet marketers need to be cognoscente on where an audience is searching for information about your brand. According to a study by HubSpot, if 85% of Internet users have a Facebook account and 80% of social media users prefer to connect with brands via Facebook , then your brand should definitely not only have a brand page on Facebook, but one that is fully optimized and engaging. When creating social pages for a product or service, be sure to follow these steps to create a fully optimized social network.

Before I begin breaking down each channel you’ll want to gather a keyword list from your online marketing company’s SEO department. Narrow down the list to your top 3-5 keyword phrases which will be included in all descriptions across your social networks.  Now let’s begin:

FACEBOOK

With the ever-changing world of Facebook, it’s important to stay up to date with all of the new updates within the platform (i.e. editing your brand page to Timeline view). The about section is your chance to give a short description of what your brand does, while also including a keyword and link back to your site for Google to index. It is also a best practice to include links in the description section to all other social networks that your brand is active on.

For even more SEO value within Facebook, consider placing a keyword at the beginning of your status update; especially updates that include a link back to your site. Click on the timestamp of each update and you will be brought to a separate page specific for that update.  The first 18 characters, sometimes a bit less, of your update will be the SEO Title for that post.

TWITTER

With only 140 characters or less, there’s not much SEO opportunity on this platform, but still some SEO benefit.

What you write in your bio information is very important not only just for SEO, but also for other tools that gather Twitter users based on a search query (like FollowerWonk). Don’t forget to insert a keyword in your bio and also include a link to your site. Design a custom skin for your Twitter page that includes more information about your company and calls to action.

GOOGLE+

A social network result from the search engine giant itself, we have Google+ and its land of opportunity for SEO.

Before creating a profile for your brand on Google+, decide whether you want to create a local page (for a specific address like a hotel or restaurant) or a brand page (for products/services). A Google+ local page now integrates with Zagat reviews. Once your page is created, edit your descriptions to be keyword-rich. Google+ allows you to link those keywords within your introduction, creating the dofollow links that Google loves. Having a profile that is linked to a website will also help your credibility; it’s a simple snippet of code provided by Google that is to be inserted on your sites homepage. Learn more about profile and page verification badges on Google+ here. Once this is done, your Google+ page will show up on the right hand side of the Google search page for relevant queries, thus making your Google+ page more discoverable.  Lastly, don’t forget to include links to all of your company’s other social networks in the links section.

YOUTUBE

Another social network result of Google is the video sharing platform YouTube.

Although there is no option for anchor text links in the about section of your channel, be sure to include your keywords as “tags” in the channel settings. Link to all other social networks and also take advantage of designing a customizable YouTube skin for more information about your product or service and calls to action. As you begin to make a presence on this platform, keep in mind that your video title doubles as a SEO title and the video description doubles as your Meta description. This is a great place to add keywords as your “tags” for each video uploaded if it doesn’t sound right in the description.

LINKEDIN

According to my research, there isn’t much SEO value so far from LinkedIn brand pages. Therefore my recommendation would be to include keywords in the about section, specifically in the specialties box which will help your company appear in search within LinkedIn. A link to your website is also not to be forgotten.

PINTEREST

Who would’ve guessed that a virtual pin-board would create so much buzz so quickly? Getting verified on Pinterest is much like getting verified on Google+. All you need to do is download the verification file from your settings and host it on your sites homepage. Don’t forget to include keywords in the description of your Pinterest page, and if possible, title your boards with a keyword. Boards also have SEO opportunity within their descriptions, so be sure to have a keyword there as well.

Now that you have properly optimized six social media channels for SEO value, watch as the referral traffic from social increases over time. With the ability to reach over 50% of Americans, according to We Are Social, social media networks should not only be created, but optimized to ensure you are building relationships while also ranking in the search engines. Have other social SEO service recommendations? I’d love to hear in the comment section below!

This blog post is a compilation of two separate articles I wrote for Ragan.com.  You can view the original articles here and here, with the original also re-syndicated on PRDaily.com.

Social media is the new public relations of the marketing industry. Enthusiastic newcomers think it’s the “exciting” marketing discipline. It is a great field, but it’s more than tweeting and Instagraming around the clock.

Saying that you want to work in social media so you can play on Facebook all day is like saying you want to work in PR because you like people. Good for you, but that’s just not what we do.

These are the necessary traits for success in social media. It’s not as easy as it looks. You must be:

1. Nimble

Social media is the fastest-changing and continuously evolving industry ever. You have to religiously monitor the environment and adapt quickly to change.

2. Educated

You have to be committed to reading constantly about social media and measurement, and searching aggressively for the latest trends and best practices.

3. Dedicated

There is little to no off time in social media. It happens 24×7, so you have to be ready to respond at any time. If someone posts something negative on your Twitter stream and you don’t respond for 24 hours, good luck finding another job in social media.

4. Clever

Social media enthusiasts are quick and clever. You need to be, too, or you will come off looking like your grandma or, worse, like a corporate mouthpiece.

5. Strategic

Social media doesn’t exist in a universe by itself. It’s part of a larger, strategic marketing mix. You must see and understand the overall goals, strategies, and objectives before you can implement social media tactics.

6. Meticulously Organized

You have to write, post, monitor, respond and measure for countless social media channels. You have to be organized, but not such a perfectionist that you can’t move quickly, and it’s so important to have great monitoring systems in place.

7. Playful

Some of the most successful social media folks are funny, lighthearted and don’t takes themselves too seriously. Hello, “NOT COOL, COOKIE!”

8. Analytical

Yep, that’s right. We don’t just sit around and tweet all day. We have to measure our results just like anyone else. Having science and math skills is a big plus.

9. Well-rounded

Though it’s important to be an expert in this category, it’s not good to be too focused on one skill. To truly be a valuable contributor, you need to understand the big picture of marketing.

10. Social

Yeah, that’s right, I said it. You need to be social to work in social media. Get out from behind the computer and have a few face-to-face conversations. Enjoy the life that you’re posting about.

11. Balanced

Yes, social media is a 24×7 job. However, to keep fresh (and sane), you need to set a clear work/life balance and remember to unplug regularly to recharge your own batteries.

12. Cautious

If you’re handling many social media accounts at once, including your personal accounts, don’t get them mixed up or you could be tweeting about unemployment.

13. Measured

Social conversations evolve quickly. Take an extra minute to think about your response. Say it out loud first; that helps make it real.

14. Humble

No one is the “end all, be all” social media expert. We can learn from each other and collectively take social media to the next level. Just look at this post. It’s a collection of your thoughts. We make each other better.

15. Progressive

Instead of always catching up to your competitors, be a trendsetter.

16. Patient

We all want to see our social media posts explode, but it doesn’t always happen. Take the time to listen to your audience, learn from them, and engage in ways that provide value to your followers.

17. Well informed

Know more about your industry than your followers. You don’t want to be a social media manager who can’t talk the talk.

18. Witty

Know your audience and what hits their funny bones. Let your guard down (appropriately), and show that you are a living, breathing person behind the brand.

19. Prepared

Be ready to combat negative press or circumstances at all times. Have a crisis plan in place on how to respond on social media if things go south.

20. Intelligent

Use social channels to educate your fans and customers on the basic principles and capabilities of social media. As the channels evolve and push out new updates, be the authority they turn to when learning how to navigate the latest social platform.

Carrie Peterson is our social media director here at IMI.  Follow her on Twitter @CarrieSavvy to let her know which traits you feel are most important to work in social media.

We know you saw Bodyform’s video response to a “negative” Facebook rant recently, and we know you loved it. How could you not? The sanitary napkin company did just about everything right in its response and now is basking in the rays of positive comments and increased brand exposure. (See images below.)

But just in case you have somehow managed to avoid hearing about this delightful Facebook banter, we’ll sum it up for you. A British man posted on Bodyform’s Facebook page claiming tongue-in-cheek that the company’s advertisements, which portray menstruation as “a wonderful time of the month… [when] the female gets to enjoy so many things”, are all a lie.  The post went viral almost immediately and within 40 hours had nearly 20,000 “likes”. A week later, the post vaunts nearly 90,000 “likes”, 4,000 comments and has been picked up all over the internet! Now do you get why we’re surprised that you missed this? Below is the original rant and the video response:

Turn the Tables with these Four Tips to Energize Your Social Media Rebuttal

So when a company gets a post like this, what is one supposed to do? Well, we recommend to follow Bodyform’s example and stick to these steps:

1.)    Have a Sense of Humor!

There is a difference between an aggressive/hurtful rant and a consumer giving you a hard time in jest. When it’s the latter, take advantage of this opportunity to show that you are a human and have some fun! For goodness sake, don’t fail to respond and don’t take it too seriously. Social media is about being social (derrr) and people will connect with you better if you don’t act like a corporate machine.

2.)    Don’t Shy Away from an Opportunity – Go Big or Go Home 

Bodyform was handed an opportunity on a silver platter, so they went for it. It could have been easy for them to a.) Not respond, or  b.) Do something that takes little effort, like comment on or “like” the post, but they didn’t. They recognized the opportunity, grabbed it by the horns and decided to take the time necessary to make a fantastic and quality video, which leads me to the next point…

3.)    Present a Well-Crafted and Thought Out Response

It’s clear that Richard spent a little time dwelling on and drafting out his “rant”, and Bodyform responded on pointe with a video that clearly wasn’t just thrown together in 20 minutes.  The filming was professional and quality, the faux CEO was a great actor, and the thought out script addresses Richard’s exact statements, includes a historical background to build the story (see 0:50 – 1:06), and even weaves in the feminine-product advertisement staple: blue water! Bodyform went above and beyond to create an amazing response.

4.)    Respond in a Timely Manner

The time period between Richard’s Facebook post and Bodyform’s video response was just about one week. Any longer, and the response would have lost its steam. Any sooner, and it’s possible that the video might not have been as well made. (But, IF it was possible to turn the video around faster while still keeping its quality, that would be fantastic.) Just make sure that if you are responding to a consumer, do so within a time period that makes sense. Generally, the faster, the better.

Since Richard’s comment and Bodyform’s response, the page’s “people talking about this” numbers have soared to more than 85,000, and I expect  we will hear more about this over time as this will likely go down in one of the best social media company responses in history.

 The Exposed Golden Nuggets of Information

So what have we learned? Be a human and have a personable side, don’t be afraid to try something a little extraordinary when you have the chance, put in the effort, and be prompt in your response. As we have seen, the results can be priceless.

Consumer responses:

Are you looking for another way to advertise on Facebook? Social media platforms such as Facebook have rapidly evolved into a valuable marketing platform for companies to not only gain a social media following but also allow for social media marketing campaigns towards those followers or users. Many of the best Internet marketing companies and businesses active on Facebook have recently become interested in a new advertising platform within Facebook, which is commonly known as “Sponsored Search” or “Sponsored Results.” This new marketing platform was released last week with much anticipation, yet the capabilities of this new platform may not be inline with what most advertisers or businesses expected.

(more…)

Do you wonder how some companies are able to consistently make Facebook posts that have a high rate of interaction? For many businesses Facebook status updates seem very simple and are often executed without fully engineering the update for maximum potential. Social media strategies have become an integral part of many businesses and their internet marketing efforts, and while status updates may seem simple they can require proper planning in order to make them most effective.

Facebook has an algorithm called EdgeRank, which is Facebook’s algorithm to determine who sees your posts or updates. An improved EdgeRank will allow more of your followers to see your posts and status updates. EdgeRank is based on the interactions between your followers and your posts, so posts that immediately get likes are more likely to show up in the top stories of your followers. Therefore, optimizing posts to get immediate interaction will help improve EdgeRank and the reach of your posts.

We will give you 7 tips for crafting effective Facebook status updates from one of the top internet marketing agencies that will increase the reach of these posts. Keep in mind that you may not want to utilize all of these tips in every single post, but using them when applicable and with balance can increase the effectiveness of you status updates. So without further ado, here are 7 tips that you can use in crafting effective status updates.

1. Scheduling

The time in which a post goes live can have a huge influence on how effective that post really is and the number of people who see it.  Scheduling posts to go out during peak times where more followers are likely to see and interact with your posts is one of the most important elements in optimizing your posts. We have already covered the peak times in this post here, so take those times into consideration and experiment until you find the sweet spot where your posts have the most interaction with your specific following.

Using Facebook’s narrative scheduler is an easy way to schedule posts without the use of any external content sharing programs. To do this you should write your post and them click on the small clock icon in the lower left corner of the post box. Once you click it, you will be given the option of setting a specific date and time for the post to go live. This image below will demonstrate how this is done.

2. Adding Tags To Posts

Although adding tags have lost some of the marketing advantages they previously had such as no longer being visible on other pages, adding tags can be a great way to make posts more interactive and interesting for your followers. Adding tags is very simple because all you need to do is type the “@” symbol them click on the profile of the tagged entity in the drop down box as shown below.

3. Adding Location To Posts

It’s debated on whether adding locations to you posts will help with local search ranking on Facebook, but adding location is a great way to provide more content in your post for people to interact with. Many users are more likely to interact with a post when it is local to them, so adding locations to posts can help in increasing the interaction of you post among local users. You can add locations based on city which will give you a map with a pinpoint icon for users to see. Also you can get a little more specific and add locations based on neighborhoods or where your shop is to further localize your posts. This may be beneficial when running local promotions or if helping out in the community, which can help increase followings and interactions of very local users.

To add a location tag, click on the “place mark” icon below the post as shown in the image below.

4. Target By Location

Targeting by location is a newer feature of Facebook but it can allow for much more successful marketing efforts when these campaigns are best suited for specific areas. This features allows the post to be seen by people within the specific area of choice which can be extremely helpful when running promotions at local stores. For example, with my water company we may be trying to run a promotion within California so it is more effective in only showing this promotion to followers in California rather than followers nationwide or globally. To target a specific location click on the “public” box below the post, which will give you a drop down menu that allows you to target by location. Click on the “Location / Language” area and you will be able to select specific areas such as a county, state, or city. An example of this is shown below.

5. Target By Language

Targeting by language can be very beneficial to companies who may have a strong following of people within a certain country or spoken language. For example, with the water company we have a large following and customer base of Spanish speaking people, so crafting a post in Spanish and distributing it among Spanish speaking users can further increase the effectiveness of posts for those particular demographics. To do this you use the same steps as targeting by location or you can reference the image below.

6. Adding Pictures To Posts

Adding pictures to posts can be an extremely beneficial way to increase the effectiveness of your post. There is no doubt that adding pictures or graphics is going to grab more attention than just a text post. People will like this eye-candy and will be much more likely to like or share your post. I find this to be a great way to promote a specific product because it allows followers to visually understand the product, especially if they have not seen or heard of it before. To post a photo with your caption click on the “Photo / Video” tab at the top of the post box, upload a photo, and write your caption. An example of this is shown below.

7. Emphasizing Important Posts

It is also possible to emphasize certain posts that you deem more important. You can highlight a post in two ways; traditional highlighting or pinning the post to the top of the page. It would be great if you could both highlight and pin a post to the top, but Facebook has prevented this from being possible so you will need to figure out which method you want to go with. Highlighting a post means that the post pox will appear horizontally across your entire timeline instead of just half screen. Pinning it to the top is self explanatory, but can be a great way to make sure everyone who visits your page sees the post because it is right there above the fold when they load the page. To highlight a post you need to click the highlighter icon in the top of the post box once it has been posted. An example of this is shown below as the post was pinned to the top.

Wrapping It Up

These 7 tips can be helpful in maximizing the effectiveness of you Facebook posts and ultimately build a stronger following. With the increased use of social media platforms it is important that you using these platforms in the best way possible because it can be one of the most cost effective forms of marketing out there. While Facebook may not be the greatest way to sell individual products and foster conversions, it is a great way to easily build brand awareness and following. So take these tips into consideration when crafting your future Facebook posts, status updates, etc to create the most effective posts possible and increase following due to the interaction element of EdgeRank. Try these tactics out and let us know what you think. Can you think of any other tips?

Who knew sending tweets and status updates could cause tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes? Well, we all know cyber bullying is a major modern issue amongst American teenagers and has brought too many college students to points of suicide. Facebook, Twitter; they all have the power to drive someone to madness when all that is wanted is to simply partake in the craze of social media. An especially aggressive and threatening form of cyber bullying forced a mass of terrorized Indians out of their homes two weeks ago and it was definitely not due to an embarrassing Tumblr picture of someone at a high school party.

35,000 students and workers from remote northeast Indian regions like Bangalore, Pune and Chennai returned home this week after leaving their beloved cities because of aggressive threats from Muslim extremists. Civilians received offensive remarks over the Internet from supposed Pakistani Muslims, who threatened to wreak havoc and terror on the once quiet, Indian towns and its people.

The residents in the Assam region were terrorized in a variety of technological forms. From anonymous texts to spiteful Facebook messages, social media was not seen as a, hip, fast, efficient communicating tool, but rather seen as a plague on the Indian communities.

Usually, status updates and sending video clips to your friends is an innocent doing. We thank the Internet for allowing us to talk to our long lost friends or enabling us to scan webpages for those cute, kitten videos we love sharing.

But instances of aggressive cyber bullying have come to the surface too often in the past decade. Arab Spring started it all in 2010. When oppressed civilians living in the Arab World realized the true power of social media, they partook in the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests known as the Arab Spring.

Countries like Libya and Egypt have been crowding news feeds and representing the modern approach to rebellion. It all started with oppressed civilians craving for a revolution. Craving for change. Active blogs and Facebook statuses seemed to be the best thing for immediate communication and perfect place to channel frustrations.

The next thing the world knew, Egyptians were overthrowing governments, Libyans were Tweeting from infuriated, crowded streets and Indian civilians were fearfully fleeing their homes.

India is not dealing with a domestic uprising, but rather, the government is doing everything in its power to protect its people. So much so that over 245 web pages have been blocked and mass texts are banned on cellular servers throughout the nation as a preventative measure. Facebook and YouTube have claimed that they have never taken their non-violence policies as seriously as they are now.

More and more rules may mean more and more unhappy users. Whether it’s in court rooms or online forums, claiming what should and should not be censored on the Internet has emerged as a hot topic. But the more and more webpages become blocked, the less and less power social media will have as well. This will not inhibit revolution but instead, most likely instigate it.

Revolutions may produce negative images of angry mobs and pitchforks. But without social media tools, Tweets would have never caught diplomats’ attention. Ideas may have not been so easily communicated. Democracy would have never been achieved in nations like Libya or Egypt.

People have become so comfortable with the accessibility and freedom that comes along with social media. But this accessibility and freedom of hateful speech has been taken advantage of by people with negative intentions too often. It’s a question of sacrifice; to have the benefits and burdens of social media, or to not have it at all.

When people hear of Google, an iconic image of the six colorful letters, simple search bar beneath and “I’m Feeling Lucky” tab usually pops up in people’s heads.

But for those people who are familiar with social media, search engine optimization and all the perks that come with the worldwide web, they know that Google is making headlines everyday to make our Internet experience safer and easier. Google makes its way to daily newsfeeds and it is becoming a well-known fact that the powerful company is becoming more important for your website or blog.

So what are the most recent changes? Substituting the home page’s logo with fun keyboard games during the Olympics isn’t even half of it.

Catching the Internet Pirates

If it hasn’t been publicized enough in the past year, Internet piracy has emerged as major problem. From illegally downloaded mp3s to bootlegged films of summer hits, Google’s has recently declared that they are cracking down on this piracy that’s infecting the web. The company’s core web search engine will be relegating websites that often host unlawful copies of films and music. It will take into account the copyright infringement notices a site has received and then alter the link’s ranking.

Google’s head of engineering claims that in the past 30 days, more than 4.3 million URLs have been submitted containing possible copyright infringement. It may seem like this makes it more difficult for us to download those EPs we so desperately want on our iTunes, but Google’s proactive approach to eradicating Internet piracy is a huge feat for the entertainment industry. It establishes Google’s power beyond the world wide web too, making it appear unstoppable.

Google Plus’ New Addition is a Plus

Google has also achieved new internal accomplishments. This is for all you Google Plus members. If you joined this social networking site, owned and operated by Google itself, you will know the URL can be overwhelming on the eyes and just hard to remember. To access a typical Google Plus profile, you will have to put in a URL looking something like this: http://plus.google.com/109299348960895456083/.  Now, custom URLs are finally coming to Google +. This user friendly approach will enable URLS to look more like Facebook URLs, but with a nifty little algebraic plus in the web address (i.e. http://google.com/+paulmccartney or http://google.com/+nissan). Currently, a user needs to fit the criteria to acquire such an exclusive custom URL, but overtime, the unique web addresses will be accessible to Google Plus members worldwide.

Travelling on the Web Made Easier

For all you businessmen, Google has invaded your world too. The company announced on August 12^th that it will be purchasing Frommer’s travel guides to enhance its local and travel searches. Since purchasing Zagat last year, which specializes in restaurant reviews, Google has expanded once again, and is becoming a more relatable, media company. It will make your travel planning easier, giving you the results you want and optimizing your search even more.

So if you are a music guru, social networking fiend, or daily businessman, Google’s news is becoming more and more relatable to a wider spread of Americans.  The powerful corporation is taking bold moves and in turn, taking headlines and making news.

Never have the Olympics so heavily relied on the high-speed communication, social media and all the perks that come with the Internet that we have become so comfortable with. From Yahoo! to CNN, these sites’ news feeds have circulated Olympic data. Medal counts, records broken; you name it. But what appear to be covering most of the front pages lately are controversies, closely affiliated with social media and specifically, Twitter. The question lies whether giving social media such authoritative power during these Olympic games should be looked at optimistically or otherwise.

Athletes sending tweets? Posting podium pictures for their followers to instantly see and enjoy the Olympic experience with them? Sounds great! But these games have proven that social media can get out of control and that the communications tool should be not taken lightly.

What Can Go Wrong?

The first instant occurred even before the Olympic torch was lit. We all remember the Greek triple jumper, Voula Papachristou who sent a tweet gaining a lot of publicity on July 22^nd, when the Olympics were scheduled to begin on the 27^th. Talk about a debut. The tweet stated, “so many Africans in Greece at least West Nile mosquitoes will eat homemade food”. The Olympic Committee did not receive it lightly. It was the first time an athlete was eliminated due to post on Twitter, or any proclamation on a social media site for that matter.

She wasn’t the only one to experience the backlash of an inappropriate tweet. Swiss defender, Michel Morganella sent a tweet perceived as racist against his South Korean opponents after losing to them in a soccer match. He was also eliminated, as was the post he sent on Twitter. His bad sportsmanship and access to social media cost him his Olympic career and produced global humiliation. Who knew 140 characters could so much damage.

Even the American icon, Hope Solo received bad publicity through the micro blogging service. After supposedly appearing on the Today show drunk with her teammates, the talented goalkeeper started a Twitter war with broadcaster and former soccer great Brandi Chastain. The risky remarks thrown from athlete to athlete were of no serious offense, but if the tweets were not accessible, the conflict could have been avoided and all soccer legends could just get along.

Athletic Victims of Social Media

The athletes of these Olympics are not always the culprits. The social media tool can place them in shallow end of the pool also. A teenager in Dorset, England, most likely a social media expert, tweeted at British diver Tom Daley taunting the aquatic athlete about his dead father. Daley’s father passed away last year due to brain cancer and the 17-year old made an impact on the diver’s mindset before a dive.

The Right Way to Tweet

Sure, there are positive and uplifting tweets. After Michael Phelps won his 22^nd medal, you could expect his feed to be all smiles and high fives. Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter, tweeted about his recent haircut in the Olympic village instead of commenting on being called the fastest man alive.

These athletes are using Twitter the correct way. They know followers believe in them and simply want to be inspired. Olympic athletes know they have a large following. They know their posts are being read. Some embrace this and use it to promote their strong morals. Others use it as a megaphone to proclaim their strong beliefs.

Did the World of Social Media Learn Anything from These Mishaps?

Twitter, Facebook and all other kinds of social media allow civilians to communicate with famous athletes and vice versa. This is an absolute privilege but these Olympic games have proven that this pleasure can been handled inappropriately. If more mishaps and conflicts happen due to sensitive Tweets and statuses, where does that leave these micro blogging services in future athletic events? It may just take more rebellious athletes kicked out of the games before any real rules are made to enforce what takes up those 140 characters.

On Monday, August 6^th, NASA’s latest nuclear-powered rover, named Curiosity, is scheduled to land on the surface of Mars at 1:31 ETA. Two days before the anticipated landing, 30 chosen men and women will be Tweeting, Facebook posting, blogging and performing all types of social media to inform the world of this revolutionary galactic endeavor.

NASA carefully chose 30 people out 266 hopefuls based in part on their social media expertise, blogging strategies and web-based audience. The governmental aeronautical agency did not choose reality stars with the most Twitter followers or Facebook comments, but instead searched the web for popular Internet leaders related to or interested in aerospace and similar topics.

The internet-savvy participants will learn a handful of confidential NASA related-data, filled with technical terms in outer space language. The participants will be expected to translate and fit these heavy terms into concise and logical statements fewer than 140 characters. From seeing a model of the Orion – a new partially solar powered spacecraft scheduled to carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before – to taking a tour of a model of the Dream Chaser – a reusable craft that will travel to NASA’s space station, the 30 individuals will distribute these reports to its followers and readers as cool, concise and efficient as possible.

But the most imperative information that be communicated pertains to Curiosity’s landing phase, or as NASA spokesman, Mark Finnerman puts it “the seven minutes of terror”. The experienced bloggers are expected to accurately depict the adventure and update their followers as the craft rips through the Martian atmosphere of up to 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit and free-fall to the desired landing platform.

Curiosity will be over 154 million miles away, in the hopes of discovering past or present Martian habitability and the feeling of a good $2.5 billion well spent. This also means that all information relayed back to planet Earth will take up to 13 minutes because of the enourmous distance. In those nail-biting moments, the social media experts will be working hard at what they are good at; keeping followers calm, informed and excited about the potentially revolutionary discoveries.

This Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has been flying through the galaxies of space for the past eight months, after a two-year intensive planning period by the rocket scientists. The “Tweetup”, where people on Twitter come together in person, will last a much shorter period of time, beginning on Friday in Hampton, Virginia and continuing until the spacecraft is expected to land on early Monday morning.

One would think this would attract a limited audience but Mark Finnerman states that this program attracts “people of all ages and walks of life”. NASA has done its research for sending robots to Mars and for social media marketing as well. From Harley Davidson fanatics to stay-at-home moms, the participants are guaranteed to distribute the critical information to a vast array of eager followers interested in the subject at hand.

The fact that NASA is welcoming civilians to roam the intimidating halls of its headquarters and is sharing these pivotal moments in space history with bloggers simply empowers social media and social media techniques even more. It establishes a level of trust and respect amongst the participants in this technologically advanced and speedy era of communication. It also promises a serious future for the millions of micro-bloggers and Facebooking fiends on the worldwide web. Who knows, maybe someday they will be asked to send updates all the way from the atmospheres of Mars or Jupiter.