There has been a lot of media space devoted to Twitter in the past few days. It has reached the grand old age of 5. Without any clear revenue path, some think that it is doomed to fade away. But for something that started as a forum for “short bursts of inconsequential information”, and is now a gateway to 1 billion tweets each week, this is nothing short of a phenomenon.

Focus on service and users is its core strength

It has become a stream of the world’s consciousness, and that can never fade away. It is first and foremost a service, and users appreciate that. We all need to make a profit, everyone knows that. But the fact that the forum has not been besmirched by intrusive advertising, actually endears this all the more to Tweeters. In fact, the founders have maintained their focus on Twitter as a service. Their philosophy is “to create value before profit”.

Twitter has enhanced lives, it has damaged lives. It has facilitated revolutions, and given people a voice that would otherwise never have been heard. It’s worth having a “Tweet” to that.

Social Media creates a new type of celebrity

Social Media as a whole, has opened the way for Influencers. Normal people like you and I can become social media celebrities. Tweeters with large followings can have authority that they can only dream about in the “real world” And we all crave power secretly. We can be different people on Twitter. Reinvent ourselves. It relieves boredom for many in a way that nothing before it can. People can come together in so many ways..by means of a news story or event, through finding commonality on particular issues and causes. You can come and go as you please. And be somebody else or, dare I say it, just yourself.

Will Twitter be 10? We think so. Do you?

Twitter may not be here for ever. After all, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn..they are mere platforms and harnessing the latest technologies. Both platforms and technologies are ever evolving. But Twitter can not be dismissed. It levels the playing field, and enables everybody from the A-list celebrity to the oppressed Arab citizen, to be heard..Now we should all “Tweet” to that.

Social Networks

When the craze first started, we all frantically sought out friends past and present. Remember Friends Reunited? That seems like the steam age already, but it was in reality, less than a decade ago. And then Facebook. We quickly formed a network of friends.

Not really knowing what we were going to do with this new network, we followed the herd nevertheless. A competitive element seeped in…I have more friends than him or her. Our instinctive curiosity could be satisfied through checking out other profiles, ex girlfriends etc. Social networks also gave us a great sense of empowerment..shall I or shan’t I accept their friend request.

But then most hit a brick wall. We literally run out of friends to invite, things to share etc. We get bored..we try to delete our Facebook accounts..only to reinstate them promising ourselves to waste less time on social networks as a whole, in the future.

Interest Networks

The brick wall having been reached, where do we go? We have all of our friends in our network. There is nowhere to go. So we turn to interests. Online dating sites have been grouping people by interests for years. Now we venture forth to make new connections based upon interest groups and conversations via social media, that we want to be part of. Twitter is the modern day internet forum. But its ability to harness the information of people..their interests, their background, professional profiles etc, makes Twitter nothing short of manna from heaven for brands.

Brand Networks

Research.ly are clearly on top of this game. They work with brands to determine what people are saying about the brand, who is steering the conversation…a Twitter search engine if you like.

All this is about is knowing our customers. The more we know about them through “listening” and research ( not an inquisition – a lot of the relevant information is on profiles/bios and in the conversations) the better brands can connect and engage.

This is a big leap from pushing out general marketing messages!

Liverpool the Twitter Table leaders

Incredibly, over 1 million tweets about the premier league were recorded in January, with over a third of that traffic related to Liverpool F.C . Arsenal were close second.

Another interesting development here is the widespread use now of Twitter by players. Fans have unprecedented access to players now through this medium. They are still heroes to many of course, but the social web has made them mere mortals too!

Twitter own goals

We all read about Ryan Babel’s recent vilification of referee Howard Webb. Indeed, he was charged by the FA for it You couldn’t imagine 12 months ago, that players would be being charged by the FA for Twitter misconduct!

My own team Coventry City..are one of the teams that are least tweeted about, according to the survey. I can’t for the life of me imagine why. Indeed, this throws the whole survey into question!!

Do you follow your team news and any players on Twitter??

The Android application Angry Birds was one of the most popular games with the Facebook community, as well as social networking apps such as Facebook and Twitter for Android. Sony Ericsson’s signature Android applications Timescape and Mediascape were also regular favourites, as well as email clients and messaging apps such as eBuddy.

Since the advent of smartphones, apps have begun to take the world by storm, facilitating online activity and providing instant entertainment and casual gaming right from users’ pockets. With a total of four handsets now available on the acclaimed Android platform, Sony Ericsson is a firm evangelist of mobile applications, illustrated by its weekly feature on Facebook, App of the Week.

Ben Padley, Head of Digital and CRM for Sony Ericsson, said: “It’s no surprise that social networks have a major role in our fans’ use of mobile applications, such is the popularity of social networking amongst our core demographic.

“In addition, through our various Facebook initiatives such as Fan of the Week, we have seen that our fans love to be creative and share their content and experiences with other fans on the page, so it’s no surprise that they enjoy using our signature Timescape and Mediascape applications either.”

Aside from the Facebook page, fans can also get all of the latest news regarding Sony Ericsson products and services via both the Sony Ericsson Twitter feed, and also the Sony Ericsson YouTube channel.

It does not take a great deal of money to emulate some of the successes of the big corporates in social media. What you need is time, patience, persistence, and the courage to take a few risks into the unknown ..after all no-one can predict exactly what it will take to encourage your followers to share your content. We can help you in all of the above, but alas have no crystal ball..so cannot promise instant success!

Why? Because your competitors are all trying to achieve miracles with social media too. Some are succeeding because they are putting the effort in. In short, they are taking it seriously. At the very least, they will be dedicating a part of each day to this, or the more ambitious, would have brought someone in to manage it in a full-term role. The ambitious, yet perhaps smarter small business owners, would appoint a social media manager such as ourselves (Morello) to manage their social media presence on their behalf..for a monthly fee. A clever move, because they benefit from the in-house expertise that we have, but they don’t have the overhead.

Here is what you need to make Social Media work for you; all of which we are doing for clients right now:

Your goal should be to have a better social presence than all your competitors. Better website, Facebook, Twitter etc. Hiring someone who has extensive knowledge on the platforms best suited for your business will benefit you enormously. Social media is so constantly evolving, that you want a professional handling yours that you know is up to speed with the latest tools, platforms, & strategies.

You must have a plan. One that will provide a road map for you so you don’t get lost. You need to be consistent with your content and most importantly, you need to make sure your content is *valuable*.

If you have a Facebook business fan page or Twitter account that gets updated once “every now and then” (when you find the time) … you’re in trouble. It actually looks worse for your business to have inactive pages than not having any at all. Also, you want them all integrated together so they are working for you, and not the other way around.

You need someone helping you develop content strategies that are focused on providing engaging valuable content that people enjoy reading and make them feel comfortable enough to join in on the conversation.

Even though an effective social media campaign requires an “all hands on deck” approach to be effective, having a social media manager undoubtedly saves you time. We can provide you with a road map and content strategy that makes it easy for you to distinguish what is considered good and bad content. We take away the burden of having to log onto your computer and manage comments and updating content regularly on all platforms. We do all that for you leaving you more time to concentrate on your livelihood … your business! Come and try us…it works!

SEO insiders have wondered whether this new search innovation would affect placement strategies. And the simple answer is: yes. Yes, there will be changes to the way SEO professionals run their clients’ campaigns. Yes, this will affect the industry as a whole. And yes, we believe SEO professionals will have to adapt to meet ever-evolving needs.

But to think that this development is rocking the SEO world is to misunderstand the realities of the industry. In its roughly 15 years of existence, SEO has grown from being a small wildcat operation run by webmasters and content services to being one of the most dynamic, fast-growing sectors of the tech market. The reason for this rapid growth is because — not in spite –- of the constantly evolving nature of search engines.

Of course, as with any complex question about a dynamically evolving industry, there is a caveat. While the Bing-Facebook agreement and the recent updates to Google will change elements of how we do our business, the fundamentals will remain the same. As much as innovation shapes the day-to-day processes of optimization, the core foundations of the industry remain unchanged. The goal was — and still is — putting clients at the top of results pages, whether this is through organic search, paid search or social media.

Social media is nothing new in the world of online marketing. Facebook alone has 500 million users. We have already seen certain Twitter feeds included in Google search results. Before long, results may integrate other social networking sites, like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and myriad other sites that haven’t even been developed yet. For SEO professionals, this change highlights the need to integrate social networking if they haven’t already.

The Bing-Facebook agreement is indicative of the many changes that have taken SEO from a small-time game to a major, innovative industry. SEO is not about counter-punching, and it’s not about simply reacting to the changing search-engine landscape. Instead, it is about growing alongside search engines. It is about evolving with them to ensure that searchers get the results they need.

For years now, successful SEO firms have not been focusing their efforts strictly on organic search results. They’ve been steadily evolving along with changes in search engines: new Google algorithms, the emergence of Bing, the development of Google Local, instant searches, paid search, and searchable Twitter feeds. To be successful, SEO firms now need to become something more advanced: Digital Media Agencies.

Digital Media Ageniess are about handling the many online representation needs of their clients. While top search engine placement remains the major goal, it is just one aspect of what they seek to do. A Digital Media Agency also seeks to manage a client’s online reputation, create and maintain their social presence, and handle the many other aspects of a client’s online brand.

Will SEO professionals have to change their strategy in reaction to a new social media paradigm? The answer is yes. Their evolution into full-fledged Digital Media Agencies is imperative. And as the social and search industries continue to change, so too will Digital Media Agencies need to innovate.

Hotels, airlines and other segments of the multibillion-dollar travel industry are aggressively tapping into social media, ramping up their use of online sites such as Facebook and Twitter to build loyalty to their brands.

Airlines are maintaining a presence on YouTube and offering deals through social-mapping networks such as Loopt. Hotels are promoting their properties through bloggers, and they’re using social-networking sites to gather feedback, monitor trends and provide concierge services.

“I definitely think that social media is about to change the way we do things entirely,” says Jill Fletcher, social media and communications manager for Virgin America. “We’re able to admit over social media if we’ve made a mistake or if there’s a weather delay. So we’re able to communicate much faster and more effectively.”

Social media are being incorporated at a rapid rate into every part of a journey, from making the reservation to finding out where to eat. For instance:

•As of August, Delta passengers can buy tickets on Delta’s Facebook page.

•Southwest has three members of staff dedicated to monitoring and responding to queries made through social-media channels.

•Marriott is launching its Marriott Courtyard Facebook page Tuesday to issue messages about the chain and related information that might interest customers.

•Hyatt Hotels launched a Twitter account last year to serve as a virtual concierge. Staffers, based in Omaha, Australia and Mumbai, are instructed to respond to requests and questions within an hour, and are fielding queries ranging from where to find good sushi to alerts that a guest will be checking in late. The account has 12,000 followers. Hilton has a similar Twitter account.

Compared with other industries, the travel and hospitality sector is ahead of the curve in engaging social media.

Seeking return visitors

A key goal of staking a claim in the social-media space is to build a base of devoted followers who will keep coming back.

LuxuryLink.com and FamilyGetaway.com, which sell hotel packages, have launched “mystery auctions,” in which customers bid for hotel packages at discounted rates without knowing the property’s identity. To increase followers, the sites began issuing clues about the hotels only through their Facebook and Twitter pages.

As Country Inns & Suites By Carlson prepared to open its 500th hotel in College Station, Texas, earlier this year, it offered free seven-day trips to three bloggers active in social-media sites.

Marriott is launching a campaign in October that will invite loyalty program members with large Facebook and Twitter followings to help spread the word about its SpringHill Suites chain. They’ll get free stays and other incentives in return for positive messages sent to followers.

Customer relations

Airlines are using the tools and channels to try to ease travel, enabling passengers to book trips and find out if there is a delay without picking up a phone.

Instead of going to Delta.com, where 19 million domestic tickets are booked a year, passengers can make reservations on the airline’s Facebook page. The carrier will also let passengers peruse other websites and still be able to buy tickets by clicking on a Delta banner ad.

“Our strategy is, in channels where our customers are engaging, we want to be there for them and with them,” says Bob Kupbens, Delta’s vice president of e-commerce.

The airline’s website and traditional e-mail continue to be key, he says. But, he says, “these other channels are opportunities to be where the site isn’t. You’re not standing in line in security with your laptop open. But you are there with your mobile phone.”

A social-media presence has become essential for any company that wants to bond with a younger generation that will hopefully remain loyal for years.

Where are you?

Hotels are seeking ways to take advantage of the latest twist in the social-media sphere: location-based service software which uses the GPS in smartphones to provide hotels information about their customers’ whereabouts.

InterContinental is working with start-up company Topguest. People who sign up at Topguest’s website can walk into any hotel, restaurant or bar operated by InterContinental and receive a small allowance of the hotel company’s loyalty points. To receive the points, they must alert their “friends” on Foursquare or Facebook Places, two of the most popular location-based social-networking tools.

For hotels, it’s a way to promote their loyalty programs, increase sales during off hours and learn more about which of their customers are the “most influential” members in social-media circles, says Geoff Lewis, CEO of Topguest.

For all the merits of social media, some industry watchers warn that the industry shouldn’t forget about the older generations that aren’t tech savvy and still need to be engaged.

Everybody wins!

The study gives a breakdown of the top 10 online sectors according to how much time people spend using them, with social media and gaming leading the pack.

Among the top 10 sectors, only four have increased over the past year, with five losing ground and one remaining the same. The study shows that both social media and gaming have had the greatest increases over the past year, likely leading to drops in other areas, such as email and instant messaging, although communicating and networking still account for a little more than a third of people’s time online.

When it comes to mobile, the picture changes drastically, with email becoming the dominant sector, followed by portals and then social networking and blogs. The report doesn’t offer much detail in what it means by “mobile”, so we’re left wondering what types of mobile devices respondents are using and what this might mean for the time they spend. Nonetheless, email’s dominance in mobile would seem to indicate that, despite how much we message each other on Facebook, email still has a strong presence. Although email has seen a decline on the desktop, it is still the third heaviest activity online.