That’s it. My brain connected the dots. Two and two have been put together. Through the convergence of stars in the heavens and a couple of social media plotlines this week – one really out there publicly and the other just my own experience-shaped perspective – I see that what’s really wrong with social media is… wait for it, wait for it… Perspective. Perspective. Perspective.

Read this article:
All That’s Wrong With Social Media I Learned from Charlie Sheen

Myspace is up for sale. They claim they're "the leading social entertainment destination." Do we dare tell them the truth? Can Myspace be saved?

Read the rest here:
How to Save Myspace from a Slow and Painful Death

So. Are you a Servant Leader? Do you give to receive? Social networking is about building relationships and sharing. Social networking is also about interaction and exchange. And depending on the quality of your input, or lack thereof, others will generally form their perception about you and your worthiness of their business … or friendship. What does your social media footprint say about you? Please tell me what you think.

Link:
Be a Good Social Networking Citizen ... Give to Grow

Big step forward by Foursquare by changing from a “friends” model to allowing users to follow & have followers. (of their profile) This is another move towards creating a new layer of influencers within Foursquare based on their activity levels including total number of check-ins, badges, Mayorships, etc.

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Foursquare Switches to Follower-Following Model

his was an opportunity for each of the in-country teams to create an ecosystem map of their networks to identify resources for the project including social media expertise. I was struck by how the teams immediately adapted and localized the mapping exercise for their country. In addition, I was struck how the “networked mindset” was something embedded in their way of working.

Originally posted here:
E-Mediat Day 1: A Networked Mindset To Capacity Building

You see, how this story is supposed to end is this: hundreds of thousands of people heard my plea for help, and overwhelmed my server with messages of hope. The number of messages and the outpouring of passion and love for this cause brought the Interwebs to its knees. The people of New Zealand clung to those messages of hope – and another social media legend was born. This did not happen.

See original here:
The Limits Of Online Influence

Was I wrong? Yes, I was. I had completely missed a big idea that had nothing to do with organizational dynamics: Social media can be used to build and ignite a brand — even when the product is a political revolution! In fact, marketing has played an extremely important role in the shifting Arab political landscape.

Read more:
How Social Media Turned a Brand Into a Revolution

Over the past 1-2 years, I’ve been having a conversations with savvy folks lately who run in the social media / startup world about a sticky point that seems to have some complexity. That issue is privacy, ownership and portability of social graphs and communications by the “social employee” who does any outreach or relationship building on behalf of the company / brand that he / she represents. It’s a hairy issue.

Link:
Who Owns Your Contacts and Communications?

This is the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to move away from something I really enjoy towards something I expect to enjoy even more. This is also the first time that I won’t have a check appear at a specific time for a specific amount anymore. I’m scared sh*tless, to be perfectly honest, but I also know that it’s going to work out for the absolute best.

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Big Step

Once you or your organization views the world with a networked mindset, then you need to visualize the network. There are many approaches and visual analysis tools. Let’s look at the ones that allow you to see the current relationships and potential ways to weave them on social media and social networks like Twitter. There are many tools to visualize your Twitter network. While they are fun (and addicting), they are most useful if you set aside some time to not only generate the visual, but think about what does it mean for your current practice.

Link:
What Can You Learn by Visualizing Your Twitter Network?

With this most recent update, if you are logged into your Google Account you may begin to see listings shared by your connections within the organic search results. (In the past, data from social connections was limited to the bottom of the search results.) These new social listings will be denoted with an additional line added to the listing, telling you which of your connections shared the link.

Read more here:
Google’s Social Search Update

Can we forecast the future of social media? What about going out on a limb to illustrate innovative ways of seeing this field? Chris Brogan just posted “The Future of Media”, but it was not his intention to talk about the future of human connections between those media. In this post, I am going to use a few case studies to point out that right now is the "future" of social media.

Read the original:
The Future of Social Media

Philip Calvert is a professional speaker on Social Media and the Founder of IFA Life - the social networking site for financial planners, IFAs and professional financial advisers.

Original post:
Are you kidding yourself that Social Media is working in your business?

It is very easy to set yourself into a downward spiral if you put too much emphasis on your social networking activities. It's also pretty easy to avoid the trap.

Originally posted here:
How to Avoid Social Media Depression

Every app, every news service, every online community requires a profile these days. Problem is, many of us sign up not thinking about what might happen if somebody did a "fly-by" and clicked on our profile. Maybe a potential client? Future boss?While monitoring my Twitter feed the other day, I clicked on a #FF (Follow Friday)