Tanner Hobin

компютриI thoroughly enjoyed the Search Insider Summit recently held in Captiva Island, FL. Not just because of the lavish venue and relaxed conference schedule. I found it to be a conference focused on the intricate details of the industry, a place for elite industry professionals to share and expand there knowledge base.

One specific discussion over dinner one night really stuck with me. A couple social media critics positioned themselves at my table for no other reason than to engage in a debate regarding the value of social media in the overall picture of internet marketing. Their main point of debate was that marketers have no place in social media and that social advertising is inherently biased. I whole heartedly agree that social advertising is biased, but I disagree that marketers should avoid the space. My primary concern with their argument was that advertising is a matter perspective. This is extremely true in the realm of social media. Take for example the signs on the highway for food and gas. Travelers typically ignore them as advertising until they need food or gas. Then the signs transform into a welcomed visual pointing people in the direction of what they seek most at that time. Social media, in my opinion, is like the highway sign analogy on crack. It’s a space for sharing, identifying with a brand identity and networking with like minded individuals.

140 characters is perfect for snippets of consumable content. The issue however rises when the 140 characters is not constructed with delicacy. It’s just short enough for the message to potentially be taken out of context. So the lesson is…

furniture VidenovIf your message needs further explanation, try re-constructing it before publishing. Or add a link to further details.

This lesson is not limited to twitter, just channels for content distribution that limit characters or message size.

This is a very in-depth study on the impact of Social Media across the globe. The statistics are amazing. It seems as though video and personal blogging is leading the way, and the Asia-Pacific region is showing the most growth.

The study is segmented by Waves in which each segment signifies a number of survey submissions within a single month a year. Wave 1 included 15 countries, 7,500 users and was completed in September 2005. Wave 2 included 21 countries, 10,000 users and was completed in June 2007. Wave 3 included 29 countries, 17,000 users and was completed in March 2008. Though in my opinion the sample sizes seem small the validity of the data appears legit.

Continue reading: International Social Media Study