Don’t skip this blog post! Today’s bonus tracks are brought to you courtesy of the SmartBrief on Social Media newsletter editorial team. Check out the first link about adults invading the teens social network 
space. YPulse asks if social networks should bring back exclusively high school and college versions of Facebook and creating them on MySpace. What do you think?
Photo credit, surrealpenguin (read more…)
A quick Google search or a peek at Twitter will show a lot of people are already talking about your company. This leads to the big, “Now what?” question. I’m a big believer that we’re all blogging, tweeting, and commenting because we want to have discussions and that we expect companies to participate. The worst thing you could do is nothing at all.
What to do:
- Find the conversation. By setting up a few simple blog and Twitter searches, someone on your staff can keep an eye on the online conversation about you in just a few minutes a day. Soon, you’ll discover who your biggest fans are as well as any issues you should be addressing.
- Say thanks. This is the most basic, simple thing you could do to join a conversation. It takes almost no time and you’ll be amazed at how happy it makes your talkers.
Today’s post is from Liz Ruskin, contributing editor of SmartBrief on Leadership.
Tech execs from major U.S. companies predicted how computer technology will next shake up our lives when they spoke at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles on Monday. Here are some of their observations:
- For decades, the goal of most computing innovation has been productivity, says Shane Robison, the chief strategy and technology officer for HP. Now, he says, applications and services “are really much more about communication and collaboration.” One effect is the advent of social media, but the trend will soon transform search and entertainment, he says.
- Greg Papadopoulos, CTO of Sun Microsystems, said that now we’re impressed when Google searches a sea of information for us in mere seconds but we should be dissatisfied with this mode of search. In the future, he and Robinson said, search will be done for us. Every electronic device we buy will connect to a network and our search results will be based on things like our location to our preferences and past behaviors.
As we start a new work week we wanted to share some extra links that you shouldn’t miss. Check out the 
first article about mass following Twitterers. It’s a useful look at how marketing on Twitter doesn’t need to involve a massive following strategy.
Photo credit, waltercolor (read more…)
Today’s guest post is from Patrick O’Keefe, owner of the iFroggy Network and the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online forums, communities and social spaces. He blogs at ManagingCommunities.com and is on Twitter as @iFroggy.
Some people consider forums old hat. But they are still a vital foundation of the social web, used by just as many people as blogs and social networking sites, according to a Forrester research survey conducted last year.
They can be powerful traffic drivers, but they can also be protective and sensitive to outsiders. But, if you do your homework, participate genuinely and approach them with respect, you can benefit from your participation with increased awareness of your Web site, company or brand.
Here are four simple rules for generating traffic from forums:
- Observe first, act second. Before you do anything, check out the forums simply as a reader.
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