Chocolate is delicious, we all love it. But when was the last time you ate some and immediately told your friends about it? It’s generally a fantastic product, but it rarely inspires us to rush out and tell the world about it. Everyone knows chocolate is great.
The chocolate problem is a frustrating curse that [...]

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The 5 most-clicked links in SmartBrief on Social Media this past week:

The link between content and influence
Facebook rivals Google for finding content
Turn negative reviews into positive buzz
Facebook readies “Zero” version for mobile
Kevin Smith tiff with Southwest Airlines leaves a mark

Study: Consumers less likely to trust their friends

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As of this writing, Google hasn’t formally announced its plans for integrating some form of social-status updates into Gmail. I’m not going to speculate about what they’re planning — though I encourage you to give it a shot — and to read Augie Ray’s provocative take on the subject.
Instead, I wanted to open up the [...]

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This post is by Elena Ziebarth, who works in new product development at SmartBrief.
The New America Foundation and Slate hosted a fascinating panel yesterday morning, “Authority, Meet Technology: Will China’s Great Firewall Hold.” Bringing together experts on China, business and legal ethics, and the Internet, the panel discussed whether Google had made the [...]

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Last week’s post on Google’s introduction of “real-time” search sparked quite a bit of discussion. SmartBrief on Social Media readers had a number of questions, concerns and fears about what this shift in the search landscape might mean to marketers. For answers, I turned to George Bounacos, COO of Silver Beacon Marketing and a SEM [...]

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Online marketers have long preached the importance of search engine optimization. Make sure you’re mindful of keywords when writing Web site or blog content. Make sure your title tags explain your site or post effectively. Tag your entries appropriately and work with your colleagues and partners to ensure you are creating a community of links.
Sure, [...]

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Heard of Google Sidewiki? It’s a Google toolbar that enables anyone to comment on any Web page for the world to see. Yes, any Web page. Including yours.
At less than three months old, Google Sidewiki has garnered mixed reviews. Some have said it has had little notable impact, and others argue that it is simply [...]

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Creating a sense of authenticity is key to making your social media posts interesting and meaningful. But how do you do that? Does being authentic mean posting about every little thing? The secret, according to Jay Baer, isn’t the importance of the event you’re posting about, but whether that post reveals anything truly personal about [...]

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