My personal You Tube

You Tube is terrific for so many reasons, including sharing kid videos with family and friends. Here's a video that I put on of my kids.

We're all in a community of some sort: neighborhood, social groups, family. Any one who wants to grow that group or start one can use social media to their advantage.

Social Media Demographics

Who's out there on the different sites? Well, this should give you a brief look into who is at the different sites. It's a glimpse into the workings of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. It also shows the crossover, which is great for seeing how many people you can touch in multiple ways.

Facebook

Founded: 2004

U.S. Unique Monthly Visitors (June 2009): 87.3 million

Year-over-Year UMV Growth: 198%

Average Time Spent (Monthly): 4 hours, 39 minutes, 33 seconds

Age:	65 and up: 6.3%	50-64: 20.5%	35-49: 32.0%
	18-34: 28.0%	12-17: 7.8%	2-11: 5.4%
Income:	$150k and up: 7.8%	$100k – $149k: 16.4%	$75k – $99k: 19.1%
	$50k – $74k: 26.4%	$25k – $49k: 21.0%	$0k – $24k: 6.0%
	No Response: 3.3%
Sex:	Female: 57%	Male: 43%

Myspace

Founded: 2003

U.S. Unique Monthly Visitors (June 2009): 62.8 million
Year-over-Year UMV Growth: 6%

Average Time Spent (Monthly): 2 hours, 26 minutes, 58 seconds

Age:	65 and up: 3.6%	50-64: 15.8%	35-49: 29.1%
	18-34: 34.8%	12-17: 11.8%	2-11: 4.9%
Income:	$150k and up: 5.1%	$100k – $149k: 12.0%	$75k – $99k: 16.0%
	$50k – $74k: 27.2%	$25k – $49k: 26.9%	$0k – $24k: 9.6%
	No Response: 3.2%
Sex:	Female: 57%	Male: 43%

YouTube

Founded: 2005

U.S. Unique Monthly Visitors (June 2009): 87.7 million
Year-over-Year UMV Growth: 22%

Average Time Spent (Monthly): 1 hours, 12 minutes, 57 seconds

Age:	65 and up: 8.2%	50-64: 20.5%	35-49: 29.5%
	18-34: 26.5%	12-17: 9.6%	2-11: 5.8%
Income:	$150k and up: 7.2%	$100k – $149k: 14.7%	$75k – $99k: 18.0%
	$50k – $74k: 25.9%	$25k – $49k: 23.5%	$0k – $24k: 7.5%
	No Response: 3.2%
Sex:	Female: 52%	Male: 48%

Twitter

Founded: 2007

U.S. Unique Monthly Visitors (June 2009): 21.0 million
Year-over-Year UMV Growth: 1,928%

Average Time Spent (Monthly): 31 minutes, 17 seconds

Age:	65 and up: 7.6%	50-64: 22.9%	35-49: 34.8%
	18-34: 28.5%	12-17: 4.7%	2-11: 1.5%
Income:	$150k and up: 9.3%	$100k – $149k: 16.4%	$75k – $99k: 18.8%
	$50k – $74k: 23.9%	$25k – $49k: 20.8%	$0k – $24k: 7.5%
	No Response: 3.3%
Sex:	Female: 56%	Male: 44%

Source: The Nielsen Co, June 2009

The big surprises for me were the time spent monthly for these sites. Also, the amount of users in the 50-64 age range was much higher than most people think.

Did you know about did you know.

These videos are entertaining, quick and good information. Here's the newest in the series from the Did You Know creators: Jeff Brenman, Karl Finch and Scott McLeod

We're all P. Diddy, Gwen Stefani, and Sean White

America is obsessed with stardom. Fame is bought and sold as if it could be found on the stock exchange. There are the famous people who have an amazing amount of talent, or are athletic, or are smart. There are even those that have been ranked by TMZ for being famous without any talent.

What most of these people can show us though is how to cross market ourselves. I remember hearing a story once from a photographer who had shot Cindy Crawford. He said at certain times she'd start talking in the third person. I laughed and thought, "what's next, her using the royal 'We' to talk about herself." But he said she wasn't being vain. When she said, "this isn't right for Cindy Crawford" she was talking about her brand not herself as a person.

That's the crucial point of view.

P.Diddy capitalized on his fame with a restaurant, clothing line, countless TV shows, a marathon run, and more. Gwen Stefani decided to try her hand at fashion design and a fragrance. Sean White now has a music album on top of his clothing line, snow boards, and video games. Can The Flying Tomato sing? You tell me because there's no way I'm buying that album to find out.

Now, I can't see my plumber, as talented as he is at fixing hot water heaters, coming out with a line of high heel shoes. But I can see him doing YouTube videos on his other passion, fishing. He's a funny guy, I would read his blog. Is there room in a crawl space to twitter? I don't know, but my point is, you don't have to be famous to put yourself out there. No it may not go anywhere, but it will at least give you a chance to explore who you are in different settings.

Just an idea. That is all David Cohen has to say about that.

Apple G5s At Microsoft Get Employee Fired

I was in a softball league where there was some funny named teams. The scariest named team we played wasn't the Sharks In My Pants or The Hatchet Men, but a team named The Lawyers.

Employers are nervous about social media and they are right to be. It also should make employees and contractors nervous as well (please don't sue me). I recently read this article which came from HR.com about how an office temp got caught up in the, "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC," computer wars. The jist of the story by Michael J. Powell and David Gevertz follows:

An interesting example of online misconduct is that of Michael "Woody"
Hanscom who chose imprudently to post in cyberspace without authorization
information gained from his workplace. On his way to work at Microsoft one day,
Mr. Hanscom saw a number of Apple G5 computers being delivered on Microsoft's
loading dock, some of which had fallen off a pallet. Thinking his friends might
find the event amusing, Mr. Hanscom took a picture of the Apple computers and
later posted the photo on his blog. Mr. Hanscom titled the photo "Even Microsoft
wants G5's," and mentioned "the print shop I work in is in the same building as
MS's shipping and receiving." While his posts may have garnered a few
laughs, they also led to the termination of his employment – ultimately due to
breaching Microsoft's security guidelines.

Of particular interest, however, is the fact that Mr. Hanscom did not work
for Microsoft. He had gained access to Microsoft's campus through his employment
with a temporary staffing firm, Today's Staffing, on a contract job with Xerox,
which handled Microsoft's copy service. As a temporary worker, Mr. Hanscom
claimed he was not told of Microsoft's security guidelines, but had followed
Xerox regulations and did not know photography on Microsoft's campus was a
violation of any confidentiality agreement. Also, since the loading dock was
visible from a public road along with much of Microsoft's campus, there was some
question as to whether the photo captured information that was truly
confidential. Nevertheless, Mr. Hanscom's employment on Microsoft's campus was
terminated.

It makes me even nervous quoting lawyers. Please don't sue me. The article goes into more detail about Content Rights, Copywright Considerations, and Defamation. The title of the article is "Legal Issues Presented By Social Networking."

I'm not saying don't blog. I'm not saying don't criticize anything. Social Media is a great medium for informing us all about both amazing and horrible products. I'm just saying be careful. Don't get sued and don't sue me.

Tis The Season To Plan The Budget, Fa la la la la.

For many companies, January 1 is the start of the fiscal year, which means this is budget season. I know a marketing manager who recently called me and wanted to ask how much it would cost for her company to use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. I was also going to possibly help them start a blog, so she wanted to know how much that was going to cost.

We talked about the design and my hourly rate. But that wasn't what she wanted to know. She needed to know how much to put down to join Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I wasn't sure what she meant. "They're free," I said.


There is a lot of talk about the success of social media. A recent study by Comscore and GroupM now proves people who come across brands through social media are almost twice as likely to perform searches on them.

People also talk about consumer's hunger for more information. In his book, named Free, Wired editor Chris Anderson talks about how consumers not only want something for free, but now expect it. Mr. Anderson (spoken with a Matrix accent) talks about how the more businesses can give away, the more they can build demand for their paid-for products.

All this is true, but my friend and her budget reminded me why most small to medium sized businesses should be using Web 2.0 when budgets get slashed. IT'S FREE.

Another friend of mine asked in a Facebook update if he should use traditional media to market his board game, Loaded Questions. I commented, "Print ads cost. The reason you're doing social media is the cost/reward." His Facebook updates are free.

Here's my point, and my last example. I should probably move this blog to a self hosted site. I plan to. Right now though, having a free blog, is still a great way to expand my reach. This is in my budget. Is social media in yours?

Insider Facebook Humor

Well, here's the dangers of Facebook with the wit of Brittish humor. Imagine Monty Python's funny walks Facebook application.

The fact is there's both an upside and a downside to putting yourself out on the web. I recently added Plaxo to my list of social sites. The upside was it got me in front of new people and Plaxo unlike Facebook allows you to separate your list of connections into business, friends and family. The downside is that I've had some people email me annoyed that I'm contacting them on yet another social media avenue. I'm not quite the stalker yet--I don't even play Mafia wars.

I just want to keep in contact with as many people as possible. You don't know from where the next opportunity will come. There's so many opportunities out there, however, and it's not always easy knowing how to find them.

It's a problem so many people are dealing with now that computers have opened up the millions of knowledge centers out in the world. The question isn't how do I get information but how do I get the right information, exactly the way I want it.

When I lived in New York, I used to look out at all the windows lit up at night and think to myself that for every window there's a story out there. Now, I think about all the computers out there and think how many stories are being told. The question is, how many do I want to read?