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One of the benefits of working with a company that specializes in blogging for SEO is that it gives us some inside connections to SEO experts who have accomplished quite a bit of testing and experimentation. Today I had a discussion with someone who recommended a couple social media sites that can actually assist with your Search Engine placement.

In somewhere around 100 different ways on this blog, I've tried to stress the importance of showing over telling. Very recently I was happy to speak with Bryan Tighe of Collective Lens, a beautiful and comprehensive web-based photozine that helps small nonprofits and causes show their stories and impact in powerful and touching ways. The site does a wonderful job of realizing and putting to work the impact of the visual, especially with regard to telling the story of an initiative, a people, and/or a country, and shows a lot of potential for helping organizations find support by sharing their impact visually.

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Briefly, a poetic Tweet-of-truth brought to us by NetSquared family member Joe Solomon:

"Everybody's a social media strategist; the web needs social media soldiers too."

Now! Onto the meat.

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 A few days back I spoke with a gentleman who works has worked as a staff member at a popular youth center based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We discussed, among many other things, how young people interact when they come into the center.

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A client asked me on the phone today, “What does blog stand for?”. I let him know that it was short for web log, and evolved into the abridged blog. A few minutes after the call, I received a note from my good friend, Dr. Thomas Ho, who asked, “What’s YOUR opinion of this?” and he left me a link to Paul Boutin’s Wired Essay, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004.

Environmental concerns are not new and Green IT efforts are gaining ground at many companies, both big and small. Of course, Green IT solutions are available to companies, but what else can businesses do to become more green? BearingPoint is searching for some new thinking on the topic.

Environmental concerns are not new and Green IT efforts are gaining ground at many companies, both big and small. Of course, Green IT solutions are available to companies, but what else can businesses do to become more green? BearingPoint is searching for some new thinking on the topic.

When putting together a social media strategy, be it your initial plan or a revamp, please (except in a few - very few - exceptional cases) stop offering me another movement to jump onto.

A while back, I worked for a woman for three months as a contracted employee - something of an odds and ends outreach person - and after finally putting some thought into her mission, she finally came up with an overarching objective: "I want you to use the Internet to start a movement around [the release of my book]."

The publication in question, which read like a textbook, was a heady and conceptual description of a particular element of global economics. Her goal was radically unachievable and immodest.

Google has apparently applied for a series of patents that will enable it to a put a value on how connected you are, within your social network. Akin to the "pagerank" system used by the search giant for valuing the popularity of websites, "friendrank" would help identify individuals who are particularly influential within circles of friends.

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Don't try too hard to crack the code of authenticity. Sometimes reaching out and connecting to "the kids" requires more than constructing a seemingly fail-safe online presence.

"We're really focusing on reaching out to kids," is an expression I am getting used to hearing when talking with outreach coordinators at nonprofits. "We're trying to connect with young people by reaching out to them on the Internet," is often uttered in the same breath. "We're really going to connect with them when we launch our social networking site later this year."

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Warning: The following inadvertently turned into something of a rant. The point, in the end, is that it is unwise to build a virtual social net without giving people context as to why you're trying to connect with them. In the end, it turned out to be slightly tainted with distain for social network whoredom. I'll be interested to hear about your take on the subject. 

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First of all, I just want to note how exciting it is that Amy Sample Ward has come on board as the new Net2 Community Builder. As you all know, Britt has done an amazing job of bringing some fantastic people around Net2's vision, she is loved and appreciated, and everyone is excited to see her stay involved with the Net2 community. At the same time, we're psyched to be checking out the great things that Amy is going to bring our way. Here's to the future.

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Join Facebook and three leaders in using social media for social change for a deeper look at how to spread causes and organize real-world movement through online networks. The session is being held as part of Advertising Week in New York, and is free and open to the public.

Facebook Spark Series: Spark a Movement
When: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, 9:00-9:45 am ET

Where: The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street, New York, NY

Register for free at: http://www.advertisingweek.com/?page=calendar&eventid=25_17

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Here’s an recent example of the “long tail” effect working for a non-profit.

Backstage Technologies is a small, “secretly Canadian” software company. They specialize in developing applications for Facebook - specifically, they’ve invented a way to simulate playing “scratch and win” lottery tickets. Careful, I said “simulate” - there isn’t actually money changing hands, you can’t win any cash.

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