Social Media Butterfly

MC Hammer Launches Social Network

Posted by Nathania Johnson

On Fox Business right now as I type is MC Hammer. Yes, you read that right. MC Hammer. You can’t touch this.

MC Hammer is at the All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California. He is promoting his new social network (I can’t believe I just typed those last 2 sentences).

The network is called DanceJam and is a niche social site all about dance videos. Of course, dance videos are huge on YouTube. From dance battles to the history of dance, we love our dance vids.

And it’s no wonder, since Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance? are popular TV reality dance shows.

DanceJam began with angel funding and now has VC backing. The site is supported by display ads, but they aren’t too intrusive yet.

Tired of Waiting for Twitter to Tweak? Go to FriendFeed

Posted by Nathania Johnson

If you’ve been using Twitter lately, then you know that the utility can be down at any given moment. It’s no surprise that more and more FriendFeed invites are arriving in my inbox.

Today, I finally downloaded Alert Thingy, which is like Twhirl (a Twitter client) but for FriendFeed. The thing is sweet and while Twhirl hasn’t been able to give me any Tweets this morning, Alert Thingy has been, well, alerting me for a couple hours now.

But not just of Tweets. FriendFeed (and subsequently Alert Thingy) alerts me to anything my FriendFeed friends are sharing from any of their social profiles - StumbleUpon, Digg, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, del.icio.us, RSS feeds from your blogs and even Amazon wishlists.

But also, you can just post a thought like you would on Twitter. You can either use the “share something” function on the FriendFeed homepage, FriendFeed’s bookmarklet on your browser toolbar to share a web page, or via Alert Thingy. And hey, you don’t have to use a Tiny URL b/c you can hyperlink text instead. Did I mention you can search FriendFeed?

So, unless Twitter gets its act together fast, I think we should all migrate over to FriendFeed. I’m not sure what we’ll call our updates or if we’ll use @ to direct replies to someone. But we’ll figure it out as we go along.

Good Reads: Social Media’s Fork in the Road, Network Demographics

Posted by Nathania Johnson

The Fork in the Road for Social Media - Read Write Web

Social Network User Demographics - Social Media Optimization

Blog Advertising to Reach $746 Million by 2012

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Blog advertising in the US is projected to reach $746 million by 2012, according to a report by eMarketer. Also by 2012, an estimated 145 million people will be reading blogs at least once a month. That’s 67% of the US internet population.

Last year there were 22.6 million bloggers, but by 2012 there will be 34.7 million according to the report. Also last year, blog advertising reached $283 million.

My personal tip for getting a piece of the pie is PERSEVERANCE. It’s easy to start blogs (I’ve started several). It’s difficult to stick with it. But those who do - and I mean for the long haul - are the ones who seem to be the most successful.

via Research and Markets

FriendFeed Adds “Rooms”

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Ok, this news is like 6 days old, but it’s still cool. FriendFeed now has “rooms.” That’s a different way of saying groups.

You can create your own group or join an existing one. It’s a great way to just check out updates from a certain group of people. Thus, the reason the word group was even invented.

For example, there’s a new group for peeps from North Carolina, where yours truly resides. This will be a great way to catch up on what’s going on nearby, such as networking events - especially when Twitter is down, which has been a lot lately.

(Speaking of Twitter, they need groups too!)

I like FriendFeed’s growth. First, they got everyone to sign up. Then they added search, and now they have rooms. Steady and slow, just the way growth thrives. I think they have their best tricks still up their sleeves. I hope so, because I still need something more from them in order to be a regular FriendFeed user, you know, on the level of Twitter.

The Doctors Channel Adds Videos from 3 Top Hospitals

Posted by Nathania Johnson

A medical educational video site, The Doctors Channel, has announced the addition of videos from three of the nation’s top hospitals.

Users can now view vids from Seattle Children’s Hospital, Medical University of South Carolina, and Swedish Medical Center.

The Doctor’s Channel Launched in August of 2007 and has over 700 videos from physicians all across the United States.

As I’ve been saying, online video is HOT and it looks like it might be going niche.

Tshirts for the Social Media Aware

Posted by Nathania Johnson

I’ve designed several tshirts for the social media crowd. I hope you like them. I’ve made them available on CafePress. You can get each design in several styles of t-shirt. There’s three categories: Social Media Butterfly, Blogging, and Schmoozing. Here they are:

Social Media Butterfly Tees - are you a social media butterfly like me? Then one of these tees will fit right into your wardrobe

Social Butterfly, Media Inserted

Social Media Butterfly Simple Design (not a very creative title, but appropo nonetheless)

Social Media Butterfly Graphic Tee

Blogging Tees- blogging is a big part of social media and has transformed the way the world communicates. wear your craft on your sleeve.
I think, therefore I blog

The Revolution Will Be Blogged (First Design)

The Revolution Will Be Blogged (Second Design)

Blogg’d - this is a spoof on the logo for the MTV show, Punk’d

Schmoozer - i figured guys wouldn’t want to wear the “Butterfly” tees, so I designed “Schmoozer” tees especially for the gents. (but ladies can wear them too!)

Schmoozer (Classic)

Schmoozer Beta - for social networking newbies

Social Media Schmoozer - schmoozing’s been around long before social media, this tee helps to define your schmoozing niche

Schmoozr - it’s all the rage to name web 2.0 sites with names that leave out that last vowel. this is schmoozing 2.0, baby.

SocialVibe Launches Disaster Relief Cause

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Recently, I told you about the launch of SocialVibe, which connects brands and social media users. What makes SocialVibe stand out is there focus on charitable giving.

Now, SocialVibe has launched a special Disaster Relief Cause, so that brands and users can work together to provide support and aid during times of emergency.

The development was fueled by the Myanmar cyclone and the earthquake in China. As of this post, SocialVibe has raised $1,008 for Disaster Relief.

It’s this kind of thing that makes me believe SocialVibe could be one of the next hot things. You and I, together, can help make that happen - and make a difference at the same time. Go get your SocialVibe on.

Facebook’s New Profile Designs

Posted by Nathania Johnson

In February, Facebook announced that it was updating the design of its user profiles. Today, they hosted a meeting for a few select bloggers and journalists to discuss the changes.

The new profiles will be tab-based with four sections: feed, info, photos and applications. The changes won’t be implemented until June, but here are some images of what the new design looks like.

What do you think of the design? Does it work for you?

Bigelow Tea’s Online Video Strategy Incorporates How-To Vids

Posted by Nathania Johnson

You know I love social media with a purpose. But did you know I also love tea? And did you know I also love Bigelow tea?

No, I’m not shilling for them. I came across a press release about Bigelow’s new “How To” video, part of a greater “How To” series.

The new video is “How to Naturally Decaffeinate a Cup of Tea.” Now, if I want decaf (and I rarely do), then I’ll just buy decaf tea. But, I did learn alot - including the fact that the first 30 seconds of what comes out of a tea bag once it hits the hot water is caffeine! Did you know that? (Bigelow recommends pouring out those first 30 seconds of water, and placing the tea bag in a fresh batch of the boiling stuff.)

They also have videos on how to make cocktails using their tea products.

I love “How To” videos, and I think they’re a great way for companies to enter the online video space. Got a new product in your store? Have tips and tricks to share? You don’t need anything fancy, just a simple “How To” video will do

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