Social Media Butterfly

In the Name of Grammar: Facebook Wants Gender Specification

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Facebook says that grammar is getting in the way of user experience from some members outside the US. That’s why they’re requesting new members fill out the information. Existing users will also be prompted to state their gender.

Apparently those who haven’t designated a gender get a little perturbed at the way they’re referred to on the Mini-Feed. Facebook has been using “themself,” which as Product Manager Naomi Gleit points out on the Facebook blog, isn’t even a word.

Gleit also says that there are members who find specifying their gender “too limiting.” Sigh.

Of course, the update will help Facebook’s knowledge of its demographics, which advertisers will find particularly useful.

Where have I been?

Posted by Nathania Johnson

I’ve been around. I hit blogging walls just like I think just about everyone does.

But I’ve also hit some personal walls, and you can learn about them on a personal blog I share with my good friend. The blog is NatandCat.com and it’s a free for all over there.

So if you ever get tired of talking shop - head on over there and rant away in the comments. Doesn’t even have to be relevant.

Man Uploads Vacation Video, Gets Free 7 Night Stay

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Are you rewarding the creators of social media content generated around your company? If not, you should be!

Recently, Aaron Schwartz posted video from his stay at a Marriott Renaissance Ocean Suites in Aruba on MySpace and YouTube. The general manager of the Marriott found out and offered him a free 7 night stay, according to ABC News.

The original online video garnered the hotel free publicity and word of mouth. But the 7 night stay earned the hotel earned media nationwide. Overall, the hotel’s costs are minimal. It’s a win-win for everyone.

What are you going to do to reward social media-minded customers? Share your ideas in the comments.

Ustream’s Hunstable and Ham Interviewed on Fox Business

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Ustream co-founders Brad Hunstable and John Ham interviewed by Liz Claman of Fox Business.

Social Networking Skyrockets in the U.K. (Including Ad Spending)

Posted by Nathania Johnson

27% of internet users created a social network profile in 2007. Already in 2008, 60% had. This is according to a survey by eMarketer, which I covered on Search Engine Watch this morning.

And despite all the talk you hear about how difficult it is to make social media profitable (both on the network end and the advertiser end), UK social network ad spending is expected to rise 77% this year and 148% by 2012.

The UK social network ad spend makes up 60% of the overall European market.

3 Days in the Valley: Interview with LinkedIn CEO

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Fox Business has sent one of their news anchors, Liz Claman out to Silicon Valley for three days and she’s interviewing some of the top names in Tech. I’ll be embedding the videos related to social media on this blog for your convenience. Here’s two with LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye. The first one is the broadcast one and the second is one just for the web.

New Music Tuesday - June 11, 2008

Posted by Nathania Johnson

My apologies for an off topic post. This was supposed to be published on NatandCat.com 

Albums…

James Hunter ‘The Hard Way’ - this guy is the male version of Amy Winehouse and Duffy. actually, when i first listened, i thought this was a modern release of oldies music.

Jakob Dylan solo album - sampling it on iTunes, it sounds mostly acoustic. It’s good, just not for me.

Alanis Morissette’s ‘Flavor of Entanglement’ - I’ve never been a huge Alanis fan, so I’m not sure I can give a fair yay or nay on this one. Sampling it sounds like a mix of electronic, rock in the vein of Kelly Clarkson’s latest and Evanescence, and the pop stuff we’re used to from her.

Emmylou Harris - country - though a bit more folky/alternative. not for me, though i have great respect for Emmylou

iCarly soundtrack - based on the popular Nickelodeon show. it’s a cool show, so a must-buy for my daughter. but also, a good backup in case Miley Cyrus goes downhill.

Supergrass ‘Diamond Hoo Ha’ - rock - but has some roots rock and
80s rock sounds too. not my style but if it’s your thing, go for it.
they sound pretty good for their genre.

Rev Theory ‘Light it Up’ - if you’re into hard rock, you should like this.

My Morning Jacket - alternative. if you like music just cuz it’s different, then you should like this.

Priscilla Ahn ‘A Good Day’ - soft and alternative pop. beautiful voice.

Cassandra Wilson ‘Loverly’ - jazz. Wilson has a deep voice. It’s stunning the low notes she can hit.

Ahmad Jimal ‘It’s Magic’ - piano-based jazz. sounds really good. great background music for reading, a dinner party, etc.

The Fratellis ‘Here We Stand’ - great alternative band for their music, but i haven’t been a big fan of their lyrics in the past b/c they can be on the trashy side. will have to do more investigating before investing.

Singles…

Jennifer Hudson ‘Spotlight’ - good sound, and of course that incredible voice. someone tell me why she didn’t win American Idol again?

Robin Thicke ‘Magic’ - smooth vocals as usual, got some throwback to 70s R&B sound.

Nelly ‘Body on Me’ (f. Akon and Ashanti) - basically, what you’ve come to expect from Nelly. he sees a hot chick and wants to have sex with her. that’s putting it nicely.

where I buy my music…

even though I sample music on iTunes - i now buy mp3s from Amazon.com when possible. that way i can play them on any device, just in case i’m not using an ipod or iphone in the future.

Social Media Browser Flock Adds Digg, Pownce, and AOL Webmail

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Social media web browser Flock has announced the addition of Digg, Pownce and AOL webmail to its list of supported services. Here’s what to expect from each:

• Digg – Flock has added support for the pioneering social content site, Digg. Flock users can now submit or ‘Digg’ news stories, videos, images or other Web content from any Web page by clicking a designated Digg button; track friends’ submissions and votes; and easily access the top five most popular stories on Digg.
• Pownce – Flock has also added the micro-blogging service, Pownce, to the sidebar. If you have a Pownce account you can share files and comment on them without opening up a separate webpage.
• AOL Webmail Integration – Flock has added AOL Webmail to let users quickly and easily access their email account, joining Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, which were integrated in Flock’s 1.1 release. When new emails arrive, the Flock Mail icon lights up to let Flock users know that new messages are waiting for them.

The Firefox-based browser has seen 3.5 million downloads of the browser since January 2008.

Good Read: Rachel Happe’s Big List of Social Media Metrics

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Rachel Happe has compiled a thorough list of data points for measuring Social Media. Thank goodness for people like Rachel who won’t take the measurement battle sitting down!

Welcome, Copyblogger Readers!

Posted by Nathania Johnson

Today, I had a guest post on Copyblogger about maximizing your Twitter use. I am a Twitter fanatic. It is my absolute favorite social media tool (with StumbleUpon being a close second).

Please feel free to comment on posts or contact me as well as subscribe to my RSS feed. And of course, follow me on Twitter @nlj.