So go on, start checking-in… and don’t forget to check in anyone you feel should be hanging with you… huh?

Yep, others can claim they are with you.  Take a look at my first check-in to the right. That’s me at work and I was nice enough to let everyone know that Trent was also at work, unannounced to Trent.  He sent me a nice thank you, luckily we were at work and not claiming we were out golfing, or at a hotel …I am sure his wife would appreciate me checking us into The W.

So you get why this isn’t cool right?  Say your girlfriend is out of town and you go out with your boys to the bars and run into an ex-fling who decides to “check-in” at the bar and tag you as being with her and brags that you and her just had the best night together reconnecting. Yeah, not good.

Or maybe you’re like me and you just don’t want people knowing where you are all time and who you are with.  I’m single, I have no one that really cares where I am except my dog, but I still don’t need to announce my location and I certainly don’t need my friends tagging that they are out in a bar with me or that we are shopping again.

Alright you get it, now let’s fix it. Yes, there are ways to control this madness.  TURN IT OFF!

Here’s what you do, it’s simple.

First, click on the Account tab at the top right and click Privacy Settings. Select the little blue “customize settings” towards the bottom of the screen that appears.  You’ll see a list of privacy options. Under the Things Others Share category, disable “Friends can check me in to Places.” Now, only you can broadcast your location.

You can also choose who can see your check-ins. Click the “Places I check in”  under the Things I Share category. The default is “friends only.” Selecting “Customize” brings up a pop-up where you can exclude entire networks, individual people, or everyone.

Finally, you may want to disable the “People Here Now” feature. “People Here Now” allows any user checked in at a location to see who else is checked in there—even if they’re not friends. Make sure the box is unchecked next to “Include me in ‘People Here Now’ after I check in.”

Alright friends… that should do it!

Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Places last night!  Think GPS location sharing, similar to Foursquare and Gowalla.
Facebook Places is a new product that allows users to share where they are, find out where their friends are, and discover interesting places nearby. Facebook Places also allows businesses to establish Places (physical store locations) on Facebook and then encourage guests to share where they are by “checking in” to their Place. Check-in stories can generate powerful, organic impressions in friends’ News Feeds, extending your brand’s reach to many potential new customers.

Got multiple retail locations?  Facebook plans to develop a solution for brands with multiple Places (store locations), that will allow the main brand Page to “adopt” all of their Places.
What can you do with Places now? Start to create and claim your Places.  Facebook Places is available to all Facebook users in the United States with the latest version of the Facebook for iPhone Application or any HTML5-enabled mobile device via touch.facebook.com.

This is a very exciting development and just another way Facebook is dominating the social space.

Here I am 1.5 years later as a Social Media Manager, swearing every time I see those damn birds carrying a whale. Put down the f*c**n whale and get my tweets up!  I have sH*t do here guys.

Seriously? This one image makes me want to throw something, I just spent 5 minutes putting together the perfect 140 charater tweet with enough room left for re-tweeting!!!  and now my tweet is gone and I am too pissed off to re-write it.  Not to mention I had to shorten the url myself!  Does the whale need all those birds? Can’t one be auto shortening my links?

Yes I know, there are plenty of Tweetme’s and Tweetdecks I can be using that seamlessly swim past these pathetic whales complete with url shorteners, but admit it, there are times when you have to go Twitter.  Tweetdeck likes to freeze on me and make annoying spinning noises, so I often prefer to use Twitter for some simple tweeting and DM’s.

Sometimes its good to stick to the basics.  I get a bit of nostalgia logging onto Twitter, but I am not sure I can handle anymore Fail Whales.  I wonder if my doctor will prescribe me Xanax on the grounds of social media platform rejection by silly images?

Oh and  if you know how to turn the Tweetdeck pop-up spinning noise making box off please save me.

Craigslist was one of the first social media platforms that connected people to buy, sell, rent and more.  It’s now grown to be the 35th most popular site according to google.   Has Craigslist gotten too big for its britches?  Maybe… but it also seems a bit old school for me, as it brings back memories of Top Ramen and living with 5 people, 3 cats and  3 bathrooms.   My hat still goes off to Craigslist as this “list” definitely paved the way for more innovative listing platforms.

Watchout Craig Newman! There’s a new bird in town, Adbirds. The Austin-based company has  Craigslist capabilities with a bit more feathers.

Adbirds features utilize social media’s sharing capabilities with buttons to share items for sale with friends on twitter, facebook, digg etc.  Its an easy way to get your items in front of more buyers. The interface is amazingly simple and easily connects you to where you want to be. Want to add 10 pics and embed video links? No prob.

The free accounts come with a unique user name and URL address, and easy pay features.   Any Free account can run 5 ads at a time.

Did I mention community love? All Adbirds users are encouraged to help build awareness of a local favorite organization with name and web link using the “favorite charity” identifier from the account manager.   So while you’re trying to make a few bucks off your old baseball card collection you can support your favorite charity, the name and link of the charity will appear at the top of every ad.

Join AdBirds Today  Adbirds.com

We have all seen the news about the Military restricting social media from the troops, and for good reasons right?  It protects the men and women serving from being located and protects our country from accidental leaks of sensitive information.

So instead of California restricting Facebook and Twitter use from government employees, they are enforcing guidelines.  I applaud California and believe that all organizations, government or not, should embrace social media and enforce a policy amongst its members.

Here is the release from the State of California.  

California Promotes Secure, Appropriate Use of Social Media Sites for State Government, Issues Policy

State Technology Update – February 26, 2010

The State of California has officially adopted the use of social media tools to promote communication and transparency for Californians interacting with state government. The Office of the State Chief Information Officer (OCIO) today released Information Technology Policy Letter (ITPL) 10-02 which outlines the use requirements for using social media sites such as FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube.

“The more we increase the state’s online presence to enhance communication and transparency, the better we are able to serve Californians,” said Teri Takai, California’s Chief Information Officer. “At the same time we must be diligent to ensure we use social media tools in a way that is secure and appropriate for official business. This policy provides a risk management framework for agencies to consider in their use of these innovative and dynamic tools.”

The policy encourages state officials to use social media tools, while requiring that only those users who are authorized and have been trained regarding their roles, responsibilities and the security risks as outlined in the policy, have access to social media sites while at work as a state employee. It also requires that agencies assign the management and monitoring of official social media sites to the same internal organization or individual that oversees public communications for the agency.

The policy is accompanied by a Social Media Standard to help state agencies consider the various risk factors associated with the use of social media sites. The Policy Letter can be found online at http://www.cio.ca.gov/Government/IT_Policy/ITPL.html. The Social Media Standard can also be found online in Section 66B of the Statewide Information Management Manual (SIMM) at http://www.cio.ca.gov/Government/IT_Policy/SIMM.html.

When the OCIO was established in January 2008, it was the intent of the Legislature and Governor to create an agency that, among other things, establishes policies and standards to ensure that state information technology (IT) systems run effectively. Through changes to the State Administrative Manual (SAM) and the SIMM, the OCIO creates statewide policy for the Executive Branch to ensure coordination as the agency works to oversee IT activities with a common direction and vision.

By now we are all familiar with the top social media sites; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We see each other tweets and notice that CEO’s like Mike Peter of Campus Advantage tweeted about the National Apartment Association conference 5 times in less than an hour on January 12.

You’ve heard it before, these sites can be powerful resources, help gain exposure and increase your online presence. For some, tweeting and other social media platforms come easy, but for most of us, we learn and explore before hitting the tweet this button.

There are no written rules on how to play the social media field, here are some simple ways to unleash the power of social media and design your own plan for success.

1. Share interesting content
Effective social media practices involve engaging your audience, which means figuring out what they want to know and what purpose you want to serve with your posts. Content can come in many forms, including articles, blog posts, video clips, quick tips, statistics, photos, news, industry resources, special offers and so much more.

2. Share information from other sources
Share what you find interesting and you will see your network grow with those that share the same interests. Share content from other websites, blogs, magazines, news outlets and other social media users. Remember, it’s about engaging your target audience. When you develop a reputation for providing interesting, useful content, even when it’s content from an outside source, you still benefit greatly.

3. Provide links
One of your goals should be to increase traffic back to your Web site or blog. You can do this by sharing compelling headlines alongside a link to further information on your site. You don’t need to include links with every post, but do distribute them often. Ever wonder how people get those tiny links? There are several link shortening service such as http://bit.ly, which shrinks long links.

4. Engage often
Commit to engaging as much as possible throughout the day, if that sounds like too much, try engaging at least once a day. Share a post first thing in the morning, then check in between meetings and at various intervals to respond to your audience, share new content and get engaged. Remember that your goal is to be a resource.

When I think of needs, I think of:  Starbucks, whitening tooth paste, Google search, and  my iphone.  I actually have all levels in the pyramid covered multiple times.

How amazing is it that Starbucks found its way into being in my life’s pyramid of needs? Now that is impressive Branding! Starbucks provides every level of the Pyramid.

Let’s start with the basics, Physiological, they provide food and water.  Moving along to Safety, I stay alert and productive because I get my Starbucks coffee every day and my co-workers are safer once I have my coffee.

Next is Love/belonging, this is my favorite one! When I order a tall half-caf, skinny vanilla latte, it shows that I am an insider and belong in “the club” I often ramble my long obnoxious order carelessly as I update the Baristas on the latest celebrity gossip.  I feel like a Rockstar (loved) because they remember my name and know how to spell it.

Now we are really getting into the magic of this brand, Esteem, watching those Barista’s aim to please me is exhilarating and when they call out my name I get that gitty feeling like Bob Hope just called me up to the Price is Right. The first sip of the not-so-great tasting coffee, shoots my confidence sky high and I am ready to take the day.

The last need is Self Actualization, I accept Starbucks for what it is… it’s mediocre coffee with long lines and no parking… but it brightens my day everyday, sometimes twice a day.

What’s my point?  Not only should we all have invested in Starbucks in the 70’s but Starbucks is a strong brand because they meet numerous core needs simultaneously.  Does your Brand do that?

You may heard of these guys already, I’ve known about them for months, either way, they are worth keeping an eye on.   They measure social media success across social networking platforms.  I have never used their service, but I have met with several sales reps that claim to know how to “measure social media” and have yet to sign up for anyone services.   I would love to know what you think.  Here is the skinny on Spredfast!

AUSTIN, Texas–Today, Spredfast publicly launched its social media campaign management platform that allows organizations to manage, monitor, and measure their messages and voices across multiple social media channels. As the first comprehensive social media dashboard, social media engagement through Spredfast offers the opportunity to shape conversation, increase traffic, create relationships, and ultimately build sales. Founded by two recognized social media veterans, Kenneth Cho and Scott McCaskill, Spredfast combines its platform with social marketing expertise to deliver a complete solution.

“With Spredfast, my IBM team is able to work collaboratively on our social media campaigns much more efficiently than before”

Large and small companies are already reaping the benefits of Spredfast, such as current customer, IBM: “With Spredfast, my IBM team is able to work collaboratively on our social media campaigns much more efficiently than before,” said Cliff Kinard, IBM’s senior marketing manager, social media and eMarketing. “Based on deep metrics and social streams, I can craft my message to increase my reach and acquire new customers for IBM.”

While many “social listening” services and Twitter-only programs exist, this is the first platform that offers a solution to the execution and measurement problems inherent in social media. Spredfast’s dashboard integrates with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr, and also currently supports Wordpress, Blogger, MoveableType, Lotus Live Connections, Drupal and most XML-RPC enabled blogging platforms. Spredfast is also able to incorporate support for other blog standards as customers require. Spredfast allows its clients to extend their branded content from a single administration interface to the blogosphere and the major social networks.

“Spredfast came to be because we were living in social media ourselves and for our clients. Campaigns were awkward, labor intensive and disconnected,” said Kenneth Cho, Spredfast co-founder. “We have great respect for analysis/listening tools like Radian6 or Crimson Hexagon and think point tools like CoTweet are great for Twitter. However, we realized something was missing and that prompted us to build Spredfast.”

Spredfast’s three main features include:

• Collaborative Campaign Management – Maximizes efforts by distributing and tracking one’s content on many social media channels via a single integrated dashboard. Inherently multi-user, this platform allows many social marketers to participate in any given campaign – assign tasks, create posts, and only send out approved content.
• Integrated Social Streams – Utilizes the power of social media networks to craft and leverage existing high-quality messages that are both relevant and engaging to one’s target audience. Through this mechanism, Spredfast enables a user to quickly create content and respond to conversations.
• Comprehensive Metrics & Reporting – Measures every piece of content distributed. Every metric that is available through those social media channels is pulled into the Spredfast dashboard. In addition, Spredfast has developed measurable actions to help develop ROI analysis on specific social media campaigns.

“Spredfast’s new dashboard offering brings the emerging social media management space to a new level,” said Carla Thompson, VP of Community Strategy at Guidewire Group. “Businesses can now automate and simplify the tedious task of collecting social media metrics and, more importantly, measure the impact from the array of channels used in social media campaigns today.”

Spredfast is currently being used by large enterprises like IBM, Cisco and AOL. However, the tool is also equally effective for smaller companies or organizations, such as the University of Texas’ Harry Ransom Center, who used Spredfast for its Edgar Allen Poe exhibit. Another example is Truluck’s, an upscale restaurant chain focused on seafood and steak, which used Spredfast for its entry into social media, significantly increasing its Twitter followers and growing from 0 to 659 Facebook fans in less than four months. Next up, Truluck’s is using Spredfast to integrate their blog and Flickr photos as well.

“What makes Spredfast unique is that it measures every piece of content you distribute and has the ability to create ROI analysis,” said Scott McCaskill, Spredfast co-founder. “Spredfast also categorizes its metrics into three segments, ‘Activity,’ ‘Engagement,’ and ‘Reach,’ a far more advanced measurement approach than is otherwise available for social media marketers today.”

Marketing agencies of all sorts and sizes, along with large enterprises and smaller organizations alike, can find value in Spredfast. For more information, visit http://spredfast.com/.

About Spredfast:

Based in Austin, Texas, Spredfast is a social media campaign management platform that allows organizations to manage, monitor, and measure their social media messages, and the effectiveness of each piece of content, across multiple social media channels. Founded by recognized social media veterans, Kenneth Cho and Scott McCaskill, Spredfast combines its platform with social marketing expertise to deliver a complete solution. Spredfast allows its clients to extend their branded content from a single administration interface to the blogosphere (Wordpress etc.) and the major social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr. Some of the early company adopters on board with Spredfast include AOL, Cisco, IBM, Porter Novelli and Sierra Club. For more information, visit http://spredfast.com/.

Stocktweeting, an innovative website that lets you interact with investors about publicly traded companies on top of the micro-blogging service Twitter has officially gone from alpha to beta status this past holiday weekend while unveiling a slew of new features in the process.

One new feature that we think will become an instant hit in the Twitter world is their new stock voting concept.  The website now boasts a social voting feature to rate publicly traded companies by tracking if users post tweets with a ‘+’ or ‘-‘.

Example
$INTC+:  Indicates that you are bullish on Intel’s stock
$JPM-:  Indicates that you are bearish on JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s stock
$AAPL=:  Indicates that you recommend holding or are neutral on Apple’s stock

“Putting a plus or minus after a ticker symbol will quickly become a very popular twitterism – the same way that adding a dollar sign in front of a publicly traded ticker symbol became such an industry standard in ‘09.” said Matt Hagens, CEO of Stocktweeting.com. “This idea is still fresh; however, we will soon have the ability to track thousands of votes simultaneously to see if shareholders are bull or bear on a particular stock.  We are not limiting this to just our site stocktweeting.com, our algorithm will calculate every vote within the freewheeling masses of Twitter stratosphere. This would essentially make guys like Jim Cramer obsolete.  I’ll take a community’s sentiment over one guy’s opinion any day of the week.”

About Stocktweeting

Stocktweeting leverages the power of the Twitter community and its real-time aspect to generate investment ideas by using common word filters to bring traders together over their network. Stocktweeting is an Austin, TX based start-up business self funded by Matthew Hagens of HagensMedia, LLC.  Mr. Hagens has a strong background in both web2.0 technology and finance, with a sound passion for Twitter and social media.

Stocktweeting.com Weekly Community Voting Sentiment Summary

$GOOG+ Bullish – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)
$KFT+  Bullish – Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT)
$CSCO+  Bullish –Cisco Sytems (NASDAQ: CSCO)
$DAL-  Bearish – Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL)
$BIDU-  Bearish – Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU)
$SRZ-  Bearish – Sunrise Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: SRZ)

This post goes out to a dear friend of mine, Elizabeth, who has a severe Facebook addiction and is close to needing medication to deal with it.   Sorry, girl, but it’s time to get grip. Here is how I know she has an issue, and I bet some of you might see a bit of yourself in these signs. If you do, please let me know so I can blog about your issues.

1.  Knows way too much information about people she isn’t really friends with… like who is getting married and who is pregnant.  She also gets upset that she finds this out on Facebook and says things like: “another one bites the dust” always followed by an “ugh!”

2. Elizabeth logs into her ex-boyfriends Facebook account and reads his Facebook inbox messages.  There are plenty exchanges between he and his new girlfriend, so I do enjoy hearing the scoop… but this is wrong! Very wrong!

3. She is constantly checking old boyfriends pages and often visits pages of the guys she is dating.  This one is not so bad, but can still be harmful to your self esteem.

4. She thinks deleting someone from her Facebook page is the ultimate punishment and often gives me advice to delete a person from my Facebook when I am upset with them.  (seriously bad advice)

5. She starts conversations with “what did you think of my Facebook status earlier today”  This is a really annoying question to me.  I do NOT stalk my best friends Facebook pages.

Alright, you get the point, she is seriously addicted and needs to detox from Facebook.  I recommend spending less than 5 hours a week on Facebook for personal use.  That is plenty of time to tag a few photos and ask your network if they have any meatloaf recipes they love.

If you are considering throwing yourself a pity party over the happiness and success of past lovers and friends… please keep in mind that Facebook is not reality, it’s a place to show off and put your best face forward.  People put up flattering photos and only write about the positive’s.   No one writes about how crazy his or her family is or mentions they prefer to not shower on Sundays.