Pinterest: Fastest Growing Social Media Site Ever?

Pinterest is an online bulletin board used to organize your favorite images from the web onto boards you create around categories that you set. For instance one may have boards for travel photography, home interiors, gifts, weddings, etc.  What is interesting to me is that the site has become popular not from early adopters from the East or West coast but from the middle of America.  Follow the links below for the top Pinterest tips, how to use Pinterest for business, Pinterest infographic and more.  Bookmark this page as a resource and please leave comments or your suggested links as well. You can request an invitation to join Pinterest here:  http://pinterest.com/

• Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide to the Hot New Social Network http://on.mash.to/wFNXvW

• Pinterest: The Next Big Thing in Social Media for Business & How to Use It – by @JasonFalls   bit.ly/yQQcCd

• Pinterest Hits 10 Million U.S. Monthly Uniques Faster Than Any Standalone Site Ever   tcrn.ch/yafudZ

• Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers-INFOGRAPHIC   bit.ly/zz0DnU

• 21 Must-Follow Pinterest Users   on.mash.to/zHAghx

• Pinterest: 13 Tips and Tricks for Cutting Edge Users   http://on.mash.to/zRfrjb

The Schablog – Kwik Hits: Curated Content for a Busy World

I’m beginning an experiment of sorts, by posting the following first Kwik Hit style post – an in depth look at a topic through curated links to quality content. While I say this is a departure from what I usually due, that’s only partially true. I started this blog by posting quick reviews and posts about upcoming or soon-to-be-popular services, software, tech and online marketing trends. It was a way to keep my digital team and our clients up to date about what to pay attention to and what’s just hype.  People read the content regularly as their digital marketing digest – a one stop shop for information to keep ahead of the curve.

As I transitioned into longer form content, I typically would digest the top posts and articles on a topic and then write my own analysis. As my time became more in demand, the frequency and consistency of my posts suffered.  So I’m going back to what worked; at least as a base level of content.

So if you get a chance to review any of the Kwik Hits, please leave a comment with your thoughts or additional good links. If you like what you see, pass it along to others. If you don’t, then tell me why in a comment or an email to scottschablow at gmail dot com.

Facebook Changes – THE Social Infrastructure?

The big changes at Facebook, announced today by Mark Zuckerberg at the F8 developer’s conference, are bigger than anythingthe company has done so far. I’ve been reading a lot of analysis about the implication of the changes and I can confidently say that no one, not even Zuckerberg, can fully comprehend the impact this will have on the social web.

Most people are initially talking about the new timeline feature the Facebook profile. It’s like a virtual, visual scrapbook of your life (or your friends life for you to view); an app-generated autobiography of sorts. It goes beyond a static collection of where you’ve been or what you’ve done though.  Eventually Facebook will provide way to see what your friends are doing in real-time AND (here’s the kicker) actually join them right now to do it together, whether it’s watching a TV show together, listening to music or sharing an article.

The engine creating this functionality is the “The Open Graph,” an initiative allowing app developers to create programs that interweave with all conceivable aspect of our lives. The end result could be our own, individual, reality show where everything we do is seen (if we allow) by friends, family and others. Everyone can star in their own version of The Truman Show.

I have found a few articles written by authorities on the subject that I wanted to share with you. If you see any other analysis of the Facebook changes please mention them in the comments to share with others.

Facebook’s Changes—It’s All About the Platform

by David Kirkpatrick – @DavidKirkpatric – Tech journalist, founder of the Techonomy Conference, columnist at Daily Beast

Social Networks Mean New Revenue & Customers

Social networks proving their value as a marketing channel.

Social media, social media, social media, social media, social media. It seems that’s all anyone is talking about these days. And for GOOD REASON, it appears.

According to eMarketer, a survey by office services firm Regus shows that companies around the globe are already realizing returns on their increased social media investments from earlier this year.  In the US, 43% of businesses used social networks successfully for winning new customers in 2011. That represents an 8 percentage point increase over 2010.

• 50 percent of businesses in the U.S. use websites such as Twitter to engage, connect with and inform existing customers
• In the U.S., 55 percent of firms encourage their employees to join social networks such as Linkedin and Xing
• 38 percent of U.S. companies dedicate up to 20 percent of their marketing budget to business social networking activity

Google Piloting Authorship Markup in Web Search

Google has begun its pilot program (announced a couple of weeks ago) to start highlighting the authors creating web content in Google.com search results. Its Google’s way of identifying, verifying and then highlighting high-quality content. They say the logic behind the move is that the web is people-centric and that “people discovering content on the web often want to learn more about its author, see other content by that author, and even interact with the author.” As you can see from the example the author’s profile picture and name appears to the right of the search results.

The new feature will identify quality content if you are familiar with the author. Will content farms be able to game the system? What implications do you think this will have for search users and for content providers?

Resource notes:

Google’s blog post about the pilot program.

How to participate in Google’s new Authorship markup program.