Download Experience

Those who attempted downloading in the first few hours of the release did get updates quite slowly but speeds have picked up since then. There were also issues of not being able to install the OS because of “internal server errors”, “3200″ errors and possibly some others but it seemed to be temporary and on second/third attempts it usually worked. It was an inconvenience though.

Overall Satisfaction

As a result of the heavy load on Apple servers, there were quite a few failed installations but on repeated attempts they did get successful.

Best Features

If you have any other comments or reactions to the new iOS5, please post your comments below.

Other Posts you might like:

• iOS5 Update – The “O Where Art Thou” Reactions
• 10 Bizarre Facts you ought to know about Facebook
• 7 Awesomely Amazing Examples of Success through Youtube
• 14 Powerful Tips for Marketing on Facebook
  

It’s no big secret that Facebook can help you in online marketing. However, I know there are many of you who believe that just registering on Facebook is enough… it’s not. Your Facebook success story ends before it even begins!

There is much more to marketing on Facebook than just creating a profile.  Keeping your fans engaged is the key. Don’t be a brand, but be a community they love being a part of. In this article, I’m going to tell you how you can use the medium of Facebook to increase your customer base as well as retain the ones you have!

CREATE YOUR PRESENCE ON FACEBOOK

1.   Facebook Profile: By creating a profile for yourself or your business, you are establishing your identity. This will take you a long way in developing relationships with fellow users and in positioning your business. You profile lets you interact with people on a personal note, more so if it’s a local business. Here are some aspects of a profile page:

o    Profile Picture: Always put your best foot forward, which means use the most flattering picture as your profile picture.  No matter what they say, a book is judged by its cover. I came across M.A.C makeup’s profile and thought it was really catchy with the colors used on the face. Hundreds of indifferent people with little time to spare are going to decide whether to add you based on your picture. So, make sure you get this one right!

o    Add Friends: After creating a profile, don’t wait for things to happen. Add new friends every day and the word will spread that you’re on Facebook. Before you know it, you’ll be starting your day by accepting friend requests! However, make sure you don’t add more than 25 – 30 people a day as excessive adding can get your profile removed from Facebook.

o    Wall: This is your main platform to interact with Facebook users. Post messages on your wall and also comment on members’ activities, though, only when relevant. A cafe once commented on my status when it was something about food. And there! A personal connection was built in a second! I knew that I was going to visit this place more often. However, make sure you don’t spam people every other day or they may remove you from their friend list.

o    Photo Albums and Videos: Photos and videos are a great way to showcase the latest collection of your product. I know many people who love to see what goes on behind the scene during a photo shoot or while a baker does his magic in the kitchen. Moreover, the first thing most Facebook users check are photo updates. So take that camera and start shooting!

2.   Fan Pages: Facebook Pages, known as Fan Pages, are designed for businesses, brands, companies, products and celebrities. It enables public figures, organizations and other entities to create an authentic and public presence on Facebook. You can encourage users to become fans of your page and share information with them by uploading pictures, videos, status updates, hosting discussions and displaying wall posts. Unlike Facebook Profiles, Pages are visible to everyone on the internet and are generally better for long-term relationships with your fans, readers or customers.

3.   Groups: Facebook Groups allow people to come together around a common cause or activity to express their views. One of the best features of groups is the ability to send messages directly to members’ Facebook inboxes.  It’s a great way to form a community and help your brand image.
Nowadays, it’s almost a necessity for movies to establish their presence on Facebook during its post-release period as Facebook users look for movies here. The good thing here is that you can send bulk invites to your friends, while it is manually done on Pages.  Groups are generally better for hosting quick active discussions and attracting attention.

4.   Events: Simply put, Facebook Events can help you connect with your target audience and invite them for your events, even if they aren’t on your friend list or one of your fans. Events can be created individually or even from Profiles, Pages. What I like is that Facebook gives you a choice between making the event Public and Private.
Let me explain the difference. I got an invite from Alanis Morissette Unplugged Acoustic Performance for a show next month, though I’m not a ‘friend’ or a ‘fan’. This is an open invitation for a public event where anyone can access the page and RSVP to it. However, if you want to maintain an exclusive guest list, choose the ‘Private’ option and the event page won’t be visible to anyone except those you choose. If you’re planning a launch or celebrating a landmark event, the ‘Private’ option lets you selectively invite people and give details on a page that can’t be accessed by anyone else.

The Next Step: HOW TO USE FACEBOOK FOR ONLINE MARKETING

Social Media Marketing is still in its infancy. I consider this as an advantage because there are not many set rules, you can try & experiment with different methods & techniques. However, if you don’t want to experiment, here are some tried and tested methods that will ensure success:

5.   Be Unique and Keep Updating: There’s nothing more boring than bland Facebook pages. Add lots of personality and fun to your profile. If possible, try to create applications just for your page. Offer something different so that they keep coming back, instead of letting them wait for updates from you. If you check Dell’s Facebook page, you’ll see that it keeps updating its status and gives new information on their products and about technology.

6.  Use a Big Profile Picture: Who says size doesn’t matter? Using a big profile picture is one of the best ways to brand your Facebook page. Facebook allows images of up to 200pix wide x 600pix high to be used as profile images Pages. This way, you stand out in a crowd.  Check out Bob Marley or Johnny Depp’s page on Facebook and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

7.   Tag Fans in Photos: You can tag your fans in pictures of new collections, or even ask them to tag themselves as a part of a game or contest. Musician Lenny Kravitz uploaded pictures of his concert in Italy in 2009 and asked everyone to tag themselves. This gave him good publicity as the update on being tagged appeared on the fans’ walls.

8.   Exclusive Landing Page for Users: Use different pages to target different sets of people. Take new users to a page that encourages them to ‘Like’ you or to a page they would find interesting enough to keep coming back. Members/fans can be directed to the wall or a game page that might interest them. Red Bull’s profile page is designed in a way that users are given a hint to ‘Like’ the page, while fans are taken directly to the Wall. You can get innovative in designing landing pages and targeting different people. 

9.   Reward Loyal Supporters: Encourage loyal supporters to join your Page and reward them. Tabs or badges like ‘member of the month’ that can be placed on their profiles for visibility can be awarded to them. A happy customer on Facebook can get you lots of attention.  Remind users to Like and Share information about you. When their friends see the updates on the News Feed, it’s highly likely for them to do the same.

10.   Use Contests and Polls: Holding contests encourage fans to interact directly with you. Domino’s ‘Show Us Your Pizza’ is a contest where people can send pictures of Domino’s pizzas they’ve orders. The best picture will be chosen by Domino’s and the photographer gets a prize of $500 and a chance to get his picture featured in an ad. This has received a lot of attention from Facebook users.

11.   Actively Participate Outside Your Page: Find other Facebook pages related to your industry or topic using Facebook Search & start actively commenting on their posts & updates. This is a great way to build relationships in your industry and even adds credibility to your business. If you’re willing to offer free advice on communities and discussions, it will encourage people to check your website out.

12.   Integrate Facebook Social Plugins to Your Site: When I go to CNN’s website, I can see what stories my friends have ‘Liked’, or what movies my friends ‘Recommend’ on IMDB. The Like button on your site enables users to share pages from your site back to their Facebook profile and the Recommendation button gives users of your site personalized suggestions for pages that they like. There are many more buttons like LikeBox, Comments, Live Stream etc that you can add to your website. With this, you can see for yourself what your target likes and design your product/service accordingly.

You can also integrate Facebook Connect Plugin in your blog which will enable Facebook users to leave comments on your blog without registering. The comment they make will be put up on their wall instantly which will be visible to all their friends. So, you effectively get a lot of exposure without doing much!

13.   Marketplace: With Facebook Marketplace, you can buy and sell anything using the listing service. The Marketplace application page displays all the most recent listings in your networks. The difference between normal listings and the Marketplace is that you don’t see another boring list of business, but they show up as the site’s own updates. For example, a sales listing would show up in news feeds as “John is selling Abstract Art.” In this case, John can be a ‘friend’ of your or even a friend’s friend. You can find out what people want, what they are offering and also how you are connected to these people on Facebook. This is what the page looks like:

14.   Don’t Just Write for an Audience of Teenagers: It’s time we free ourselves of this misconception. Facebook isn’t filled with youngsters. Though Facebook has many youngsters who belong to the age group 16 to 25, we see an increase in the number of people from other age groups who use Facebook regularly. According to Pingdom, 61% of Facebook users are over 35 years old. In fact, the 26 – 34 age group rivals the 18 – 25 age group in both the US and the UK. So, make sure communicate to your target the right way.

INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGNS

You can check out some of these pages for ideas:

•   H & M: Very interactive Facebook profile. Shows all of its new collections and is easily maneuverable.

• Victoria’s Secret PINK: The pink challenge: Design your own look.

• Lacoste: Simple, yet elegant, approach to displaying products on a catalog on Facebook.

• Red Bull: Keeps track of sports people on Twitter, action sports, motor sports on Red Bull Web TV.

•   Digicel: A game where you pop balloons. Top ten players win credit and one player wins a phone.

•   Starbucks: Manage your card online.

•   Disney: Watch trailers, old clippings, status updates on news about Disney’s movies.

As a marketing tool, Facebook is here to stay. Many people give up as they don’t get the desired result immediately, i.e. a huge increase in sales. However, consider marketing on Facebook as a step by step process: you first build trust, traffic and eventually – sales. I hope my tips help you to see that day soon! Do you have any ideas that you can add to this article? If so, let me know by leaving your opinion in the Comment Box.

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Though a highly competitive medium, YouTube helps you reach your niche – whether you’re an aspiring film maker, makeup artist, politician or a comedian. Lately, we have seen many new ideas coming up in this medium and there is no limit to how creative or even eccentric you can get in grabbing attention.

Why It Works

When you see an interesting video on YouTube, you tend to post the link on Twitter, Facebook, or share it by emailing it to friends. They pass it on to their friends and the effect just multiplies and your message spreads rapidly, resulting in massive exposure. This approach, also known as viral marketing, doesn’t even have to be expensive. The reason we connect with these campaigns is because we understand the product better and the brand has a face. We identify the brand, making the whole experience personal.

Here, I have listed out some of the most innovative viral marketing hits on YouTube that you can learn from!

1. Will It Blend: The first campaign cost Blendtec, a company that produces blenders and mixers, less than $50. The team filmed a video featuring Blendtec’s co-founder Tom Dickson who said, “Will it blend? That is the question.” He made a smoothie of salsa, tortilla chips, Buffalo wings and Budweiser in the blender. Five days later, Blendtec’s marketing director excitedly told him that they hit 6 million views on YouTube. This was later followed by videos of blending golf balls, a crowbar, a video camera and iPod. My favorite is their latest, the iPad. Their online videos are still a rage and Blendtec’s online sales have grown by 500%.

2. America’s Got Talent: This is the latest one on the block. Their auditions are being done entirely on YouTube. You can record your performance even at home and upload it right away, giving an opportunity to many more. You can sit back at home while the judges and voters (viewers) decide whether you have it in you to take you to the next round. NBC and the producers of the show have partnered with YouTube to process the auditions online. Are we seeing the latest trend for reality shows here?

3. Best Job In The World: YouTube was the platform for the Australian Government’s ‘Best job in the world’ campaign as a caretaker of islands in the Great Barrier Reef. Applicants were asked to post a video of why they were fit for the job on a dedicated page. They received over 34,000 applications from 201 countries. The website got 8 million visitors and user generated content on YouTube went up to 610 hours. It even scooped the two top awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

4. Michelle Phan: Three years ago, Michelle Phan was turned down for a behind-the-counter job at Lancôme. She started off giving makeup tutorials on YouTube, and now, after Lancôme knocked on her doors, she is now their video makeup artist. She is the most subscribed YouTube Guru and her videos have been viewed over 150,000,000 times. She also owns a skin care line IQQU. Who would’ve imagined something like this a decade ago?

5. America’s Election Campaign: I will admit that Barack Obama’s Harvard degree wasn’t all; the online campaigns did get to me. It made me feel like I know him personally. Obama’s strong presence on YouTube made him accessible to everyone as he spoke directly to YouTubers about his plans to uplift the US. It clicked, especially among the American youth and resulted in a high voter turnout among them, a task that was once considered impossible. Obama has given politics a new face and a new platform for presidential campaigns.

6. Movie Trailers: There are a bunch of us who love reaching cinema halls on time, just to catch the movie trailers showcased before the movie. Trailers leave me wanting more. When trailers started being available on YouTube, producers started targeting YouTubers for viral marketing campaigns. Cloverfield, a monster movie, had scary teaser trailers on YouTube, but without the title – a big risk that paid off well. The buzz was created well before the second trailer with the title was introduced. There were no big names among actors and the budget was comparatively small. The movie secured the biggest January opening of all time in North America and all the credit was given to these campaigns.

7. Greyson Michael Chance: Chance is a young musician who had posted his performance of Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’ at sixth-grade music festival on YouTube. It wasn’t viewed much for a week or two until Ellen Degeneres reported it on her show. The number of views shot to over 1 billion (we’re still counting). Ellen even decided to sign Chance up as the first artist promoted by her newly formed record label eleveneleven.

You can see in these examples how people have broken boundaries of time-tested marketing campaigns and succeeded. If you have come across any such interesting campaigns, do share the link with us. It’s time you start thinking out-of-the-box and find yourself a unique way to create that connect with the audience. Who knows, maybe I’ll feature your story here someday!

Inspired by the success these two have enjoyed, many have gone to town creating versions of their own, unfortunately not all have been met with the same amount of enthusiasm or success.

Today, we take a look at a few promising social sites, that will possibly help us answer the question a few of us have already been asking, ‘After Facebook and Twitter, what?’

1.    Foursquare – Since its launch in 2009, this location-based mobile game doing double duty as a social networking platform has found ready and easy resonance with social media enthusiasts and other early adopters. In almost a year’s time, Foursquare has managed to convince more than seven hundred thousand people to give it a try. No mean task that, especially in the first year, for a service that targets a niche market of mobile users. Little surprise then that it is being hailed as the Twitter of 2010. With over 20 million ‘check-ins’ happening everyday, even pathological naysayers will find it difficult to dismiss it as a fad.

2.    Gowalla – The fact that the next on the list is also a location-based social networking mobile game will readily attest to the importance of mobility and location in the social space. Though Gowalla originally got a head start on Foursquare, until the breakout success of its chief competitor, it was hardly able to mobilize that advantage. But a year on, things are certainly looking up for Gowalla, having tasted sweet victory by trumping Foursquare at SXSW to take home the best mobile app award for 2010. In comparison with Foursquare’s user stats, Gowalla’s 150,000 odd users may not look like anything worth writing home about, but over the last few months it has enjoyed a steady growth that is substantively impressive, as revealed by the recent deal with the Travel Channel, which echoes the Foursquare – Bravo Network deal, to integrate proprietary Travel Channel content (Food Wars to be precise) with the game.

3.    Chatroulette – I almost didn’t believe it when I first read that the most talked about social app on the web, Chatroulette, is the brainchild of a 17 year old. Andrey Ternovskiy of Russia developed Chatroulette ‘for fun’ with no monetization plans, so that he and his friends could ‘randomly connect’ with people on the web. A good way to describe Chatroulette is as an online ‘speed dating’ game aided by webcams, but a better way will be as a game of chance meetings online. When you play a game of Chatroulette, you are automatically paired with a random player, with whom you can chat (text or video) and if at any point you wish to terminate the connection, you simply ‘next’ that person to initiate another connection. There is an inherent creep factor to Chatroulette (anything that involves video chatting strangers is bound to have one) that could prove to be a dissuasive factor, but the kind of response it has garnered has been extraordinary and indicates a strong user preference for video-based interactivity on the web. From the looks of it, Chatroulette could very well hold the key to the limitless possibilities of interactive communication on the web.

4.    Yelp – Think the yellow pages, a local search engine and a social networking site all rolled into one – that’s Yelp for you. Though it is a little long in the tooth when compared with the other sites on this list (having been launched in 2004), Yelp’s true social powers were felt only post Facebook, and by that virtue, it merits a place on this list. Yelp has incorporated into it two of the hottest aspects of the web – social and location. You can search for local business, read user reviews of the same and build a network all at one place. That’s social networking with a purpose – really, what’s not to love about Yelp?

A few of these social services have already been made famous for their marketing compatibility, the others are in too nascent a stage for me to speculate on such abilities.
In the coming years, we may see them grow to give Facebook and Twitter competition, both as substantive social apps and as effective marketing platforms. What do you think? Will they lose momentum halfway through or will they succeed in sustaining the hype?

Be it the wildly popular (and weird) games on Facebook or the social network-cum-location-based mobile game
Foursquare, the interweb is finally alive to the as-yet-untapped promotional possibilities that social games offer. Evidently, games make social experiences ‘funner’; once accustomed to such a model, users will hardly be open to embracing a game-less one. (I can say this on authority, as I have had a similar experience with my 5-year-old niece and her broken Game Boy.) That and the fact that the social gaming market, in spite of being in its infancy, is worth a billion help me assume that this trend of social games will only grow bigger (but if that means more Farmville invitations, God help me!), and hence, I think fleshing out a marketing model based on it is, in fact, a great idea.

Clearly, more people are on to it. Foursquare must have foreseen this trend too, because four months ago, it launched its advertising platform, Foursquare for Businesses. And possibly taking note of the blitzkrieg growth-rate that it is enjoying, marketers are (already) lining up, hoping to cash in on it. Foursquare has already landed a deal with Bravo Media, the force behind Bravo TV – famous for its housewives and Padma Lakshmi. There are other early adopters, local businesses mostly, that are teaming up with Foursquare to promote their brand and fares. For example, when Foursquare player ‘checks-in’ at a local café that’s collaborating with Foursquare, he may end up landing some great discount deals, that are not available to the regular patrons.

Even outside of the Foursquare network, in the more open arena of social networking, social games are finding equally interested takers. They are working at producing promotional collaterals that are more interactive and having them integrated into the games themselves.

A recent campaign for Nestle, ran by AdNectar, resulted in almost 1 million virtual cookies being shared on Facebook through various gaming applications. The resulting plug in the news feed didn’t hurt the campaign either. In another move, social gaming ad company, gWallet introduced ad videos to games like FooPets and Mob Science and enticed users to watch the ads by promising points and virtual goods. Appssavvy, a social media ad company, devised an ad for the DVD release of Public Enemies that had the movie sponsor ‘jobs’ in Mafia Wars, and also allowed users to collect ‘loot’ from the movie characters. It was such a big hit that some 25 million people ‘used’ the plugs 55 million times, and according to Appssavvy, received over 1 billion viral impressions as well. Ingenious!

So far, I have stated two almost obvious things – that the social gaming business is thriving and that Internet marketing based on social games is a very workable model. (But if you weren’t already aware of it, I’d like to take the credit of enlightening you.)However, I bet you don’t know why Internet marketing based on social games can be really big. Not to worry, I will tell you why. It’s the data, the enormous amount of data, that the gaming companies can provide, that will help marketers build collaterals appropriately.

I hope this example will better illustrate my point, a report released by Social Media World Forum sometime last year found that around 80% of the women who play social media games clicked on ads or signed up for promotional features in return for points and virtual currencies. That is a behavioral analysis of your potential demographic right there! Now you know how to grab the attention of almost half the social gaming population.

Since, even the big players (no pun intended) are still trying the social gaming space for size, I can’t comment on how cost effective a model it will turn out for a small business. However, it won’t hurt to give it a shot, if you can come up with something that is interesting & catches the attention of the readers, then, I don’t see why your gaming model should not be a hit. Put on your thinking caps now! It will certainly help you be prepared for the future, when social gaming promotional models will be not just be optional but necessary.

The success of your viral marketing efforts depends on how expertly you play your social graph to use as a medium though with to push your message. However, if your message finds no takers, it can hardly go viral, which counts on people indulging in some furious sharing, and no one shares bad content. So, it would be a good idea to remember that a successful round of viral marketing needs both good content and some decent social networking skills.

Here are some handy dandy tips that you can fallback on in your hour of viral marketing need. (I love puns, can you tell?)

1. Giveaways. Everyone loves free things. Free makes everyone happy. I could delve into the exhaustive scientific studies that attest to these statements, but really, there is no need for it. The giveaway model always works, it works off the Internet, it works equally well on it too. You can offer ebooks or Internet tools, or even sample mp3s if your music is what you wish to promote, and set the ball rolling. Just ensure what you give away is not sub-standard junk that you won’t use yourself. If people like the stuff, they’ll share, talk about it and generate interest in your business.

2. Videos. Create a really cool video about your business and upload it on YouTube and your site. You just need to take a look at the most popular viral marketing examples till-date to see the importance of this exhortation. Videos are very viral-friendly, so using them as a medium can almost guarantee you viral success. And it wouldn’t hurt if they are funny too.

3. Social Media. Work your Network. Today, it is fairly impossible to hope to market virally without using social media. That very fact has also made viral marketing far easier than it was before. Ensure you build a strong social network, then pass your message on to the social sphere through your connection. You can also use it as an avenue to enhance your other efforts too, share your YouTube video on Facebook or retweet a link on Twitter.

4. Visibility. Create a buzz. Then sustain it. The idea is to have people talking about your business. All the time. To constantly reside in their collective conscience. Memes are a great way to create viral buzz, the Armageddon meme started by the promoters of the movie 2012 was successful in generating so much viewer interest that it raked in over 500 million in profits no one was really surprised. If creating a meme is beyond you, write a post on a current topic, take a slightly controversial stance, then promote it on various social sites. That will sure get people talking.

When done the right way, most marketing efforts on social media has the potential to turn viral. What distinguishes a success from a failure, in most cases, is the initial momentum it manages to build. A slow build up doesn’t a viral campaign make. So, follow the tips mentioned above and learn to launch your viral marketing campaign right off the bat.

3. Reward Your Readers – You may think that the posts you write are rewards enough, but if you continue in that perception, you might as well bid all hopes of comments goodbye. Setting up fun virtual prizes and awards can help acknowledge your readers’ presence and at the same time express your continued gratitude for it, and hence, can prove to be a surefire way to elicit more comments and evoke more loyalty from them. For example, you could set up Reader Of The Month or Best Comment of the Day awards and have the winners’ name displayed on your blog; it won’t cost you anything, but sure will make your readers feel cherished.

4. Guest Posts From Your Readers - Stir things up on your blog with a little reader interaction. Invite a reader, preferably a regular, to write a post for your blog. That’ll give the other readers something to talk about, you can be sure. In addition to providing more ‘flavor’ to your blog, such a move will help the readers feel more connected to you.

5. Reveal Your Soft Underbelly – Well not literally, of course. Adopting a slightly self-deprecating approach or talking about things you are spectacularly bad at, or even revealing the most irrational of your fears will make it easier for your readers to relate to you, and tell them that you are just like them, with your anxieties and silly fears and everyday problems. Having said that, you’ll have to strike a balance between being relatable and whiney; too whiney, and you run the risk of losing whatever few readers you have (and you don’t want that, no sirree, no).

6. Comment on Others’ Blogs - Do unto others what you wish they did to you; that is the first commandment in The Big Book Of Blog Commenting. Linking opportunity aside, commenting regularly on blogs you enjoy can result in acts of reciprocation. Though not necessarily a quid pro quo deed, you can be assured that if you leave meaningful comments on other blogs, those bloggers will take note of it, and quite possibly repay you in comments.

7. The Comments Thread Is A Live Thing – That’s right, your readers don’t leave comments then just sit back and relax. Through their comments, they are trying to speak to you, and they want, if not expect, you to respond (if you don’t, you’ll come across as the rude neighbor who refuses to acknowledge you when you say hello). Respond to the comments, if not all, then as many as you can. Once you’ve coaxed your readers out of their shyness and made them comment, you can’t just leave them there; you need to ‘nurture’ the thread by posting your responses and make them feel their comments are valued or, at the very least, read.

8. Be Nice! – Such a simple thing to do, but so many of us fail at it. If your posts make you come across as a pompous windbag, all they’ll elicit are spammy comments. ‘Humanize’ your blog as much as possible; make your readers feel as if they are talking to a friend; let them know that the mere act of blogging doesn’t make you better than them; make them comfortable enough to comment without worrying about your turning snarky. Think of yourself as the host and your readers the party guests, now, roll!

9. Make Your Blog Comment-Friendly – Your readers’ primary aim, when at your blog, is to read, not to comment. Commenting comes later, after the reading, depending on how they’ve taken to your post. Not quite an afterthought, it’s usually an activity performed towards the end of your readers’ stay at the blog. At a point when the readers have all but checked out of your blog, they won’t take kindly to having to logging or signing in before commenting; it’s an unnecessary step they’ll have little patience for and can very possibly cause them to take a rain check on the commenting. If you want them to comment, make it easy for your readers to do that without any hassle. Simple.

10. Tried And Tested Topic Does The Trick – In other words gauging your reader reaction, and giving them more of what they have enjoyed in the past will work like a charm. Yes, this presupposes that you’ve had some good-comment days in the past. If you have, trying out this tip will help recapture the ‘magic’ of that past day and bring you more comments today. Analyze your earlier posts to find the topics that usually garner more comments from your readers and write on similar themes. Do note that this method can backfire if your posts begin to seem repetitive and patently rehashed.

11. Birds Of A Feather… – You may not have noticed it, but your readers and you probably have a lot of similar interests, case in point – they coming back to read what you write. So, if you take the effort to check out the other blogs they read and join forum discussions they are a part of, you don’t just learn more about your particular area of expertise or interest, you also get fodder for your posts that can reference these blogs and forums. Your readers will love you more for it and will be more forthcoming with their comments.

Try implementing a few, if not all, of these nifty tips and you’ll see a definite turn in the comment tide, and you’ll soon learn to go through the odd bad-comment day without wanting to give  in to tears. And you will see that they can also greatly contribute to your efforts to make your blog more popular. This is my take on the matter, you may have  other methods that you find more reliable, I’d love to hear about them. Feel free to share your opinions and tips in the comments section below.

Today, I’d like to talk about how practically the whole world is cashing in on the popularity of Twitter, though the site itself is yet to monetize the ginormous amount of traffic it receives – according to Compete, over 23 million unique visitors in September 09! (No, I can’t get over it.) Though I’d like to, it would be quite a challenge to cite all the different ways in which the world is using Twitter and still write a 1000 words post. So, I have found seven very illuminating instances I must share with you. They are not necessarily about people making money off Twitter, though there are a couple about that as well, what they have in common is the way they all illustrate how powerful a resonance Twitter has found with the Everyman. Okay, I’ll amend that to the net-surfing Everyman.

1. The first story has Demi Moore in it.  Before you get any ideas, no, it’s not about Ashton Kutcher! Honestly, it’s a little scary and sad, but also a little amazing at the same time.  Last April, Demi Moore a.k.a @mrskutcher was instrumental in saving the life of a suicidal woman. The woman, @sandieguy, tweeted her suicide note, with one particular tweet directed at @mrskutcher. It said, “@mrskutcher getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn’t waste time”. Moore happened to catch the tweet and her timely retweet set off a flurry of retweets amongst her followers and caused the police to track down the woman, who was, thank god, found unharmed. Talk about saved in the nick of time!

2. Next, let’s learn how we can generate traffic (and possibly revenue) via Twitter, let’s take a page out of BBGeeks.com’s site – where you can find information on all things BlackBerry and buy apps and accessories for the smartphone. Like any self-respecting site, they wanted to explore new avenues to drive traffic to their site, and Twitter was as new an avenue as it got. So, they decided to set up a Twitter account in the hope of capitalizing on the new Twitter wave that the cybersphere was (and has been) experiencing. Though initially they weren’t very successful in finding many followers, a well-guided change in their approach rectified that. In their second attempt, they had one of their staff dedicated to the management of their Twitter profile and positioned him as a ‘BlackBerry troubleshooter’ who could actually help their followers and not merely push (their) links. The second time is the charm, because in less than two years they have gone from having just 100 followers to having over 23000 followers and according to a recent case study (the numbers were kept confidential), their Twitter traffic converts are higher than that of any other social network they have tracked. The occasional “Twitter only” discounts at their software and accessories store must have nicely contributed to that. Nice work, BBGeeks, that’s all I can say.

3. To hear me say it, you’d think Twitter possibly has super powers – what with the whole saving lives and helping sites get more traffic business; lest you be persuaded to uphold such a notion, I have a cautionary-Twitter-tale for you. Yes, you heard me – even superhero-like social media tools have bad days. Amanda Bonnen, a Chicago resident, was recently sued by Horizon Realty over an alleged tweet she made about the moldy condition of her apartment. On 12^th May of this year, Ms. Bonnen, then a tenant of Horizon Realty, had tweeted: “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it’s okay.” Nearly two months later, a month after she’d moved out from the apartment, she was slapped with a libel suit for publishing her tweet “throughout the world” and causing severe damage to the company’s goodwill. Though @abonnen has been MIA (missing in action) from Twitter since then, the Google cache of her now-deleted-account revealed she had just 22 followers (that’s hardly the world! That’s barely a family!). A $50,000 lawsuit for airing your grievance, apparently freedom of speech is dangerous, or libelous. So, as they say around here, watch what you tweet, tweeples!

4. From Chicago, let’s move to New York; in July, this year, Annamarie Dooling a.k.a @TravelingAnna, a web producer in Manhattan, joined the ranks of those special few who can claim to have achieved a Twitter first (New Yorkers have all the fun, I say!). She now has the (dubious?) distinction of being the first person to tweet about a bank robbery, minutes after it happened.  This is what her first tweet said: “My bank was just held up — with me in it. HSBC 34 and 8”. She then continued with a torrent of tweets, keeping her followers abreast of the happenings. As much as I’d like to tell you that Ms Dooling’s brave move was helpful in thwarting a major bank heist, I am afraid I can’t. Because, a) it was not a major bank heist, the thief made off with no more than $500, and b) the tweets were made after the thief had fled from the premises. All the same, her effort should not be pooh-poohed (the way it was in the wake of this incident).

5. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that her action reflects the true spirit of the times we live in. Like anyone with a fully functioning reflex system would have responded during a crisis, she reached out to her family and friends, she just happened to do it through Twitter (being the girl of her age that she is). When you think about it, tweeting the messages was no stranger than picking up the telephone and calling them. What? You don’t call anymore, you text? Well, then you know what I mean!

Since its launch, people have found increasingly creative ways to use Twitter, and I’ve seen my share of such profiles, all extremely interesting – some tweet only in haikus, some pretend to be their pets or celebrated fictional characters and give us their unique world-view through their hilarious tweets and then there are some who tweet über pithy 140-character stories (how do they do that? really?).   I recently chanced upon @peterurpeth, Peter Urpeth to non-tweeples, yet another Twitter-user who is determined to think out of the Twitter-box. He is a Scottish author who recently began writing his new novel, ‘MacKenzie’s Issue’ in tweets. He commenced his tweet-adventure on the 21^st of October 09 and has so far completed two ‘tweet pages’. He hasn’t set any limit on the number of tweets he’ll make per day; he appears to tweet as inspiration strikes. This is not an entirely novel idea (no pun intended), there are other Twitter novels that have already been published; Urpeth says he has undertaken this task (despite the non-novelty factor) because it’s an “exploration of digital marketing for writers, and maybe a new way of reading or experiencing fiction, too.” As someone with (humble) literary aspirations of her own, I can’t wait to see what this effort does to his literary career.

6. I have another story that will illustrate how businesses are making use of Twitter. I find Southwest Airlines a.k.a @SouthwestAir’s way very ingenious, even if not totally original; they use their Twitter profile to promote their time sensitive special fares. Yes, tweeting is definitely faster and cheaper than getting an ad out there. With the 800000 odd followers they have, they don’t even have to worry about their messages not reaching people. I can only wonder how they manage all the traffic their Twitter profile must be generating.

7. On a totally different note, earlier this year, when the whole farce of Iran’s ‘democratic’ election was being played out, Twitter found itself in the limelight, once again. As riots broke out, protesting the election results, various Iranian government regulations made foreign news coverage almost impossible. Twitter played a huge role in getting information out of the country and in involving the huge Iranian Diaspora in the action, so much so that the U.S State Department contacted Twitter to have them postpone a scheduled upgrade that would have closed one of the few communication channels available to the protesters, both inside and outside Iran. Like someone aptly put it, Twitter gave their voices a chance to be heard.

I sure am impressed by the tweet-power of Twitter- changing lives and trying to make the world a better place, one tweet at a time. If another social media tool has had such a tremendous socio-political and economic impact, I am yet to learn about it (do feel free to educate me with your comments, if you know of others).

I don’t know what the future holds for Twitter and for how long it’s current popularity will be sustained (you can never tell with most social media tools). I just know we’ve been presented with a great opportunity to make ourselves heard and we should use it the best we can.

All said & done Facebook is equal to oxygen for millions & millions of people (including me!) but do we know the journey it has gone through? Here are 10 Bizarre Facts about Facebook we ought to know…

1. More than 60 % of men and women have used Facebook to stalk their ex… & why not???

It’s like godsend for jilted ex-lovers who want to know each & everything their ex is doing after dumping them! Your ex will not know you’re following their every move & there’s no way you’ll get caught… perfect! No more public humiliation & so much information… ahem

2. ??? Pictures Uploaded Monthly on Facebook

I don’t know about other people but  whenever I attend a party or go for a holiday I take lots of pictures. This may seem normal but what you don’t know is that many of these photos are being taken only to post on Facebook. I also know that I am not the only one doing it. Of course there was a time when we use to click snaps for memories but hard core Facebook users like me will tell you that is no longer the case.

So we all keep posting all our photos on Facebook to share with our friends but have you ever stopped to wonder how many pictures are uploaded monthly??? The answer is 1 Billion!! That means 333,333,333 photos every day! No wonder the site keeps getting stuck so many times… I don’t blame you Facebook!

3. Active users

Lets take a look at the number of active members in Facebook over the years. In Dec 2004 there were 1 million active users in Facebook which grew to 5.5 million in 2005, 12 million in 2006, 50 million in 2007, 100 million in 2008 & has increased to 250 million as of July 2009!!! That is a growth of 250% in 5 years. Really man, Facebook IS making the world a smaller place.

4. More than 30 million users update their status at least once each day

This is not so much about Facebook but about how people lose their mind sometimes on Facebook. We all know that Facebook allows you to update your Status… but some people really take it to another level! I just couldn’t leave these gems out; you have to see for yourself…

o … can speak French in Russian..
o …’s charm is so contagious that a vaccine was created for it.
o … thinks that a day without sunshine is like night.
o … is a lover not a fighter, but he’s also a fighter so don’t get any ideas.
o … is so broke that she’s going to KFC to lick other peoples fingers.
o … feels ashamed of his smoking but it’s better that I smoke this and let the dreams of the cigarette workers come true then to be selfish & worry about my lungs.

5. 85%+ of all college students use FACEBOOK and 70% of them log in EVERYDAY

Facebook is a favorite for all age groups but it seems that young people, especially the college going crowd have played a major role in making Facebook what it is. 85% of college students have Facebook profiles & 60-70% of them login daily or at least one a week. I reckon the college authorities should start having Facebook as a subject, what say people!

6. Facebook Hates Breastfeeding Mothers!

This is weird but had to be mentioned…  Facebook apparently removes photos uploaded by mothers breastfeeding their babies; some accounts have even been deleted for this. Really Facebook?? I really don’t even want to know why!

7. Sorry Pal, We Don’t Like Your Name

Also, people with strange sounding names (e.g. Leboe’ or ‘Allien’) can have their FACEBOOK accounts deleted without any further explanation. These names could be genuine names & could mean anything in their local language! What can I say, all the Leboes & Alliens watch out for your Facebook account then!

8. It’s Addictive

Psychologists have introduced a diagnosis FAD (Facebook Addiction Disorder) as a new kind of addiction & I’m afraid I’m very close to it ? … actually, if you are reading this article I guess you are too!

9. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and owner of Facebook is the world’s youngest billionaire worth $1.5 billion & counting…you know what Mark you deserve it… for bringing Facebook into our lives! ?

10. A country that bans FACEBOOK!

Where? What? Why? These are the questions that come to your mind when you read the above statement right? Well, the country is Syria. It actually started as a precaution against some campaign which is said to promote false teachings about religion & war. However, some say that it was because of the government’s fear of people creating virtual societies & resulting in an uprising.

If I start collecting such crazy information about Facebook I’m afraid I’ll have to write an article like this every day for I don’t know how long. So I’ve decided not to go down that road … I’m happy just being a citizen of Facebook & expanding my world through it.

I’m sure that you had a great time reading about these amazing Facebook facts. It has been great having you read my post; I’ll try to get you more interesting articles like this in the future as well! Now let’s all get back to where we want to be most… Facebook, of course!!! Click here to share this link on your profile page in Facebook or you could even tweet this by clicking here!

Chandni Lepcha Panjwani