eHeeeemmmm. Hello! I’ve been neglecting “THE BLOG” because of being in love.

That’s right, in love. Actually in love times two: Twitter and Facebook. Long hours with abandon, way into the night, posting furiously, conversing @-style, finding other SoMe nuts, just like ourselves.

The worst is, many of us nuts are starting to talk hiku, habitually. Twitter’s the hiku of all hikus. 140 words or less, you have to get to the point fast.

Which brings up a new term, “SoMe.” Some of the indoctrinated amongst us have been using this term but many of the aficionados have not. It’s a great text word, far fabber than SOCIAL MEDIA. Less thumb work. Metaphoric, yes?

In conclusion, I intend to come back here more frequently. Oh, but before we conclude, did I mention how I hate RSS feeds that pump blog text into Twitter? Yes, you can do it. Problem is, your Twitter and Facebook buddies want you, not some auto-blogger feed that cares not what friends are saying.

Automatic does look darn good on washing machines and automobiles. For SoMe, think William Morris, Arts and Crafts Movement, DEATH to the MACHINE.

Here’s where you’ll find us:

http://Twitter.com/brandUNITY

http://www.Facebook.com/brandUNITY

http://YouTube.com/brandUNITY

http://www.Linkedin.com/in/brandUNITY

http://Twitter.com/BainbridgeArts

http://BainbridgeArts.net (blog)

http://www.Facebook.com/BainbridgeArts

http://YouTube.com/BainbridgeArts

http://Twitter.com/BainbridgeAlert

http://www.Facebook.com/BainbridgeAlert

http://BainbridgeAlert.org (blog)

The cross-media power of tagging is demonstrated in C-SPAN’s capture of the Democratic Convention across social media sites. Integration begins with their Convention website portal, setting the pace for the rest of the branding. C-SPAN’s Twitter hub page presents a feed of the results of twitter talk that is using the tag #DNC08, short for Democratic National Convention 2008.

http://dnc08.c-span.org/?page_id=1579

Below are the pages C-SPAN created using social network sites, carrying the branding visuals across most of the social sites where C-SPAN built its presence. Comparing C-SPAN’s YouTube and Qik pages, design customization is not surprisingly more flexible on the older YouTube where C-SPAN closely modeled their YouTube page to their website design and navigation.

URL personalization is cool — a new trend that many of the social network sites now offer, though not yet available on Facebook. Example is http://twitter.com/cspan

Qik’s claim to fame is streaming live video to the web right from your phone, compatible with over 40 different types of phones. Qik launched its software on its website for public use in December 2007 but only now seems to be getting noticed, possibly because of the recent release, ease-of-use, and popularity of the iPhone G3.

With a click of an icon on your phone, you can stream video from your phone directly to your Qik webpage. Using Qik, you can turn the live stream into a recorded video that you can then embed onto your website and blog. You can also upload to YouTube. From Qik you can send notifications to your Twitter followers to go check-out your new recording.

C-SPAN coverage of Democratic National Convention using social media sites to build buzz:

Online C-SPAN Convention Portal:
http://dnc08.c-span.org/

C-SPAN Twitter Page:
http://twitter.com/cspan

C-SPAN Convention Hub Compiling Twitter Remarks and Stats:
http://dnc08.c-span.org/?page_id=1579

C-SPAN.org Portal Site:
http://c-span.org/

C-SPAN on QIK:
http://qik.com/groups/421/

On YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/cspan

MySpace isn’t just for teenagers any more. Social networking will continue to be a key online activity this year, with 44% of US consumers using social networking at least once a month in 2008. MySpace and Facebook will continue dominating the market but there are changes ahead that will extend social networking activities allowing user profiles to become portable. With this portability, consumers will be able to use their single profile in many different places on the internet. Social networking will also be an enhanced feature offered when shopping online, searching and even sending e-mail.

According to Debra Aho Williamson, Senior Analyst with eMarketer.com, Ad spending on social networks is projected to climb from $ 920 million in 2007 to $1.6 billion in 2008, which represents a 70% growth rate. Targeted advertising will continue to cover the bulk of the $1.6 billion, but other forms of social network marketing like advertising, widgets and e-commerce, will catch marketers attention.

Social networking is just one tool that can be used to reach your target market. On these social networks you can post your company bios, blogs, videos and more, to extend company presence.

Stay tuned for more “New Ways to Reach Your Prospects”.

www.forbes.com