One of the greatest strengths of the Internet is in filling the “need to belong.” It’s human nature for many to feel part of a like-minded group. Even those who are more introverted or socially inept in real life can “spread their wings” and show strength in their abilities to interact in online group settings.

This Flowtown infographic has a ton of data, but it’s worth the time. Understanding how and why we interact the way we do online can help us to better comprehend how the real world and the Internet have become interchangeable and complementary. Our actions online may not always reflect our actions in real life, but we do tend to express more of our hidden feelings and desires there.

Click to enlarge.

The world has gone social. In 2010, the industry truly reached a tipping point. 2011 seems to be more of the same, but with new innovations that will  likely shift how we spend our Facebook and Twitter time into new directions.

This graphic by Online Schools puts it all into perspective for us. Enjoy!

Click to enlarge.

Via: Online Schools

We all know the basics – Digg, Mixx, Reddit, Propeller, etc. – but what about the others?  There are probably three hundred trillion of them, give or take, and I would like to compile a complete list.  If you know of any, please post them here in the comments.

Thanks!

The Godfather showed us a world of beauty and corruption.  Alliances were made and broken.  Those who were good to the family were rewarded, while anyone who stepped in the way was hit.

Social media works in much the same way.  It can be beautiful, offering the best of the web compiled into loosely organized areas where masses of people can flood a worthy website and enjoy its offerings.  It can be corrupt, as spammers use the power of social media to drive traffic to unworthy websites.

Websites can form alliances with social media partners, whether it’s a collaboration between The Wall Street Journal and Digg, Wired and Reddit, or even something as simple as placing buttons on stories to drive traffic to and from the social media platforms.

If a website is good to the family, they are rewarded.  Rawstory.com receives a huge portion of their traffic from social media.  Then again, if you wrong the family and its members, your website can get banned.

To make it as a social media website,you somehow have to fit into the family. Here’s how the breakdown of the family looks today…

Reddit as Sonny Corleone:
For a while reddit has been considered the “hothead” of the social media family. Just like Santino “Sonny” Corleone, Reddit is simple to understand but almost impossible to comprehend. The top headlines on any particular day can include ranting, raving, cursing, and insults as exemplified by the judgemental, down-modding mentality.

Successful submissions on Reddit require a firm yet respectful voice, especially with the title. Just as Sonny would back hand any man for speaking out of turn, so too will reddit users doom a story to oblivion if it isn’t titled properly.

The best part about Reddit/Sonny is straightforward simplicity.  Within 5 minutes of meeting Sonny or joining Reddit, anyone can get a feel for how they work.  Submitting to reddit is easy: URL, Title, and a choice of 8 categories.  Requires very little thought and even less effort.

Propeller as Fredo Corleone:
When Netscape first decided to be a Digg clone of sorts, they assumed that their name and age would be enough to help them ascend to full Godfather status. Frido was Michael’s older brother but still had to answer to his power, just as Propeller (Netscape) is trying to catch up in stature to the three-year-old Digg.

In many ways Propeller has features that are superior to the other major social media websites. They are good to their people, catering and supportive. If you have a story make it to the front page there are different things that give Propeller the “human touch” factor that its competitors do not have. They’ll manually select and attach relevant pictures to your story. They’re anchors feature five hand-picked submissions at a time in their recommended section at the top of the homepage, and they make it super simple to vote for your friends’ stories.

Still, Propeller is not the Godfather.  The website works exceptionally well for a large chunk of the social media crowd, but it would be difficult to see them make it to full Godfather status.

Digg as Michael Corleone:
With more direct traffic than the other social media websites combined, Digg is the current Godfather.  Choices made by Digg and by the masses of its members can make or break a story or a website.  When Michael spoke, people got buried.  When Digg speaks, servers can be shut down.

The media focus is always on Digg, just as with Michael.  Its popularity has been a tremendous driving force in the growth of social media as a whole.  If you ask Kevin Rose what he thought, would he say something like, “Every time I think I’m out they pull me back in.”?

Newsvine as Tom Hagen:
One look at Robert Duvall’s character in The Godfather and you knew he wasn’t quite a Corleone.  One look at Newsvine, and you can tell that something is different.  A social news website that caters to the handful of people who don’t have SM-ADHD, Newsvine is more appealing to those who have the time and want to spend it.

Still, it doesn’t quite fit in.  It’s pretty, for one thing, with lots of pictures and a design completely different from the rank-and-file style of the other SM sites.  Like Tom Hagen, Newsvine is the quiet voice of reason.  Like Tom Hagen, Newsvine doesn’t want to be in control, shoved into the spotlight that comes with being a Corleone.  Newsvine is the “Consigliare” of Social Media.

StumbleUpon as ________:
This was a tough one.  Is Stumble the Vito Corleone of social media?  You tell me.

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Check out our other informative articles about social news.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been studying the major social news websites. Reddit, being one of the best ones, was obviously tops on my list. I did everything that seemed to work well on Digg, Propeller, Newsvine, and most other social media sites.

The results were different from the others. I was successful in the others. Needless to say, I wasn’t successful at Reddit.

My first technique was simple. Make friends, spam a lot, wait for the “Karma” to rise. It didn’t. Actually took a week to break 20. I wasn’t happy, but I kept trying.

I’ve discovered some tricks and tips, rising to a marginally respectable Karma around 1700 over several months. Most of those points have come in the last two. Still, I really couldn’t find rhyme or reason to what was working and what wasn’t. Stories that I thought would surely hit the homepage got down-modded to oblivion, while others that were decent stories at best got dozens, even hundreds of votes.

So, I asked.

I started messaging a bunch of the top dogs on reddit. Sadly, I received few replies. Perhaps it was my message:

Hello (name),I just wanted to say hello. I’ve been marginally active in Reddit for a little while. Lately, I’ve started to become more active and I wanted to message my “friends” and really try to be a friend on Reddit. For a while, I’ve not quite understood how Reddit worked. Now, I’m trying to learn. Any advice you can give me would be great. Should I send messages? Make more friends? I really want to be active on here.Thanks! DiffeeOnline Over 80 messages sent. Seven replied. The advice was great from those who bothered. One in particular stood out, and to my pleasant surprise, it was a response from qgyh2, the Reddit member who gets more Karma in a day than I’ve been able to accumulate over several months. Here is the response:
Hi! thank you for your kind words!! well… I would suggest some of the following:

• post a wide variety of stories
• if a good story is buried, delete and resubmit – by this I mean sometimes if you post a story that a lot of people like, and some people downmod also, its worth deleting it and resubmitting it in an hour or so.
• keep trying – reddit is sometimes rather saddening as people keep downmodding stories. Just ignore this and keep submitting the stories you like. Pretend that there is nobody else but you and just keep submitting what you like and believe in.
• after submitting a story, watch it and delete it if it is heavily downmodded – sometimes people will start to downmod a story for some random reason – e.g. they don’t like it – when this happens it can affect your karma score so its best to delete the story – but first be sure that people are not upmodding the story also! because if people are upmodding also then it could be a good story!! yes do send messages to people. some people on reddit are quite good and they are friendly. besides i guess its always worth a try. some people may not respond but some people do.. and a few would become friends so why not well, wish you best of luck on reddit! keep trying you can get there!!

The part about deleting concerned me. Was it ethical to take a story that had been down-modded and resubmit it? Wouldn’t the results be the same?

I tried it, and within a few posts, I understood. Some excellent stories get dumped because the way the system works now, it only takes a handful of abusive users to down-mod a story and make it virtually invisible. A couple of great stories would have never made it to the light if it wasn’t for this advice.

THANK YOU, qgyh2. Your concern and willingness to take interest in a junior-reddit-jedi-padawan-wannabe and offer a thoughtful response reinvigorated my belief that Reddit can be very useful and enjoyable in the social news segment of the Internet.

Here are some other great points from the advice I received from other members:

• I would advise probably doing the same as you’ve done to me – sending friendly emails and working a relationship. Reddit is a little different where friends are not held as accountable as sites like Digg where you can actually see if a friend has voted or not.
• Otherwise, the only other advice I can offer is don’t be discouraged if your submissions are not instant hits – keep trying.
• The best way to be active in the reddit community, AFAIK, is submit good stories, thoughtful comments, vote often.
• You can view your friends post here. Here is a good place to learn the commenting syntax. People on the programming subreddit can be a bitch. Beware of getting into fights with trolls. Sometimes a quick and witty smartass reply can be better than a long thought out one. Looks like you have enough karma to get past the posting block, so you are good there.
• My main advice is to have fun. It’s a place to read about what’s new online, and to see peoples takes on it. This will show you the base rules to making nice. You don’t always have to follow, but do what’s fun for you.

I hope it helps!

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Read more about How to Reddit on this blog.

It is in the wording of the question itself that the problem lies.

First, here is a brief explanation of what a social network is done Twitter-style in 140 characters or less:

Niche social networks are websites where people with shared interests can network with each other, share thoughts and ideas, contribute resources, and be a part of a virtual community where they can interact with people anywhere in the world.

Okay, it was longer than 140 characters.  Still, niche social networks are sweeping the internet and businesses are starting to take wholesale notice.  The problem is, many are approaching it wrong.  They are looking at it as “how can I get more business from it” instead of approaching it as “how can I help contribute to my industry and my customer base by offering a genuine resource, and thereby potentially increasing business as a result?”

For this example, we will look at the car business.  For the most part, social networking in the car business has failed.  Many dealers have tried to get into it by creating MySpace and Facebook pages.  Some are putting social networks on sites like Ning and GoingOn.  In almost every case, the focus is sales, plugging in the inventory, or talking about how great the dealership is.  It isn’t working.

If a dealership (or any other business) really wants to participate in Web 2.0 by offering a social network for their client base they need to take it a step further.  Here are some pointers:

• Keep it Local, Publish Global – A good niche social network for a car dealer will be centered around their community but offer tools, articles, videos, and photos that can appeal to anyone.  Why?  Keeping it local has obvious advantages, but you want anyone who comes to the network to be able to gain something from it.  The more people involved, the more content there will be.  Fresh content, even from people out of the market area, can keep the locals coming back for more.
• Offer Resources and Fun, not Sales Pitches – People might be interested in the nice trade-in that came in last week or the 0% financing that the manufacturer just released.  Might.  They will almost definitely be interested in things that pertain to them whether they are buying a car or not.  Humorous stories, videos, and photos arre crowd pleasers.  Tips on car maintenance, buying advice, and local auto clubs can keep them coming back.  Features on local events and charities touch the community in different ways.  The sky’s the limit, but keep it centered on benefits, not sales.
• Avoid MySpace and Facebook – This goes against what many recommend, but here is why. Both Facebook and MySpace are antiquated formats that get spammed a lot and are, in general, unattractive.  People who use these networks regularly are used to them, but new users trying to join your network will probably be unimpressed.
• Promote it with Customers – Someone buys a car.  Why have them on your social network?  You want them there because they will give the best content.  People who are happy with a purchase may be willing to tell the world about it.  We know the ones who want to complain will find a venue, so why not give a place for positive statements?  Give them the URL and encourage them to join.

Any of these examples apply to other businesses, not just the automotive industry.  Translate them to your business and you have a chance to really tap into areas of the internet where you aren’t currently present.

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Read more social news stories here.

The Digg Town Hall Meetings so far have been like bad sex in a bad relationship. There’s too much time in between causing a buildup that has to be released. When the climax finally comes, it’s too short and completely disappointing.

Mashable.com, who hosted a live blog with the help of The Drill Down crew, put it very eloquently when they summarized the event:

If you were to sum up what we learned from Digg Townhall #02, I would have to say it was… er… well… Jay Adelson really, REALLY loves Vernors Ginger Soda.

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Read the whole story on Soshable.

That is what comes to mind when you look at the Social Media Social Network at Social News Central.  It is a simple Ning site, but it has started off very strong.  With 160 members joining since its recent creation and a member list that boasts “heavy hitters” from social media websites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Propeller, and Mixx, Social News Central promises growth and a world of potential.

The network itself has several features.  There is “open source blogging” in which members can post their own blog posts to the primary blog.  Images can be submitted as well.

Groups can be created and joined, with many of the social media sites already represented.  StumbleUpon has the highest current membership with 60 members as of this post.  If it involves social news, you can find it here.  If you can’t find it, you can start it.  That’s the real beauty of the network.

“Go there to vote, come here to hang out”.  That’s the tagline for the network, and in its simplicity it speaks volumes.  If you ever wanted to discuss ideas, talk with people who are involved with the same (or different) social media sites that you frequent, or if you just wanted to socialize with SM users from across the Web 2.0 spectrum, SNC is the place to go.

Read more about social media sites like this one at the homepage for Social News Blogs or visit some of the sites we recommend.

With companies that aren’t traditionally forward thinking in their marketing techniques, such as Ford Motor Company and Starbucks, making a push to enter social media marketing, it is clear that both big and small business are starting to take notice. Even local businesses are approaching anyone knowledgeable they can find on the subject to help them.

Below are some of the social media initiatives and trends from 2007 that tell of things to come in 2008. First, there are ways to create a web presence that goes beyond building a website or a blog. Then there are ways to drive traffic through social media to these websites.

First, Build Something for People to See…

Social Media Press Release

Ford’s Web 2.0 advertising for their 2008 Ford Focus made some waves in 2007. Not only did they create and market a completely different type of hype-up page that could appeal to and be spread virally by social media members and social networkers, they also branched out with the subdomain media.ford.com.

People can join the network and interact with each other, learn more about Ford products, and share what they find through an easy interface. MyMedia.Ford is the network, and while far from perfect, it is definitely ahead of the curve compared to other automotive manufacturers.

<Expect Ford to expand and other manufacturers to imitate and innovate in 2008. Combining different principals of Web 2.0 will prove to be brilliant. The advantage — appeal to a broader range of people, whether they are the Facebook/MySpace social networking types or the Digg/Reddit social media types. Links throughout to tag on del.icio.us, so no, the social bookmarkers weren’t left out. It’s a social smorgasbord.

Facebooking and MySpacing

It isn’t just for teens and techies. Social networks are getting groups from all around the internet. Facebook has popular groups for Victoria Secrets and Reebok, while MySpace boasts Bombay Clothing and Urban Outfitters.

Both Facebook and MySpace need to (and are, I’m sure) make changes to appeal more to business, not just through advertising, but also through networking. Even though neither format is strong enough yet for significant benefit for business, it isn’t stopping the businesses from flooding in to figure out some way to get their words out.

The emergence of niche social networks should end up being the fix that local and even national businesses are looking for to engage their direct audience. They are popping up left and right, are easy to market online and off, and as more new users swarm to Facebook and MySpace, more older users are leaving, looking for something more personal and less obscene.

Viral Social Marketing

Starbucks has never really gotten into advertising their products heavily until 2007. They didn’t need to. When the word Starbucks became synonymous with quality coffee in the 90′s, the buzz fueled unprecedented growth. Now, with more competition and rising costs, the old business model still works, but why not pump it up with some viral marketing.

Their Cheer Chain was extremely innovative and successful, with over 30,000 chains created already. Relatively inexpensive advertising perpetuated by users with a competitive edge to it — what better way to get the word out and expand on their monumental branding. Social media marketing is not just about selling something. Sometimes, the branding alone is enough to make sales happen down the road.

When you have the clout that Starbucks have, you have the luxury of being able to focus on such things. Still, businesses do not have to be mega-global empires to learn from this. Any time you can get your customer base to spread the word and get your logo out in front of the masses, you’ve accomplished something. Perhaps more importantly, it’s dirt cheap.

Twitter and Flickr and YouTube, oh my!

Social media marketing doesn’t have to require long development and planning. Some businesses have recognized that micro-blogging and media submissions are enough for a boost to get more of the word out. With Google’s Universal Search starting to take wings and show up on the search engine results pages in the form of images and videos, this is more important now than ever before.

Companies like Radio Shack and Bowflex have done a little on YouTube, while EBTM T-Shirts and Chumby are active with using Flickr for marketing. Then there’s Tiger Direct, who has created a mini-empire by promoting on YouTube in bulk.

Micro-blogging platform Twitter needs only two words to prove its effectiveness: Amazon and Apple. Though both have modest follower numbers, you can always bank on these two knowing what they’re doing with new and innovative marketing techniques. Businesses large and small would do well to follow their lead on internet marketing matters.

Second, Get People there to See it…

Promoting Social Media through Social Media

Possibly the most important trend for 2008 is the use of social media to promote other social media. A perfect example recently happened for one girl trying to win a contest. Kina Grannis put a video about Digg on YouTube, had it submitted to Digg, and watched as it flew onto the front page and up the Top in All Categories section.

It has had over 250K views in 10 days, not including the knockoffs and resubmits.

Sometimes, taking events on social media websites and turning them into news for social media websites works well.

“The true gems in the social media arena are folks that not only find good User Generated Content (UGC), but create it as well. Interviewing a top banned Digger and interviewing the Mixx founder were great sources of content for us.” – Brian Wallace, NowSourcing

Any good social media marketing piece should make its rounds. That part is clear. But in these tough-to-find cases, the social media became the social media story. The results — a likely victory for a singer and a nice couple of bursts of targeted traffic for a pair of social media blogs.

StumbleIt! the Right Way at the Right Time

Every day, many people see a spike in their traffic that they hadn’t seen before. They check their web analytics and see StumbleUpon.com as their top referrer by far. If the content is high quality and they are lucky enough to get a few good reviews and some thumbs up, there’s a potential for this traffic to continue for a few days.

If they get lots of good reviews and lots of thumbs up, the traffic could continue for months.

At some point, these website owners go to SU, create an account, and stumble every page of their website. At this point, they’ve nearly ruined their chances of getting any real traffic from SU, and they don’t know why.

StumbleUpon is an incredible traffic driver, but the algorithm is designed to not be used for spam marketing. First, the more prolific stumblers are the ones who drive traffic, not the ones who just created an account. It takes time and sincere stumbling, discovering, befriending, and activity to build the kind of account that can shut down servers the way Digg can. Second, repeated discovery or stumbling of the same website by one user will result in turning your stumbles into worthless window-dressing on the review page.

If you have time, Stumble earnestly. Create an account, discovery quality content, make friends, and enjoy. You can stumble the occasional page from your website, but for the most part, it’s better to just let people know where your website is by posting it on your profile and hope they discover your pages for you. If your stuff is good, it will get traffic. If not, you might get a burst, but it will die quickly.

Digg, Reddit, Propeller, Mixx, Newsvine, and Everyone Else

As with StumbleUpon, you have to have something high-quality that people want to see for the social news websites to be able to work for you. Whether it’s a new and innovative service, an interesting article or blog post, a funny picture, or a great video, you have to have something that compels social media users to vote it up or it’s a mostly worthless submission. Of course, it helps with search engine optimization, but this is about driving social media traffic.

Submitting your own content is fine as long as it is done sparingly. Still, having someone with some clout find your story and submit it is always best. Many of the top users are flooded with requests to submit things for people. Keep in mind — if it’s crap, it’s crap, and having Mr BabyMan on Digg, TechnologyExpert on Propeller, or QGYH2 on Reddit do the submitting will not get it to the front page if it’s crap.

Best techniques – either spend time, make friends, build up a strong profile on the social media websites, and succeed that way, or just hire a social media marketing company who knows what they are doing. The best of the best have made connections with strong submitters. In some cases, they’ve gone so far as to contract or even hire them. Services claiming to get you on 200 social bookmarking and social media websites for a fee are usually not the best. Services who have a firm grasp of social media marketing are the ones that will make themselves (and you) stand out in 2008.

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Social media marketing is here to stay (at least in internet terms, which means a couple of years or more). Businesses, charities, blogs, and individuals with a message or a product should take advantage of this, as it can be extremely cost effective and fun. You’ll touch people that you probably weren’t touching before. There are many pitfalls and a high chance of failure, as very few understand the concept and even fewer have the ability to practice it, but if you can market through social media properly, you have the potential to reap tremendous rewards.

Special thanks to resources with research that helped: 110 Ways Retailers are Using Social Media Marketing and Get Ready to Get Social in 2008, plus others who offered ideas and advice.

Find thousands of freelance writing and editing jobs…fresh jobs daily. Kickstart your writing career for just $2.95. Click here

Learn more about social media at the Social News Watch homepage. We take Web 2.0 News seriously.

They’re just more useful than the big sites.

The appeal that brought millions to form profiles and make friends on MySpace and Facebook will have the opposite effect in 2008 an beyond.  We built our MySpace page and started Facebooking because everyone else was doing it.  As closed social sites begin to gain in popularity, they will appeal to people because NOT everyone else is doing it.  Inclusion is easy on today’s internet.  Being part of something exclusive is becoming the new IT thing to do.

Ning and other emerging websites offer places for people to “give everyone the opportunity to create your own social networks for anything.”  Here are some of the more popular emerging themes for these closed social niche networks:

Age-Based Social Networks

There are social networks popping up for everyone from 8-year-olds to 80-year-olds.  Websites like Boomj (social network for baby boomer), Whyville (“a virtual world where boys and girls from all over the real world come to chat, play, learn, and have fun together”), and Eons (“loving life on the flipside of 50″) are making it possible for people in particular age groups to interact with each other.

The appeal here is obvious.  Age gives people an instant point of reference where they know that, no matter what else is different, they have something in common.  Exploring these websites reveals that the members seem to be more open, willing to reveal more about themselves than they would on general social networking websites.

Local Social Networks

Quick story: a friend was at a party the other day and really hit it off with a girl he met there.  They talked, laughed, drank… all was going well.  As the night drew to a close, he asked for her phone number.  She hesitated, saying that she didn’t really give her phone number out to people that she just met.  Then, she took a card out and wrote something down.

It was her MySpace page.

She said they could get to know each other better that way first.  He was disappointed, but it was better than nothing.

Social networks like Tribe and GoingOn to localize their networks and give the audience places to find local focus. While MySpace and Facebook have similar interfaces, it’s impossible to separate yourself into the closed networks, as the bulk of friends and members will still be crossing over to other general areas.

Social networks with local membership and flare are becoming more and more prominent, especially with dating.  Being social with people you can never meet based upon proximity is one thing.  Having them available within your city is something completely different.  Local social networks act as that buffer zone where people can interact and get to know each other without having to meet for drinks or talk on the phone.  In 2008, there will be multiple large social networks in every major city.  Expect to start hearing radio ads and even a few television spots pop up.

Professional Social Networks

The car business, which is notoriously a year or two behind the times when it comes to the internet, has a few social networks for car dealers popping up.  The presence of Automotive Social Networks is either a sign of the end of the world or an example of how any, ANY, profession can find itself with a social network specific to its profession.

Getting advice, networking, sharing experiences — we are professionally based individuals who revolve around our jobs.  Few are willing to admit it, but it’s true.  Having a place with like-minded people makes it easier to cope sometimes.  That’s the appeal to social networks by profession.

Interest Social Networks

Forums fade.  They pop back up, then they fade again.  Slowly, they will be integrated into social networks that offer more interaction beyond the forums themselves.

Gaming, for example, has dozens of emerging social networks.  Gaming Social Networks like Great Games Experiments offer networks within the networks to allow gamers to become even more specific about their wins and conquests.

Why Now?

What makes 2008 the year that Niche Social Networks will emerge?  The answer has 2 parts:  Money and simplicity.

With the Facebook Beacon debacle and other outcries for less user data being used for marketing, it makes sense to target networks where the advertisers already know they’ve got the right audience.  Hyper-targeted marketing will continue to emerge, but for now, closed social networks make it much less controversial.

The simplicity aspect is even more important.  It is simple from every angle – simple for members to find the answers and networking they need, and simple for developers to make the sites and promote them with very little investment.  Google’s Open Social and several other applications will make it very easy for these types of networks to get started and grow.

For more information, read a previous post on this blog about Niche Social Networking.