There really is more art than science when it comes to getting retweeted on Twitter. For individual influencers and organizations with a lot of clout, it’s easy. Justin Bieber could post a link to a blank white page, call it “A white bunny in a snow storm”, and still get thousands of retweets. For the rest of us, it takes practice and creativity. The infographic below is good in that it has some strong statistics and best practices, but businesses wanting to use Twitter the right way should take much of it with a grain of salt. For example, it recommends saying things like “Please Retweet” or “PleaseRT”…

Anyone who loves the Vine app for Twitter knows two things – it can be a lot of fun and it’s a shame it shows up as a link on Facebook rather than a video. This could change if Techcrunch is correct about their report that Facebook is adding a Vine-like video feature to Instagram on June 20th. We are still looking for more information because we understand that Facebook has not wanted the details of June 20 to leak out — so this could be an intentional blind alley. But if the Instagram video report is true, you could say the event invite itself — sent by snail mail, coffee cup stain charmingly in one corner…

When a group of people from a business begin to engage in ways of promoting their businesses what are some of the ways that pop into their heads right away? Some think through commercials other through billboards and some might think by putting ads in the newspaper and magazines. But in today’s fast paced business world you need a platform that will be able to effectively communicate in a fast manner with customers if you want a good turnout for your business. So as you hear these tips what do you immediately think, Facebook, twitter, or other social media platforms. Well the answer is the newer social…

The days of businesses focusing their efforts on entertaining their fans on social media are behind us… at least they should be. Today, people expect more out of businesses. They expect to be shown things that they don’t normally see from their friends and family. If they follow a business, they aren’t looking for that business to post funny cat pictures or memes. They get enough of those already. One of the most popular things we posted this week was on a car dealer’s Facebook page. It wasn’t a hot concept car or a restored muscle car. It wasn’t some local attraction or hometown hero. It was a picture…

There are too many opportunities out there in the world of social media that makes it a bad idea to ignore the medium. Businesses can make an impact if they put in the effort. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready. It’s still possible to put in minimal effort and have a decent presence. When it’s time to put in full effort, you’ll be better prepared if you have a nice string of daily content that fills your pages. Automation is a bad idea and can do damage in the long run, but there are ways to put in a little bit of effort and still do okay, at least holding down the fort until you’re ready to blast off. Diversity…

The use of social media to report events has become a normal occurrence. Any time anything happens that is newsworthy, many turn first to social media, plugging in Twitter hashtags and searching the Facebook news feeds for information. As disorganized and young as the industry is, it has been influential in getting the word out during times of crisis. There’s a caveat. It simply isn’t as correct as traditional news sources. The space allotted for reporting, both professional- and citizen-based, isn’t enough to paint a full picture at times. There are also those who intentionally mislead through…

What is the first thing that pops into your mind during or after a disaster? Well during the course of each and every year 800,000 people are affected by these disasters and some people don’t know where to turn to for help. When phone lines are damaged and electricity delivery is interrupted, where should the people turn for help? Did you ever think of using a social network for help? Well, in this tech savvy world, social media is becoming the leading form of contact during an emergency. The quick and efficient way to look for help is to turn towards the Internet. It’s important to check social media…

The primary goal of Home, Facebook’s Android app that basically takes over your phone, was to keep people more connected on their mobile devices than they already are. They already had the most popular app, but it wasn’t enough. They wanted total domination. Now, they’re taking a step backwards from that initial goal to solve an issue. For all intents and purposes, Facebook Home has been a failure. The strategy of rolling it out slowly to only a handful of phones backfired when very few of the owners of those phones took note of the app. Besides the abysmal launch strategy, the biggest problem that…

If there’s one thing that plays well, almost universally, on social media, it’s animals. From pets to wild beasts, animals dominate social media pictures and references. Some go so far as to become celebrities on social media. It isn’t just Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Even some of the edgier social sites like Reddit and Fark have an affection for the other inhabitants of the planet. It’s to the point that people are making up videos to get attention for one reason or another using animals such as the golden eagle that digitally snatched a kid. In the infographic below by Equestrian Supply…

More and more people are deleting their Facebook and Twitter accounts because of all the advertisements that flood the page. What if I told you there was FINALLY a way to interact with your friends online completely ad-free? Facebook and Twitter both have tons of spam, annoying games, and basically garbage thrown onto your screen. Since Facebook went public, this problem has only gotten worse. App.net (ADN) provides users with a purer social media experience, one free of spam, advertisements and invitations to play Candy Crush Saga. The Twitter-like website allows users to follow one another…