Social Media Maniacs and the challenge of the old schoolers

Between the hype around social media and the push back certain of us SMM ( Social Media Maniacs ) are receiving from a management level - I am in search of a quick and easy guide as to why corporations, professionals and other members of the alien corporate realm should be getting involved in this communication method.

In lure of not finding this list as yet, ( but I am certain with the help of the likes of Mashable - http://twitter.com/mashable and Mike Stelzner - http://twitter.com/Mike_Stelzner, I will come across it soon enough ) here is my run-down about why exactly these aliens need to join us in the real world!


With the growing number of users on sites such as Twitter, there is no question that if the target audience is living in these spheres that the service providers definitely need to jump on the boat.

Alas they are fighting back - and refuting the benefits of the likes of Twitter, here are few Social Media selling pointers for us all to consider:



* If you are not chatting to your target audience on line - who is? It doesn't take a SMM to discover the amount of corporations who are experimenting or properly engaging on Social Media networks. Thus if your company is not on line then there is definitely a competitor out there preying on your target audience, engaging with them daily and worse yet ( for you ) starting two-way conversations with them!

Social Media is more than merely communicating your brand's message or company's new products - Social Media is about conversing with influencers; purchasers and your partners. It allows you to spread Word of Mouth marketing not only through your communications but through the responses and comments made by your audience!


* Traditional v.s New - with this debate traditional has always won over the older aliens more challenged with change than anything else. But wake up. The Marketing and communications environments are evolving every second - with print media usage dropping faster than flies and TV advertising struggling to compete with the low costs of internet marketing.

The question is no longer why use internet marketing but when will you combine this medium as part of your bigger media plan. When internet usage is growing by over 30% in South Africa alone year on year - the message to the Change Challenged is simple - TV can be avoided, Billboards are ignored, Print is losing ground and the internet well speaks for itself literally!

The is nothing that compares to the power and influence Social Media is having on brands at the moment. Without paying for it, bloggers are mentioning your brand, Twit Peops are twittering about you and communities are having group discussions and rating your products! What better way to influence this world than to get involved.

Don't be scared. We all were. Someone asked me why join Facebook and allow 1000's of others to share in my personal life. Simple. Because we can, and because the world has evolved in such a way that we now need to connect with one another on another level. Face to Face is not cutting it in our time constrained lives - and if your audience is living on line and you are not, well then the book title Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus comes to mind.

Something for you to hum dee dumdy. Now run along you Twit ; ) he he

Bloggers Blur

Finally! Needless to say I have been suffering from Bloggers Blur!

Meaning I have been wracking my brain with this Blogger Layout and Template, trying my "damndest" to encapsulate my "personality"... And I think I finally got it!

Thanks to http://www.templates-blogger.com/, the smooth lines and striking combination of the colours really seemed to embrace something about me. Being 24 this is still an enigma to many and therefore I am hoping to be a bit descriptive in my blog!

Let me know your thoughts! What you think of the lay-out? And any other great suggestions you might have... Peace out ; )

Virtual Value

Between Work, Studies, my curiosity for everything and my family and friends I am struggling to find the time for my favorite past time - blogging and twitter! ; (

It brings me to wonder what exactly we are all doing in our on-line communities or more importantly why we participate!!

My friend ( the South African Paris Hilton ! ) recently admitted that she only partakes to be famous ( vymis in Afrikaans ), but hey she is the S.A version of Parys, so I will take her words with a pinch of salt.

As one of the web's many "lovers", I would love to believe that is something far more meaningful to the millions who pour their hearts and minds into the web.

Personally, as a scholar of life, for me it is partially the value of information sharing and the knowledge gained from the unqualified professors who frequent this world. I love you guys... ( blush ). Some are merely sharing your daily pains and joys - helping others figure out how to cope with similar issues. While others are really adding some great Value to our careers, passions, and quest for further knowledge.

I hope that my boyfriend ( who is def technologically challenged ) is wrong, and that there aren't people behind all this who work for some bigger fraud searching for all our answers ( i.e there is an actual human body behind Google spiders ).

Instead I will continue to gain joy in the fact there are millions of us around the world who understand the Virtual Value, that from mother to mother; social media to social media expert to social media expert and 24 yr old to 33 yr old, we see the importance of sharing our knowledge; recording our thoughts and collaborating across the world!




This is obviously not only an advertising ploy, or like Parys thinks a quick and easy make me famous method. Nope. This is our world, which after all we won't be living in forever. But there will be something we have left behind which our loved ones, followers, fellow twitters may remember us by. When you read this, think of Susan Boyle and wonder how we would have enjoyed her inspirational story without sharing it with each other... like Scott Monty says, everyone has a story!

Now if only I can hum dee dum about where to find the time!

Social Media Politics

With all the fantastic buzz around this new craze, I think it is time to investigate some of the serious negatives the intrusion of the corporate world has had on Social Media, and social networking fanatics.

While I am in marketing, and fully agree with the use of social media to engage in a dialogue with your customers, I can't help but feel a bit robbed of my "Facebook joys" since the corporate world caught on.

Previously we could freely blog, blast, complain and purely vent out all our emoticons through our facebook page, twitter or blog without fear of persecution.

Now, the effect of what I am terming social media politics has come into play. An issue I would greatly appreciate your assistance on.

It boils down to the simple question of where is the personal and work life on-line relationship drawn?

Is it fair of possible employers to search for you on Facebook to obtain a deeper insight into your personality. Whilst we publish this freely on the web, shouldn't there be a code of conduct for all corporations to follow?

Instead of "scribbling" what immediately comes to mind on Facebook status - I now stop and pause, to hum the my colleagues reactions if they saw this status. " Mego is really irritated with someone's power trip at work " - will obviously be interpreted.

I am outraged to say the least. Feeling deprived of my on-line "not-so-personal" diary. Nevermind fear of reactions to your on-line out-pours, worse yet is when these evils follow your blogs or befriend you on facebook.

I feel sorry for the techie who would like to share his personal affiliation and adoration for Yoda, whose preferences are now victim to the scrutiny of "external evils" ( invaders of the World Wide Web, the evils who selfishly & intrusively utilize us and the internet to for their own marketing needs. )

To take a stand would be admirable and foolish - such is the nature of social media politics. What if you ignore the friend request? Well then you get pestered to accept. What if you set privacy clauses on Facebook, well then they ( external evils ) will find other ways of penetrating our world. Damn Doodlenutties. ( an annoying person with a small brain ).

This is an issue I think will only worsen as this social media buzz increases like a Tsunami wave. Thus I am reduced to my subdued and polite interactions and updates.

Clearly being polite, quiet and politically correct is working well for me. Hum dee..

Interactive Romance

In this age of marriages on second life and frequent "love meetings" occurring on-line, I often wonder what has become of the married lives of those who are now bombarded with this new technology.

Instead of verbal fights, arguments with loved ones are now expressed through IM nudges and ugly emoticons of one smiley face bashing another. The clear benefit being you can quietly giggle behind your computer screen whilst ensuing in your argument. Having done this myself, I thoroughly enjoy the use of dictionary.com on my side ( being smarter than my counter part clearly ) - I utilize this to ensure my arguments are as vivid and colorful in their language as can be. I must warn those of you who, whose relationships are bordering separation that these on-line brawls can often be used against us!!! Either in the legal court or worse yet, the new ultimate fear of citizens of the WWW - proliferating your reputation on facebook and other networking sites! Yikes!! Something we should always keep in mind - as there is nothing worse than declaring to the world " Mego is no longer listed as in a relationship with Online Stud ".

Forget the heartache though and think of the beauty in this invention. No more hand holding or good night kisses ( yugh ). Instead our relationships can be made of IM's bouncing back and forth as we sit along side each other in the bedroom: " Night Hun, love you " IM Reply, "Your turn to switch off the lights my love.." This is hilarious but ingenious at the same time - coming from someone who follows the art of bart, I clearly do not relish in the cuddly wuddly mushy wushy pains of being in love. But this is great!

Don't take this as a new mask within which to hide your emotions - as I find emotions often jump out of pages and particularly off screens. Men fear not, your desire to understand what is going on in the female mind has indeed been answered, either by reading her blog, status or twitter update" Mego is currently looking for new options" . Remember that nothing says I'm sorry like a cute smiley bouncing up and down with flowers in hand, never mind budget saving. Here's the test, ask your IM lover ( when there is something wrong clearly, cos we know you know ), whats wrong? Your answer will be clearly laid out for you by the smiley now on fire or the punctuation used.

Remember to use your fullstops, caps and exclamation marks sparingly. Citizens of the WWW are far more in tune with descriptions and language than those who choose to live in the real world. The battlegrounds of love have changed into on-line 3 dimensional worlds where and "!" could land you sleeping on the couch or worse yet blocked from someone's face book page! Luckily ladies we have our own benefits in being on-line lovers, as we no longer require private detectives to determine the faithfulness of our partners. Men being men, are far less discrete than woman and often proudly feature in several discriminating photographs on facebook - but don't get mad, get cleverly even my dear... Post a cute picture of a monkey and tag the online stud as being part of the evolution cycle.



Happy hunting on-line love, I will definitely be following your antics and keeping the world updated as I hum dee dumdy about my next mushy wushy IM.

Blogging Therapy

Freedom of speech is not a new concept to generation w,x,y and zeee. But this is certainly not a concept that existed or was acknowledged previously.

It makes me wonder - with snazzy tools like facebook,twitter and blogging at our finger tips what exactly the thought bubbles of the future will look like.

At the moment millions of web users thought bubbles are sprawn all across the world available for all to view - from Facebook status messages of broken hearts to Bloggers diaries of mashed peas.

Now imagine the thought bubble of the future. In a world when we can clone sheep - I certainly hope that one day our thought bubbles can be hung above our heads. It will certainly save me the typing time and a lot of us the pain of being polite.

Not to mention therapy for the soul and certainly the work place ( she says in a menacing laugh ) - I can just picture the cringe of fellow colleagues as you saunter down your office corridor thinking ( and forgetting about your visual thought-bubble ) "I wonder if anyone smelt it yet... he he".

Fascinating times are definitely to come... hum dee dumdy.