In December of 09’, Google implemented real time results into their website. This can benefit the user because if you happen to be searching for a hot topic – you will usually see real time results streaming on the results pages at Google.com.
However, Google is just mixing in real time results sometimes, and there are a slew of real time search engines , such as Sency, which are completely focused on real time results. So where will users go for real time searches?
One take-away from the headaches that came with Google Buzz is that while Google is trying to get users to interact insider Gmail – people have gotten use to using Gmail for email. People like interacting on Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace because that is where they have always interacted socially. Gmail, has been used for private communication – so thus far – people haven’t been as excited about interacting in a different way through Gmail.
While there’s something that can be said about “size doesn’t matter” in social media, there is one case in which it definitely does. The larger companies of the world have always had an advantage in resources over their smaller competitors but are finding that social media is more about strategy and proper use of engagement and conversation than sheer budget.
Now in 2010, many of the social media woes of the past are starting to be rectified. Larger companies are realizing that throwing a ton of money at social media without a strong strategy is foolish. As a result, they’ve learned their lessons and started getting stronger at it.
The infographic below from Flowtown tells a compelling visual story of how things are getting better in corporate America.
Digg.com has been in the top 100 sites in the US for some time, but they have finally gone global.
According to Alexa, they are #99 worldwide in Traffic Rank. After a rough run through 2009 that ended strong, they have surpassed their strong 2008 levels.
For entrepreneurs, one of the best features of Twitter is it’s API. Twitter allows developers to tap into its stream of 1 billion monthly tweets to create new applications and websites. This Twitter API has spawned several unique applications and projects that have benefited internet users in a variety of ways. This API has also spawned several real time search engines, such as Sency, which tap into sources such as Twitter to offer real time results for internet users.
Those who have embraced social media have, for the most part, truly embraced it.
Those who haven’t, haven’t.
This great video by timetogetsocial gives an “in your face” version of reasons to care about social media as a business. Watch the video and then see the transcript of the reasons after the jump.
Facebook and Twitter are the two power houses of the Social Media Industry. Social Media has become a new medium within the Media family, its siblings being Radio, Television and Newspapers.
What Makes Up Social Media?
So, what makes up Social Media? Metaphorically, Social Media is the body that holds the various limbs that enables the Industry to grow, and allows you to reach outside of the box and communicate with the world. The “limbs” I am referring to are what we call Social Networks.
This Social Media Infographic from Flowtown really tells the story, visually and through words. It is one of the best representations of social media that I’ve ever seen.
If you haven’t heard, Twitter hit 50 million tweets per day.
If you haven’t heard about it, you’re not paying attention to the social media blogosphere, because EVERYONE is talking about it, at least the big players. Below, you’ll see that there was definitely a headline of choice in declaring the news.
The debate has been raging for ages (at least in Internet time).
Facebook was once the “contender” against MySpace. That didn’t last too long, but soon Twitter emerged as a pseudo-social-network-competitor-thingy to Facebook and the competition heated up again.
Whether or not that competition is valid is arguable since:
Twitter incorporates the communication and sharing aspect of social networking but is in many ways easier defined as a microblogging news aggregation site, sort of.
Facebook has nearly 10 times more users, hundreds more features, and thousands more apps.
Twitter has a clear business model, but only a dozen people in the universe know exactly what that is, while Facebook has dozens of business models, but nobody in the universe knows exactly what they are.
Still, these and many other glaring differences do not take away from the human need to compare the two and argue about them since they are the biggest “buzz” in social media right now (sorry Google).
6 months ago, Twitter changed its homepage so that there was a greater focus on their search engine.
At any time, anyone can go to Twitter and search through all of the updates from Twitter users. So, while initially your Tweets were scene by your Twitter followers, now people that don’t follow you and even people not using Twitter can view your Tweets when they utilize the Twitter search engine.
Twitter’s search results are also being syndicated to several web properties. In December of 09, Google implemented Twitter results onto the first page of their results pages. For select keywords, you’ll notice the Latest Results box scrolling which is powered by Twitter results along with other real time results. In addition to Google, Bing has announced a plan to bake in Twitter results into their search listings.
However, Google is just mixing in real time results sometimes, and there are a slew of real time search engines , such as Sency, which are completely focused on real time results. So where will users go for real time searches?
