Twitter Ads & Facebook Commandments

Blog News - Five Friday Finds!

Welcome to another rendition of Five Friday Finds at MamaNYC! This week has flown by faster than any other (good thing? not so sure yet!), so with that being said – I sat here not knowing what to talk about this week. Don’t get me wrong – there is always something new to discuss in the ever-evolving world of social media and blogging, but I couldn’t find one thing to pinpoint as THIS weeks topic. 

Since this is the third Friday I am writing a Five Finds Friday post, I thought it was time to mix things up a bit. We discussed the issue of bloggers buying Twitter followers in my very first post, which led us directly into the new Klout score updates and algorithm changes the following week. My main goal for Five Finds Friday is to discuss anything under the social media/Internet marketing/blogging umbrella, so this week – we’ll mix it up a bit!

Today’s Five Finds Friday post talks about everything from moms turning to blogging for parenting skills, Twitter using your interests for advertising, and basically your regular garden variety of social media and blogging topics. Stick around, check out my list, and find a few articles that are worthy reads this weekend!i

Broadcast Newsroom - BlogHer Study Reveals Moms Turn to Social Media to Enhance Parenting Skills With Blogs Boosting Their Confidence the Most

Authentic Advice From Trusted Blogs Helps Moms Make Decisions for Their families

I decided to use my very first Five Finds Friday post about how much influence we (parents) get from social media or bloggers. One of the initial reasons that I began MamaNYC was lack of children in our family and very few friends with children (one.. and still one!). I wanted to network with other parents and find out the best products I should be using, greatest bargains on apparel, how to deal with my sons pacifier problems, and basically receive the personal advice I was not getting from parenting websites.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of the parenting websites that are available, but none of them had the deep, emotional, personal, and social connection that a new mother seeks out in hopes of the right answers. As this post title states, I was looking for authentic advice that would be real and not constructed from a textbook on parenting tips. Some of the best advice that I have received in the past came from fellow parents at the playground, or passing by a mom on the checkout line at our local deli. These personal and real tips are what we look for, which is why social media and blogging has become such a success as we seek to enhance and perfect our parenting skills.

Earlier this month, BlogHer announced the results of the third annual BlogHer eMoms study, which provides an insight on moms, kids, and technology’s impact on managing family life. According to their 2012 study, participating moms reported that parenting advice and information from blogs helps them build confidence about their parenting skills, even more than any other form of social media. Blogs are providing real-life stories, tips, and helping moms make important decisions for their families. 

"Social media is having a profound effect on family life by providing authentic, trusted information, and blogs lead the way; Whether seeking teething advice, researching anything from strollers to eco-friendly toys, or deciding what to cook for dinner, blogs give moms confidence in their choices." –  Elisa Camahort Page [Co-founder and COO of BlogHer, Inc.]

Do you turn to blogs for parenting advice, or prefer the wisdom of an encyclopedia-styled-textbook-content-filled website? Where (or who) did you receive your last five bits of advice from when it came to decorating or organizing the playroom? As a mom and manager of our household, I am proud to say that at least 85% of our purchasing decisions are formulated around the approval and recommendations of products through my fellow bloggers. I have always sought out product reviews as a way to make a final decision before I press "Add To Cart". Bloggers have influenced my buying habits and I rely on their parenting tips and motherhood advice to keep my own sanity afloat. 

Check out the rest of this post for more stats and figures about how much we rely on social media and blogging for parenting advice!

Chicago Tribune - Twitter ads to be geared to users’ interests

 We’ve all seen it before on our browsers: You conduct a Google search for "baby strollers" and suddenly every website you visit is displaying advertisements for baby strollers on their sidebars! Is this effective marketing, or just plain creepy? This tactic has been used for nearly a decade, but I still can’t decide how I feel about it! Invasion of privacy? Bizarre? Or, effective and helpful? 

Deciding how we all feel about this advertising method could take days to debate, but I do want to let you know that there is no longer a reason to feel concerned over your advertisements on Twitter. Twitter advertisements are going to be geared towards your specific interests. They will gather and decide what you are interested in based on your recent tweets, hashtags, retweets, followers, and who you are following. 

This brand new targeting feature on Twitter will allow advertisers to send paid ads, in the form of tweets, to users who are interested in any of the topics found on a current list curated by Twitter.

"The new offering will allow companies to reach a ‘very narrow, very specific and incredibly focused audience," Kevin Weil [Twitter director of product management]

Find out more about how your interests will be used for Twitter advertising!

Huffington Post - The Facebook 10 Commandments: Break These Rules And End Up In Social Media Purgatory

The good folks over at Huffington Post decided to go where none of us have ever gone before: Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. In all honesty, I would love to know the percentage of Facebook users that have actually read, understood, and abided by all the laws and regulations of Facebook. We know what they are (for the most part), but does anyone actually read them?

Luckily, Huffington Post has done the daunting task for all of us and put together a list of 10 Facebook Commandments, which is a summary of how we should act and behave – or end up in social media purgatory! Although one (or some) of these commandments may get a giggle and hearty laugh out of you, I can assure you they are actually quite serious! It’s hard to take some of them seriously, but overall I think these are definitely an excellent set of rules to abide by while engaging with your friends, foes, and family members on any of the social networks!

So, what is the very first commandment of Facebook you ask? 

Thou Shalt Not… Act Like Bernie Madoff

TRANSLATION: "You will not engage in unlawful multi-level marketing, such as a pyramid scheme, on Facebook."  

The list of 10 Facebook Commandments includes such rules as user age ("Thou Shalt Not Be Under 13"), invading privacy ("Thou Shalt Not… Post Thy Neighbor’s Private Data"), and usage of a false identity ("Thou Shalt Not Play Facebook God"). While it all may seem a bit ridiculous or unnecessary, Facebook has set specific and strict rules and guidelines for members to follow. Do you know how insane a family reunion can get once you’ve gathered 60+ relatives in one room for a picnic? Imagine that sort of chaos, but on the Internet and millions of relatives instead. Without these rules, Facebook would likely be a much more dangerous, harassing, abusive, and unsafe environment for all of us!

BostInno - 4 Social Media Experts on Picking the Right Social Analytics Tool

As someone that has worked in social media and Internet marketing for over a decade, I have seen the industry transform more than any other! I’ve worked in web design and management ever since the days of Prodigy and MSN (who? yep.), watched closely as MySpace flourished and failed, and enjoyed the simpler days when HTML was the only coding possibly available in order to create a "high quality website" (remember the flashing lights and tiny clipart GIF images dancing on your monitor?). Throughout all of these changes, improvements, and failures – I always had to think for the moment if I wanted to create a successful and well engaged campaign for my clients and employers. 

BostInno asked four social media experts to pick the best social analytics tool for marketing your businesses on the Internet. With hundreds of thousands of options at our disposal, I can’t find the right formula for Internet marketing and put it into writing. The social media spectrum is changing at a rapid pace every second, so no one can put into writing a specific algorithmic formula and believe that is the right way to do things.

Have you ever found an article that specifically states an articulated list of steps on how to be a success on the Internet? Did the article ever end with "..and then you’re done!"? No! Why not? Because there isn’t a right way to do things. There are several methods, formulas, activities and engagement tools that we can use, but there is not one right answer that will build up your website and allow you to close the book or move onto the next chapter. 

So, which one should YOU use for your business?

Check out this post over on BostInno to catch a glimpse behind what these four social media experts say about using the right social media tools for business!

BlogWorld - 5 Ways To Handle Blogger Backlash

One of the first things that bloggers will learn is that not everything that you publish is going to be popular, or agreed upon by all readers. Everyone has their own opinion, so while you are allowed to include your own side of thing in a blog post – readers will lash back with their own thoughts.

Depending on the topic and subject that you are blogging about, blogger backlash can range from moderate and adult-styled debates all the way through harsh and evil comments left by angry readers.  Learning to cope with criticisms and disagreements through reader comments is only half of the battle bloggers have to deal with when posting a controversial issue. Firstly, approving the post or deleting it is something you have to consider – and it isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Although it is important for bloggers to monitor comments, it is also part of ‘what we do‘, or rather an important component to continuing the conversation with our readers. Posts aren’t meant to stop when published, but rather live on through blog post comments as a mean on conversation and reader engagement. 

Discover how you should deal with negative blog post comments and understand how important it is to take the good with the bad; the positive with the negative input from readers!