College students give up Facebook for week, reduce stress

By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA | Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:36pm EST

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Harrisburg University students gave up Facebook and other social media for a week in September and said they were less stressed and more attentive to course work, according to a study published on Friday.

The university in central Pennsylvania blocked the use of media such as Facebook and Twitter for a week to study its effect on students and faculty.

The survey found that 25 percent of students reported better concentration in the classroom, and 23 percent said they found lectures and seminars more interesting.

Forty percent of students said they spent between 11 and 20 hours a day using social media, and several faculty and staff reported spending up to 20 hours a day with the tools.

"One has to believe that this level of usage would likely interfere with school work and jobs," the survey's authors said.

A third of students reported feeling less stressed because they were unable to use social media. The survey quoted one student saying she felt like she had taken a vacation for the week because she was not constantly checking her messages.

Some students and faculty rediscovered the value of face-to-face communications when they were unable to communicate electronically.

Several professors said their students more easily understood a difficult biological concept through a conversation with faculty than they had after trying to grasp it using social media.

One student said he actually had to talk to his professor during the blackout.

"The results suggest that a healthier, more productive life style was practiced by a significant portion of the students during the blackout," the survey said.

Six percent of students reported eating better and exercising more during blackout week. And 21 percent used the time they usually spent on Facebook to do homework, whereas 10 percent said they spent the time usually spent on Facebook to read online news.

(Reporting by Jon Hurdle, Editing by Greg McCune)

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Why More Health Experts Are Embracing the <b>Social</b> Web

Unity Stoakes is the co-founder and president of OrganizedWisdom, an expert-driven digital media company focused on health and wellness. OrganizedWisdom is building the world’s first digital mapping of online health experts to help people easily discover and connect with credible health resources.

Is your doctor easily accessible online, or does he or she believe that the InternetInternet isn’t a resource for accessing health information?

If it’s the latter, it may be time to find another doctor. With nearly 90% of online Americans searching the Internet for health resources, it’s likely you and your friends and family already use the Internet to research health issues. It’s true that the web has a jumble of health information, and engaging online takes time, which most health experts don’t have. The good news, however, is that the increasing number of health professionals now embracing the Internet as an important and useful tool for health and wellness is beginning to change your options as a consumer.

Read on for some ways that social media can help doctors, health experts and everyday users.

An exciting new social media trend is emerging that disrupts the standard view of health care delivery and will have a profound impact on us all. Thousands of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and health advocates are publicly engaging with people online. In fact, nearly 40% of Americans turn to social media for health information.

Patients (and a few early adopter health pros) moved online years ago to share health guidance, give support and find answers. But until recently, many health professionals have avoided using the Internet and social media as a way to help patients. This reluctance is changing, as savvy physicians, nurses, dentists and other health pros are realizing that if their patients are online, then perhaps they should be too. Health practitioners who were once too busy, inexperienced or afraid to share their expertise online, now actively share links on TwitterTwitter and FacebookFacebook, blog, write for online medical journals, engage on Q&A sites, or contribute to online health sites and forums.

For too long, health and wellness has been a do-it-yourself proposition for patients online, and people have been left on their own to determine how to effectively utilize empty search boxes. People have great access to lots of information, but they must sort through the billions of articles to determine the credible from redundant health encyclopedias, marketing web sites or sites with potentially unknown sources. Then, the task of deciding the credibility of the sources and articles has fallen on the patient alone.

While the number of health experts interacting with patients online is relatively small, there is a clear trend taking shape. A recent Manhattan Research survey of U.S. physicians shows an increase of Internet usage for professional purposes up from 2.5 hours per week in 2002 to 8 hours per week in 2010. More strikingly, while more than 100,000 doctors are using closed social health networks like Sermo.com and publishing in peer-reviewed journals online, thousands of health professionals are now blogging, using Twitter, and connecting with patients on Facebook in very public ways. So much so that this November, for the first time, the American Medical Association released a set of guidelines to direct physicians communicating and engaging with patients via social media. And earlier this year, the CDC also published its own best practices toolkit for how health professionals should be using social media.

Given that so many people now go to the Internet before, during and after their visit to the doctor’s office, the lack of guidance from credible and trusted health experts online is a growing problem. In fact, Manhattan Research shows that 61% of people now use the Internet instead of visiting a doctor. Thankfully, the tide is turning as thousands of health practitioners move online to do much more than interact with friends, family and colleagues and are instead using the social web to dispense their particular health expertise.

We are standing at the precipice of a new online revolution in health care. As more and more health experts embrace the Internet and increase their social media activity, health information seekers will undoubtedly benefit in profound ways. Based on conversations and surveys conducted with experts and health information seekers, here are some of the benefits associated with a robust online community of active health experts:

Interaction With Experts: In the real world, people seeking answers to important health, financial or legal matters look for guidance from the best experts. With a growing community of health experts participating in online discussions, people have access to more expertise than ever before at their fingertips.

Credibility and Trust: With doctors and other health professionals contributing information online in increasing numbers, it is important for a trust filter to separate credible information and sources from information that is not credible. The community of health professionals that is forming online will act as a system of checks and balances to separate good information and sources from the bad.

Transparency: It’s been a watershed year for increased transparency as government, big business, the financial services industry and other sectors have been shining a light into their operations like never before. Healthcare is taking a major step forward in this regard at the grassroots level, with an expert community being formed online by doctors, nurses and other health professionals across the country. As more doctors view social media as an extension of their professional reputation, you can be sure that they will treat their online interactions with the same care as they do in the offline world.

While the increase in the online activity of health experts is a welcome development, searching for crucial health information online remains an overwhelming and intimidating process for many. In the offline world, people searching for health information seek out the best experts — and now with more health professionals moving online, people will finally be able to connect with credible experts they can trust.

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Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, dcdr

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What to Do Before You Interview a <b>Social Media Marketing</b> Firm <b>...</b>

I’ve heard it at least a bazillion times … You’re starting to feel like your marketing strategy is falling behind the times. You know you should at least create a Facebook page and use Twitter, but you don’t really know how to use them. (Is it worth the time?) And, even more frustrating, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Can you learn how to do all this social media stuff, or should you find a social media marketing firm to launch you online? (Yikes, how much will THAT cost??) And, if you DO engage a firm, how do you find a good one? A good one could be defined as a team that ‘gets’ your business, with the objective of attracting new customers. 

Before you start the hunt for the right social media marketing firm, gather your management team together and focus on articulating your offline marketing and sales goals FIRST. The result of any social media marketing firm’s work is only as good as the goals they work toward, and those come from your company. No management strategy and/or targets – no bullseye.

Once you have the offline marketing and sales goals articulated and prioritized, you’re ready to define your social media business goals. The offline and online goals work together hand-in-hand. Each supports and supplements the other. Good social media goals should at least include:

Identifying your online target marketFinding the places that they congregate onlineEstablishing your brand in these online communities (social networks)Listening, listening, listeningAfter listening, easing into engagement with the target audienceGiving valueOffering solutions and converting the audience into customersMonitoring, measuring, and continual improvement

You might also spend some time searching online and reading blogs about how other businesses establish their social media campaigns. They may or may not apply to you, but you will learn an awful lot, and give you more confidence before approaching a social media marketing firm.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book, How to Make Money Online With Social Media: A Step-by-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

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Powered Surrounds <b>Social Media</b> Atlanta 2010 with Two Author Events, A Panel <b>...</b>

Austin, TX (PRWEB) November 1, 2010

Powered, a focused social media agency, today detailed its involvement in Social Media Atlanta 2010, a week-long set of events to celebrate the technology and social media marketing achievements of the number two most wired city in the U.S. (according to Forbes). Powered executives and published book authors, Joseph Jaffe and Greg Verdino, will host Author Events, Verdino and Powered CMO Aaron Strout will moderate a panel on Social Media Innovations, and Powered will host a Meet Up, all during the Social Media Atlanta week, running November 8 - 12, 2010.

First up, on Tuesday, November 9, three time published book author and Powered Chief Interruptor, Joseph Jaffe, will host an Author Event, from 3-5 pm at the Newell Rubbbermaid headquarters. Jaffe will be discussing his latest book: Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones. Jaffe will follow the discussion with a Q&A and then book signings. http://socialmediaatlanta.org/jaffeverdino/

That same night, Tuesday, November 9, Powered will host a Meet Up, from 5-7 pm, at Wildfire in the Perimeter Mall area. Jaffe, along with other Powered executives in town for the week, will be in attendance. http://socialmediaatlanta.org/powered-meetup/

Thursday, November 11, another published author, Powered Vice President of Strategy and Solutions, Greg Verdino, will conduct his own Author Event, from 11 am – 12 pm, also at the Newell Rubbermaid headquarters. Verdino will discuss his book, microMARKETING: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small. Verdino will follow the discussion with a Q&A and then book signings. http://socialmediaatlanta.org/gregverdino/

Immediately following Verdino’s Author Event, he and Powered CMO, Aaron Strout, will moderate a Social Media Innovations panel, hosted by Social Media Atlanta, to feature homegrown innovations. To be held Thursday, November 11th from 1:30-4 pm at InterContinental Hotels Group, the panel discussion will be followed by break-out sessions allowing attendees to interact with the local technologies. http://socialmediaatlanta.org/innovations/

“We are thrilled to have such an active role in Atlanta during its Social Media week,” said Jaffe.

“We have had the privilege of working with several of the great brands, multi national companies based in Atlanta, and look forward to growing partnerships with companies in the city, as more Atlanta-based brands embrace the power of social media to better connect with their customers.”

For more information on Social Media Atlanta 2010, or to register for any of these, and other, free events, please see http://socialmediaatlanta.org/

About Powered:
Powered is a focused social media agency that helps brands fully capitalize on their social initiatives, make them more relevant in an increasingly digital, connected and social world. Austin-based Powered took it’s A game up another notch in early 2010 with acquisitions of three other rock star social media firms: NY-based crayon and Drillteam, and Portland-based StepChange. Now with 70+ employees in its offices, Powered brings its clients "best-in-class" expertise across the social spectrum by offering a combination of strategy, planning, activation and management for social presence and programs including those centered on Facebook, location based/LBS, mobile applications, influencer activation and community building, content marketing and earned media, and experiential marketing.

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Three Tactics to Approach <b>Social Media Marketing</b>

In one sense, 'social media marketing' is an oxymoron, a self-contradictory term. Implicitly, it describes media that are personal and non-commercial. So how does marketing fit in? As the punch line in the joke about porcupines goes, "very carefully".

Nevertheless, there are tactics available that can maximize your social media marketing effectiveness.

If you have not yet created a Facebook page for your brand, you must do that first. You should also look at opportunities available on Twitter, MySpace and Linked In. With those in place, apply these three tactics.

Tactic #1: Create Your Own Social Media Marketing Profile

Who are you? What is your background? What are your objectives? What do you do or would like to do. Your profile can be as detailed or as fanciful as you like, remembering that credibility is critical in social media.

The social media profile can differ from social media site to site.

For example a LinkedIn personal profile might be more of an online resume, detailing all of the previous companies one has worked for in the past, where as the LinkedIn company profile can focus more on the company's products, services, vendors and customers. Facebook and Twitter profiles can be set up for a company to communicate effectively with the new generation of consumers who depend on social media marketing to make decisions.

Tactic #2: Reach As Many People As You Can

Sites such Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Linked In, are frequented everyday by millions of potential customers. Each has its own distinct approach to its subscribers. All, however, expect a degree of socially acceptable behavior.

Unfortunately, flat-out, unadorned advertising is not considered socially acceptable by most users. That said, almost every visitor to Facebook is there be entertained or informed. An approach to this audience that features a friendly tone and that promises a benefit has an excellent chance of making customers and brand evangelists out of visitors.

By learning the different ways to reach people on each site, you can reach a wide audience without ever purchasing an ad on the site. For example on Twitter, retweeting the top tweets (the insiders term for a Twitter message) of the day can attract people to your page through searches. Using URL link shortening services such as bit.ly allows you to track how many people actually clicked on your tweet or status update as opposed to clicking on the URL page directly.

Tactic #3: Build An Audience

Solicit friends, fans and followers through mutual contacts and other online and offline vehicles, in order to qualify prospects from among the millions who may be exposed to your Facebook messages, your tweets and your postings on LinkedIn.

Many companies promote their Facebook page on their web sites, in brochures or in ads. The point is to develop a core group of followers who will participate regularly in your social media communications. These are self-selecting prospects of high quality and high potential.

When you have this core group amassed, feed them as much helpful (and persuasive) information as you can as often as you can. Don't stint on pictures. One authority claims 550,000 images are presented on Facebook every second, with 220,000,000 photos added to Facebook every week. Use your postings as portals to your web site where visitors will get a more complete story about your brand, product or service, stories that generate leads and even, conceivably, close sales.

This may seem like a lot of work. Fact is, it is. Most companies already have full plates, so social media marketing including regularly posting Facebook status updates and tweeting on Twitter requires constant and consistent attention, can appear formidable before even starting.

One solution is to consult with experts in the field of social media and Facebook marketing. These companies have the software, the experience, the databases and the knack for making marketing in Facebook and other social media wo

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Society for New Communications Research Announces 2010 Fellows Choice Award <b>...</b>

The Society for New Communications Research (http://sncr.org), a global nonprofit research and education foundation and think tank focused on the latest developments in new media and communications, today announced the Society's 2010 Fellows Choice Award winners for the Visionary of the Year, Innovator of the Year, Brand of the Year and Humanitarian of the Year as part of the SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards program.

These prestigious awards honor organizations and individuals for their notable impact on business, media, culture and society through the use of new communications and social media tools and technologies. The 2010 SNCR Fellows Choice Award honorees are:

"The SNCR Fellows have chosen an impressive variety of individuals and organizations for this year's award winners. These special award winners have the vision and success to provide a valuable example to others and we are honored to be able to recognize them through this awards program," commented Jen McClure, president, SNCR.

"So much is happening in social media these days, that choosing the 'best of the best' is an awesome challenge," said Paul Gillin, a SNCR Senior Fellow and author of three books about social marketing. "These are the people and organizations that are taking the whole industry to the next level."

The SNCR Fellows Choice Award recipients will be honored at the 5th Annual Society for New Communications Research Symposium & Awards Gala, which will be held in Stanford, CA.

This event will also feature the presentation of the 2010 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards. These prestigious awards honor the work of individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and media outlets that are pioneering the use of social media, ICT, mobile media, online communities, virtual worlds and collaborative technologies in the areas of business, media and professional communications, including marketing, public relations, and advertising as well as entertainment, education, politics, and social initiatives. Awards are granted in 13 categories: Online Reputation Management; Behind the Firewall; Influencer Relations; External Communities; Collaboration & Co-creation; Online Audio / Video; Online Publishing and Blogging; Mobile Media; Microblogging; Social CRM; Social Commerce, Social Data and Measurement, and Use of Multiple Platforms / Integrated Initiatives. Entries are submitted as case studies, and the winning case studies will be published on SNCR.org.

For more information and to register to attend this event, visit http://sncr.org/awards/.

About the Society for New Communications Research
The Society for New Communications Research is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and education foundation and think tank focused on the advanced study of the latest developments in new media and communications, and their effect on traditional media and business models, communications, culture and society. SNCR is dedicated to creating a bridge between the academic and theoretical pursuit of these topics and the pragmatic implementation of new media and communications tools and methodologies. The Society's Fellows include a leading group of futurists, scholars, business leaders, professional communicators, members of the media and technologists from around the globe - all collaborating together on research initiatives, educational offerings, and the establishment of standards and best practices. For more information, email us at info(at)sncr(dot)org or call +1 408.266.9658.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2010/10/prweb4694184.htm

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Top 7 <b>Social Media Marketing</b> Tips for the Holiday Season 2010

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Building on from the recent theme of preparing for the holiday season sales rush, this week I’m delving into the world of social media marketing.

The numbers around social media at the moment are mind blowing, so it should definitely be a consideration of any business before heading into the holiday period.

Before I delve into the tips, here’s a video I shared during a social media presentation I gave last week. It helps set the scene for the importance of social media for modern businesses.

So now that you’re pumped about social media, here’s my top 7 tips for boosting your holiday season sales using social media marketing.

1. Give your social media profiles a makeover:

When was the last time you checked how engaging your social profile is? Social media is an extension of your brand. Use the holiday season to give your profiles a make over:

1. New twitter background: did you even realise you can customise your twitter background. Check out these backgrounds to get inspired.

50 great examples of business branded twitter pages: http://www.creativeopera.com/2010/corporate-branding-on-twitter-50-excellent-examples/

2. Business Pages on Facebook: Is it time to create a Facebook business page that is more interesting than just a feed of your business’ activity and discussions?

Look at some of these company pages to see how you can take your business page to the next level.

Here’s a list of 40 more: http://speckyboy.com/2010/08/15/40-highly-effective-facebook-business-pages/

3. Blog Design: Let’s not forget our good old blogs. Perhaps its time to add some new banners, change the template or even update our widgets on our blogs to give them a bit more sizzle.

2. Build your followers and connections

The size of your social media captive audience is a key influencer on the success of your campaigns. So it’s important to build your audience so that when you distribute content, engage in conversations and share offers – there’s enough people listening/watching.

1. Migrate existing clients across to social media

Use this as a time to try and encourage existing customers to connect with you via their social networks. It will provide you with another way to communicate with your clients outside of emails, the phone etc.

2. Encourage prospects and browsers to join your network

Even if you don’t convert a prospect or browser on first visit, persuading them to connect via social media gives you further opportunities to engage with them which can help you convert them later.

3. Get more reviews

Peer reviews are becoming more and more important in people’s buying process. So have you checked how many reviews your business and products have? Are they positive or negative.

It’s important to encourage your new customers to post reviews (preferably positive) on the major reviews sites. Make it easy for them and suggest where to go after the sale (either in person or via follow up marketing)

Here’s a list of the some of the review sites to focus on:

4. Special Offers for your followers

Use the holiday season as a chance to create social media specific campaigns and offers. IT’ll serve two purposes

Reward the people who have taken the time to connect with you in the social media sphereIt’ll give potential new social media followers a reason to connect with your company.

5. Engage in the Conversation

While social media is a great marketing tool, it’s often most effective when it’s used in a non direct marketing manner.

Commit to engaging in your social media sphere through conversations and contributions; comment, answer questions and posing opinions rather than just trying to promote products and services. You’ll be amazed at how effective this can be at driving new business if done effectively.

6. Integrate Social Media with other marketing

Social media is another one of the channels in your marketing mix. So use it in conjunction with other online and offline campaigns. It can help extend the reach of your marketing message, or alternatively provide another form of conversion from other campaigns.

7. Commit to creating some quality holiday valuable content

One the major strengths of social media is the viral nature of the medium. By creating and sharing valuable content (e.g. articles, videos, industry news, etc) – your social media audience can become your marketing force. They’ll share your content and ultimately promote your brand. The sort of marketing that money can’t buy!

So that’s my Top 7 Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses this holiday season. As with most of your holiday season marketing strategies, the sooner you get started, the better the results will be when it counts.

There’s plenty of other social media marketing strategies to leverage during the holiday season, so what will you be using this year? Share your tactics with our readers below.

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