There have been quite a few interesting developments in the social media world this past week. Let’s recap a few of them:

Citizen Use Facebook for Justice – According to the New York Times, citizens in Delhi, India are using Facebook to submit images of drivers who break the rules. The Delhi Traffic Police Facebook page is being used as a bulletin board for unlawful drivers and the low staffed department is taking advantage of the shared images.

Is this type of justice “right?” To an extent, yes. It’s nice for citizens to know that they can count on justice when they do their part and report reckless driving. However, what’s to say that some of the images aren’t authentic? What if someone isn’t committing a traffic crime and they get fined anyway?

There are still kinks in the system but I think that this is a good starting point for a more accountable justice department. If small to medium sized towns in America would adopt a similar system, the rate of traffic violations in the United States might slow. It’s time that social media applications and systems proved that they’re useful for something other than hookups and games; taking justice to a new level might be a new focus.

Video Blogger Hands His Life Over for a Year – Dan Brown, a 20-year-old video blogger from Lincoln, Nebraska, is launching a project called Dan 3.0. during this project, he will upload a vlog (video blog) of himself each day doing different user-submitted tasks. Basically, Dan’s life will be controlled by his community for the next 365 days.

Personally, I think this project is great and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. Although it’s not the first time that something like this has been done, it seems like this project is going to be a success. Dan already has a YouTube subscriber list that is near 250,000 so ideas for daily tasks won’t be scarce. Also, Dan’s energy is great. He is passionate about this project and if he didn’t have that passion, it wouldn’t be a success.

It’s somewhat scary to think that he has basically turned into a puppet of the Internet community. However, Dan has said that he won’t do anything too drastic, like dump his girlfriend, or a task that breaks the law. He also holds veto power but hopes he won’t have to use it.

We should all be passionate about what we do. Dan is a great example of someone who loves his job and is willing to do anything (literally) to foster community and connection.

Twitter’s “Planned Maintenance” Proves to be a Burden – Early Sunday morning, the hosting company for Twitter, NTT America, planned to do some server maintenance and was expected to have the site down for close to five hours. Although I didn’t personally see any tweets about the down time, I’m sure that some users, especially those outside of the U.S., were not happy.

Has Twitter become too active in our lives? I’m just as much a Twitter fan as the next guy but I think that the site, and the concept of sharing every move we make, is beginning to get the best of some people. Some people can’t function without tweeting where they are, what they’re doing, or who they are with. It’s good to create community but when emotions change because of routine maintenance to a website, something might be wrong.

I think that as an Internet community, we should take a step back every now and then to appreciate the non-technological parts of our lives. If you don’t unplug every now and then, what makes you any different than the next guy or a robot?

Our lives should not be controlled by Twitter or a lack thereof. We should control them.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by dleafy

Ford breaks the mold and debuts its new Explorer via Facebook, not an auto show.

Do you think that Twitter will be around forever? After reading about its flaws, you may not be so sure of its stability.

Some would say that social media addiction is a disease. Well, some stats will help you prove that.

If you’re looking for a social media expert, you might want to make sure that they meet a few qualifications before you commit to them.

Checking your social media strategy is something that companies often neglect to do. Make sure that you don’t fall off the self check-up wagon.

Twitter could be stepping up their game by including photos and videos directly in the Twitter stream.

Interested in sending some voice text via Twitter? Check out Mashable’s article on sending voice tweets to satisfy your need to tweet speak.

YouTube Viral Video Alert: Guy Walks Across America

Tip: If you have an iPhone and you have Bump, now you can connect with others on Facebook and Twitter just by fist pounding.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by CDJensen

It’s a new week and it’s time for a new set of social media one-liners.

As always, these one-liners are created to give you the scoop on what is happening and tending in social media this week.

Here goes…

Are you a Facebook junkie? If so, you should learn how to do some pretty sweet things with your profile.

If you have a social media plan for your business, it may be time to evaluate your status and progress.

With Facebook approaching 500 million users this week, it will be celebrating by allowing users to share their own Facebook stories.

Some businesses see angry customers as a sign of weakness or flaws but they can actually be quite valuable.

It’s no secret that a social media catch-22 exists in many companies. How can you avoid it and deal with it if it happens?

Gearing up to begin a social media campaign? Check out one approach to creating a social media press release.

Giving props and saying thanks via social media is still very underrated. How can you show love for your fellow online users?

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by sue_r_b

If you’ve ever watched Napoleon Dynamite, you know that Uncle Rico is famous for his ideas.  In 1982, Uncle Rico planned to play pro football (and he would have had the coach put him in during the fourth quarter of the state championship) but he also thinks he can sell nylon polymer and female enhancement drugs for some hefty profits.  Without a doubt, Uncle Rico doesn’t put all of his eggs in one basket.  Well, neither should you.

[If you've never had a chance to check out the movie, watch the clip below to get a taste of Uncle Rico.]

Some companies take only one approach to social media, whether it’s blogging, Facebook, or Twitter.  Sure, having a Twitter or Facebook account is better than nothing but it’s not the desired plan.  It’s important to diversify your strategy.  If you want to have a solid plan for the future, be sure to invest your time into a diverse social media strategy, including blogs, social networking sites, and email marketing.

Why Diversify?

Good question and the quick answer is that it will meet the needs of your potential customers.  Normally I’m not the type of person to recommend doing many things at once but when it comes to managing social media profiles, it’s good to have a few.

Not every potential customer is going to be on Twitter or Facebook.  If you have a profile on each site, you can theoretically reach double the amount of customers.  Who doesn’t want to do that?

Instead of attempting to have a client create a Twitter account just to follow your updates, why don’t you meet them on Facebook?

Meet your customers where they are and they will listen to what you have to say.

Do It Well

Although he had a good idea to diversify, one of Uncle Rico’s many faults was the fact that he didn’t do anything well.  Take note; this is not what you want to do with your social media profiles.  Don’t become complacent with your Facebook or Twitter account.  If you’re going to be present on Facebook, make it known that you’re there.  If you’re going to tweet, distribute content that is worth following.

No one wants to know an Uncle Rico so make sure that you “do” social networking like the best of ‘em.

Displacing Your Doubt

If you’re about to jump into social media or only have one active profile, you’re probably thinking that I’m crazy.  And you have every right to think that.  In all honesty, I don’t have any solid proof or numbers to show you.  I can’t convince you with tangible data that says, “You need to have multiple social media profiles to be successful.”  And, to tell you the truth, I would think I’m crazy, too.

Fortunately for you, I’m not crazy.

The doubt that you’re feeling is natural.  You’ve been ingrained to resist change and new ideas.  You’re constantly bombarded with messages telling you that change is bad, safety is the way to go, and risks should be minimal.  However, that’s not the case and in life and it’s not the case with social media.

In order to keep up with today’s shifting culture – a culture that is focused on individuals and not corporations – you need to make an impact with your clients and customers.  Where are your clients and customers?  The Internet.  How do you capture their attention and make them lifelong consumers of your goods?  Meet them where they are and do it well.  That’s it.  If you meet a need, they’ll come back for more and right now, there are millions of people on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube that need your product.  You just need to find them.

My challenge to you is to subside your doubt and implement multiple social media profiles and to do them well.  If you aren’t effective with your profiles, take a step back, re-order, and try again.

Don’t be like Uncle Rico.  Don’t be a living-in-the-past, doubtful, and selfish social media manager.  Serve your customers and meet them where they are.  If you try it, you’ll wonder why you waited so long.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by scifisuzi

We’ll show you how to connect all your social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your blog and cut your time in half.

Join us for a free teleseminar to learn the exact steps you can take to connect all your social media accounts.

[The live teleseminar is over - register below to download the slides and audio]

Have you ever felt frustrated trying to manage multiple social media accounts? Would you like to get more results from your social media activity without having to put in more time?

If you are like me, there are never enough hours in the day.  When you are faced with managing multiple social media accounts, there are days when it can all seem overwhelming.  But, it doesn’t have to be like this.  In fact, social media should HELP you achieve your personal and business goals, not eat up your valuable time that should be reserved for working on your business and enjoying your time with family and friends!

The key is implementing a system to easily manage your social media marketing.  And, there are plenty of tools out there to help you with this.

Here are just a few things we’ll be covering on the call:

• Understand why every individual and business needs to own their online identity and that there are a few key social platforms you must be on.
• Discover that there is a process to setting up your social accounts to ensure your longterm success.
• Learn how to “Connect” all of your social accounts to ensure you are consistent with your messaging across multiple platforms.
• Learn how to syndicate your content across multiple platforms to maximize your reach with the least amount of effort.
• Manage your time efficiently with social media management tools to ensure you are working smarter, not harder.

In this teleconference, Trevor Turnbull is my special guest. He’s a social media consultant and founder of Social Connect Blueprint.

Trevor is an online entrepreneur with extensive experience as a business owner, business development professional and social media consultant. He’s the founder of Social Connect Blueprint, a social media training website that provides live, interactive training and educational webinars with thought leaders in the social media world.

Trevor is also an avid sports fan and the co-founder of Sport Fan Connect, a consulting company that works with sports teams, brands and events to help improve the connection between and add value for clients, their fans and sponsors.

I’m excited to have him on the call as our guest.

What we’re going to focus on is a fast-start version of connecting your social media accounts to make your time more efficient.

On this call we have only 100 spots and expect to fill up fast. It is critical that you register for this free teleseminar now

After you register, leave your most important questions in the comments section below. We’ll answer them right here on the post.

*Photo By canvascanoe

The ways of text-based blogging are slowly becoming ancient and the era of video blogging is upon us.  Video content is easy to create and online video websites, such as YouTube, make it simple to upload and share content.  But, like most social media practices, it’s not always that easy.  There are a lot of things that can (and should) be done to maximize the views, comments, and “share factor” of your videos.  So, what are they?

1.  Create a channel.

YouTube channels allow a user to have a dedicated place to upload their videos and to easily share them with others.  When someone accesses your channel, instead of just seeing one video, they will be able to see all of the videos you have uploaded in an easy-to-use format.  A YouTube channel is a great way to organize your content and distribute it in a simple manner.

2.  Keep the same format.

When you’re editing your video, make sure to keep the same general format as other videos.  If you have a title appear in your first video, have a title in your other videos.  If you always have credits at the end, keep the credits constant.  Viewers don’t like change when it comes to the organizational qualities of videos.  They want to be able to recognize your content within the first 10 or 20 seconds of your clip.  (You want this too!)  If you change how your videos are edited, you’ll be throwing off your viewers.

3.  Respond to comments.

It’s highly probable that video watchers will comment on your content.  When they do, make sure that you respond to engage them in conversation.  Remember, as humans, we crave conversation and connection.  If you can provide those two things to someone video YouTube, they’ll think you’re the greatest – and they’ll keep coming back for more.  It’s about creating communities, not about individuals.

The only instance you wouldn’t want to respond back to someone is if they’re comment is rude or inappropriate.  If this is the case, be sure to flag their comment as spam or report them to the YouTube police.

4.  Tag appropriately.

When you upload a video, you have the ability to tag, or label, your content with keywords.  As you tag your content, you want to ensure you’re tagging accurately with terms that people might search.  If you’re video is about dogs, don’t tag “dog eats a dead rabbit in the park.”  Chances are that very few people will be searching solely for that.  Instead, tag with “dogs” and “dog eating.”  The more general, the better.  Also, if you have a YouTube channel, make sure to tag your channel name in case people search for your content that way.

5.  Encourage contact.

Most people take a hands-off approach when it comes to their YouTube accounts.  No comments, no messages, just content.  That’s fine and dandy but it won’t get you anywhere.  If you’d like to continue building a community, encourage your viewers to contact you with suggestions, questions, or compliments.  When viewers see that someone is encouraging contact, they will be more likely to leave it.  Be sure to check you account often if you’re encouraging contact because you don’t want to only log in once a month and have 80 new messages you need to handle.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by bop

I am often asked by business people “what is the best video sharing site for my business?”

The answer depends on your video goals, but I’ve outlined a few sites and their uses.

Blip.tv

I am impressed with Blip TV and the way they are focused on matching their content creators with advertisers and sponsors. Their goal is to enable producers to create awesome content while they handle the business details.

This is a great platform if you are an independent content creator, but probably not the best option if you are a business.

Viddler

Back in 2007 I got to meet the guys who own and run Viddler at a conference I was speaking at in Philadelphia. They are a great group of people and have a passion for their online community. Author and businessman Gary Vaynerchuck, host of Wine Library TV, uses Viddler to power his very popular video site.

Revver

Revver pays you a percentage of any advertising they run against your videos. As a business, you probably won’t generate enough money to make this a legitimate income stream, so it is really just a token payment. You also have to generate a lot of views to make any money.

Vimeo

I picture Vimeo as the hipster of online video sharing sites. Expect to find videos by filmmakers, artist and musicians posted here – all in glorious High Definition.

But don’t expect the Vimeo community to be welcoming toward your business. They make it very clear they are more interested in art over commerce.

This is still a great site however, and in my opinion has the best looking HD videos around.

Howcast

I personally think Howcast is the best video site on the web.

Why?

Because every video teaches you how to do something. As more and more people go online to search for information – video will become increasingly important because of it’s demonstrative capabilities. Howcast is the leader in this space with a nice head start.

YouTube – The 15,000 pound elephant

Ever since Google paid an obscene amount of money to acquire this video sharing site in 2006, YouTube has been the biggest player in the online video space. Many people actually see YouTube as the only place to watch online video.

The biggest benefit of using YouTube for your business is it’s audience size. It attracts a daily audience in the millions. Even the newest computer users know and use YouTube to consume online video. It has tons of features that are begin improved daily.

Other video sites

Then there a bunch of other sites like Veoh (Hollywood and entertainment focused), Dailymotion and Metacafe.

Also, don’t discount MySpace, Facebook and Yahoo Video.

The best strategy would be to get on all these sites. But that would be a lot of busywork. Can you imagine uploading a video to each site one by one?

Fortunately there is an easier option with Tubemogul.

Tubemogul is my number one favorite video site and they don’t even host videos. This is an online site that allows you to upload a video one time then automatically post  that video to multiple sharing sites at once. They post to just about every one of the sites mentioned above.

Action Step

Sign up for a Tubemogul account and begin posting video to as many sites as possible. Don’t forget to offer your viewers value in each of your videos.

Video is becoming very popular online and growing by the day. Millions of people are turning to their computer screens to watch video. Will your business have a presence here?

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership and How To Use Social Media To Find A Better Job. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter.

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In the 1800’s Abraham Lincoln was on a job hunt. Lincoln wanted to enter the national political scene. There was only one problem… he was a nobody from the Midwest.

Lincoln needed a strategy to make himself known by the mass populations in the East. The first part of his strategy involved meeting people face to face, but he also harnessed a new technology at the time…. the photograph.

Lincoln took every opportunity to have himself photographed. He wanted to be seen. He wanted to have a face to go along with the name.

Given our current media-infused culture you need to learn how to get your face in front of people online.  Employers will expect to do a Google search for your name and get back image and video results. And no… your wild office party photos are not what they are searching for.

Photographs and videos are powerful

People relate to faces. If you look over the magazine rack at the supermarket, you’ll notice that headlines and head shots make up 95 percent of the covers.  It is deeply human to respond to someone smiling at us or making eye contact with us.

We all know the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” If that’s true then videos are worth 1000 pictures. Plus video allows you to communicate non-verbally. Researchers have discovered that non-verbal communication is more powerful than anything you can say. One study at UCLA indicated that up to 93 percent of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues.

Video is the perfect medium for whole-body communication. Video can record voice inflections, stance, smiles, gestures and other things that come naturally when you talk. You can convey confidence and poise on video without having to say a word.

Get yourself in front of the camera and on the web

Your ultimate goal should be to have hundreds of photos and dozens of videos of yourself posted to the web. There are two sites where I would recommend you begin posting. For photos, Flickr.com is our site of choice. This is a free photo sharing site that is simple to use and has a lot of traffic. It is very simple to take a set of photos from your digital camera and upload them to Flickr.

For video I suggest YouTube.com. It is by far the largest video sharing site on the planet. They have millions of viewers each month. Since Google owns YouTube, they place a high value on video traffic in their search results.

Looks

Keep in mind that the end goal is to get yourself a better job. The photos and videos you choose will be critical to your success. You don’t always need to be in a business suit, but you should always keep a professional look and attitude.

Content

You should have a few professional looking photos of your face, several candid style photos doing an activity and a couple photos with other people.

The most powerful thing you can do on video is talk directly to the camera about a subject you know a lot about. You could offer advice or thoughts about specific business problems or customer service solutions in your industry. Each time you make a presentation or speak in front of a group of people be sure to record the talk on video for posting to the web.

How to get started with photos and video

On video … be helpful. Take a video camera and record yourself giving value to others. Don’t even bother posting videos unless you are helping people. Offer advice, tips, strategies, insight… anything that is adding value to others. You will be seen as someone who adds value and potential employers will take notice. Once you have the video recorded – post to YouTube. Begin doing this once per week.

Get your photograph taken and posted online. It is also important to put yourself in photographs with other people. Don’t just post head shots of yourself, place yourself with other people in your industry or market. If you attend conferences and trade shows, be sure to meet some high profile people and get photographs with them.

Action Steps

1. Get some tools. I always have my iPhone with me so I use it for simple photographs. I currently use a Kodak Zi6 camera for video. It shoots HD video and works very well for quick pick-up shots. Flip cameras are also good to use. If you use a newer computer, you might have a web cam built into the front.
2. Set up a camera and record a 1 minute video introduction. Be sure to think about ways you help people.
3. Create and account with YouTube and post your video.

By going through the three steps above you are learning the grammar and process of posting video to the web. Posting photos is even easier. I would suggest you also sign up for a Flickr account and begin posting photos as well.

Your career is now in your hands. You can make or break your own success by how you use or don’t use free online tools to get the edge on your competition. Image is important in our culture. There is no reason why you can’t get this part of your career handled. So start now and go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter.

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Get the book “21 Days To Twitter Leadership” The Step-By-Step Guide On How To Twitter, Get Twitter Followers And Position Yourself As The Leader In Your Industry In Less Than 10 Minutes Per Day.