Periodic Table of Social Media Elements Reminds You to Optimze Your Social Media Plan

Rick Liebling has created a Period Table of Social Elements on eyecube that made me get thinking on brands use of social media. I included the image below, and the key can be found in the original post on eyecube.


In his words: Social Media really is a lot like chemistry. There is a huge pool of elements you can choose from and an infinite variety of combinations you can create. Twitter + sharing + commenting will give you a different result than blogging + LinkedIn + Flickr. Then of course there are the active ingredients - the people. A dash of Chris Brogan plus a big helping of David Armano and the whole thing changes again.

Often we are approached by brands and clients saying "I want a Twitter strategy" or "I want to be on Facebook." But not every brand that succeeds on Twitter will succeed on Facebook. @Comcastcares uses Twitter as a tool, but can you find a successful Comcast effort anywhere on MySpace?

As agencies, we need to find the right mix of social elements, and when appropriate, the right hyper-connected people to work with or learn from, to deliver the best possible Social Media Mix to our clients.

This gives a great image of all the different options in a quick-get way of understanding the mixing and matching capabilities of all-things social. You blow up a balloon with CO2 and it sits on the floor. Inflate it with helium and it floats.

Social Media: This One Time, When I Googled Myself...

On a random curious tangent during an otherwise productive (hm...for the most part) day, decided to Google my name and see what popped up. Before I started at Fallon, I remember doing this same search and, while I expected the result, was disappointed that it returned nothing. While I'm no Aki Spicer (my paltry 52 web hits is childs' play), I'm doing a bit better than I once was.


Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace...whatever. All of this social media comes up in conversations all the time, and I for one often take for granted the impact all of it has because it's such a natural part of my everyday life. I check Facebook multiple times a day, and barely think twice about how amazing it is that I'm able to stay tapped into friends lives who otherwise I would've lost all connections to.

But as I scrolled through my Google search results, I quickly realized that without social networks, my name would fall into the category of "having no documents matched this search." And while this may be due to my age and level of experience, I wonder what a similar search reveals for the rest of you.

And I don't think it's really a bad thing. For one, I know that all of the superficial Google results on me were, in some way, influenced by me, so there's no surprises. That's not to say that someday, I wouldn't like to have some quotes from big shot sources to my credit (AdAge, still waiting for that phone call).

In the interim though, just happy that I'm Google worthy.

Prediction of social networking doom and gloom

Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine writes an opinion piece on the inevitable death of MySpace, Second Life, Twitter, and the whole lot of social networking sites.

Some highlights:

"MySpace could be the first to collapse. It has now suffered the same fate as the millions of personal Web sites that sprang up in the mid 1990s: It's huge, ugly, unmonitored, unrestrained, and pointless."

I take issue with his proclamation that MySpace is pointless; I would equate that to the idea that letter writing or putting my photos in an album are both pointless, too. Not buying it.

More...

"Second Life could just as easily be the first to go. No one believes its reported participation numbers anymore, even though big companies, such as Circuit City and IBM, have built virtual stores (and Playboy is jumping in with both, er, feet this month). Some individuals are even claiming to make real-world money in there, but are they really?"

There might be some validity in the flaws Ulanoff highlights, but I think he neglected to take into account one important variable: innovation. If they sit, at stasis, until the end of the decade, these sites and utilities will probably lose their luster. But they're ever-evolving. The Facebook, for example, is shooting out new applications left and right. They're not solving global warming or emptying our prisons, but they are adding dimension to relationships. The new variety of closeness that we collectively have developed online won't go away, even if it does evolve into something different. But way to go for it on the prediction, Lance. I appreciate it.

Full article here

Mass Interactive: DeathSpace

Philosophical ponderings: In this age of digital second lives and multiple online identities, what happens to one's digital essence when the physical body dies? Is there a heaven or hell for the digital soul? Do androids dream of electric sheep?

Check out DeathSpace, a self-described "collection of dead myspace users."

Politics 2.0: MyState of the Union

MySpace is at it again with "MyState of the Union", a video contest where entrants express their views on the state of America and where it should be headed.

The nominees will be selected by Former Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist, former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta and political bloggers Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of DailyKos and Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online. MySpace users will vote for the winner, who will be announced on January 22nd - a day before the annual State of the Union address.

The prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC.