Call me a frog in the well, but personally I have never been interested in Twitter, as such I had no registered account thus far. However, with an increasing number of myfriends banking in on Twitter, perhaps it would be wise to check out what this social media tool has to offer.

Registration & Design

For a start, I applaud Twitter for its relatively fast and fuss free account creation process. Gone are the days when the registration of an account requires information that is deemed redundant. Twitter account creation required little information and three steps to get the account up and working. Greeted with a clean layout yet visually appealing, Twitter beats Facebook hands down with its design.

Functionality

Upon further exploration, it seems Twitter has nothing spectacular to offer in terms of functionality. The social networking site basically serves as a message board for its users which feels like a compressed and neatly organized status update of Facebook. The differentiating factor might be Twitter offering you the option of receiving tweets through its messaging service.

That being said, it is not a chore to stay connected on the go.  With 3G, WiFi hotspots and Facebook applications, users can easily update their Facebook statuses and read news feeds. As such, it greatly diminishes the attractiveness of Twitter’s messaging service. Besides functioning as a message board, Facebook allows third party applications where users can for example take a quiz and play games like FarmVille.

Privacy & Security

A series of security features were recently unveiled which Facebook users can enable on their profiles. For instance, users can list devices “authorized” to access their accounts. As such, “unauthorized” devices that has been used to access their accounts will trigger security, notifying the users and sending them information on how to reset their passwords and securing their accounts.

Prior to that, Facebook had been under the heat regarding privacy issues and policies pushing past the privacy limits of users. Some of these issues revolve around the inability to opt-out of Facebook features such as the news feeds and mini-feeds and the amount of information that was coming from them. In addition, there were rising concerns regarding the use of Facebook for surveillance and data mining.

On the other hand, Twitter shys away from unwanted media coverage with its traditional privacy policy in place. However, occasional bugs that breached the privacy of users placed Twitter in the limelight. Taking an example, the recent “force follow” bug hogged tech headlines where users found themselves automatically following others.

Social Media Marketing

In terms of social media marketing, both Facebook and Twitter have their fair share of pros and cons. Facebook can be pretty structured, restricting the creative usage of Facebook pages. For instance, the editing of wall tabs does not seem to be an option, as such leaving the wall tabs of pages looking similar. For that, page administrators might want to consider changing the settings for their landing tab.

Cons aside, Facebook would be useful for businesses to stay connected with their customers and clients with wall posts, interactive applications and micro sites. On the other hand, Twitter serves as a medium for businesses to spread messages of events or updates about the company. Twitter cuts back the interactivity with your followers however provides a relatively fuss free process where tweets can be tracked while you spread.

I must say I get pass new gadgets, games, items etc. really quickly and as such, the excitement and happiness is pretty much short lived. With Twitter, I would probably positively last a week or two before I just stop checking in on it. Perhaps it is just me, but Twitter just seems less appealing overall. Unless most of my friends decide to abandon the Facebook ship, Twitter is just not the site that would keep my attention.

If you like to just keep up with updates of what your friends are doing or spread a message about events, Twitter with its clean and visually attractive layout is probably your way to go. =)

Deep down in all people, there is a need to socialize. And when there’s a need, there will be some geniuses out there with solutions to cater to this need. There are many social networking sites available now such as Friendster, Twitter, Tagged, Hi-5, and of course, Facebook. Today Facebook occupies a major part of our Internet browsing activities, and it won’t be an exaggeration to say that it plays an impact in our lives.

Being Connected?

Getting connected to people and groups is now an easy task at hand. With 3G services, hotspots around Singapore, a large number of users are staying connected on the go. Furthermore with the upcoming iN2015, more users will be staying connected on the go. Even if you do not have a 3G or WiFi enabled phone, as long as you have Ping, you are most probably good to go.

What is Ping you may ask? Ping is a hoodie, still in concept phase that allows you perform Facebook actions such as poking a friend.

Do Fans matter on your Facebook page?

With the large number of users, companies have started recognizing the potential of these social networking sites. It was such a subtle and a natural process, one may wonder when companies began creating their own “fan pages”. Companies soon began to market and advertise their fan sites through usual ways such as creating their own group profiles, updating status/information, conducting contests and interacting with their “fans”.

However, one shouldn’t judge the success of their social media marketing just by looking at the number of fans they have. Having fans does not necessary mean that they would visit your page everytime they log into Facebook. Really, how many of your “fans” are real ones that interact with your brand all the time?

Games on Facebook

If you noticed, the most common updates you see on your Facebook wall (Besides updates on how your friends are doing) are posts about how someone needs your help in Mafia Wars, someone is adopting a lost seal, or has completed a new building in Farmville. Do you see now what people are spending the most time on in Facebook? =)

Besides the usual channels on Facebook, companies should consider using games as a medium to garner more exposure. Games have always been a never ending source of income and entertainment to many people. Even more so on social networking sites, it has proven to be one driving factor that has increased user interaction in a social network. At least to this ex-Plovdiv city council member in Bulgaria, he was so interested in Farmville and wanting to level up that it cost him his job. At least that doesn’t happen over here! =)

Taking an example on this, companies can create and give out accessories for avatars in games such as a pair of Adidas shoes or Picket & Rail furniture for pet society players. Perhaps they can have an in-game virtual store. Through such methods, companies might just be able to create a presence and garner exposure while at the same time benefiting you who received new accessories for your avatars.

Have fun experimenting with social media, and listen to feedback from your users!

What is Google Alerts?

Google Alerts is one of the easiest way you can keep tab of your brand and product mentions. To put it simply, it allows you to utilise Google’s search products (news, web, blogs, videos, etc.) to inform you of new search results by email updates without having to manually do a search.

Using Google Alerts for basic social media monitoring

The usage is simple:

1. Enter your search terms (more about this below) as you would when doing a search on Google.
2. Choose the type of topic you wish to monitor. You almost always want “Comprehensive” for including all sources unless you are getting a whole lot of updates in which case you might want to revise your search terms or engage a firm for your social media monitoring needs.
3. Choose how often you would like Google to check for new results. I recommend “as-it-happens”.
4. Finally, just enter your email where you wish to receive these updates. It is a good idea to get a Google Account so you can manage your alerts (if you have multiple ones set up) or have the updates delivered to a feed.

There is a list of FAQs should you want to learn more about Google Alerts.

So, What Can You Monitor?

You will be able to monitor essentially everything you can search for as with the normal Google web search. Assume we have Joe who runs a spa business, Spacialty (pardon me for the fictitious names), in Singapore whose competitors include spas like Spa Botanica and Estheva. Joe provides services such as Aromatherapy and Hydrotherapy. Monitoring the search terms below can provide some insights on his business.

• spacialty
  Monitoring mentions of brand name can help identify conversations on the services provided, customer satisfaction, negative remarks, etc.
• hydrotherapy site:forums.cozycot.com OR site:flowerpod.com.sg
  CozyCot and Flowerpod are leading Singapore communities that are female-oriented so it helps to identify potential customers talking about the services which Spacialty provides.
• “spa botanica” OR estheva
  Some times it helps to learn more about your competitors too. If conversations about your competitors are almost always positive, what are they doing right?

There are definitely more to the list here and what search terms to monitor is solely dependent on your business. Monitoring your brand with Google Alerts gives you a no cost entry to experience the usefulness of social media monitoring. Have fun!