Check out this 4-minute speech from social news site Reddit.com’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian. In it, he shares a real-life example of the power of the social media through the rise of Greenpeace’s Mr. Splashy Pants.

With more than 400 million people on Facebook, the fan page feature has become an increasingly popular way for companies and organizations to connect with users. A fan page can be registered, created and published in 20 minutes. And for some organizations, that might be enough to attract fans. But how does either party benefit from this type of relationship?

Similar to the Opening Ceremony, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics fan page is an example of going above and beyond. The page engages its 1.4+ million fans by providing video, photos, a discussion board, breaking news and even commentary from Olympic athletes. Fans can also play one of three “mini-games” or submit their own Olympic photos for a chance to win a daily prize of two tickets to the Games.

Your brand might not be ready for a page of this magnitude, but this provides inspiration as to how a fan page can work, when done correctly. If you’re ready for a fan page, there are numerous options for filling it out: Share photos from an event, ask questions on the discussion board or upload a recent presentation. The possibilities are endless. In the international competition of social media, how can your organization’s fan page become a champion?

Very rarely does an ad generate editorial media coverage. Generally, advertising is confined to its paid space – until the ad itself becomes the news. This is what’s happened for one controversial Super Bowl commercial: gay dating site ManCrunch.com. The ad depicts two men kissing and was denied by CBS.

Since the rejection, the company has received an enormous amount of publicity. Stories in news outlets, blogs, television and radio have created discussions in numerous public forums. This just adds value to the nearly $3 million price tag CBS is charging for a 30-second spot.

But why the uproar? Controversial subject matter always strikes a chord and advocates on both sides of an issue will make their voices heard. In fact, it was reported that CBS believed ManCrunch submitted an ad they knew would be rejected in an effort to generate free publicity. ManCruch denies the accusation.

And while ManCrunch is receiving a fair amount of free publicity, are they better off? As of today, the ManCrunch commercial on YouTube.com has been viewed more than 400,000 times. Last year, Wikipedia reported that the Super Bowl was watched by 93.2 million people. Would the aired ManCrunch television commercial create the same level of conversation? Would the controversy have as much value without social media?

Five journalists from Canadian, French, Belgian and Swiss radio stations are trying to find out how reliable Twitter and Facebook are regarding hard news. Starting February 1, the reporters will travel to a remote Perigord, France farmhouse and only have access to the outside world via the two networking sites. According to AFP/Google News:

“This experiment will enable us to take a hard look at all the myths that exist about Facebook and Twitter,” said Helene Jouan, a senior editor at France Inter, one of the stations that is sending a journalist.

The experiment poses some interesting questions: How will the journalists verify accuracy of stories? And how will they decide when to report the “news” to their respective audiences? From the AFP:

Trying to sort the wheat from the chaff without access to these other sources will be a difficult task for the four men and one woman confined to the farmhouse in Perigord.

Very true. But, there are a few issues with the experiment. For example, at the time this blog was posted, the five journalists were following 852 Twitter users, combined. That seems like a pretty small sample for the basis of an experiment of this magnitude. And, I wonder if they are considering the sources of their followers? For instance, are they following childhood friends or traditional media such as CNN International? Do you think that Facebook Friends and the Twitter equivalent are more likely to post news because the experiment has been announced?

Despite the obvious problems with the experiment, I can’t wait to see how it pans out. In fact, I’m already *following each reporter. I’d just recommend taking their findings with a grain of salt … but if you’re in the communication profession, you already knew that.

*Note: Since all tweets in this list will be in a language other than English, check out this quick video on how to translate Twitter updates. Hopefully, the powers-that-be at TweetDeck will soon create an auto-translate feature for groups.

Photo credit: Rob Enslin

Today, Costa DeVault presented “Making the Case: Social Media for Attorneys,” to the Volusia/Flagler Association for Women Lawyers. The program covers the basics of social media, and how to market oneself using this modern medium. Special thanks to Christopher G. Hill from Construction Law Musings, Susan Cartier Libel from Solo Practice University, Scott E. Greenfield from Simple Justice and Carolyn Elefant from MyShingle for their input and expertise. We hope you find this information useful, and welcome any suggestions for our next program.

Quick – you need a restaurant recommendation for a special night out; do you…

A. Google “Winter Park, FL restaurants”
B. Send out a tweet asking for help
C. Check reviews on Yelp!

Yesterday’s HARO (Help a Reporter Out) conference call, hosted by Peter Shankman and Chris Brogan, introduced listeners to the idea of the “human web” versus the “machine web” – and why brands need to utilize one more than the other.

The human web includes social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp! – while the machine web refers to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. When you’re looking for movie times, it is smart to get help from Google – but if you want a review, your human network is probably your best bet.

For example, some critics deemed recent movie Brüno the “one-day wonder” due to the fact that its numbers declined 40% from Friday to Saturday. Time suggested that Twitter might be to blame, claiming that “Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect.” As moviegoers tweeted their various experiences, ranging from walking out of the theater to being completely mortified, their followers caught on.

It is sometimes easy to forget that search engines are, in the end, machines fueled by search algorithms and, in some cases, advertisements. Having a “loyal army,” as Shankman puts it, is vital to brands in the social media age. It might be easier for a consumer to ask a search engine what restaurants are in the area, but if the consumer asks their Twitter followers to suggest one, they get a recommendation from someone they trust – whether they know them personally or not. On the same note, as discussed in the conference call, a recommendation from a loyal customer is more trusted than the restaurant itself suggesting you try their newest dish.

The key for businesses is to get customers to be their biggest fans (and their ultimate source for PR) – but this is easier said than done. One step in the right direction is to make sure you are interacting with your social media network… not just having a one-sided conversation.

Photo credit: hyku

Being in the Online Brand Development business, we read everything we can get our hands on about changes in the industry – and we regularly discuss everything from best practices for web design … to the incorporation of social media tools … to writing for search engine optimization. The interactive side of our agency has created a real opportunity for collaboration throughout the office – bringing the writers, account executives, designers, programmers (quite literally everyone) together to do it right. It makes for a more exciting process and provides a platform for intensely creative solutions to marketing challenges.

But real success in this ever-evolving medium can’t occur with “new tools” alone. True, you have to be ahead of the curve – but if you only look forward, you may fail to benefit from very valuable “lessons learned.” Yes, the new tools need a few old rules. The first, and most fundamental: The principles of good customer service that have been at play since the first sale was made remain at the heart of everything businesses should be doing to market themselves – online or anywhere else.

Some very successful companies know this all too well. The corporate culture behind Zappos.com and their commitment to good customer service has been widely reported and has catapulted the company from $1.6 million in revenue in 2000, $8.6 million in 2001. Last Wednesday, the company sold to Amazon.com for $850 million. In a recent BusinessWeek article titled “The Web Knows What You Want,” the writer explores how analytics companies are dissecting behavioral data to create technology that will predict what online shoppers want. The article likened this new technology to an in-store salesperson observing a customer’s body language and tone of voice so that they can better anticipate purchasing recommendations. (Interesting … new tools replicating “old rules.”) That analogy drove the very simple point home.

As the “what’s new” continues to evolve, we must remain focused on what really matters. And it begins with one of the oldest marketing tenets around: Know your customer.

More on how Costa DeVault’s take on “new tools and old rules” at the Orlando IABC meeting in November. Stay tuned to the IABC web site for more details.

Photo credit: striatic