If you ever had a mother that was slightly obsessed with manners (which my mother definitely was) there is no doubt that you have been taught a certain degree of etiquette. From saying please and thank you to not putting your elbows on the table, etiquette is expected and respected in a vast majority of social circles. Just as we exercise etiquette amongst our friends and family, so should we exercise a degree of etiquette with our social media strategy as a part of our brand. Do you bring politeness and etiquette into your social media brand strategy or do you prefer to turn your nose up at the need for manners?

So if you haven’t already heard, Twitter has recently bought over and now has the rights to their very own web analytics company, Smallthought Systems. Through this, it is likely that Twitter will soon offer their own analytics service and this recent business move has brought the issue of Twitter analytics to the forefront.

There has been an ongoing debate as to whether acquiring a Twitter analytics package or system is worth it as many feel that free tools and general knowledge will let you do your own analytics for free. There is however a few Twitter analytics packages that will help you track as well as store and save all your related Twitter information under one roof.

Kids are growing up a lot quicker these days. I am still surprised when I spot a 10 year old girl with a full face of make up on, chatting away on her mobile telephone. I always wonder what they are talking about – what can so important that it cannot wait until school starts the next day? I am sure though that I could learn a thing or two from someone 15 years younger than me when it comes to computer technology and social networking because as much as I am connected to the social networking scene, I am sure these kids have tumbled further down the rabbit hole. If kids are walking around with mobile phones attached to their ears 24/7, there is no doubt that they are constantly connected to social networking sites just as much. The issue of social networking safety has always been a prominent one and even though the age requirement for logging onto Facebook is 13, there is no stopping young children connecting to their favourite social networking site and interacting with others who are much, much older.

We have all been there. We are sitting around the dinner table with friends and someone brings up the topic of Facebook. When we are confronted with the question “are you on Facebook?” (Isn’t this obvious?) We scoff and mumble, “oh, hardly ever.” But the truth is that even though we do not know it, many of us hold social media addictions, and these addictions are not the dirty type that we can keep secret from the world. If you are a social media addict, everyone knows it. But just as much as the everyday Joe is dealing with a social media addiction, we have to sit and wonder – are brands just as addicted to utilising the benefits that come with social media and the ability to connect?

Is it just me or has everyone recently discovered infographics? I am used to seeing simple graphs, tables and pie charts popping up here and there when reading informational articles that contain statistics but it seems that recently, many individuals have turned to the use of infographics in order to draw more attention to their topic. These reader friendly “pictures” are now making what could be potentially boring information easier to read but does this mean less solid information and more visuals for the reader in the future?

The social media industry has now also taken on the use of infographics in order to engage customers with statistics and facts as well as involve readers with the article itself. One infographic that got an extremely popular response was the Mega Shark. This simple graph is based on a so-bad-it’s-funny B grade film and looks at the possibility of a shark eating a plane. A brilliant form of satire, this infographic is informative and highly humourous.

I personally do not follow brands on Twitter or Facebook as I am rather afraid of being bombarded with product related tweets and status related service updates. I did follow a brand for a while on Facebook but their “computer giveaways” were so irritating that I deleted their group with a “god riddance” mumble For many companies, it seems as if digital advertising on social networks is free advertising as well as free reign and many do not stop at one or two promotions but rather go status and tweet crazy 24 hours a day. With possible new restrictions on digital media related advertising, the rope might be considerably tightened on this so called free reign as the higher powers watch what brands come up with.

I am a sucker for following big brands viral marketing video campaigns. For instance, if there is a video that I think is clever and witty, it is likely that I will send the link to my friends (whom I know have the same sense of humour and interests that I do.) Just today, I watched the Puma Hardchorus (probably for the third time already) and sent it to others I know would enjoy the magic of that cheesy love song being sung by a group of burly beer drinking men. I love it when big brands take a different approach to viral marketing campaigns and involve themselves in something visually entertaining that ultimately gets people thinking and therefore makes it successful. To be honest, I am rather jealous of their viral marketing ideas as I wish I could come up with something just as creative and intriguing, place it online and get a wave of responses – just from one little video or visual campaign. How do these brands know for certain that their campaign will take off and enhance their already big brand even further?

Surprise surprise – Google have entered yet another sector that have no relation to their services in order to offer their customers an alternative to buying their electricity from another source and they have called this Google Energy. Those of us who follow Google’s ventures will see that they are consistently involving themselves in every industry possible. Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past few weeks, you will have heard of Google Buzz. This social networking site hopes to follow the success of Twitter and Facebook and even though many do not feel comfortable with veering away from their usual social networking sites, it is certain that Google Buzz will acquire a following. Google Buzz has been highly publicized due to its nature, but there are many other ventures that Google are involved in that the masses will not even hear of. Google Energy is one of them.

Google is now dealing with the backlash of its latest product. Google Buzz, a social networking service, was launched last week Tuesday, and within only four days it caused a massive outcry amongst users, with most complaints concerned about gaping flaws in the service’s privacy policy.

On Saturday 13 February Google issued a statement on the official Gmail blog, attempting to salvage the search giant’s biggest and most epic fail to date.

Buzz was automatically added onto the Gmail account of every single user. The initial configuration of the product was such that information from Gmail profiles became immediately available to a network of friends created by Google, based on contacts that users most frequently interact with. This network was then visible to a vast audience, widely revealing the personal contact lists of users, with severe repercussions.

So, up until about five minutes ago, I had no clue that the Winter Olympics were scheduled to start today. This could be because a) I am not much of a sport follower, let alone a winter sport follower or b) that I have not checked my Twitter/Facebook/other social networking sites too much this week. Sports are not being left behind in a cloud of dust and are turning to social networking to encourage fans to watch and attend games and basically, get involved. But do they need this form of sports advertising or have they been doing just fine until now?