Social media as we know it today is not even 10 years old, and like children that same age, it can be unruly, wild and amazing. But the opportunity to reach thousands and beyond with a single web page or a well-placed post is attractive to small business owners.

If you spend even a week on Facebook, you’ll discover that identifying and connecting with your “fans” takes real effort. Your target audience doesn’t just show up because your page exists. You have to engage them, consistently. You have to share and give a little insight into what your business does and the people behind your brand. The goal is to put out just the right amount of information so you don’t come off cold, distant and too corporate to connect; all while avoiding a deadly dose of TMI – too much information.  read more

Content marketing is a crucial part of the success of your website. Without it, you will have to rely on unreliable methods of marketing your website’s content – which only results in your content not being seen by your intended audience.

You need content marketing to promote and develop awareness for your content. Here are five tips that will help you improve the content marketing efforts for any website (whether you had it made or you created it with IM Creator): read more

Google Glass, by design, is a social product. Customers wear the glasses everywhere and therefore, they have the option to easily stay connected on the go.

With that real-time connectivity, it was only a matter of time before social networks jumped on-board.

Announced at Google I/O, the product is now receiving social connectivity via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and collaboration platform Evernote.

Before those social networks jumped on-board, Google Glass was already connected to mobile-only social network Path.

Each of the social networking options will be available as “Glassware,” the new name for Google Glass apps. read more

Who isn’t on Facebook these days? We’re all connected and joined together with pictures, status updates and a whole lot more – and most of us do it without an inkling of the perils that we face on the social media network, day in and day out. Facebook gets a lot of flak for being unsafe for kids, adding to an employer’s woes, and even messing up a relationship or two – and not without reason.

The social media giant has boomed in the last half decade or so, with more than a billion users to its name. The magnitude of the impact it can have on people has not gone unnoticed. The harmful stats are sure to throw anyone for a loop. From Facebook depression to stalkers, from a loss of productivity to slander – the problems that are part and parcel of the social media network are aplenty. read more

Social network giant Facebook has agreed to purchase app infrastructure provider Parse. The company, which was founded two years ago, provides back-end support for cross-platform apps.

In a statement regarding the acquisition Facebook said:

“By making Parse a part of the Facebook Platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices.”

Facebook should benefit from Parse’s ability to offer server support and software development kits (SDKs) that make app development easier.  read more

The team at ThingLink is bringing its specialized brand of interactive images to Facebook.

The Helsinki-based company allows users to create interactive images with its online tool, those images can then be shared in fun and unique ways.

Using the program, users can place links inside of multimedia content. Once added to a users timeline, ThingLink creates a new type of interactive photo that engages the curiosity of users.  read more

Have you ever taken a job only to receive a Facebook friend request from your boss shortly after starting work? A new survey has found that most Facebook users don’t want to be friends with their boss.

Studying hundreds of Facebook users, the team at Fierce Inc. found that most social media users don’t want a personal social media relationship with the people they work for.

In polling 800 Facebook participants, the study found that a whopping 80 percent of workers use Facebook on the job while 50 percent of those surveyed thought it was a bad idea to mix Facebook with work.

16 percent of respondents also claimed that they have “lost respect for co-workers because of things they posted on Facebook.” read more

Facebook isn’t just a website where users go to complain about their boss and a bad day. The social network, when utilized properly can be a stepping stone towards real estate sales success. Thanks to its open level of communication, robust user base and ability to target users, Facebook should be one of the first stops for real estate professionals looking to extend and maintain their brands.

But exactly how do you maintain and build a real estate brand on Facebook? read more

Facebook’s automated systems and unfortunate choice of words might be directly effecting the perceptions of racism for some users. A new study has found that the social network is finding unexpected ways to spread racist messages.

While we often think of Facebook and racism as something that happens among bigoted commenters, the truth is the network’s user logs reveal a more prevalent problem. The study published in the Computers in Human Behavior examines racism based on how long a user remained logged into the social network.

The study finds that the longer one is logged in, the more a user absorbs negative racist sentiments. Examining more than 600 participants, including 70 percent females, the study asked each user to read three different Facebook “notes” about race. Each of the notes had a different focus.  read more

Twitter has rolled out a new embed feature for its Vine platform. Users can now choose to embed Vine’s based on three different sizes. The company also unveiled stronger Facebook and Twitter sharing options.

In a company blog post  co-founder and general manager Dom Hofmann writes:

“When we launched Vine, we described posts as ‘little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life.’ With today’s update, you can display them almost anywhere.” read more