Last week we received an email from a 13 year-old, with an interest in working in the social media field. The following is the inspired, and flattering correspondence:

Hi, 

My name is Terry. I’m 13, and I’m in seventh grade. I’m always thinking about what I want to do with my life, and while I’ve thought of nursing, engineering, ministry, and countless other professions, I’ve never settled on one idea for more than a few days. Except one. When I was in forth grade I saw an article on the Google, Twitter, and Facebook offices, (I think I was on stumbleupon.com and looking at design, which I was in to at the time,) I decided to do further research on them. This led me to looking at more than the offices, but program development, advertising, and things like that that went on in all three. Ever since, on and off I’ve considered jobs at places like Google or Facebook. The two, especially Google, continue to impress and interest me. But recently my friend and I were in class school on our schools MacBooks, we had finished the work early and were just looking at things on Google like the Google Gravity, Let It Snow, and the Google PacMan, when I begun thinking more and more about the work that goes into programs like Google Chrome and the tricks on Google. That night, I was on Pinterest, on the geek section, and found a link to your website. It was something about color, and for the last few weeks I have been thinking about a career at a company like NowSourcing or Google or Facebook. I know that I’m in seventh grade, but I really want to know what kind of work you do, what school you had to go to, what that requires. I’m really, really interested in a career like that in the future, and want to know what it requires. I really hope you respond, because I’m very interested in this type of work.

Thank you,

Terry 

We know that social media, across the board, has done great things, but where would it be without we, the people making it such a sensation? This week we take a look at our lives as “social butterflies,” and what our value or worth really is. First, the reason we do it: we want things now, no, yesterday. We are a fast paced society, and always ready to move forward. Next, social has bled over into our love lives: if you can’t find true love on the streets, just login to any online dating site, and you can enjoy romance in the comfort of your own home. Now let’s think about the younger generation, the teenagers: a group who was born with a cell phone in their hand, and bionic thumbs. Turns out most of a teens social life happens via text. Now, we will take a look at social economics – literally what a tweet, or pin, or Yelp review is worth. Finally, Pinterest: how are teachers using this popular site to communicate with their students?

1. | Instant America

2. | Looking for Love Online

3. | A Day in the Life of a Mobile Teen

4. | Social Economics: How is Data Valued

5. | 16 Ways Educators Use Pinterest

Major websites have stepped up to the plate in support against SOPA. Google, while not blacking out their site, has blacked out there homepage logo, though the search engine is still running. Assuming Google makes $36 billion dollars this year, shutting down their search engine for 24 hours would cost them $98,630,136.99 – that is almost 20 million cups of Starbucks. Sites like Reddit, Wikipedia, and The Oatmeal have blacked out completely. All of these sites have the potential to be shut down and sued if these bills pass. This will greatly affect our economy and put a lot of people out of work – all so actors and production companies can keep making millions, if not billions of dollars per film.

The idea, at first seems like it makes sense – block pirating sites, and ask search engines to remove any links to these sites. However, the user can still get to these websites by using the IP address, and now the government has the power to censor the Internet. This means if someone comments on your blog post, and they insert a link or image that you don’t own, you could be shut down. Say goodbye to personal blogs, sites that mainly focus on sharing, social networks, and educational sites, like Wikipedia that use many sources to help bring knowledge to the world.

We’ve collated a collection of SOPA/PIPA infographics that will help explain why this legislation must be stopped. You might ask, “what can I do?” Fight for your rights! Contact your congressional representative, sign a petittion, and share with everyone you know via Facebook, Twitter and G+. You can also blackout your site or blog. The freedom on the Internet has allowed us to protest bills like these, create jobs, and it has helped us to share the truth and stay connected. This is not another thing we want to give the government full power over – this is ours.

1. | Protect IP/SOPA Act Breaks the Internet

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

2. | Congress Cn You Hear Us?

3. | Contact Congressional Supporters of SOPA Today

4. | SOPA: The Internet Blacklist Bill

5. | Behind SOPA: What it Means for Business and Innovation

6. | A World Without Wikipedia

To follow last years best infographics of 2010, we have put together a few of our favorites from 2011.

Update: we now offer social media infographics to the public.

1. | The Royal Wedding’s Social Impact

2. | Tech Germs

3. | What Does it Take to Get a Job at Google?

4. | Twacked: When Good Twitter Accounts Go Bad

5. | Inside 5 of America’s Largest Data Centers

6. | Global Internet Traffic

7. | Facebook vs. Google

8. | The Top 20 Most Expensive Keywords

9. | Top Online Scams

10. | The Tale of the New Year’s Fail

1. What Are People Wearing To Bed?

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2. Twacked: When Good Twitter Accounts Go Bad

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3. The Evolution Of The Mobile Phone

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4. Filling The Gap

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5. What Is Disrutptive Innovation?

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In this NowStreaming video, Jay shares his knowledge on the social platform Twitter.  This basic introduction covers topics such as how Twitter has changed, the difference between replies and mentions, dos and don’t, and several tips for getting the most out of your tweets.  While this video may be most helpful for twitter newbies, those who have used the service before may also learn a thing or two.  For more tips on using Twitter, you can check out 10 Ways to Make Your Tweets Stand Out.

Throughout the life of this blog, we’ve given you lists on a variety of topics.  From the top 10 technology infographics, to 10 reasons people aren’t commenting on your blog, and even 10 ways to change the world through social media, these lists provide quick and useful information that we think will make you a better Internet user.  We’ve also created a list on 10 Twitter ranking sites, but never have we given you the top 10 ways to get your tweets noticed.  So, here it is.  Below you will find what we believe are 10 of the most useful tips to get your followers to see and interact with your tweets.  The key to this list is not to pick one and do it, but to use it as a guide to shape every tweet you publish.  For the next few days, reference this list and try to follow the tips when writing your tweets.  After awhile, you should have a pretty good grasp on which tweets will get noticed and which ones will mix into the crowd.  Let us know in the comments below if you have more tips, or if after using the list you’ve noticed a difference in your follower’s interactions.

1.  Be Original

When most people find an article they want to share with their followers, they copy the title of the article and paste it into the tweet.  While this gives your followers an idea of what the article is, it’s bland and will mix in with all of the other tweets in their timeline.  Try coming up with your own creative title for the article.  This way if the article is popular, your tweet won’t be the same as everyone else who has also tweeted the same article.

2.  Be Short

Twitter limits the length of tweets so you can provide useful information in a way that is easy to read.  While 140 characters may already seem short, make your tweets around 120 characters if you can.  This ensures that there is enough room for others to retweet (the classic way) and include any opinions or thoughts they have on the subject.

3.  Tweet Like You Are Writing A Headline

Along with being short, your tweets should be straight to the point.  Imagine your tweet is a newspaper headline and your goal is to get a person to read the story.  You need to make the headline catchy and easy to read, while still grabbing the reader’s attention and hopefully luring them into the article.  Treat tweets the same way, grabbing a follower’s attention and getting them to either reply or click on an included link.

4.  Offer Interesting Statistics

People like to be shocked with interesting facts and statistics.  If a follower reads something they can’t believe, they’ll be inclined to click the link and look into it more.  Going back to the very first tip of being original, use an interesting statistic instead of the title of an article as the body of your tweet.

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5.  Be Real

Twitter, and social media in general, is about connecting people and sharing interesting things.  Nobody wants to talk to a robot because it has no real thoughts or emotions.  Use your own voice to tweet and make it personal.  If you feel you must schedule tweets ahead of time, be sure to check and respond to any replies you get.  In addition, show your followers you appreciate them by replying and retweeting them as well.

6.  Time Your Tweets

Time your tweets doesn’t mean you should time them to publish every half hour.  It means you should know when your followers are most active and when you should be most active as well.  If you get the most replies, retweets, and updates in the middle of the day, then you should be on Twitter interacting and tweeting during those times as well.  The eastern time zone is the most populated time zone in the U.S., therefore it would also be wise to time your tweets when those people are most likely to see it.

7.  Focus and Provide Value

People use Twitter for various reasons, whether it’s to learn about marketing or to learn about teddy bears doesn’t really matter.  Find your reason for using Twitter, and stick to tweeting mostly about that subject.  By focusing on one or two subjects, people will see you as being a valuable contributor who they can learn from.

8.  Be Engaging

You shouldn’t focus on just growing the number of followers you have, you should rather focus on getting your followers to interact and discuss what you tweet.  Ask your followers questions to get them taking and giving ideas, but also remember to respond to their questions too.  If you do have a large following, asking for a good restaurant recommendation in a foreign city is always a bonus!

9.  Include Links

Unless it’s the score of a game or an update to something ongoing, 140 characters isn’t usually enough to provide much information.  You should use the space to attract people and lead them to your site or to an article that expands the brief information displayed in the tweet.  Twitter is a gateway to limitless information, not so much a place to learn directly from.

10.  Provoke Thought

Going along with being original and offering interesting statistics, your tweets should leave your followers questioning and wanting to learn more.  A tweet that creates no ideas is going to be read and passed along without further thought.  A tweet that makes a follower think will have a better chance of being retweeted or replied to, exposing you to a greater pool of potential followers.

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I’ve noticed a rise in social media professionals pushing services for social media management.

While I’m not trying to pick on anyone individually, I just can’t seem to figure this one out.  In fact, if the only value that you’re trying to bring to a company is to Tweet and Facebook on their behalf, you may soon be needing to look for another job.  Over the course of the next five years, this will just become part of the computer literate office manager.

This is pretty much the same fate as the social media purists.  If you really want to be able to work in social media, you’d better be prepared to bring a multi-disciplinary approach to the table, including:

• data visualization/infographics
• SEO
• SEM
• User experience
• Conversion rate optimization
• Online reputation management
• Actual business experience!
• Sales

and many more.

You really have to know what you are doing to successfully execute a well-vetted social media strategy.  Facebook updates are important but they are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the way one must be pervasive in all these moving targets.

What else are you bringing to the table? Why should people hire you? Why should they keep you? Let us know in the comments.

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2010 is becoming the year of Internet laziness. Many have given up blogging (yes, not updating your blog in the last few months counts as giving up too) and have joined the ranks of the Twitterverse.

One simple tip will get you noticed above most Twitter users: Spend an extra 30 seconds before automatically retweeting.

I know we’re all in a hurry. We all want to be the first to broadcast or re-broadcast the latest and greatest. That’s why we camp outside the Apple Store to be among the first to have an iPad. Tweetmeme has given us an easy out from leaving meaningful blog comments – one simple click and we’ve retweeted.

Since everyone can do this just as easily, you won’t stand out! What’s the solution? Meaningful retweets.

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I recently ran a story about 10 Social Media Infographics that received over 1,100 retweets and was featured by Guy Kawasaki. It probably wouldn’t be a good use of my time to respond to every single person that retweeted. What’s interesting is that very few people took the time to make additional comments. Here are a couple that caught my eye:

@ManiKarthik

@SocialGrow

You’ll notice that I did not list the other 1,110+ retweets here, so clearly you can stand out…even without being the message originator!

Also, keep in mind that you the original content owner has a responsibility of keeping the initial message user friendly.

Try a retweet preview of your initial Twitter name, title, and shortlink and be sure to keep it around 120 characters to allow for ample retweet space.  Our friend Tim Nash goes into further explanation on the topic.

When I look at some of the folks on Twitter these days, I find it incredible that some of them have 50,000, 500,000, or even over a million followers. If you aren’t famous in your own right, why are all these people following you?

The typical answer: because you are following all of them back.

Luckily, the ways of Twitter are finally starting to wise-up — people are becoming more interested in effectiveness, as we see the use of influence-measurement tools (ie Klout, Twinfluence) and Lists (though these are often misused to purposely omit people from them, but we already knew social media is a lot like high school).

At least Twitter acknowledges that friend overload has become a problem, implementing strict guidelines to the amount of followers you can add daily.

So let’s ask the question: how many followers should people really have? I would argue that it should at least in part depend on an account’s age.

There will always be exceptions to the rule (i.e. celebrities, top name brands, and one of a kind accounts like @shitmydadsays), but how many followers should a typical user of the service actually accumulate over time? How many people should they attempt to follow back?

Let’s just assume they wanted to take their time, ensuring they didn’t leave anything out. From our initial impression, it looks as if they didn’t. The Twitter developers were sure to include a retweet counter and smartly prevented users from editing the original tweet. I’m sure you’re all eagerly awaiting your opportunity to give it try.

Update: looks like Twitter has pulled Retweets for now.

I remember when Plurk first came out.  At first glance its user interface was different but once you got to spending some time on the site, it was pretty cool.  As luck would have it, Plurk also came around when Twitter was having some of its worst downtime in history.  Take that, and some nifty enhanced features (conversations on one page, ability to share images and video, dancing bananas and it seemed as though Plurk really could have taken over the microblogging space.

But it didn’t.

Why? I would offer that Plurk ultimately didn’t listen to its community.  Perhaps the dealbreaker for me and others was the fact about not making karma optional.  The nature of many on the social web is to be competitive, and Plurk gave us a forum for this.  The more active you are, the more karma you received.  However, if there was a period of time that you were inactive (say, you had a holiday, a weekend, religious reasons, etc) you would actually lose karma.  A number of people brought this up, but Plurk stood firm, saying that if you didn’t want to see karma on your profile, you could just hide it out with a different page design.  That’s a band-aid to the problem.

I was thinking about keeping quiet over this situation, that is, until I received an email from Plurk last week talking about the Plurk activity I’ve missed for the week.  After seeing this, I chatted with Teeg, a friend of mine and still staunch supporter of Plurk.  She said that she didn’t get the email! This is a community fail on the part of Plurk to target the Plurkers that are not participating, rather than the ones that are.

So Plurk, I didn’t want to say it, but you’re doing it wrong:

This a phrase that anyone working in customer service should be fully familiar with.  While frequently known, albeit infrequently implemented in the “real world,” the saying has taken on a new meaning with the dawn of a new era on the Internet.

Social media has give a voice to the masses; a refuge the customer dealing with bouts of anxiety due to lack of true service. That scares many companies, large and small, and for good reason.  The public, and very likely their target audience, now has access to uncensored reviews, testimonials, and all of the “good, bad, and the ugly” about all sorts of products and services.

Recently, I’ve been shopping around for Internet connection services.  Always one to be a picky shopper, I chatted with at least three members of Comcast’s online sales crew (based in the Philippines).  Incidentally, I also received three different quotes and related information regarding service packages. I had also spoken with (on the phone) AT&T – both their technical support and their customer service department.  The tech support was fantastic and solved the issue I was experiencing.  Their customer service department, however, only led in two frustrated hang-ups, after being transferred around between four phone representatives – without even being notified of it beforehand.

Twitter became the place I turned to in the midst of my frustration with online and phone customer service/sales with both AT&T and Comcast. Being on the Pacific coast, I mentioned @attjason in my Tweets twice and even asked a friend to do so, which she also did twice.  Between these four tweets mentioning the AT&T Twitter representative for the West Coast, one reply was received, one private message was sent, but nothing to really solve the problem.  The other AT&T  customer service folks on Twitter are @attcustomercare (Molly for the East Coast),  @attjohnathon (Johnathon for the Central USA), @attnatasha (Natasha for the Central USA), and @attsusan (Susan for the East Coast), for which I have no personal experience in dealing with.

For Comcast, I had mentioned @comcastcares (operated by Frank Eliason) twice.  I only received one reply from @comcastcares specifically, which had asked me to e-mail them … and I hate e-mailing.  I did receive one response from @comcastmelissa, whom also inquired into how she could help.

By this point, I was really frustrated with trying out all different avenues of contact both companies to get service.  Again, AT&T had great technical support (which I suspect is in Israel, based upon accent and the name of the young man that helped me), but just lost customer support on the phone. @Attjason did send me a DM (private message) apologizing for my poor experience and did offer to do what he could, which was considerate, as I’m admittedly not an easy customer to deal with (I expect working service, knowledgeable employees, and real discounts).

What I ended up doing was calling Comcast for once and for all.  It didn’t work out with the first person I spoke to, but I needed service.  So, I took a deep breath, called back, and got an undoubtedly American young man that was one smooth operator.  Within 5 minutes I had an appointment for next day installation, no deposit necessary, exactly what I wanted and nothing else.  Of course, the time slot for the appointment was coming to a close, so I was irritated.  @Comcastbonnie was really a trooper in dealing with me and my tweets.  She never lost her cool and quickly pinpointed the reason for the delay, solved it, and the Comcast technician arrived within about 20 minutes of her informing me that he was on his way. He was perfectly friendly, efficient, and, hey, my stuff is working so far.  That’s always good.

I am still a customer of both companies, albeit for different services.  The customer representatives on Twitter really have made a difference in my experience … I think I’ll contact them first the next time I want to order anything.  Why are they different, and better, than the majority of the e-chat and phone reps? Because this stuff is public.  If a customer is upset, they’re not afraid to let their friends/followers know about it – and oftentimes their followers will share their frustrations and retweet it.

While incidents of good customer service rarely make it on Twitter, and are even more sparsely re-tweeted, if a high standard is implemented and maintained, there will at least be a subliminal positive message floating around … and a positive corporate image never hurt anybody. Kudos to the companies savvy enough to put smart, efficient, and friendly customer support representatives on social networks.

Related posts:

• Social Support: Are Companies Teaching Customers To Yell At Their Friends? (web-strategist.com)
• Customer service in the age of the retweet (nevillehobson.com)
• Comcast joins the Conversation (movabletype.com)
• ComcastCares’s Eliason Shares Twitter Tips (blogs.wsj.com)
• Three Top Ways to Damage Your Brand With Social Media (socialmediatoday.com)

(image credit: whendidyoujointwitter.com)

So if I’ve been on Twitter so long, you might be skeptical that I only have 5,000 updates and not even 5,000 followers. Other people are flying by in follower counts.  And that’s fine.  What you must understand is that I’m more concerned about reach and influence vs. just a follower number.

When we take a look back over the past year, some would even go so far to criticize my meager average of 8.5 Tweets per day:

(image credit: tweetstats)

Keep in mind that the average number of Tweets per day is actually 4.  Dan Zarrella might argue with me that I’m not reaching my full potential, as he suggests 22 Tweets per day is optimal.  Maybe he’s right.  Am I a Twitter slacker though? Hardly. (Funny, some might argue that being on Twitter so much makes you a slacker).

We manage several different Twitter accounts and advise on a significant client base.  So if you put all those together, I’m actually Tweeting more than is suggested

Even so, let’s just stick with the 8.5 Tweets per day number.  Some days I’ll even Tweet just a handful.  Why? I would prefer to make each Tweet count and be relevant, entertaining, and helpful to my followers.  They took the trouble of singling me out, so I’m here to provide that value.

A trend that is appearing is that fewer people read blogs (at least, it’s slowed down due to lifestreaming and microblogging) as well as expected RSS usage.  People are looking to their Twitter friends to point them in the right direction.  So, I dedicate my 5,000th Tweet and this further analysis to you, dear reader.  Hope it got you thinking.

How do you approach the whole follower/following/velocity vs. influence discussion? Would love to hear your thoughts.

But after trying the service for over a week, I have to admit that my initial reaction may have been a little bit hasty.  This shortening service may actually have some potential.  If they work on the ideas that people are suggesting, the veteran of the game – TinyURL - may start to have some sleepless nights ahead.

The main advantage that Su.pr has over other similar sites is that it has the power of the Stumbleupon community behind it.  Once Su.pr gets onto the Stumbleupon toolbar, those fans will be using it all the time to shorten and track their Stumbleupon submissions.  This is something that big names such as TinyURL doesn’t have – a ready made user base who will embrace the service from the word go.

You can sign into Su.pr with your Stumbleupon account or use the beta code “suprbeta”. (Update: StumbleUpon just made Su.pr public) Once in, you have two immediate options – just shorten a link (to do with what you will) or “Post” which will send the link to Twitter and/or Facebook.

Clicking “just shorten” will give you a nice short URL as the service is supposed to do:

But if you choose to “post” it, you can then open up all the tracking possibilities.

Once posted, you will see your “stats” section open up below with the link you have just posted.

Now click on “thumb up now” to submit the link to Stumbleupon.   This opens up a box to thumb the link up and also give you an opportunity to make a comment, just like you would on any other Stumbleupon submission.

After you have submitted the link to Stumbleupon, click on “view stats” to get an immediate overview of who is viewing your submission.

As you can see, it shows you how many Stumbleupon views you are getting as well as retweets and where your traffic is coming from – directly typed in, bookmarked, email and mobile.  Since this link has just been submitted, the page is pretty much blank but once people start receiving the link, that graph will quickly fill up.

One possible privacy issue is that you can view the Stumbleupon stats for ANY website, even if you are not the owner of that site.  Just go to http://su.pr/report/domain/yoursite.com/ and enter the domain name in place of yoursite.com.  OK, perhaps some webmasters may not consider their stats top secret but some others, including the really big blogs with a lot of advertising money at stake, may not want their stats thrown out there for all to see.  A way to lock this page down unless you are the owner may be a good idea for Su.pr to urgently consider.

What if you don’t want to post a Su.pr link just now but later at a certain time? No problem there either.  Su.pr has you covered.  Just use the “schedule for later” option and enter the time you want it sent. Be careful though to choose your correct time zone, though.

That is the basic essence of Su.pr – to give you a way to shorten your links and then track them.  But you would be sorely mistaken if you thought that was the end of it.  Oh no, there’s more so let’s take a look at them all.

First there’s a Worpress plugin.  Apart from being able to have your links posted to Twitter and Facebook,
the plugin also allows you to set up custom domain short URL’s.  So instead of http://Su.pr/ABCD, you can now have http://yourdomain/ABCD.  This is a fantastic development for anyone who does a lot of URL shortening and at the same time wants to promote their blog domain. Just follow the instructions here to find out how to do it.

Another great feature of the WordPress plugin is that a Stumbleupon toolbar will appear on your domain when someone clicks on a Su.pr URL in one of your blog posts.  This gives them the chance to thumb it up and down and also track the URL at the same time. However there seems to be a big hiccup in this department as stumbling Su.pr links with this toolbar will take you to an error page. It seems that the Su.pr team may have released this option a bit too prematurely.

Having the Stumbleupon toolbar at the top of the domain though will probably be a big boon for webmasters who want to push their content a bit more.   If you put your domain name into your Su.pr settings then when the toolbar shows up, your most popular links will appear in an iframe to the right of the page along with the number of stumbles that link has received.

Su.pr also has an API key so developers who wish to make products around the Su.pr concept will be able to do so. So look out soon for Adobe AIR apps to shorten your links from and iPhone apps.  Although the Su.pr team are already looking at such concepts in their suggestions forum.

For those who like things a little bit simpler, there is also a browser bookmarklet which will make it a bit easier to turn the pages you’re on into Su.pr links.

It’s great how the Stumbleupon team have taken such a common concept such as the short URL and turned it into a tool of many uses, as well as heavily promoting the Stumbleupon service at the same time.  When you think about how former owners eBay were letting Stumbleupon stagnate, it’s good to see the site going back to their original owners and those owners going all out to create something which may in the long term revolutionize the site and the web.  Look at it this way, how many short URL sites are offering all the things that Su.pr is offering and when you look at the suggestions forum, it’s obvious that Su.pr is going to knock out all other rivals at the short URL business.  For a start, the Stumbleupon community is driving it forward with ideas and suggestions on how to improve.

This is something that companies like TinyURL can only dream about.

POPrl, a popular url shortening service, has been hacked. This has rendered all links run through it to porn and other unintended sites.  Early morning yesterday, Twitterfeed, a popular RSS to Twitter service, tweeted that they were temporarily suspending Poprl from their service.  Get Satisfaction reports show that Twitterfeed has been in contact with Poprl and they have confirmed that their systems have been compromised.

The url shortener market is heating up as of late, with bit.ly recently being adopted as the default Twitter url shortener (a title previously held by TinyURL).  Bit.ly now leads the pack in url shortener usage, with TinyURL coming in second, and POPrl not even showing up on the chart (below). With this in mind, just how much is the POPrl hacking really affecting Twitter users? Only five Twitterers tweeted any concerns about shortned urls being lead to spam sites, and the folks actually posting the urls are apparently unaware that they are being redirected to a NSFW location.

image source

Will this affect POPrl’s credibilty as a service? Could potential publicity regarding this hack help or hurt them’? Or, is their traffic and usage level not high enough to even place this incident on the radar for most Internet-savvy folk?

Tweetjacking is unfortunately not an uncommon occurance. Anyone with a Twitter account and a simple knowledge of url shortening services can jack your tweet, tweaking it to lead to a completely different landing page than the original tweet had intended. The reality is that Twitter, its users, and associated services are being attacked by these pranksters, spammers, and hackers. We posted about Tweetjacking before, but that was just on a single user scale.  Seeing a system wide version is really scary.
 

Twitter, while excellent, short circuits the full potential of the thoughts that we seed into it. I’m putting a clock to the amount of time that it takes to write this blog post from start to finish, and will have it take no longer than 2 minutes.

Why? Because I’d like to get some of my brain back away from Twitter

Kidding aside – it’s important to elaborate on one’s thoughts. For me personally, I seek to strive in full abundance theory mode. People from all around seek advice from myself and my company, and we’re here to deliver. Sure, I could have lead in by putting out a short Twitter post. But this goes slightly beyond that 140 characters. File this away and before you do, let it serve as a reminder and a word of caution. Your thoughts should remain yours. Tweet away, but don’t forget that important lesson.

Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They’ll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. They’ll take for granted that they are connected and interconnected with hundreds of millions of people at any given moment. And they’ll take for granted that a black man is or was President of the United States.

What’s most profound is that these represent parts of a greater whole. They represent a shift in power from centralized institutions and organizations to the People they represent. It is the evolution of democracy by way of technology, and we are all better for it.

For most of us, social media has changed our lives in some meaningful way. Collectively it is changing the world for good. Given the pace of innovation and adoption, change has become a constant. Every so often we find the need to stop and reflect on its most recent and noteworthy developments, hence the following list.

Please note this is not a top-10 list, nor are these listed in any particular order. It’s also incomplete. So we ask that you add to this conversation in the comments. If you’d like to Retweet this post or take the conversation to Twitter or FriendFeed, please use the hashtag #10Ways.

1. Take Social Actions: The nonprofit organization Social Actions aggregates “opportunities to make a difference from over 50 online platforms” through its unique API. It recently held the Change the Web Challenge contest in order to inspire the most innovative applications for that API. The Social Actions Interactive Map won the $5,000 first prize. The result is a virtual tour of the world through the lens of social action. “People are volunteering, donating, signing petitions, making loans and doing other social actions as we speak — all over the world. To capture the context of the where, this project uses sophisticated techniques to extract location information from full text paragraphs.” You can also join the Social Actions Community, which is powered by Ning…which now boasts more than one million individual social networks.

2. Twitter with a Purpose: This list could be exclusive to Twitter. The micro-blogging sensation was featured on our first two lists (a three-tweet), and it’s certain to be a fixture. From Tweetsgiving, the virtual Thanksgiving feast, to the Twestival, which organized 202 off-line events around the world to benefit charity: water, it’s become the de facto tool for organizing and taking action. Tweet Congress won the SXSW activism award, and celebrity Tweeps Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Rose Tweeted their two million followers about ending malaria. Max Gladwell recently initiated the #EcoMonday follow meme as a way to connect and organize the Green Twittersphere.

3. Visit White House 2.0: Inside of its first 100 days, the Obama administration has managed to set the historic benchmark for government transparency and accountability. The President’s virtual town hall meeting used WhiteHouse.gov to crowdsource questions from his 300 million constituents, complete with voting to determine the ones he’d have to answer. All told, 97,937 people submitted 103,978 questions and cast 1,782,650 votes. The White House continues to raise the bar with its official Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter channels. In so doing President Obama is not just setting the standard for state and local government in the U.S. He’s establishing the world standard. The Obama administration is spreading democracy not by force but through example. Because you don’t have to be an American citizen to be a friend or follower of White House 2.0.

4. Claim your Zumbox: What happens when all mail can be sent and delivered online to any street address in a paperless form? That’s the big question for Zumbox, which has created an online mail system with a digital mailbox for every U.S. street address. And while the answer to that question remains to be seen, it promises to be as liberating as it is disruptive. A key quality for Zumbox is that it’s closed system much like that of Facebook, only instead of true identity it’s true address. This will enable people to better connect with their communities including their neighbors, local businesses, and the mayor’s office. The primary agent of change, though, might not be that this uses street addresses but that it enables direct and potentially viral feedback, which is a virtue that e-mail and the USPS do not offer. The first methods are to request exclusive paperless delivery and to block a sender, but others are certain to evolve such as real-time commenting and ways to share mail with friends, family, and colleagues. Welcome to Mail 2.0. (Disclosure: Zumbox is a client of Rob Reed, the founder of Max Gladwell.)

5. Host a Social Media Event: This is the year of the social media event. No meaningful gathering of people is complete without an interactive online audience, especially when it’s so easy and cost effective to pull off. Essential tools include a broadband connection, laptop, video camera, projector, and screen. Add people and a purpose, such as entrepreneurship. Promote it through social media channels, and you have a social media event. A recent example in the green world is the Evolution of Green, which was hosted by Creative Citizen, a green wiki community. It celebrated the launch of a new Web property, EcoMatters, while also establishing a new Twitter tag. By posing the question, “How can we go from green hype to green habit?” and including the #GreenQ hashtag, it sparked a conversation between attendees and the Twittersphere in real time. Thus was born a new mechanism for getting answers to green questions via Twitter.

6. Travel the World: More than anyone else, Tim O’Reilly knows the potential for social media to change the world. In his opening keynote at this year’s Web 2.0 Expo, he called for a new ethic in which we do more with less and create more value than we capture. This provided the context for SalaamGarage founder Amanda Koster, whose presentation followed O’Reilly’s. The idea is that social media has enabled each of us to have an audience. Whether through Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, or a personal blog, each of us can have influence and reach. What’s more, it can be used for good. SalaamGarage coordinates trips for citizen journalists (that means you) to places like India and Vietnam in conjunction with non-government organizations like Seattle-based Peace Trees. The destination is the story, as these humanitarian journalists report on the people they meet and discoveries they make. Their words, images, and video are posted to the social web to gain exposure and because these stories just need to be told.

7. Build It on Drupal: You may not have noticed, but the open-source Drupal content management system (CMS) has quickly become the dominant player on the social web. While we still prefer WordPress as a strict blogging application, Drupal has emerged as the go-to platform for building scalable, community-driven Web sites. It powers Recovery.gov, a key part of President Obama’s commitment to transparency and accountability. PopRule uses it as a social news platform for politics. And Drupal will soon become the platform for Causecast, a site where “media, philanthropy, social networking, entertainment and education converge to serve a greater purpose.” This is especially significant because Causecast CEO Ryan Scott is transitioning the site off of Ruby on Rails because Drupal has proved more efficient, user friendly, and cost effective. (Disclosure: Max Gladwell founder Rob Reed is co-founder of PopRule.)

8. Green Your iPhone: Looking for an organic diner within biking distance that has a three-star green rating? There’s a app for that. It’s called 3rd Whale, and you can download it for free. (Except that the star rating is actually a whale rating.) Complete with Facebook Connect, this iPhone app locates green products and businesses in 30 major North American cities. It uses the iPhone’s dial function to select a category (food), sub-category (restaurants), and distance (walking, biking, or driving). In Santa Monica, this might give you Swingers diner for its selection of veggie and vegan fare. You could then get directions from your current location using the iPhone’s built-in Google map, rate your experience on the three-whale scale, and write up a quick review. 3rd Whale recently released a new feature that integrates green-living tips, which can show how much energy or waste you’ll save by taking a given action.

9. Unite the World Through Video: Matt’s dancing around the world video inspired many to tears. Today, more than 20 million people have viewed his YouTube masterpiece, where he performs a kooky dance with the citizens of planet earth. The most recent example of this approach is Playing for Change, which connects the world through song. The project started in Santa Monica with a street performance of the classic Stand By Me and expanded to New Orleans, New Mexico, France, Brazil, Italy, Venezuela, South Africa, Spain, and The Netherlands. The project was superbly executed via social media, complete with a YouTube channel, MySpace, Facebook, and Blog. It’s received tremendous mainstream media exposure and also benefits a foundation of the same name.

10. Rate a Company: The conversation about corporate social responsibility (CSR) takes place across the social web on blogs, Twitter, and YouTube, but a central hub for this information and opinion is still to be determined. SocialYell seeks to address this by building an online community around the CSR conversation, where users can submit reviews of companies together with nonprofit organizations and even public figures like Michelle Obama. The major topics are the Environment, Health, Social Equity, Consumer Advocacy, and Charity. The reviews are voted and commented on by the community in a Reddit-like fashion with both up (Yell) and down (shhh) voting. The site is relatively new and still gaining traction, but there’s no question that a resource like this is needed to shine a bright light on CSR and and other related issues.

11. Publish a collective, simultaneous blog post on a universal topic: As Nigel Tufnel might say, this list goes to eleven. Let the #10Ways conversation begin…

Final note: This is Max Gladwell’s third list of “10 Ways to Change the World Through Social Media.” The first was posted a year ago today on Sustainablog.org, and the sequel followed five months later. If a single headline can capture the Max Gladwell raison d’etre, this is it.