Thanks To Google +1 Is My New Emoticon!

In our fast paced world of micro messages and real time communication we are always looking for ways to save keystrokes and characters and express ourselves as efficiently and effectively as possible.  Hence the popularity of the simple Facebook "Like," the ease of a RT (retweet) on Twitter, and of course the almost ubiquitous smiley emoticon.  :-)  Thanks to Google I have a new favorite emoticon: +1

A Two Stroke Engine of Encouragement

This morning, as I am often wont to do, I sent out a "Good Morning" tweet to the world, but I added a simple, "Hope your day is a +1" paying homage to Google's newly announced "social" tag.  After all, it is a way to imply something positive in only two keystrokes - less than the word LIKE, or LOL and even shorter than the average emoticon.  ;-)  Almost immediately I received a +1 on my tweet from the iconic Twittizen, @Iconic88.

Soon the +1 meme began to spread and @carissaO chimed in as well and @Iconic88 cleverly suggested that Google should add a +1 button to the Android keyboard.  I say +1 to that suggestion, and I think I will continue to use +1 in my tweets to show positive encouragement.  Perhaps Google is listening and we will see a +1 coming soon to an Android device near you...

What do you think?  Do you give this blog post a +1?  Will +1 pivot its way into your daily vernacular?
 

It Doesn't Take A Village When You ARE The Village!

Becky McCray was one of my early Twitter friends and for over two years we have not only enjoyed many online exchanges but we have actually had the pleasure of meeting in the "real world" a few times. Becky is truly a delightful person and she has built a solid following and a great name for herself as a Small Business expert with her popular "Small Biz Survival" blog. Here is the part I find incredibly cool:

Becky lives in Alva, Oklahoma, population 4,848.

Becky also lives in Twitterville, and HER population there is 4,852.

That's right, Becky's personal "community" on Twitter is now larger than the entire population of the town she lives in. Every Tweet Becky sends out has the potential to inform, entertain or influence an audience that is larger than her entire home town. MUCH larger if you consider the power of re-tweeting.

Now, perhaps this is not as eye-popping as I am making it sound. Surely Ashton Kutcher can make the same claim as the 3,373,626 Twittizens that follow him far exceeds the population of Ketchum, Idaho, where I believe he often resides (population 3,234). However, Becky McCray is not one-half of a globally know Hollywood couple. Becky is a small town, small business owner, who, without Social Media, could not have dreamed of having the circle of influence and reach she now commands. Becky is one of us!

I suspect that many of the residents of Alva, Oklahoma live their whole lives without leaving and certainly without interacting with thousands of folks from cities and countries all over the world. "Social Media" has given Becky (and all of us) the opportunity to broaden our horizons and enrich our lives through a bigger community... one that has no borders and no boundaries - only bits and bytes and great people like Becky McCray to make it interesting!

It doesn't take a village... WE are the village!

Photo Credit: (cc) Shashi Bellamkonda Social Media Swami Network Solutions

Keeping The Twitter Stream Safe (And Raising $$$ For A Good Cause)

As Twitter has grown in popularity, people are often trying to poke holes in the service and question its true meaning and value, trying to position those of us who tweet regularly as nothing more than a bunch of time wasting twits. Regardless of which side of the Twitter fence you straddle, one thing that has been indisputable is Twitter's effectiveness at rallying a community around a charitable cause. Tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, have been raised for a wide range of great causes, from individuals in need such as David Armano's efforts to aid a single mother, to larger scale organizations such as Charity Water. Beth Kanter, a frequent speaker on social media for non-profits, has a great overview of some of the more successful Twitter charity campaigns at her blog.

HUMOR ME WITH YOUR SUPPORT

My own efforts to support some good causes have leveraged my attempts at humor at the Social Networking Rehab Blog, where I have created video public service announcements in support of the Frozen Pea Fund to aid cancer research as well as to help Laura Fitton and her holiday "wellwishes" campaign. Naturally, when Dave Delaney contacted me about another humorous way to leverage Twitter for a good cause, I didn't hesitate to give him the shirt off my back (for him to hold while I posed as "Sasselhoff").

CALENDAR GUYS

Yes, with tongues firmly in cheek and hands held out for donations, we present the "18 Hottest Men On Twitter" Calendar to raise funds for a great cause, Donors Choose. Thanks to the cooperation of Zazzle.com, more than 40% of the proceeds of the calendar sales will go directly to support Donors Choose, a charity that connects directly with classrooms in need, providing project based support to our children in public schools. For $15.95 you can chuckle at me and 17 other chuckleheads and support a worthy cause. Please click here and buy a few today!

As Mr. July 2010, I am honored to join @saulcolt, @leelefever, @avinashkaushik, @scottmonty, @baratunde, @chrisbrogan, @keithburtis, @bobgoyetche, @jchutchins, @jasonfalls, @davedelaney, @geoffsmith, @cc_chapman, @mitchjoel, @julien, @stevenfisher, and @chrispirillo. Check us out!

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It's A (Social Media) Jungle Out There!

This morning I had the pleasure of shooting the breeze over bagels with Jeff Pulver. Among many other accomplishments, Jeff has recently made a name for himself as the host of more than 30 breakfasts in 17 cities around the world this year. Although he has thousands of followers on Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Jeff has cleverly brought the engagement and interactivity of "tagging," "poking" and "writing on one's wall" to the off-line "real" world at his live breakfast events.

Today it was just us Jeffs so we dispensed with the need for name tags (especially since they both would have said "Jeff") and we dove right into a healthy discussion about life, liberty and the pursuit of social media happiness.

Jeff is planning his first "SOCIAL MEDIA JUNGLE" event in Melville, Long Island in November and I asked him to talk a little about why it is a jungle out there and how his events can help us on our own expeditions.



What do you think? Do you need to be Tarzan to succeed in the Social Media Jungle?

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