Sometime this week, Foursquare business owners gained the power to regulate the mayorship of their establishment and revoke mayorships for users they deem to be cheating. Foursquare denotes reasons for revoking the mayorship as “[The mayor] has never been to the venue, they check in when walking by, or check in from far away”.

This site update serves as a much-needed feature for businesses, as it will help to keep the integrity of the specials and allow the actual loyal customer to benefit, as opposed to the “arm chair” mayors. In the past, businesses were required to work with reps at Foursquare to deal with cheating users. Now the power and onus is in the hands of the business running the special, alleviating concerns expressed by business owners considering launching a mayor special through the site.

We have reached out to Foursquare to get further information about this new feature and will update you when we hear back.

Has your business had any issues with users cheating your Foursquare specials? We’d love to hear if you plan on revoking any mayorships in the coming days.

While 11% is indeed a small make-up of the Twitter population, when compared to teen usage of other online networks its in perfect line with typical trends. Teens make up only 14% and 9% of MySpace and Facebook user base respectively.

The New York Times article points out that “the notion that children are essential to a new technology’s success has proved to be largely a myth”. Adults have been the driving force behind that success of Twitter.

Because of adults, Twitter has evolved into a tool of mass connecting. While teens would just as soon use online social networking as an extension of their offline social circles, adults have harnessed the power of Twitter and turned it into something much more – teens weren’t necessary.

So, are teens using Twitter? Well, yes they are, in the same rate as they are using any other social network. But honestly, who cares? Teens are largely using the network to extend their personal relationships even more – not create new ones, not to connect with their favorite brands and not to share knowledge and information. To teens, Twitter is nothing more than “what they are doing”.

If the answer to either of those questions is no, then MGH WOM would most likely explain why we would not recommend a social media campaign and work to see what other advertising and/or marketing solutions would best meet the clients needs.

The thing is, we want our client’s campaigns to succeed as it is a reflection of our recommendations; however, if they do not have the authority or capacity to listen and respond, then we do not want to put them in a position to fail. Period.

A few weeks ago, I read a blog entry (via @whatsnext) about the reasons a company should not use Twitter, and it got me thinking about our duty to clients to offer them solutions that just aren’t fun and new, but effective.

BL Ochman, the author of that blog entry, was right on when she said companies should NOT tweet if it needs to protect its updates, needs to be approved by legal or if the company is not going to respond when people direct tweets at it. Put simply, it’s just not wise for a brand to be in any social forum where they can’t/won’t/don’t want to interact and respond. And, if that’s the case, that’s okay. Social media just isn’t the place for them…yet.

That said, we honestly believe that there is no better way to connect with customers and receive open and honest feedback than through emerging social mediums. But, it has also become absolutely necessary to realize what is required to make it successful.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think social networking is for everyone? Would you recommend becoming involved on a network if you knew the company couldn’t respond in real time? Discuss.

Written by: Ashley (@ahrycyk)

Related Articles:

• Putting Twitter’s World to Use
• Twitter: A Marketer’s Duct Tape
  

This time around is no different. There are already countless groups sprouting up, begging Facebook to give people the option of using the old interface. Let’s discuss.

I hate to jump on the band-wagon with everyone, but I have to say I am not pleased with the changes that have been made. It seems that in the wake of their failed attempt to purchase Twitter, Facebook has done everything they can to imitate it.

Twitter and Facebook lived in two separate spaces before. Twitter was the one you always had running in the background of your desktop, while Facebook you would check once or twice a day. Different conversations occurred on Twitter than on Facebook. Twitter is much more about conversation and making connections, and because of that, I’d say is much more high involvement than Facebook used to be.

In order for the new Facebook to catch on, people will need to begin using it differently. The days of staying in the loop by occasionally checking in on Facebook are out. Because of real-time news feed, Facebook has turned into a much more demanding site. If you want to get the same amount of relevant information as you did before, you better be checking in frequently.

What made Facebook great was its ability to re-connect old friends and let you take your current circle of friends with you online. It obviously did that better than any other site. Now, it seems to be turning its focus on to connecting with EVERYONE, allowing you to open your profile to the entire Facebook network. The news feed has also seemed to lose its unique ability to only highlight information relevant to those you interact with on a regular basis. I hope Facebook has not completely lost sight of what made it the most popular social network on the web.

Don’t get me wrong, the new Facebook is a great site and will serve as a great tool in connecting people, but I can see why “old” Facebook nostalgia is already setting in.

One of the more notable changes is to the homepage, which will now feature a real-time stream of content, as opposed to the old news feed which was only updated about every 10-mintues or so. Users will be able to easily post status updates, notes, images, or videos right from their homepage, via the “What’s on your mind?” box, instead of having to go into each individual application. When you do utilize this box, your information will be posted to your profile and the homepage of all of your friends.

However, unlike Twitter, this live stream can easily be sorted by groups, or application type, so users will be able to view content just from any subset of friends like family or coworkers from the homepage. Additionally, there’s a “highlights” section to the side which displays the most popular content among your friends.

Also announced today was the transition of pages to profiles, which will enable users to communicate with celebrities, politicians, and organizations as they would any other friend. The 5,000 maximum friend limit was also dropped, making Facebook another attractive option for celebrities and brands who have been turning to Twitter to connect with fans and consumers.

We, here at MGH WOM, give major props to Facebook for constantly re-inventing themselves in order to keep up with the competition and more importantly, to keep up with the ever-evolving way we communicate. Just over four years ago, Facebook was little more then an online directory. Now, it’s quickly becoming the “go-to” spot to connect and share all types of information with friends. Bravo, Facebook, Bravo.

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It is becoming a more and more common occurrence that I am receiving friend request from my friends’ parents on my social networks – primarily Facebook. We have written before about the increase of moms on social networks, but it seems as if that trend carries over to adults in general

In a recent study by Pew / Internet, it is shown that over one-third (35%) of all adults online have a profile on a social networking site. This number is a 4-fold increase from the same study conducted in 2005.

Of course, when you break the adult demographics out more, there is a direct correlation between age and social media usage:

• 75% of online adults 18-24 have a profile on a social network site
• 57% of online adults 25-34 have a profile on a social network site
• 30% of online adults 35-44 have a profile on a social network site
• 19% of online adults 45-54 have a profile on a social network site
• 10% of online adults 55-64 have a profile on a social network site
• 7%   of online adults 65+ have a profile on a social network site

Download the study for yourself and see why you and mom may be soon be e-friends!

I don’t need to try and sell you on the idea of signing up for a LinkedIn account; I’m willing to bet that most of you’ve had one for months now. You’ve already filled out your profile, uploaded a beautiful picture, and connected to your colleagues and friends. So…now what?If you’re like most professionals, you’re still using LinkedIn as nothing more then a glorified online address book. What you need to know is that LinkedIn is already a good tool for marketing yourself and your company, and in the past year it’s made some major strides in becoming an excellent tool for this purpose. The reality is, with the state of today’s economy, you can’t afford not to make the most of every tool and connection available in order to create new business opportunities.

Here are 3 LinkedIn tools and features that you should be using, effective yesterday:

Q&A: This is the one of the best areas to increase your chances of scoring new business because it’s where you get to position yourself, and your company, as an industry expert. You can use the search tool to find questions relevant to your field and then dazzle the audience with your infinite wisdom. You can post links in this section, which makes it an excellent tool for driving traffic to your blog or site, and, in some cases, you will have the opportunity to recommend your company services – just be careful not to come across as too self-promotional.

Groups: Like Q&A, LinkedIn groups offer another location to position yourself as an expert by participating in industry discussions, posting relevant news stories, and connecting with others interested in your industry.

Status Updates: Yes, I’ve heard of a little thing called Twitter. MGH WOM uses and <3’s it so I realize this isn’t a groundbreaking concept; however; LinkedIn status updates are a great way to broadcast important professional announcements (new projects, travel itineraries, job postings and so on) to your contacts, including current and potential clients who are not using Twitter. Your status change will be posted to all of your connections as an update in addition to being displayed on your profile.

Here are some new features MGH will be carefully watching, which means you should too:

Applications: LinkedIn currently offers several applications for use, such as the ability to sync your blog into your profile, pull in Twitter feeds with keywords related to your company, collect data through polls, etc. All of the applications are great ideas, however, they still need some work. I’ve experienced trouble when trying to get two of them to install and show on my profile. I recommend you check out these applications, but realize you may run into a few bugs…at least for now.

Company profiles: Currently, LinkedIn pulls in information from third party sources. However, in the future, companies will be given more control and will have the ability to customize their own profiles, creating even more opportunities for you to effectively market your services.

The Framingham Heart Study argues that healthy behaviors are contagious.  If this is the case, it will provide an immense opportunity for online social networks.  When it comes to support, the Internet provides instant access to millions of people who are all struggling with similar circumstances.

Interaction in outlets such as Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter provide a sense of anonymity and comfort that face-to-face interaction can’t always provide, making it easier to communicate with others in your situation.

So, for someone trying to quit smoking, there’s the constant Tweeting of an online friend reminding you every hour not to take that smoke break.  For someone coping with a disease, there’s a MySpace or Facebook group to find solutions to a current struggle that you are having.  Also, there are many niche networks with forums and other dialogue tools that allow for communities to be built around these causes.  It will be interesting to see the effect of this type of interaction in increasing healthy behavior compared to existing channels of support.

New sites, created exclusively for moms, and parents in general, are popping up on a daily basis. These sites provide parents with a way to trade tips, swap family photos, and even create online journals. Below you will find the top new ways this audience is connecting online.

• Twittermoms -  a group of 3,900 moms who tweet. This site offers several sections includine a message boardogs.
• Totpsot – comprised of over 15,000 members, Totspot pegs itself as a site for parents to scrapbook, write journals and connect with other parents online.
• Clubmom - provides parents with a way to share photos and journal entries. Moms are also able to participate in their rewards program and online polls and blogs.
• MeetUp – with over 130,000 members nationwide, this site allows moms to connect online and off with other moms based on location.
• Family.com – a social network created by Disney that engages parents in conversations surrounding entertainment, food, coupons etc.

With their incredibly busy schedules, social networking sites give parents an easy way to connect with family and friends online. Moms and dads are hitting the social networks hard and everyone from advertisers to tech start-ups are taking notice.

In a recent Wired Magazine article, the case is made that the days of blogging have long passed their prime. With flying accusations of cluttered blog space being overrun by professional bloggers, Paul Boutin argues that your blogging days should be over. In exchange for your witty takes on everyday life on your blog, he suggests relying on alternate media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr to share your thoughts.

I, for one, am not about to jump ship on the blog-o-sphere. It is true though, that there is endless clutter in the world of blogging today. However, that doesn’t mean you should stop blogging, rather you should venture to offer better quality and more targeted content to your readers. By catering your blog to a specific niche market, instead of a blog about everything you have a better chance of standing out.

This is where tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc… can be a blogger’s best friend. I can not think of a better, more effective means of promoting your blog than reaching out to people who are already in your social circles. Chances are, these people share plenty of interests with you and would be interested in what you have to say.

Think of a blog like an octopus. Your blog is the body, and each social networking tool acts as one of the arms helping the octopus to thrive. It’s still worth taking the time to “craft sharp, witty blog prose” and then express yourself to your potential audiences on your social networking sites.

The days of blogging are not over. So go ahead, be as clever as you want to be. And of course, keep reading this blog!