In view of this morning’s Twitter following/followers count reset and the subsequent fall out, I thought it would be nice to step back and examine, once again, how social media has so permeated our everyday lives.

A decade ago, I wouldn’t have woken up and remained in bed while scanning all my accounts for new messages on my phone, only to then get out of bed and do it again on my computer as if the prior were an appetizer before actual computing. But when I find myself reflecting on the days of rotary phones and the simplicity of life with fewer connections, I realize that this reflection isn’t unique to my peers and me. It’s a feeling that cycles in for every generation of adult.

Consider your parents and the childhood they had. Wasn’t there a time when the television (or even radio, depending on how old you are) was a novelty? I wonder if parents in those times worried about raising their kids in the television age the way I worry about raising kids in the smartphone age.

And as this technology becomes more integrated into our lives (and it can), we should expect life to change even more, where our communicative connections revolutionize themselves the way electricity transformed the use of power, or the way indoor plumbing improved the smell of our city streets.

Anyway, this is just a grasp at perspective as we all go from surprise to half-joking panic at our decimated Twitter metrics. On the plus side, at least we’re now all about as popular as Ashton Kutcher…

The Conversation Prism (Brian Solis and JESS3)

Age Distribution of Social Sites (Pingdom)

The World Map of Social Networks (Vincos.it)

Social Web Involvement (Global Web Index)

Social Media Demographics (Ethan Bloch)

The Web Trend (Information Architects, Inc.)

The Social Media Effect (Social Reflexion)

Sharing on Social Networks (AddToAny)

Twitter Territory (HubSpot)

And of course, any collection of tech pics wouldn’t be complete without the Nerd Venn Diagram (Matthew Mason)

If you’re starting your own business or are in charge of marketing efforts for an established organization, you’re probably more than aware of the importance and cost-effectiveness of “social media marketing.” I place quotes around that phrase because marketing in social media really isn’t marketing in the traditional sense. It’s about building relationships, creating value and being a contributing member of the industry you’re in.

Blah, blah, blah. If you read tech blogs or follow any of the “SM specialists” who Tweet about this stuff 24/7, you’ve heard these statements ad nauseam.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not the truth. And until companies start to embrace these values, it will continue to be repeated if only to be hammered into heads. For the new company, there are certain checklist points that I feel are not only expected but required:

1.) Establish an active presence on Twitter and Facebook

Create a Twitter profile and a Facebook Page for your organization. If possible, try and keep the profile names as simple and consistent to your brand as possible. For example, for RedCandle Research, we have the following:

Main: www.redcandleresearch.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/redcandleresearch
Twitter: www.twitter.com/redcandlelight (@redcandle – taken; @redcandleresearch – too long)

For my band, Festizio, we had to accommodate for unavailable usernames as well:

Main: www.festizio.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/festizio
Twitter: www.twitter.com/festizioband (@festizio – taken)
MySpace: www.myspace.com/festizioband
YouTube: www.youtube.com/festizioband

Once you’ve got that covered, you can explore the more industry specific platforms that may appeal to your sharing your message (YouTube for videos, Flickr for photos, ReverbNation for music, etc.). But get Twitter and Facebook covered first. It’s where everyone is and, thus, it’s where you need to be.

2.) Realize that different platforms are different mediums and have different audiences

Online communities are not all the same, and each require a different voice and posting style than another. Twitter is more friendly for periodic posts of short ideas throughout the day, and the platform makes it easier for these posts to be shared via Retweets or organized by hashtags. Facebook enables embedded multimedia posting, making it easier for the reader to see what you’re sharing (video, image, etc.) without having to visit an external link. But for both platforms, it’s important to resist over sharing, as you would risk annoying the customers that follow you.

3.) Start a blog and share your ideas in depth

When thoughts must jump from 140 character posts into more detailed analysis, it’s time to write a blog post. This is your opportunity to show that you have insightful ideas to contribute. It’s your opportunity to prove your expertise to those within your industry. Where a company website might be cold with product info, a blog allows you to humanize your business. You show that there is a thinking human with (hopefully) a warm beating heart in your chest.

4.) Connect with others in your industry

When your presence is set and you’re ready to explore, look for other voices in your industry. Using free tools like Technorati or TweepSearch, you can find blogs and Twitter users by readership levels. For a more detailed analysis on who’s talking and what they’re saying, you could also work with an online analytics reporting firm like us. Wink, wink.

5.) Be interesting or, at the very least, be useful

No one likes to be bored to death.

…

(Image via Toothpaste For Dinner)

While the 2010 census is beginning to find it’s way into Americans’ mailboxes the US Census Bureau has been hard at work incorporating modern tools into the process. However, the actual form is still a piece of paper that is physically mailed to citizens. But if the actual process of filling out the census is the same, it brings into question just how the Census Bureau is using things like social media. The official Twitter handle only has 3245 followers. The main page for the 2010 census is a multimedia experience filled with interactive maps, video and a blog written by director Robert M. Groves. A once over of site reveals that the Census Bureau is using these tools to essentially convince people that filling out the census form is not only safe but necessary. Considering recent outrage against the census itself, it’s not surprising that the Census Bureau is trying to reach out to as many people as possible. This approach might work on people who are already on board or on the fence, but is probably doing little to those who oppose it. Those people aren’t likely to follow the Census Bureau on Twitter or even take a look at their homepage. No, this is a job for the mainstream media and in this instance they are not pulling their weight. But as has been the case for years (some might say decades) the mainstream media does little more than report on the outcry against the census and not on the census itself.

On FRONTLINE Digital Nation, Sir Patrick Stewart succinctly describes in a Shakespearean soliloquy both the qualms and praises most people have over microblogging. While he dismisses Twitter as degrading to the complexity of our lives, he also realizes, midway, that it can be an additional element in making a person more connected.

This is in stark contrast to William Shatner, who Tweets regularly…

There’s just something weird about seeing old Kirk retweeting new Spock.