Web 2.0 And Social Bookmarking: A Marketer's Savior

Marketers haven't always had it easy. There was once a time when they had to struggle and go through grueling and time-consuming processes like demographic information researching and market segmentation. This was during the internet era of Web 1.0. Those were dark, dark times for marketers all over the world. They needed someone, or something to help them make it through. They needed a savior.

People started to criticize Web 1.0 for being too inclined with HTML while it doesn't even consider important aspects like the establishment of social connections and social interactions. People wanted a new web platform to make up for all the restrictions, limitations and deficiencies. Then came the savior that internet marketers were asking for. Then came the dawn of a new internet era: the Web 2.0 and social bookmarking era that was hell bent on making social connections and networks among the members of the community.

Web 2.0 refers to a website that performs unique and attractive functions. These sites' main focus is to establish social connections and networks among the internet users of the world. Social bookmarking is a process in Web 2.0 that involves the saving or storing of relevant bookmarks on to social bookmarking websites, and the tagging of these bookmarks with the appropriate keywords that would let users search for and locate them with ease.

These two innovations have greatly benefited internet marketers around the world. But they have also contributed so much to the community in general. For one, Web 2.0 and social bookmarking have made the process of communication and interaction for people from different parts of the world much easier. These innovations have also made it possible to search for and locate information on the internet with ease. This was because of tagging which is also known as folksonomy.

As for internet marketers, their lives were made so much more easy and peaceful because of the emergence of Web 2.0 and social bookmarking. Because of these innovations, internet marketers don't have to worry about doing tedious demographic researches and trying to segment markets as Web 2.0 and social bookmarking does all these for them! Internet marketers could just skip those processes and focus on analyzing the demographic information provided to be able to determine consumer tastes, preferences, wants and needs. Internet marketers would find it very easy to develop strategies and techniques to help them market their businesses to consumers more effectively.

Web 2.0 and social bookmarking also allows marketers to advertise their business to millions of people in their networks. This would lead to increased web traffic, increased page rankings, and of course increased profits for the internet marketer.

In short, Web 2.0 and social bookmarking gives internet marketers the ability to enjoy tremendous awards while lessening their work at the same time. These innovations are truly saviors to internet marketers all over the world.

The author is from Seattle, Washington. He has been doing affiliate marketing over a year now and wants to share his observation on how one survives with that business. His project now is Bookmarking Demon

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How Should Journalists View Social Networking Platforms?

Then, using Google Maps, the paper was able to direct a reporter and a photographer to her home. The paper claimed that by cross-referencing online sources it had 'put our people on Sperling's doorstep'.

What's missing here is any indication that the paper's reporters and editors had considered any ethical implications of what they were doing.

That Facebook's privacy settings allow 'users to leapfrog through' one person to another is claimed as a justification, rather than a problem.

There is no reflexive consideration that the paper itself is breaching someone's privacy and trust in pursuit of a story, just a claim that the paper had done it before: 'It wasn't the first time we had achieved this'.

In an email response from the paper, senior reporter David Fisher wrote that Facebook users have an individual responsibility to maintain their own privacy settings and that on this story 'it was about being honest with the readers'.

One of the first codes of ethics for reporters relating to how to manage their social networking activities was produced by the New York Times in January 2009.

In the preamble, the Times' assistant editor Craig Whitney sets the tone and highlights the value of Twitter and Facebooks for reporters: 'Facebook can help reporters do triangulation on difficult-to- research subjects.

What people write on social networking sites is publicly available information, like anything posted on any site that is not encrypted.'

In this statement the Times is clearly establishing the principle (rightly or wrongly) that whatever is posted to social networking sites is public information and available to news organizations without the permission of the copyright holder or reference to privacy issues.

Instead, the guidelines appear to be predominantly about protecting the company's brand and this is also a major concern for the business news agency Bloomberg.

The first statement in the New York Times code relates to political stance or controversial groups and staffers flagging their own political beliefs in cyberspace: '.. do nothing that might cast doubt on your or The Times's political impartiality in reporting the news.'

The Associated Press rules are similar, with the emphasis being on protecting the reputation of the brand rather than the ethical use of social networking for news-gathering (Associated Press, 2009).

The New York Times code also calls into question the status of friendship on sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter:.. being a "friend" of someone on Facebook or especially Myspace is almost meaningless and does not signify the worth nor kind of relationship that could pose a conflict of interest for a reporter or editor investigating that person.' This 'rule' finally ends up justifying the slash and burn approach to social networking friends.

Why does the rule about this have to differ from more traditional journalistic contacts? As well as dealing only perfunctorily with privacy, there's no mention here of confidentiality. What about treating information you glean on Facebook as 'off-the- record'? If a real friend tells you something that you might think is newsworthy enough to report, would you do it without asking their permission?

Would you do it by compromising their relationship with an employer or lover, for example? If you have any ethical boundaries at all, probably not. Why should information gathered through social networking sites be treated differently? There are millions of Facebookers who would disagree that their virtual friendships are almost meaningless.

Seek4media is an independent voice on the web. We report today's news responsibly and truthfully so that readers can improve their own lives and increase their understanding and respect for their neighbors next door and around the globe. In our approach and in our content, we uphold universal human values, rights, and freedoms. We are a business that puts our readers' interests first, in all that we do.

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Just What Makes a Blog Successful?

The internet blogosphere is a very large and sometimes very lonely place. It's never been easier to get your own piece of internet real estate and there is always room for one more site. As a result, the number of blogs in existence has exploded in recent years and shows no sign of abating, yet how do these new bloggers find people to read their posts? Where do their visitors come from? The simple truth is that many of the blogs out there are attracting very small numbers of visitors with some attracting none at all. Some are nothing more than labors of love by their owners. Only a small handful of bloggers will ever make it to blog superstardom and attract the thousands of daily visitors needed to achieve it. But how do these blogs do it?

The answer lies in hard work and quality content. There's no secret formula and no magic button hidden away on a long lost web page. These bloggers have grasped what makes a successful blog and chased it down to give their readers what they need and want. First and foremost, readers are looking for high quality, informative and engaging content. While many people can provide this by writing well on subjects of interest, fewer achieve the level of originality in their articles and posts that keeps readers coming back day after day. A well written and high quality post must be combined with an angle or viewpoint that readers can't find elsewhere on the internet. The blogger must put their very own stamp on the page, making the subject their own, no matter what it is.

A returning readership is something that every blog needs. New readers will find the blog in small numbers over time, but the returning readership is what makes the blog successful and sees the daily traffic levels grow consistently. It is these returning readers that will form your best marketing tool, but only if you can consistently give them what they are looking for. Your goal is to publish posts that your readers love and will be willing to tell others about. Word of mouth is by far the best recommendation and the most effective form of marketing you can have on your side.

Even once a blog is offering this original content, success is not guaranteed. The blog marketing and promotion machine must roll into action. Since the blogosphere is so big, it can be difficult for any single site to stand out from the crowd and be noticed. The blogger has to push and promote the blog in every corner of the internet just to get noticed. Again, there is no easy one-click way of doing this. It takes knowledge, skill, determination and above all, time and patience. The successful blogger becomes expert not only in writing good posts, but also in networking with other blog owners, backlink creation, article marketing, guest blogging and all manner of internet marketing techniques.

The sheer number of blogs in existence means it's highly unlikely your blog will float to the top of a very high pile based on quality of content alone. If you are committed and willing to learn and spend the time to promote your blog, there's a chance you could be one of the few that makes it.

Rellie Lorenzo invites you to get your hands on the Social Media Marketing Success Strategies to generate leads and increase your sales the right way. http://www.rellielorenzo.com/

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