Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

Social Media, Web 2.0 and Internet Stats

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

I came across a terrific post from Adam Singer listing some mind-blowing statistics. These numbers tell a very powerful story about the power of Social Media.

As our digital and physical lives blur further, the internet has become the information hub where people spend a majority of their time learning, playing and communicating with others globally.

Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of just how staggering the numbers are of people collaborating, researching, and interacting on the web.

Google search stats:

1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) - approximate number of unique URLs in Google’s index (source)

2,000,000,000 (two billion) – very rough number of Google searches daily (source)

$110,000,000 – approximately amount of money lost by Google annually due to the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button (source)

24,400 – number of people employed by Google (December, 2008)

68,000,000 – the average number of times people Googled the word Google each month for the last year (source: keyword tool)

$39.96 - the average cost per click for the phrase “consolidation of school loans” in AdWords (source: keyword tool)

1,430,000 - the number of Google results for “Robert Scoble”

136,000 - the number of Google results for “Admiral Ackbar”

Wikipedia stats

2,695,205 - the number of articles in English on Wikipedia

684,000,000 – the number of visitors to Wikipedia in the last year

75,000 - the number of active contributors to Wikipedia

10,000,000 – the number of total articles in Wikipedia in all languages

260 – the number of languages articles have been written in on Wikipedia

(source)

YouTube stats

70,000,000 – number of total videos on YouTube (March 2008)

200,000 – number of video publishers on YouTube (March 2008)

100,000,000 – number of YouTube videos viewed per day (this stat from 2006 is the most recent I could locate)

112,486,327 – number of views the most viewed video on YouTube has (January, 2009)

2 minutes 46.17 seconds – average length of video

412.3 years – length in time it would take to view all content on YouTube (March 2008)

26.57 - average age of uploader

13 hours – amount of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute

US $1.65 billion in Google stock – amount Google Inc. announced that it had acquired YouTube for in October 2006

$1,000,000 – YouTube’s estimated bandwidth costs per day

(sources here, here and here)

Blogosphere stats

133,000,000 – number of blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002

346,000,000 – number of people globally who read blogs (comScore March 2008)

900,000 – average number of blog posts in a 24 hour period

1,750,000 – number of RSS subscribers to TechCrunch, the most popular Technology blog (January 2009)

77% - percentage of active Internet users who read blogs

55% – percentage of the blogosphere that drinks more than 2 cups of coffee per day (source)

81 - number of languages represented in the blogosphere

59% – percentage of bloggers who have been blogging for at least 2 years

source

Twitter stats

1,111,991,000 – number of Tweets to date (see an up to the minute count here)

3,000,000 – number of Tweets/day(March 2008) (from TechCrunch)

165,414 - number of followers of the most popular Twitter user (@BarackObama) – but he’s not active

86,078 – number of followers of the most active Twitter user (@kevinrose)

63% – percentage of Twitter users that are male (from Time)

Facebook stats

200,000,000 – number of active users

100,000,000 - number of users who log on to Facebook at least once each day

170 - number of countries/territories that use Facebook

35 - number of different languages used on Facebook

2,600,000,000 – number of minutes global users in aggregate spend on Facebook daily

100 – number of friends the average user has

700,000,000 – number of photos added to Facebook monthly

52,000 – number of applications currently available on Facebook

140 - number of new applications added per day

source

Digg stats

236,000,000 – number of visitors attracted annually by 2008 (according to a Compete survey)

56% - percentage of Digg’s frontpage content allegedly controlled by top 100 users

124,340 - number of stories MrBabyMan, the number one user, has Dugg (see updated number here)

612 - number of stories from Cracked.com that have made page 1 of Digg (see all 41 pages of them here)

36,925 – number of Diggs the most popular story in the last 365 days has received (see story here)

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Posted in Social Networking, The Right Site | 1 Comment »

I’m a big fat secret-giver!

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I just had someone ask me today about linking an article on their blog that was written by someone else. There’s definitely a protocol for doing this, but it’s absolutely acceptable! In fact, I’m always flattered when I see that someone has linked to one of my articles. Part of having a successful blog is to share information from a variety of sources (I call this, doing your research) to provide different viewpoints on various topics.

I frequently link to other blogs’ articles and authors. These people are great, and I want to share the knowledge with as many other people as I can. So I wanted to first talk about how to appropriately post a blog written by someone else on their blog.

1. Start off with a little personal statement about why this blog is relevant, what you liked about it, or how you may know the author. Maybe why you’re choosing to use this blog, or share this bloggers ideas. Personal statements are a great way to let the reader know that you’re doing the research for them - not just being lazy and reposting something you found.

2. Make sure you ALWAYS credit the original author. You will always want to take the time to link the author’s name to their website or blog main page. Think of it as free advertising for them, and a Thank You for allowing you to share their ideas with your readers.

3. Link to the original article or research. I like to do this at the end. Something like “View the entire article here” (and link the article to the word “here”). If the author has a newsletter, forums, or anything that allows people to communicate with them, you can also post those links. (i.e. “Sign up for the newsletter here”)

4. Use Digg. It’s a great blogging resource tool to read and repost. If you’re not familiar with Digg, go check out their website.

I frequently find blogs to share and repost. So I also wanted to share some of my favorite blogs with you.

Sales Training: Jeff Shore’s Blog
Do It Yourself Marketing: Meredith Oliver’s Internet Hotline
*Consumer Engagement: Content to Commerce
Social Media Marketing: 10e20
Realtor Social Media: Real-Tech Guy
Social Media: Social Media Rockstar

Some Random non-work related funspots:

FailBlog
Awkward Family Photos
[b] Blog (The Becker: Photographer)
Funny Cats

*Content to Commerce is actually my favorite “fun” marketing blog! I would highly recommend you check them out. They’re incredibly knowledgeable about all things fun in social media - like iPhone apps, commercials, viral videos and more!

Enjoy!

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Posted in Marketing, Social Networking | 1 Comment »

T-minus 2 weeks!

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

The countdown is on! We close in just 2 short weeks!

I haven’t been posting very much lately because the house has been going through some preliminary walk-throughs and punch lists (that’s where the builder comes in and takes notes about everything that they see that needs to be fixed before we do our walkthrough on July 2). It’s all pretty boring from the outside - but the last main step was just completed! We got our blinds and appliances in last week. So that was very exciting!

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So we’re finalizing everything with the underwritter, Ken, and our mortgage consultant, Roxanne. We’re getting the last set of conditions approved - which is mainly a bunch of paperwork I need to send them for any “conditions” they would like to clarify. It sounds a lot like, “hey, I see in March you had an inquiry on your credit. Can you write a letter about what that is and if it resulted in a new debt?” It’s seriously major brain damage - but must be done! They also look at all of our bank statements and require paperwork on any non-paycheck deposits. And it’s not just a copy of the cleared deposit - we need to prove where it came from, why we received it and all that good stuff. I can honestly say that I cannot WAIT until this part is finished and the loan is approved from the final underwritter.

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Meanwhile, there’s a lot in the works with our Closing Coordinator, Kim. She sent us our first closing letter that gives us our dates for walkthroughs and closing. Right now, we have a preliminary walkthrough on July 2 at the new house to show the builder everything that we see that needs fixed (another punch list). Then, we return on July 8 to make sure it was all completed to our satisfaction, before traveling downtown to the closing. We decided to take the whole day off so we could go back to the house and just sit on the floor.

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I can’t believe we’re going to own our own home!

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We also met with a friend on Saturday who helped us pick out paint colors and where they should go. The first week after we close will be a lot of painting parties! I’m very excited to show it off :)

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Posted in The Journey | 2 Comments »

Social media tips - from me!

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

I had the privilege of being interviewed by the uber-fantastic Meredith Oliver for her new DIY Internet Hotline website! This place is the bees-knees for anyone looking to jump into their own Marketing and just need a little help getting it going! Check out my interview below:

 Social Media Marketing Tips

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristen Weaver,  a web marketing expert, on how she is using social media to market new homes in the Orlando, Florida market. Kristen has pioneered social media marketing at her company and is one of the most progressive social media marketers in the industry. She is also a professional photographer and all around marketing maven! Her blog is the  www.thenewhomesalesguru.com and it describes her journey as a first time homebuyer. Check out our video interview and enjoy learning what Kristen does and how she does it!

(more…)

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Posted in Marketing, Social Networking | 1 Comment »

A testimonial of Social Networking

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

There’s a lot more to me than marketing new homes. In my spare time, I’m an avid photographer and have seen photographers use social media as their lifeline. One of those social media geniuses is The Becker - Chris Becker of Southern California. Not only is he a fantastic wedding photographer, but he’s really involved in social media, and his recent interview with liveBooks is a great testimonial to that!

©Becker

One of Becker’s signature wedding images. ©The Becker

So why am I bringing this up on a new home sales blog? Well, quite simply, it’s because social media can work for anyone who has a little bit of time and chutzpah to make it work!

The Becker is no different - he has integrated his Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Website and then - he did the unthinkable. He made his own social networking website - thebschool.com!

He’s a believer in social networking, and he makes it work for him.

“Your network is your net worth, so I’m always growing mine.” - The Becker

I wanted to share an interview he did with liveBooks about his integration of social media as a testimonial of people in other industries and how it can drive traffic, sales and branding!

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Posted in Social Networking | No Comments »

The Right Site | Facebook

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

When people ask me about social networking, I generally get asked one question. Ok, well, 2 questions actually.

1. What site is best for me? and 2. How do you have the time to update everything?!

So in this blog, I’m going to attempt to answer both questions - and have it make sense! I wanted to write this like a “Choose your own Adventure” book - but alas, I’m not that clever! I’ll try to make it easy to follow, and concise!

I’ll be posting every so often, following the same format, on different social networking sites.

Today kids, we’re going to talk about FACEBOOK!

facebook_icon

(more…)

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Posted in Social Networking, The Right Site | No Comments »

The NHSG Unplugged

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

I just got done hosting a 2-hour roundtable on social networking for my office. We had a great turnout, although it was quite possibly the bribe of free pizza that drew the crowd!

I’m a big fan of sharing knowledge and I hope that everyone found it fun, informative and interesting. I have a big passion for learning and reading as much as I can about new trends, applications and inventions! I’m also a big technology and history buff - maybe more a “future” buff, if there is such a thing.

Some of the things we talked about were the history of computers and how far we’ve already come, where social networking fits in to the current marketing model, and how a viral video can launch an ordinary Joe in to an internet celebrity overnight.

We also talked about the best uses for LinkedIn, Facebook Manners, the Tweeting Coffeemaker and why Loopt is the coolest new thing, ever.

Come to think of it… I basically just hosted a roundtable about my blog. Well, at least they had the pizza.

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Posted in Social Networking | No Comments »

Twitter was so yesterday

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Of course my job is learning on how to keep up with new trends in marketing and social media, so I was more than eager to jump on the newest “it” thing - Loopt! It’s the new “legal stalking” - but so far, it’s been really fun!

For my beginners out there, check out this Loopt commercial for the iPhone.

As a beginner myself, this new little “it” thing is a bit confusing, but the possibilities are pretty cool. So I downloaded the app, invited some friends, and updated my first status!

So here’s how it works.

I update my status to “Working” and it uses my phone enabled GPS to track my exact location. I can even take a quick picture through the app which it attaches to my status and location. Then, it updates my twitter and facebook statuses (even my blog status) and alerts friends that are signed up to recieve my updates.

If you go to my facebook, this is what you’d see:

My status has been updated on Facebook, Twitter and My blog via my Loopt app on my cell phone

My status has been updated on Facebook, Twitter and My blog via my Loopt app on my cell phone

When you click on the link, it brings you to my Loopt location, complete with status, location and photo I took!

loopt21

blow up of the loopt page

blow up of the loopt page

You can even type in your address and get directions to where I am! (hey, anyone close by want to grab lunch?)

So if you don’t have an iPhone, it’s not quite as cool - but many providers are offering the app for free - you just need text messaging, access to a data plan and gps (which most up to date cell phones have) to make Loopt work for you!

Loopt also has really good privacy settings, so don’t worry about broadcasting yourself to everyone on the internet - you can control who sees your location, and when you post your location.

Now, let’s talk about how you can make Loopt work in your business. For instance, say I’m a Realtor and have 5 clients and 4 Builder friends on my Loopt.

  • Step 1: I’m out and about, checking out some resales in Oviedo with a client. I post a Loopt status that I’m out viewing Oviedo properties, and it maps my location to 419 and Lockwood.
  • Step 2: My facebook and twitter statuses have just been updated to show my current location, and that I’m out looking for properties with a client.
  • Step 3: One of my builders uses the Loopt program, and it alerts them that my status is close to one of their Oviedo communities. They see that I’m out showing resales.
  • Step 4: The builder texts or replies back that they have a new community just a 1/2 mile from my current location and are offering a great commission on their homes. I text them back the specifications my client is looking for, and they reply with 3 inventory homes ready for them to view and set an appointment for 20 minutes from now.
  • Step 5: I’m a hero to my client, who found their dream home in one of the inventory options, and I made a great commission!

See how easy it is when you know how to use the tools we’re given? Social networking isn’t just SOCIAL - it’s NETWORKING! It’s about making life easier, quicker and less hassle.

Loopt has just recently announced they passed the 1 million user mark, and I’m sure many more will follow at lightning speed.  The ability to start pulling the social networking sites together as a hybrid will be integral for new platforms of communication. When you start with a program that can combine your cell phone, photos, texting, facebook, twitter, blogs and gps systems - imagine what they’ll think of next!

So why is it so important to keep up with these new trends? Maybe Loopt isn’t for you - but it’s so important to stay updated on things like this! This is where we are today. These aren’t tools of the future.

I challenge myself to always stay 2 steps ahead of my little sister. She’s 19 and always on top of these things. She texts faster than I can speak and I hate when she tells me about something that I didn’t already know about. I was pretty proud of myself when I invited her to join Loopt!

So moral of today’s lesson - keep up, move up. If you’re still learning Twitter, you’re already behind!

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Posted in Social Networking | 3 Comments »