How Do I Get a Pinterest Invite?

So people have been asking. This Pinterest thing seems to be the newest fad and Pinterest growing pretty fast. How can I get an invite so I can try it out or at least figure out if it is something worthwhile?

Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” used to share images from around the web. Many businesses are now using it as a way of attracting visitors to their sites. Pinterest is already growing to be a big traffic driver for a lot of retailers as people “pin” up products they like or things they find artsy or beautiful.

Ok enough talk, so how can I get an invite!

Two Ways to get an Pinterest Invite

1. Ask around for an Invite!
It’s cool. It’s not like begging for an invite to a party you aren’t invited to. You’ll be surprised how many of your friends are already on Pinterest and pinning away. Just ask people on Facebook, Twitter and see if one of your friends already have an account. Then when they offer, first accept the invite, open your account then say “Why didn’t you invite me earlier! You hid this from me! You are not my friend!” JK.

2. Ask Clean Cut Media for an invite!
We are happy to give away a few invites, but we’d like to give it to our most engaged readers so here is what you can do to secure an invite from us. It’s easy. See below!

Securing an Invite from Clean Cut Media

1) Leave a comment below telling us how you plan to use the account! (valid email so we can invite!)

2) Follow Us on Facebook & Twitter – and send us a note via one of these accounts asking for the Pinterest invite!

Follow @CleanCutMedia

that’s all!
Looking forward to seeing some of your Pins!

Related posts:

1. Pinterest Moving up the Social Media Ranks
2. Who has Access to Your Facebook? Clean it in 1 Minute.
3. Teens Don’t Use Twitter, What the Tweet?

What is Pinterest? How does it Work?

Pinterest is a clever social media bookmarketing site where users can “pin up” pictures and snippets of interest from all around the web. Users create pin boards in different categories and share with all their friends who then can repin your pin ups to further spread the fun. Pin board categories can be anything from Humor, Weddings, Photography, Art, Gadgets or anything else the user desires.

Pinterest is Rising in the Social Media Ranks

Pinterest has been growing rapidly, increasing 400% just in the last quarter. In December Pinterest had 7.51 million unique visitors. Many retailers are also showing Pinterest as a top 5 referrer.

Pinterest on Clean Cut Media

Clean Cut Media has also felt it’s impact as we have been seeing a stream of visitors from many of our Chalk Art pictures being pinned up on various pin boards. Pinterest has lodged itself as a top 5 referrer here as well!

Clean Cut Media also has a pinterest where we will do our best to post some of the great examples of clean creativity and art across the web.

Pinterest Infographic

• Have you tried Pinterest? How do you like it?
• Do you feel Pinterest is a fad, or an idea that will continue to grow?

How do I get a Pinterest Invite?

Dying to try it out but don’t know how to get an Pinterest invite?
We are happy to give our readers an invite, but since it’s limited, we want to give to our best readers.

Come visit this post where we explain how to quickly get an invite!
Invite Post: How do i get a Pinterest Invite?

Related posts:

1. How Do I Get a Pinterest Invite?
2. Does Social Media Work for Small Business?
3. Growth of Social Media Statistics Video: Socialnomics

Do you know who has access to your Facebook? Your Twitter? To your Google Account?

What Apps, Programs, Websites have you given access to over time that you have forgotten about?

You may be surprised how many apps have access to your account!

With the new year, take a few minutes to see who has access, and clean it up! A new site called “mypermissions.org” provides links to the various settings pages. It’s quite simple. No login needed. Just click on the link to go to your settings and see who is linked to your account.

If you are so lazy or so fearful of clicking over to another site… I have provided the direct links to your setting pages below. Just click on the links below, log into your account (unless you are already logged in) and you should be at your settings/access page. Just click off the ones you don’t want accessing your data! A fresh new start for 2012.

Facebook Settings
Twitter Settings
Google Settings
Linkedin Settings
Instagram Settings
Flickr Settings

• Let us know, how many applications were accessing YOUR ACCOUNT?!
• Were you surprised?

Related posts:

1. Change Your New HTTPS Facebook Privacy Settings Now
2. Top 10 General Security Tips for Facebook
3. Complete Facebook Privacy Settings Checklist

Most Shared Stories on Facebook 2011

Facebook released the top 40 Most Share Stories on Facebook of 2011. It’s a list dominated by Yahoo and CNN stories ranging from light-hearted articles of babies and dogs to more serious topics such as the Japanese Quake and Steve Jobs.

Here at Clean Cut Media, we’ve posted on a number of articles on these very popular topics from Steve Jobs, the Japanese Quake, to the Golden-Voiced Homeless Man. Finish this article then check them out later!

Top 3  Media & Parenting Related Articles Shared on Facebook

Since we are a media site, we wanted to list below a few notable and well written articles related to MEDIA as well as Parenting. We’ve provided an excerpt so you can get a feel for the article before clicking through. The titles of the Articles are links.

Enjoy! Please leave comments below on your thoughts on the article!

How to Talk to Little Girls

This is a very enjoyable article discussing how even the smallest compliments can really mess up a girl’s perception of what is important especially when it comes to her looks. Considering we’ve written many articles here about a Girl’s Self Image, Young Girl’s Perception of Beauty, among many other similar topics, this article seemed pretty relevant to our readers. I think you’ll find yourself saying “that makes a lot of sense…” Please do comment your thoughts on the comment section below on this post.

Little Maya was all curly brown hair, doe-like dark eyes, and adorable in her shiny pink nightgown. I wanted to squeal, “Maya, you’re so cute! Look at you! Turn around and model that pretty ruffled gown, you gorgeous thing!”
But I didn’t. I squelched myself. As I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are.
What’s wrong with that? …
…This week ABC News reported that nearly half of all three- to six-year-old girls worry about being fat.
…15 to 18 percent of girls under 12 now wear mascara, eyeliner and lipstick regularly;
…eating disorders are up and self-esteem is down;
…25 percent of young American women would rather win America’s Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize.
…Even bright, successful college women say they’d rather be hot than smart.

…Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything.

Parents, Don’t Dress your Girls like Tramps

This piece is more of a rant towards parents than anything. However, the rant is still valid in pointing out that parents really need to take more responsibility about how their kids dress and understand how they are really messing up their child’s perception of themselves by dressing them up inappropriate ways. Check it out, then if you feel like ranting about it , leave some comments below on this post ok!

I guess I’ve been out-of-the-loop and didn’t realize there’s been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.

What’s that you say? Ten-year-olds can’t drive? They don’t have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?
Their parents?

Noooo, couldn’t be.

What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, “She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top.” …

… It’s easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what’s appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.

What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents

This piece is not “media” related per say, but an article I enjoyed mainly because I have many friends who work full time as teachers and understand a little bit of the pains teachers go through. A good interesting read none-the-less. Feel free to comment with your opinions in the comment section below.

Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 4.5 years, and many of them list “issues with parents” as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel…

…For starters, we are educators, not nannies. We are educated professionals who work with kids every day and often see your child in a different light than you do. If we give you advice, don’t fight it. Take it, and digest it in the same way you would consider advice from a doctor or lawyer. I have become used to some parents who just don’t want to hear anything negative about their child, but sometimes if you’re willing to take early warning advice to heart, it can help you head off an issue that could become much greater in the future…

…Please, take a step back and get a good look at the landscape. Before you challenge those low grades you feel the teacher has “given” your child, you might need to realize your child “earned” those grades and that the teacher you are complaining about is actually the one that is providing the best education…

Hope you enjoy those! Please leave some comments below and give us your thoughts on these matters!

Related posts:

1. News: Delete Facebook Page Original Admin
2. Facebook Video, Photos Getting Bigger & Better
3. Social Media Consume 1 out of every 6 Minutes

YouTube Statistics – Growing like a Mad Child

YouTube is celebrating it’s sixth birthday and the statistics are in… It’s a Man Child.

(e.g. lebron james, greg oden, that 6 foot 200lb “12 yr old” pitcher at little league)

A mere two years ago, we wrote a post called YouTube Statistics – The Ultimate Time Suck. This article is currently the one of the most popular posts on Clean Cut Media. However it is amazing how quickly YouTube has grown. 90% of the YouTube Statistics you see out there are clearly outdated… thus here we’ve gathered some of the most current data, straight from YouTube and from articles dated in the last month. Enjoy!

YouTube History

• Feb 2005 – Founders register domain name
• July 2006 – 100M video views per day, 65,000 new video uploads per day
• June 2007 – YouTube launches in 9 countries. Launches YouTube Mobile
• Oct 2008 – 15 Hours of video uploaded every minute
• Oct 2009 – YouTube announced more than 1 billion views per day
• March 2010 – 24 Hours of video uploaded per minute
• Feb 2011 – 490 million unique users worldwide per month

YouTube Growth & Ranking Statistics

• #1 online video content: 142.7 million unique viewer (#2 Vevo @ 55.2 Million)
• #2 Largest Search Engine (#1 Google, #2 YouTube)
• #3 Biggest Site on the Web (#1 Google, #2 Yahoo, #3 Youtube, #4 Yahoo)
• Did You Know? – 1000s of full-length movies on YouTube (WHERE!!??)

YouTube Traffic & Upload Statistics

• 13 Million hours of video uploaded in 2010
• Equivalent of 240,000 full length film every week
• More video content is uploaded to youtube in 60 days, than the three major US TV networks has done in 60 years.
• 48 Hours of video uploaded every minute
• Equivalent to nearly 8 years of content per day (100% inc YoY)
• 70% of YouTube traffic from outside the US
• YouTube is localized in 25 countries and 43 languages
• YouTube mobile gets 400M views a day (13% of all views)
• YouTube past the 3 billion views a day mark…

YouTube on Facebook & Twitter Statistics

• 17 million people have connected their YouTube account to a social service
• 150 years of YouTube video are watched daily on Facebook
• 500 Tweets per SECOND contain YouTube links
• AutoShared Tweet results in 6 new youtube sessions

Speaking of Facebook… come check out our Clean Cut Media Facebook Page!

YouTube Opinions Poll

Did you know that the average person comes to watch ONE youtube video ends up watching more than SEVEN?

Youtube is ridiculously addicting. You know it. I know it. Considering how much time is spent (wasted?) on Youtube… OPINION POLL!

Related posts:

1. Youtube Statistics – 2 Billion Views Per Day [Infographic]
2. Youtube Statistics – The Ultimate Time Suck
3. YouTube: Is it Possible to Watch 4 Billion Views a day?

Mobile Marketing Statistics

As a professional who has been in the online marketing world since it’s birth, “mobile marketing” was the “next big thing” touted in every marketing conference for the past 6 years. I was always skeptical because, mobile was ALWAYS mentioned as the next big frontier, but I saw no medium in which the marketing ads could be delivered. There was no evidence or the numbers to back that claim.

Then came the iPhone, which changed everything. (RIP Steve Jobs).

Apple iPhone (Steve Jobs) Ushers in the New Age of Mobile Marketing

Those who are just now reading articles about how Steve Jobs was a great visionary may not realize how much he really revolutionized every industry he touched. He isn’t just the CEO who introduced the iPod or the bringer of the iPhone. He literally led the way in creating products and ecosystems that created brand new industries and as a result thousands and thousands of jobs. Numerous companies out there can give some credit to their existence and growth to much of what Steve Jobs contributed to the technology sector. Think about the 100s of companies centered around building apps, or building games for the phone, apple product accessories, geo-location marketing companies, or mobile marketing service agencies. Think of all those companies centered around some product or service related to the digital music / mp3 market which not that long ago was owned by big media, then by organizations like Napster. Think about whole divisions created to tap into and create applications on tablets or all the cool little startups utilizing the social mobility of smartphones. Think about all the executives out there, innovators in their own right, sharing how Steve Jobs helped them conceptualize and grow their own companies. Apple products drove the strategy and goals of other competitors from big music labels, computer makers to phone carriers. The list goes on and on. There is a reason why Steve Job’s death has had led to such huge ripples across the nation. RIP Steve Jobs. Thanks so much for everything.

Just one of such industries that changed forever, is the mobile market.

How did the Apple iPhone change the mobile landscape?

Smartphone Becomes the Norm:
To put it simply, the iPhone made having a smartphone the norm. Only a few years back, very few had smartphones. Smartphones were reserved for the executives of big companies, mainly in the form of the blackberry. No one thought about using it as a “personal” device. It was too expensive, too hefty, seemed a bit complex. It was seen as a “professional” device. Everyone had flip phones and were content.

Then the iPhone became the “apple” of everyone’s attention. (oh no you didn’t!)

Simple. Affordable. Snazzy. Hip. Apple said, hey you want it. You need it. You can get cool apps on it. You can play games on it. You need a calendar. You need to access email instantly. You need it to watch videos. You need it to text with a bigger screen. All of syncs with your computer really easily so it’s easy to use. It was cool, it was hip, the iPhone.

Steve Jobs drove Apple to create a product that is simple and affordable for the public. Just like the iPod, iPhones took the basics of what mass consumers use (surfing the net, watching videos, taking pictures, texting), and created a product that did those things well and made it easy to use. While most of the technology world was still competing over adding more and more complex features, Apple focused on the core-uses of the consumer and made it simple and easy. Suddenly smartphones became a personal device that everyone must have. As everyone started to buy iPhones, other mobile phone competitors jumped on the bandwagon, recognizing the shift in the market. Now everyone and their mother, and their teenager daughter has an iPhone. I’ve seen kids still in middle school with the iTouch giving them free access to the internet. Which I have problems with, but that is another story.

Easier to Browse the Internet
The iPhone has also made it much easier to browse the web. Once checking the internet on your phone was so painful, that often it was just not worth it. You would have to click 24 times just to get to the article you wanted. It would be hard to read, the links were the infamous blue, taking up half the screen. Clicking on it was impossible unless you had petite fingers. Not to mention the tiny screens where web formats would break or a unfriendly page of blue links dominated the user experience. It wasn’t worth it. Don’t even get started on the ads.

The iPhone suddenly made surfing the internet, easy and simple. It was just like browsing on the computer, just on a smaller screen. Full browser, full experience (minus the flash! save the complaints!). No more nasty mobile ad formats and spammy links or 14 clicks to get back to the homepage. Surfing the net on the mobile phone became a reality.

Created an App Ecosystem

The iPhone also did a fantastic job courting developers and creating a whole “app” centered world. All kinds of creative apps were developed, as well as numerous ways to connect with the consumer. There are so many interesting and creative geo-centered applications, interest based apps, productivity apps, and all of these apps became an avenue in which marketers can use to engage the users.

Mobile Marketing becomes Legit

What Steve Jobs and Apple did was legitimize ads on mobile phones. With the iPhone, it put smartphones in the hands on the consumer, it provided a good browsing experience like nothing before, and created an world of applications which opened up even more avenues to reach the consumer.

For the last year and a half, mobile marketing has become a huge play in the online marketing world. In fact in most industries, Mobile Marketing paid traffic you can find on Google alone will be greater than all of the traffic from Yahoo / Bing Paid Search combined. The quality has dramatically improved because users can actually read, click and engage the companies that serve the ads.

So for all you working in some field related to mobile marketing, give a little thanks to the innovations of Apple.

Mobile Marketing Statistics

Enjoy the mobile marketing statistics info graphic below.

Some of the highlights:

• 4 Billion Mobile Phones in Use
• 1.08 Billion Smartphones in Use
• 3.05 Billion are SMS enabled phones.

• By 2014, mobile internet should take over desktop internet usage.
• 50% of all local searches are performed on mobile devices.
• 86% of mobile internet users are using their devices while watching TV
• 200 Million Youtube Views occur on mobile devices

Average American spends 2.7 hours per day on their mobile device – socializing.

• 61% of users use their mobile phones for Games
• 55% to check the Weather
• 50% for Maps and Direction search
• 49% for Social Networking
• 42% for Music
• 36% for News
• 33% for Entertainment
• 25% for Dining
• 21% for Video

Take our poll below and tell us how YOU use your mobile device!

Mobile Marketing Infographic Statistics

Related posts:

1. YouTube Statistics – Growing like a Man Child [Infographic]
2. Most Followed Twitter Users & Brands [Infographic]
3. Top 10 Fastest Rising Google Searches in 2011

Twitter Growth History Visualized

Twitter has been growing very quickly and has changed a lot over time. In the beginning many were wondering, what was the point? Is it a bunch of teenagers chatting away?

Slowly twitter is becoming more defined as a medium of communication for businesses, brands, celebrities, customer service and a place to connect to professionals and those with similar interests. Twitter has also become a valid source of news information and quick way get a pulse on any trending topic.

Don’t forget to follow Clean Cut Media!

Follow @cleancutmedia

Some highlights from “A Visual History of Twitter” plus additional Twitter Statistics:

Record Breaking Tweet Events

• Beyonce announces she’s expecting at the VMAs (Aug 2011): 8,868 Tweets per Second
• Japan defeats the US in the FIFA Women’s World Cup (July 2011): 7,196 Tweets per Second
• Japanese Twitter users set New Year’s 2011 record (Jan 2011): 7,000 Tweets per Second

Key Historical Moments for Twitter

• July 15 2006 – Twitter Launches
• March 2008 – 1.3 Million Twitter Users
• April 2010 – 105 Million Twitter Users
• September 2011 – 200 Million Twitter Users (150 Active Users

Most Followed Twitter Accounts are Celebrities (# Updated 9/30/2011)

• #1 Lady Gaga – 14,022,983 Twitter Followers (what has the world come to)
• #2 Justin Bieber – 12,980,136 Twitter Followers (admit it, you follow him!)
• #3 Barack Obama – 10,304,434 Twitter Followers (rather follow obama than lady bieber)

Most Followed Non-Celebrity Accounts!

• #1 Twitter – 6,209,226 Twitter Followers
• #2 Twitpic – 5,354,829 Twitter Followers
• #3 CNN Breaking News – 5,181,132 Twitter Followers (makes sense)
• #4 Youtube – 4,943,411 Twitter Followers (also 45 million+ Facebook Fans)
• #5 UberSocial – 4,299,424 Twitter Followers (who?…)

More Notable Brands on Twitter

• #7 Google – 3,643,488
• #25 ESPN – 1,892,510
• #35 Starbucks – 1,725,548
• #46 Facebook – 1,558,384 (/cleancutmedia)
• #66 Itunes – 1,266,248
• #70 Southwest – 1,175,353
• #118 Coca Cola – 378,256
• #135 Foursquare – 292,700
• #180 McDonalds – 171,304
• #221 Amazon – 122,325
• #N/A Follow @cleancutmedia (help us move up the ranks!)

Interesting Twitter Statistics

• 81% of users follow less than 100 people
• 61% of all tweets are in English, 39% is not!
• 42.3% of Twitter users are between 30 & 49 years old. (oldies!)
• 30% of the users have an annual household income over $100,000 (I need some more twitter friends!)
• Males – More likely to use Twitter for work-related research & news (true…)
• Females – More likely to keep in touch with friends and post status updates (no comment)
• 5% of users create 75% of the content (is that you?)

Enjoy the infographic below! Let us know what you thought was interesting!

Twitter Growth History Infographic

Related posts:

1. YouTube Statistics – Growing like a Man Child [Infographic]
2. Twitter Statistics: Visitor Growth
3. How is Twitter Doing? What is it For!

Facebook Success Summit 2011 [Conference]

For the Social Media Marketers and those who are interested in the growth of Facebook and how businesses are using it, I wanted to highlight a conference called the “Facebook Success Summit 2011″. It is a conference that is completely online thus doesn’t require you to travel.

19 social media experts will hold various web seminars to discuss what they’ve learned and the successful strategies they use. They are basically answer the question:

“What do experienced marketers and business owners know and do with Facebook that makes them so successful?”

Facebook Success Summit Review

I personally attended the Facebook Success Summit last year and found it to be pretty helpful. For 90% of the people out there who do not have an extensive background in Facebook, they would find this conference super helpful as it really does cover a lot of different aspects of Facebook marketing and Facebook uses. For the other 10% who have a decent working knowledge of Facebook, you will still find it useful.

I will be attending again this year.
Just so you know this isn’t just hollow words. I work at a small firm, we are highly selective of what we attend and highly sensitive to price. It’s worth it.

Here are what I consider the biggest benefits of Facebook Summit:

• No travel – All Online Webinars
• Session Recordings – Miss a seminar? watch the recording.
• Ask Questions – Ask lot of those pesky social media questions that you can’t find answers on the web from actual people who’ve done social media. Social media is growing rapidly, there is no true “expert” in this growing field, but there are those with a lot more experience. This summit will have many of those speaking about their experience.
• Network & Private Forum – There is a private Linkedin group you can join. This was the most useful as a huge FAQ discussion starts to form in there where everyone asks all the questions they ever had and others who are in the know chime in and discuss the answers. I found this to a great resource.
• Cheap & Money Back Guarantee – As this conference is online, it’s considerably cheaper than those $2,500-3,500 conference which also involve hotel costs, travel costs and so on. If you sign up before SEPT 15th, it’s only $297 (50% off). I was not a math major, but price will probably double that after that date. Also after the first 2 days, you can cancel for a full refund if you think it’s not for you.
• UPDATE: It is now $397 – 34% off ($200 off original price). This sale ends Sept 20th.

Facebook Success Summit Seminars Samples [FSSSS!]

Below are some Seminar Samples:

• 5 Steps to a Successful Facebook Marketing Strategy
• 7 Proven Strategies to Grow and Engage Your Facebook Fans
• How to Build and Manage a Thriving Facebook Community
• Gain Insight and Sales with Facebook Commerce
• How to Successfully Measure Facebook Marketing Campaigns
• Don’t Sell on Facebook! Make it Easy & Compelling to Buy: How & Why
• How to Build a Loyal Fan Base Using Facebook
• How Big Consumer Brands are Using Facebook
• Facebook Application Development for Dummies
• 10 Ways to Bring the Power of Facebook to Your Website

I always like the more hands-on, practical seminars which this summit provides. On top of this you’ll get 16 free bonus webinars (I assume from past events and blog seminars they’ve had…)

Link to Facebook Success Summit Information Page / Sign up Page

Who should attend this Facebook Conference?

Straight from their site:
The Small Business Owner: You’re looking for a boost—likely a consultant, coach, local business owner, writer, agent, blogger, artist or general “gun for hire”—and see the potential of Facebook marketing, but want to speed your path to success with the least effort and the greatest return.

The Corporate Marketer: You work for a corporation and have been tasked to manage the company’s Facebook initiative. You likely face internal battles to convey how Facebook could help the company, but you know there’s real potential.

The Experienced Social Media User: You’ve been using Facebook for a while, but want better results. You’re ready to take your business to a whole new level by following the proven tactics of the pros and leveraging the latest techniques. Better response. Less work. More profitability.

LET US KNOW IN COMMENTS IF YOU ARE ATTENDING and WHO YOU ARE!
It’s $297 up until Sept 15th (early bird). Then price doubles.

UPDATE: It is now $397 – 34% off ($200 off original price). This sale ends Sept 20th.
Link to Facebook Success Summit Information Page / Sign up Page

Some More Facebook Statistics

• 92% of Marketers use Facebook
• 75% of Marketers plan to increase their use of Facebook in 2011
• 44% of North America companies see Facebook as important or critical to their marketing plans.
• 750 million active Facebook users
• 31% of Facebook users are on the site multiple times a day (Pew Internet & American Life)
• 1 of 6 minutes online are spent on Social Networking sites (ComScore)
• 24% of consumers consult Facebook friends before making a purchase (Edison Research)
• 53% of Facebook users would recommend brands to friends.

Related posts:

1. News: Delete Facebook Page Original Admin
2. Does Social Media Work for Small Business?
3. Facebook vs. MySpace Statistics

Facebook & Social Networking Influences on Children

As social media continues to grow in popularity, we are slowly starting to see more psycholgical research regarding the risks and benefits of social media / social networking use.

In a talk called “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids,” Larry D. Rosen PhD, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominquez Hills, discussed the negative effects social media (e.g. Facebook) has had on children. Rosen conducted a study to determine how overuse of Facebook can lead to the development of psychological disorders in teens. The study was based on a sample size of 1,000 urban adolescents.

Negative points of note:

• Teens who use Facebook show more narcissistic tendencies.
• Young adults who use Facebook show more psychological issues such as mania, anti-social behavior and aggression.
• Children who overuse media and technology (ex. Facebook, Video Games, TV) tends to show negative effects on health. They are more prone to depression, anxiety, and other psychological problems.
• Middle school, high school and college students who checked Facebook frequently received lower grades as Facebook served as a distraction from studies.

Note all research was negative. Below are some positive influences of social networking.

Positive points of note:

• Adolescents learn how to socialize
• Young adults who use Facebook are better at showing “virtual empathy”.

Are these really “Positive” Facebook Influences?

I am not sure whether these “positives” are much of a positive at all. It is good to learn “virtual empathy” but in the long run, time is better spend for a child or an adult to learn REAL LIFE empathy. The practice of interacting and socializing in real life context may cause some awkwardness and anxiety, but it is important for children and adults alike to practice so we can become fully functioning contributors to society, our friends, and our families. I do agree that social network does have incremental opportunities to interact and socialize with others, especially those who live far away, but the fear here is when people start to opt to send messages, emails, wall posts over phone calls and real life interactions where real life opportunities are lost.

Larry Rosen’s Advice for Social Networking Use for Children

Larry Rosen, offered some advice for parents by encouraging them to pay attention to the online trends and the latest technologies they are using but be aware that it will be difficult to monitor all of your child’s social networking activities.

“If you feel that you have to use some sort of computer program to surreptitiously monitor your child’s social networking, you are wasting your time. Your child will find a workaround in a matter of minutes,” he said. “You have to start talking about appropriate technology use early and often and build trust, so that when there is a problem, whether it is being bullied or seeing a disturbing image, your child will talk to you about it.”

Social Networking Monitoring Softwares

Despite Rosen’s comments about monitoring your children, if you feel a desire to protect your child from harm, different Social Networking Monitoring tools are slowly coming to public. One such option is ZoneAlarm Social Guard. I have not used this product before, so please by all means, if you have any feedback please share in the comments below. Video introduction of ZoneAlarm Social Guard is below.

Click Here for More Info: ZoneAlarm Social Guard

Social Monitoring Tool Features:

• Alerts you of “friends” who are much older than they claim to be.
• Alerts you of inappropriate discussions about drugs, suicide, violence, and sex.
• Alerts you of inappropriate links that is shared with your child.
• Alerts you of discussions that suggest cyberbulling.
• Parents do not need to be on Facebook to receive alerts.
• Watches your signs that your child’s account has been hacked.

Share Your Thoughts on Social Media Usage

• What is your thoughts on this study?
• What are some other positive and negative effects you see of using Facebook?
• In the name of irony – like our Clean Cut Media’s Facebook Page

Related posts:

1. Facebook vs. MySpace Statistics
2. Most Followed Twitter Users & Brands [Infographic]
3. Social Network – Facebook – Friends Forever

Social Networks all Consuming: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter & More

Time spent on social networking has doubled since 2007. Facebook, Twitter leads the way in the ever growing social media presence. ComScore released their latest figures on this social media growth.

The average U.S. online user spends 1 out of every 6 minutes on a social networking site.

Astounding Social Media Growth

That is a whopping 16% of all online time compared to a mere 8% in 2007. Facebook leads the with 700+ million users but many social network sites like Linkedin, Twitter, and Tumblr hit all time record highs this past month of May. Linkedin recorded 33.4 million visitors in May 2011 while showing 58% overall growth from 2010. Twitter 27 million, a 13% growth from 2011. Tumblr 10.7 million with an amazing 166% growth from last year. Tumblr seems to be experiencing a sudden surge of popularity this year.

Facebook is currently the 4th largest web property with 157.2 million visitors just in the month of May reaching 73% of the total internet population every month.

Linkedin IPO – Social IPOs are Coming

A new wave of IPOs are starting to pop up as Groupon and Linkedin recently went public to spectacular public offerings. Pandora just double it’s price due to demand. Facebook also has plans to IPO as early as next year. Other tech companies such as LivingSocial, Zynga and Twitter are still abuzz and potentially going public as well. Are these companies worth the evaluations they are seeing? We have yet to see. So much of the value is based on potential and potential only at this point.

• What are your thoughts on this growth? Will it continue?
• 1 in 6 minutes are spent on social sites.. good or bad?

Share your thoughts here and on our Facebook Page

Related posts:

1. Social Networking overtakes Email
2. Social Media Statistics Video – Growth & Impact
3. Growth of Social Media Statistics Video: Socialnomics

Improve Everywhere Social Media Conference

Something about this video tells me “I Gotta Share…”

Improv Everywhere, a well known improv group that became famous for bursting into spontaneous musicals at random public places, appears at a bonified social media conference in New York called the “GEL Conference” to sing about how connected (obsessed?) we are to social media. It is already a testament to the growth of social media that there are social media business conferences just about social media. Remember just a few years ago, facebook, twitter and the concept of social media was not well known! Enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Viral Video: ‘Twouble with Twitter’ & Flutter the New Twitter

Social Media Usage by Small Businesses

Social Media is in a very interesting stage of it’s life in terms of how it is used by different businesses and organizations. It’s growth is undeniable but the level of usage varies across the board. Many companies have jumped in. Some are showing great profits, others just see it as a good “brand” play, while others are skeptical just dipping their toes and seeing what happens. It reminds me where SEM and SEO was just 6-7 years ago when businesses would hire interns to figure it out for them. But look where online marketing is now…

A full fledged social media play may not be for everyone, but no matter what business or organization you run, there is great benefit of using this medium to interact with your customer. Whether it is to drive sales, gain brand exposure, to get feedback from customers, or perhaps to lower cost of customer service, there is numerous ways social media is being used with great results. See this nifty little video below:

Social Media Is Becoming More Important

Michael Stelzner has released his third annual social media study that surveys 3342 marketers, half of whom are small business owners. Here are a few key points found in the study:

• Important: 90% say social media is important to their business
• Increased Exposure: 88% of social media marketers found social media increases their exposure
• Increased Traffic & Subscriptions: 72% of social media marketers found increased traffic and subscriptions
• New Partnerships: 56% reported gaining new partnerships via social media
• Improved Sales: 48% of small business owners saw improved sales as a direct result of social media efforts
• Reduction in Marketing Costs: Small Business Owners were more likely than others to see reduction in marketing costs due to social media marketing
• Get Qualified Leads: Small Business owners twice as likely to find qualified leads via social media efforts
• Video Marketing: 77% of marketers plan on increasing their YouTube and Video Marketing.
• Facebook Still King: 92% of marketers are using Facebook, 75% plan on increasing their activities

Time Equals Money in Social Media

This report also showed that the more time businesses invested in social media, the higher the success rate. For example:

• 80% of those with 3+ years of experience in social media marketing report forming new partnerships. (25% for less than 3 years)
• Those who spend 6+ Hours per week are TWICE as likely to generate social media leads as those spending less than 5 Hours per week.

Download the Full Report Here: Social Media Marketing Report 2011

Social Media on Clean Cut Media

For the curious, Clean Cut Media has both a Facebook and a Twitter Account.

Clean Cut Media Facebook : ‘Like’ Us!
Clean Cut Media Twitter : ‘Follow’ Us!

For Clean Cut Media, Facebook is the second largest referral of traffic after Google. Our readers have been gracious enough to post our articles on their walls (thanks it really helps!).

• Let us know if you found social media helpful for your business or organization.
• What has worked well, and not well?

Related posts:

1. Social Media Statistics Video – Growth & Impact
2. Growth of Social Media Statistics Video: Socialnomics
3. Facebook Success Summit Conference 2011