Blogging

Do you have a blog? If so what is so special about your blog verses the millions of others available on the Internet today? According to Business Insider, 150 thousand websites are added to the Internet daily and seven million new pages are added to the Internet daily. This may seem like a lot which it is, but don't become discouraged. Your blog and website can still stand out and provide a valid source of feedback for businesses and personal use.
Before Entrepreneurs spend loads of money on websites and start up costs for their business they can take advantage of free blogs and provide information to various publics and then receive valuable feedback to then help generate further ideas for their business development. Seems simple but less people than you may think take advantage of blogs and underestimate their power of influence.
Blogs provide a great way to showcase ones writing and other communication skills. It is sometimes difficult to showcase these things in an interview or meeting of sorts where as a blog is one click away of showing others your writing skills and or photo skills or other communication abilities.
According to The Society for New Communication Research, the leading group to utilize blogs are the nations top 200 charities with around 57 percent of them using blogs compared to 16 percent of the fortune 500 companies. This is interesting to note that the charities have a far greater usage of blogs. Though the fortune 500 companies most likely have the means to pay for any type of social media, they are not utilizing the free services available to all of the world.
Whether it be your own personal blog or a fortune 500 blog, there is power in the millions of blog pages around the world. You never know who might be reading and discussing the content on your blog.

http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/fortune-500-list-demonstrates-the-power-of-blogging/
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-11-30/strategy/29970926_1_new-blog-investors-founders

Organizational Uses

Social Media has been said to be the "name of the game" for marketing, advertising, and raising product awareness. We have seen social media usage explode in the last few years including usage for presidential campaigns. It is an ever changing and adapting world for different social media outlets. Businesses large and small can and do use social media to raise awareness. One idea behind the beauty of social media is the idea of tapping in to peoples social networks. "If you know one person, you know the world" this is a popular idea behind networking sales as well as for advertising via Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and more. One company that is taking advantage of social media outlets is Denik. Denik is a company that was started by USU students. The company works with artists from around the globe to use their work on the covers of notebooks and journals. The company not only provides fun and unique products, but they donate one dollar of every piece of merchandise sold to building schools internationally and within the USA. With close to no budget for advertising, Denik has capitalized on the free social media services to market their products and tap in to peoples social networks to raise awareness of their products.
Another point of the beauty about social media are the different groups that can use it. Not only can large corporate businesses utilize it, but non-profit organizations can utilize it. One organization that fights against children soldiers in Uganda has used Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media venues to raise awareness. The organization states that change is not expected to occur solely online, but it definitely helps assist in bringing about change.
Just because a few companies have done well with social media doesnt mean it is necessarily the best thing for your company. According to one article on techsoup.org it is important that businesses discuss if social media is the best for them. Though social media holds much of the lime light these days, it is not the only way for businesses to successfully market their ideas, products or services. It is up to companies to evaluate whether social media is best for them or to pursue other means of marketing, advertising. There is certainly more than one way to peel a potato as well as market your ideas, products and services.
http://philanthropy.com/article/How-Nonprofits-Can-Use-Social/126402/
http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page7935.cfm

The Big Seven

Who is the most interesting person you know?  Do you ever become jealous towards that person? Be honest. Jealousy is something that has been around from the dawn of time. Today jealousy has even more venues to affect people. One way is through Facebook. People have gotten divorces, broken up, had fights and in some cases even killed because of Facebook. Now I am not blaming Facebook for deaths or divorces, I blame human error. A recent article caught my attention about a British man who killed his wife because of her Facebook status saying that she was single. What can be done to help combat jealousy and or rage due to simple Facebook  messages, status updates and even pictures?
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.53d2fb293d708cf32571d6ab8f4b3208.211

Social media has changed many ways in which the world communicates. With all of the online communication some people raise a voice of warning that social media communication is dangerous to individuals who use it. One doctor in England draws a link to 17 teenage suicides. All of the victims had one thing in common, their use of the internet. Identities can be altered and changed with the click of a mouse. This can put people in a false sense of identification. Read more about it at

http://news.sky.com/home/health/article/15023103