Social Media Tips for Online Marketing

Many businesses have primarily focused on getting listed in Google for no reason other than to drive Google’s search traffic to their own Web space. Social media is no different — businesses are looking to leverage social media traffic to help their own sites and brands. Not all businesses need a Facebook page or a blog to promote and advertise on the popular social media sites. In fact, you might do better simply by making your own online presence social media-friendly and let your users carry your product through to these places instead.

Learn more about social media marketing in this Webopedia Did You Know…? article.

More Than 1,000 Text Messaging Abbreviations

If you have ever received an instant message or text message that seemed to be written in a foreign language, this Webopedia Quick Reference will help you decipher the text chat lingo by providing the definitions to more than 1,000 chat abbreviations.

Some of the following chat abbreviations may be familiar to you, while others may be foreign because they are used by a different group of people with different online interests and hobbies than your own. For example, people playing online games are likely to use chat abbreviations that are different than those used by teenagers texting on their cell phone or abbreviations used by someone updating a financial blog.

AAF As a matter of fact
AAK Asleep at keyboard
AAK Alive and kicking
AAMOF As a matter of fact
AAMOI As a matter of interest
AAP Always a pleasure
AAR At any rate
AAS Alive and smiling

Read all 1,011 text abbreviations here.

Add Live Chat To Your Blog or Web Page With Firefly

With a little cut-and-paste code, firefly makes it easy to chat with visitors to your site or blog.

“Firefly has a very innovative design, however we did not find the interface all that intuitive for site visitors who had never used or heard of firefly before. In setting firefly up on a personal Web site, the first two users we invited to try the chat didn’t quite understand how to get started. Some site administrators and bloggers may want to add a text description about firefly on their page to help users better understand what the live chat service does and how to use it; that is until firefly becomes more commonly used online and people are familiar with how it works.”

Add Live Chat To Your Blog or Web Page With Firefly
By Vangie Beal, October 21, 2008

CallWave Rolls Out Cross-Platform Collaboration With FUZE

CallWave rolls technology picked up in its acquisition of WebMessenger into FUZE, a hosted cross-platform collaboration product with video and image sharing.

In a nutshell, the FUZE service is designed to provide synchronized high-definition video collaboration with high quality audio conferencing along with secure instant messaging and managed presence in an easy-to-use service.

To do this, FUZE expands on WebMessenger technology to provide an enterprise-class collaboration and conferencing solution for mobile workforces. FUZE, through its browser-based service provides the means to conduct mobile meetings by initiating calls, delivering presentations and instant messaging with meeting attendees, regardless if they are in the office in front of their computer or out in the field with an iPhone or Windows Mobile device.

CallWave Rolls Out Cross-Platform Collaboration With FUZE
By Vangie Beal, September 23, 2008

Open AIM: What’s In It for End Users?

When AOL launched its Open AIM program to the developer community over two years ago, it offered open access the AIM code base as well as access to the 27 million plus monthly users of AOL’s instant messaging network.

“In a nutshell, Open AIM provides developers with access to AIM presence functionality, the AIM Software Developer Kit (SDK ) for building plug-ins and custom clients, and also Web-based API s for incorporating IM functionality into web pages.

Most users of the AOL instant messaging network really don’t put much stock in phrases like “unfettered access,” APIs, SDKs, or other developer jargon, but what they do get out of the Open AIM developer community is new ways in which they can use the AIM service itself. Open AIM 2.0 directly serves the developer community, but it’s the developers themselves who help add novelty to the network.”

Open AIM: What’s In It for End Users?
August 12, 2008, By Vangie Beal

Cross-Network IM Conferencing with Persistent.IM

SHAPE Services, known for its IM+ brand of mobile clients, bridges the gap between IM networks with an easy-to- use, cross-network conferencing platform.

Users can create a user account on the Persistent.im site that lets them establish live (or persistent) IM conferences that shows up as a buddy or friend on the invited participants IM contact list. As the conference progresses, for example, when a participant writes a message, Persistent.im will deliver the message to all online participants and any offline participants will receive the message when they log into their IM service.

Khais said that Persistent.im is ideal for those who need to collaborate, but are geographically separated. “When you are in a conference, not all participants need to be online for activity, so if you have conference participants in radically different time zones, they will still receive all the sent messages and status information for the conference.”

Cross-Network IM Conferencing with Persistent.IM
July 29, 2008, By Vangie Beal

How to Create Your Very Own RSS Feed

RSS is the acronym used to describe the de facto standard for the syndication of Web content. RSS is an XML-based format, and while it can be used in different ways for content distribution, its most widespread use is in distributing news on the Web.

“When a Web site publishes an RSS document, the feed will usually contain a summary of the most recent articles and content published on the site. Most feeds will offer readers a headline plus a brief headline description (or summary), along with a description of the source Web site. RSS feeds are created by using tags that are enclosed in brackets, much like HTML code is. For those interested in creating their own RSS feed, all you need to start is a text editor (like Notepad). All you really need to know, at the very minimum, are the tags you must include to make the RSS feed work.”

How to Create an RSS Feed
By Vangie Beal, July 17, 2008

The Difference Between LinkedIn and Facebook

Two popular social networking sites are LinkedIn and Facebook. While both are designed to connect people online, the two sites represent different types of connections with very different options and features.

“The Facebook social networking site is used to connect with a variety of people — your friends, family and those you work with, go to school with, or people you used to be friends or classmates with. In a general sense, where LinkedIn is designed to connect professionals, Facebook is designed to just connect people. When you join Facebook and create a profile, you will enter in key information which can help other people find you on Facebook.”

Did You Know… The Difference Between LinkedIn and Facebook?
By Vangie Beal, May 16, 2008

MuseStorm Offers Platform for iPhone Marketing

With MuseStorm’s Platform, you can produce, deliver, manage and analyze metrics for the widgets and social applications you create.

“The MuseStorm Engagement Platform was recently extended to include support for iPhone development and it offers users the option to deliver their content through a Web browser to iPhones. These Web applications can be downloaded through Apple or other means, and when iPhone users receive a widget built using the MuseStorm platform, they point the browser to a location on the Web where a video, slideshow, or an RSS feed can be accessed. MuseStorm widgets are specifically designed to take advantage of the iPhone interface. The widgets mirror the look and feel of the iPhone, and also use the popular iPhone touch-screen navigation system.”

MuseStorm Offers Platform for iPhone Marketing
By Vangie Beal, July 1, 2008

Take Your IM Public on Facebook

Facebook’s app may have quieted the market for third-party, in-site IM, but several tools that connect Facebook users to public networks appear to be thriving.

“Robert Rudd, the developer of Tri-chat messaging for Facebook (an application we’ll cover in just a bit), says that, as many other developers believed, there just didn’t seem to be a good way to connect Facebook users with their AIM, MSN and Yahoo buddies. Rudd also said that he has never felt there was a lot of competition in the Facebook IM development space, but now with Facebook’s own client thrown into the mix there may not be much need for other Facebook IM and chat applications.”

Take Your IM Public on Facebook
By Vangie Beal, June 26, 2008