According to a USA Today special health report, there is a way to take advantage of today’s technology to improve your health, and it doesn’t include popping any purple pills!  Instead, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California-San Diego have found that people involved in online social networks tend to be happier.

According to their analysis of 4,739 people, social contacts, even those far removed and indirect, can have positive benefits to feelings of happiness. This means, essentially, that happiness can be “viral”, and that you can get it from anywhere!

If you are a big believer in karma then all this will be no surprise to you; this study reveals what many have known intuitively for some time. Essentially, large social networks of direct and indirect friendships spread happiness. Not only that, but happiness is contageous. So, I guess there is some merit to the saying “birds of a feather flock together”.

The moral of this story: If you want to get happy, find a large Twitter network with happy people in it. You’ll likely obsorb some happiness through osmossis if you can’t find your own.

While social media in politics reached historic heights this election year, don’t expect speechwriter Jon Favreau to be singing its praises anytime soon. Favreau, 27, was expected to be White House Director of Speechwriting for the Obama administration, but a recent photo posted to his Facebook account, showing him fondling a life-size cutout of Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton, may end the young writer’s dreams of Whilte House fame.

Favreau posted photos from a party he attended while chief speechwriter for Obama’s presidential election campaign; according to a CNN.com report, the photos were up for only a couple of hours before he pulled them from his profile page, but by then the damage had already been done.

The moral of the story - discretion, especially in a digital age, is especially significant when, in just hours, one photo, one quote, or just one article, can cause irreparable damage and harm to reputations and future prospects.

Although this event is obviously significant from a social media standpoint, what has not been recognized yet is that this type of insensitivity happens all the time; people do, say, and behave in stupid ways and in this case, the behavior should not be tolerated for any reason.

In today’s world, all it takes is two hours to ruin a lifetime of work and effort. Most interesting though is that behaviors haven’t changed for the better - just the medium of exposing those who behave in stupid, Read the rest of this entry »

Confident Writing Coach Joanna Young has hit upon a successful and well received method of engaging her readers. Her site, confidentwriting.com, invites visitors to join group writing projects that she designs. Writers then write their own blog post based on the writing project guidelines and link their post from her website.

Efforts like these are the basis of Web 2.0 and modern social media efforts - they engage readers
to participate in online discussions with like-minded others. For Young’s site these projects are particularly useful in helping readers improve their writing skills, the very reason visitors like me patronize her site.

Young’s most recent group writing project was particularly appealing for me. Since I’ve been developing my blog this past year, I often don’t have much time to go back and see “where I’ve Read the rest of this entry »

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions from folks about social media and how it can help their small business. Social media may still seem like a “toy for the young” and something to do when you’re bored, but in reality these tools are fast becoming a significant element of small business success.

The video to the right expresses how traditional advertising alone misses the mark with consumers by not allowing them to participate before and during the process of buying products and services. That’s where social media marketing comes in; by allowing consumers the opportunity to be part of the process.

The benefits of social media for your small business are numerous, but let’s review of few of the best reasons for incorporating social media efforts into your business plans.

1. Social media provides a simple way for customers, and even potential customers, to comment on your products or services, or to ask for more information. Because it leaves all the interaction up to the buyer, customers feel more comfortable looking for the information they need. When they are ready to share, or need your services or products, they will let you know!
2. Social media provides an outlet that can “go viral” far more quickly than typical Read the rest of this entry »

For anyone questioning whether social media connections are advantageous, I have a success story! Today begins my newest contract with a San Fransisco start up that I acquired as a result of my social media efforts.

For anyone who has been following my blog you already know that I often post to a new citizen journalism website. I also have several other social media accounts including a Twitter account, a book club account, Facebook and many others. Recently these efforts have been fruitful in helping me obtain a new contract, proof positive that social media efforts help not just businesses, but individuals as well!

Over the course of the past few months I had gotten to know the community guru at allvoices.com, and had Read the rest of this entry »

In an amazingly creative use of a new social media tool Twitter has created an Election 2008 page. This page filters out twitters from all Twitter users having to do with the candidates and the election.

Upon first entering the page you see a dizzying array of comments, one after another, streaming in from the top of the page. The comments are limited to one page full, but with so many being updated so quickly, it is clear to see you could easily get your fill of political talking points here.

Then, in a unique combination of filters and Read the rest of this entry »