This short holiday week was full of announcements! Facebook unveiled video chat powered by Skype! That’s a great idea for Facebook, because now you are able to increase your communication with friends all over without ever leaving the social network. Company pages can’t communicate with their “likers” yet but it’s just a matter of time before that’s an option and I’m sure video ads will be in the future as well!

What you might not know or remember is that MySpace released Skype-powered calls many moons ago in 2007! It’s funny how things don’t seem as cool when someone other than Facebook does them. In this case, many people just think Tom and MySpace were ahead of their time, considering Skype didn’t have the video option quite yet.

Google also released their Facebook competitor, Google+, and it’s getting rave reviews from early adopters and the social media glitterati! Here are 10 testimonials from those who are already registered courtesy of Mashable. We’re giving it a go here at Step Ahead and will have a blog next week detailing our thoughts.

I’m leaving you this week with a few questions: Did anyone follow Obama’s Twitter Town Hall? If so, what were your thoughts? Did anyone else religiously follow the TV show “The Voice” like I did? If you did, then you won’t be surprised that they snagged the title of “most social TV show in June”!

Final question: Who misses 4th of July already? I certainly do mainly because I love fireworks. If you love them like I do, here are a few great Twitter images from Independence Day!

To start off Social Media Week, we thought we’d start where social media began. Following is insight and commentary from several of the staff at Step Ahead. You’ll find different topics each day of Social Media Week with our ever so fascinating two cents .

Bailey Surrett: MySpace and Metal Bands!

I joined MySpace in 2003 and the main reason was because all my friends were on it. I’ll say that the majority of my high school friends were in bands (metal bands) so this was the up-and-coming method of reaching out to their fans. All bands had a MySpace page, especially indy bands doing everything on their own.

MTV found my friends in Glass Casket and Between the Buried and Me through MySpace to use some of their songs for shows. I first heard of Colbie Caillat through her MySpace page. It was also a great avenue for me to keep in touch with my musician friends while they were touring.

I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t been on MySpace at all in the last 2 years unless it’s to check new layouts for a social media blog I’m writing or to see a video update from one of the bands who haven’t moved over to Facebook (shame on them). To be even more honest, by the time this blog is posted, I’ll have probably deleted my account.

http://www.myspace.com/ebaileysurrett

Holly Fisher: The Power of the Blog

In doing some research on this post about how blogging has evolved, I discovered the very first blog, Links.net, was created in 1994. That was the year I graduated from high school, started college and had my first e-mail address.

Hard to believe blogs have been on the scene 17 years. Also, hard to believe I graduated from high school 17 years ago, but we’ll save that for another blog post. What’s truly interesting is that the basic premise of blogs has remained the same: sharing stories, opinions and information.

Initially called “weblogs,” blogs turned anyone with a computer into a writer and a publisher. They may not be professional writers (or even very good writers) but they suddenly had a platform to share their passions – sports, travel, parenting or politics. Platforms like Blogger and WordPress made it simple for anyone with the tiniest bit of tech knowledge to set up a blog and call themselves a “blogger.”

A few years ago, women stormed the blogging world to create a nation of influential, diaper-wielding Mommy Bloggers.  Also coming on strong are business blogs. Companies discovered having a corporate blog was a way to tell the inside story of their brand and connect with consumers.

While most people tend to blog as a hobby, others have made quite a successful living at blogging by selling ads on their blogs or turning their blog into a book deal.

Regardless of whether you blog for yourself or for your company, take these basic tenets to heart:

• Keep it short and sweet. With some 100 million blogs in the world, people don’t have a lot of time to read your 4,000-word post.
• Have a personality. And, yes, this applies to corporate blogs. This is where a business can really connect with customers by giving them an insider’s view.
• Be consistent in your posting. You don’t have to post twice a day but you do need to keep your blog updated. One or two posts a week should be your minimum. You can’t attract a following if you never have fresh content.
• Promote your blog via social media. Posting links to your blog on Facebook, Twitter or social bookmarking sites is an excellent way to drive traffic and readership.

Laura Angermeier: Blogging Advocate, MySpace Dissenter
I was never a big MySpace person and only got on one night when I was super bored. I was never a fan of the layout and always thought it could have been done better. Then came Facebook. I think I actually still have a MySpace profile, but I haven’t checked it in over 3 years, so if you messaged me, sorry about the delayed response .

Blogs are wonderful social media tool! I haven’t written very many, but love reading them. There’s an opinion about everything, and I tend to lean toward the celebrity/fashion-oriented blogs, as they’re just fun! I encourage every business owner who has something to say about their business to start blogging. It’s a great way to talk with customers and potential customers on a more conversational level. Plus it’s fun!

Lyn Mettler: Creepy MySpace and the Beginning of “Social” Media

I remember the first time I heard of MySpace. It was on some news program like 60 Minutes and it talked about what a phenomenon it was becoming and how many people used it to communicate. I was fascinated. I eventually got on MySpace to see what it was all about, but totally got freaked out with the come-on type requests I was getting! So I never did much with it. But yea for MySpace, it started the whole field of “social” media, where you don’t just take information from the web but give it back as well.

Back when we started Step Ahead, Facebook was just in its beginnings, MySpace was much more popular and blogs and podcasts were all the rage. But it’s funny, no term had been coined yet for these types of media. People threw around Web 2.0 and social media, but as funny as it seems, Web 2.0 was the more popular of the two. We had a hard time naming the company because a standard phrase for what we were working with had not even been coined. Ah, seems so long ago, when really it was only 4 or so years ago – a lifetime in social media.

New Logo, New Layout, Last Chance?

MySpace has changed their layout, their logo and hopefully their destiny. For more than a year now social media journalists have been writing about the demise of this social network but it’s not dead yet!

The new focus is strictly on entertainment and this is (in my opinion) the best move they could have made. MySpace has done one thing better than Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare combined: targeted musicians.

Musicians have not deleted their MySpace accounts, because no other social network has proved to be a genuine competitor in this area. All of the changes made to the site are encouraging users to be more active with the entertainment acts they enjoy and they’ve also given users more ways to discover new artists.

Don’t worry if you can’t see the new layout yet. All users will have access by November!

RIP Step Ahead Web Strategies

Facebook might finally make some changes that really could help people out, especially companies. They are in the works of testing an administration page for those people who run a company’s profile.

The best part of this administrative change would be the ability to change a company’s name on their Facebook page! I have never really understood the reasons behind not letting a company change their name, but I really hope that this is an option soon.

First thing is to change our company’s name from Step Ahead Web Strategies, its original incarnation, to Step Ahead Inc!

I recently attended the statewide Blog Indiana conference in Indianapolis, Ind., meeting some of my fellow social media geeks who happen to be located in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky and thought I’d share a few of the nifty take-aways I got from it!

1. Duplicate content is OK if it’s legitimate. This jewel from @CPollittIU. So, he says, it’s OK to use the same blog post on two different sites, so long as you’re not trying to be spammy and the content actually relates to the page.
2. Apparently, MySpace is not dead. I heard over and over how if you are trying to reach their audience (entertainment based, younger, minorities) not to discount MySpace. There are still lots of people there even though it’s not as popular as Facebook.
3. Blogging is powerful! Email marketing firm Delivra blogs 5 days a week and has moved their position from page 30 to page 8 on Google for the key words “email marketing” thanks in large part to the blog.
4. Retweet negative comments! Afraid someone will say something negative about you? (How many times have we all heard this from businesses about social media?) Why not embrace it, show you heard it and promise to fix it, by retweeting it to the world?! Scotty’s Brewhouse, a restaurant in Indianapolis, Ind., does just his. Oh, and #4 part 2, follow @brewhouse if you want a good Twitter laugh.
5. Prezi.com is a really cool presentation tool. Lots of people used it and it’s loads more interesting than yet another Powerpoint!

The New Layout Wasn’t Enough

A few weeks ago we were introduced to the new and improved MySpace layout. I admitted then that it did look a million times better, but I have to be honest in saying that I’ve only visited the site once since then and only to read a band’s blog post.

My point is that the new layout did not save MySpace, and that was made even more clear today when they announced their partnership with Facebook. Now Myspace users can synchronize their updates and other activities with their Facebook account.

Is this one last attempt for MySpace to be relevant? Do you think it will work?

I Need These Tickets!

Foursquare and MTV have partnered up to promote the MTV Video Music Awards on September 12. They’ve created a special badge for any Foursquare user who checks into a music venue anywhere in the United States.

A word from the wise (or insane): Make sure the venue was submitted with music as the category or your badge will not be unlocked. I checked into the Music Farm in Charleston today and was unable to receive the badge because it was listed as a bar (by the way, I changed this!).

The best part about getting the moon man badge is it automatically enters you into a drawing for 2 tickets and a trip to the VMA’s!! Now that I think about it, I should have written my blog about something else so no one else wins “my” prize.  Just kidding, good luck everyone!

The television news business is ever changing. The industry has gone from news on only three networks to 24-hour news channels to the reach and speed of the Internet and social media. Meghan Miller, the Web producer for WMBF News, the NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, saw the power and importance of social media in TV news early on, and has been using it ever since to keep a step ahead.

We picked Meghan as January’s social media star, because she’s on the front lines of journalism embracing all that social media can do for this industry. She “gets” it where so many media outlets continue to struggle.

Meghan started the WMBF Facebook page in August 2008 with only 10 fans, but has grown the page to over 10,000! Daily, she manages multiple social media accounts for WMBF, including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and, one you may not have heard about, Bubbletweet. Here is what Meghan had to say about social media:

What was the first social media technology you used?
Facebook. Over the years, it’s slowly become the No. 1 way I can keep a personal connection with my family and friends back in my hometown of York, Pa.

What is your favorite social media tool?
Definitely Twitter. Believe it or not, I was actually against getting a Twitter account, because I didn’t see the point in posting to the world what I was doing 24/7. Now it’s one of the first things I check on my Blackberry when I wake up – to see who’s doing what and what topics are making news in the Web world.

How have you used social media for your business/company and how has it benefited?
In all honesty, it’s one of the most important tools I use as both a journalist and as a Web producer. Social networking takes news to a whole new extreme – it allows us to see who’s doing what, what issues are important to our viewers, and really allows us to make those important connections with those who keep close tabs on our news product.

Our Facebook fan page has just exceeded 10,000 fans – many of which were gained in 2009. That’s an outlet where we can interact with our fans with a “Question of the Day” and post controversial news stories that we know will draw a response from the public. It also allows us to strengthen the push-pull from social networking sites to WMBFNews.com.

Twitter is another – I can’t tell you how many news stories we’ve broken because of Twitter and how many relationships we’ve built with legislators, community leaders, businesses and organizations because of the exchange of a few tweets. If we can’t pull any news stories off of Twitter, it at least helps us get our brains pumping to come up with new, fresh news content for our shows.
On the flip side, we can keep better track of our competition this way.

How have you seen TV news change since you started in the profession with regard to social media?
It has exploded! I can remember when we had 20 fans on our WMBF News Facebook Fan Page and 100 friends on our MySpace page. We’ve been nursing our social networking sites since we first launched in August 2008 and now depend on it for comments on controversial stories that really affect our viewers or our market drivers. Now, you’ll see a “Facebook Question of the Day” on each of our newscasts – and a big push to become a fan of WMBF News either on Twitter or Facebook.

What role do you see social media playing in TV news in the future?
I see it as a way to gather news stories, build the WMBF News brand, draw people into our product, interact with the community and share breaking news when it happens, as it happens.

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?
Ha – it feels like 24 hours a day! It’s hard to gauge because my TweetDeck is always open, I’m always fiddling with UberTwitter on my phone when I’m away from my desk and always checking out Facebook. It’s a part of the job!

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?
It’s hard! I make sure that when I’m at work – that’s what I’m on Twitter or Facebook for – just work. When I go on dinner break, am heading out to do a story or am on my own time, that’s when I hop on my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.

What’s your best tip for using social media for business?
Use it as just another tool to better your product and your overall image. Don’t ignore the fact that your viewers or clients are interacting with you on a “virtual” level – it’s the perfect time to draw people in! Engage, interact and don’t ignore!

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?
This is where I plug BubbleTweet, I do believe! I think BubbleTweet is an AWESOME alternative to Tweets if you have a webcam. It’s been a cool way to take people behind the scenes during a newscast, break news stories on a more personal and visual level and to show people that the news is more than just TV.

Where can people find you online and via social media?
www.twitter.com/wmbfmegmiller
http://www.facebook.com/meghanmillerwmbf

If you own a dog, you’ll want to meet our March Social Media Star: Leah England, founder and publisher of Lowcountry Dog magazine. Leah has created a fabulous publication that serves as a great resource for anyone living in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as a dog owner.

We picked Leah, because she has recently taken the magazine’s print presence online, as well, and is quickly becoming known as the expert for all things doggies in and around Charleston. She’s on Facebook, Twittering about the latest pet events and news, blogging about the pet world and has become the go to resource. And all this is helping grow her audience both online and in print. So with that, meet Leah!

What was the first social media technology you used?
LinkedIn. Ironically, though, I use it the least now.

What is your favorite social media tool?
Twitter and Facebook are neck and neck. With MySpace in second place, and LinkedIn in third.

How have you used social media to spread the word about Lowcountry Dog (LCD) and how has it benefited?
It’s amazing how social media enables me to interact instantly with LCD readers. It’s like having a constant focus group right in my living room. I ask LCD readers for their content ideas, what issues matter most to them, what they love most about LCD and what I should do more or less of. And the best thing is, they talk to me – like a real person! Not some elusive publisher holding a charette, but someone with whom they can have an open and honest discussion.

This year I’m heavily promoting the annual LCD model contest, held at PetFest, through social media. Even though we’ve always had a good turnout, I’m really pumped to see how things go this year!

I also promote LCD advertisers when it is relevant and newsworthy. If a groomer is offering a discount, a kennel has new online reservations and Web cams, or a retail store is hosting a meet and greet for a rescue – it all gets posted! So social media is giving me another opportunity to help pet-related businesses connect with their demographic.

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?
2-3 hours. Weekday only. You’ve got to set some limits.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?
I schedule my social media activity. Morning, mid-day and late afternoon. I think it’s good to space things out, not only for yourself so you can get other things done, but also so you have the chance to catch different people at different times.

What’s your best tip for using social media for business?
The conversation should flow both ways. Don’t just constantly shove yourself down your followers’ throats. Ask questions. Respond to your followers’ posts. Post truly beneficial, entertaining and useful information. Be gracious. Be authentic. If you use a lot of auto-responders and post one-sided information, people can smell it a mile away. Social media is one of those things where what you get out of it directly correlates with what you put in it.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?
I’ve only been using social media for about three months, so I’m not an expert. There’s a lot I feel I don’t use enough. I’m excited to begin using Flickr as a visual social networking tool and to start a Squidoo lens for Lowcountry Dogs!

Where can people find you online?
www.lowcountrydog.com
www.lowcountrydog.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/leahengland

What’s that got to do with Microsoft? I found myself marveling at my iPhone and thinking, “Wow, if this is so incredible, imagine what it must be like to have an entire computer by these folks.” I mean, I’ve worked on Macs before, but it’s been years, and at the time I didn’t care for it. I remember frustratingly trying to take a disk (remember those ) out of the disk drive, but could not find a way, as there was no release on the drive (OK, Mac users you know you have to eject it on screen, maybe still do). It did not seem intuitive and I am definitely a fan of intuitive/user friendly (thus my allegiance to Facebook).

If the iPhone is anything like a Mac computer, it’s the most &@#* user-friendly piece of equipment I have yet to run across. Brilliant.

I was intrigued by a stat I heard on the most recent Brand Bandits podcast, that Facebook had finally overtaken MySpace in May for the number of unique visitors. This surprised me – not because I thought MySpace was dominant, but because I thought Facebook had done that months ago!

These were ComScore numbers being cited, Google Website Trends seems to show that Facebook actually overtook last Fall:

Either way, however, I think most people would agree that MySpace has a serious problem on its hands.

Which brings me to Justin & Britney (bear with me).

Five or six years ago, they were an item.  Both former Mickey Mouse Club members. Both attracting legions of teenage fans. Heavily managed ‘brands’, Britney as a pop star, Timberlake as a member of N*Sync.

You wouldn’t have bet a lot of money on either one becoming respected, or perhaps even still relevant today. And yet…

Britney has had a spectacular, and well publicized fall from grace – breakdowns, divorce, custody battle, drugs, failed comebacks, etc, etc.

Justin Timberlake, amazingly, seems to have re-crafted himself and is something of a 21 Century Renaissance man. A hugely praised stint as host of Saturday Night Live . Cred-building collaborations with top producers like Timbaland and Will.i.am, and well received acting roles in Indie films. Oh, and he hosted the ESPN awards, dated a lot of beautiful women and impressed with his golf skills at the PGA Pro-AM. You get the picture.

So, how does this apply to MySpace?

Well, right now MySpace is Britney and Justin 7 years ago. No-one can predict which path it will take – burn out and fade to irrelevance, or reinvented and loved by everyone.

Despite the beating it may or not be taking, MySpace still attracted 115.7 million unique visitors in May, just a million or so behind Facebook. It is still a big brand name. It has the financial clout of News Corp behind it, and it drives a ton of traffic to Google, Youtube, Flickr and many other of the top sites.

In other words, it’s not dead yet.

How to Save MySpace

Simply, MySpace needs to reinvent itself a la Justin Timberlake:

• Just like N*Sync, MySpace is, or appears to be, aimed at kids. The gaudy, blinking backgrounds and embedded tunes are like a particularly bad Geocities page from 1997. They need to be overhauled, desperately.  Facebook has shown the way that profiles can be made personal with photos, interests and so on, while keeping the headache-inducing extras to a minimum.
• Stop the Spam! I’m sure that a large number of people jumped ship due to the increasing amount of spam that was filling up inboxes. Combating bogus accounts, and only allowing mail from verified people would go a long way to helping.
• Be like Timberlake, focus on what you’re good at! Music, events, live shows, etc. For all it’s growth, Facebook is doing a pretty terrible job of promoting its Fan pages. Can you even find them in the new look? MySpace, on the other hand, is still the best place for new bands to demo songs, grab fans and keep them interested. In the last couple of years singers as diverse as  Lily Allen, The Black Kids and Glasvegas have all picked up record deals after building a fan base on MySpace. Push this – let people promote sports teams, politicians, movies, and other things that people get passionate about.
• Grow up! When your parent organization, News Corp, chooses your main rival to promote their news channel, you have an image problem. Fox News wants to be seen as serious. So they *don’t* want to be seen in the same neighborhood as kids with Scarface backgrounds and blaring music. Take back some control. Be the adult and set limits for the children.

Almost everyone I talk to is rooting for MySpace to fail, as they prefer Facebook. I’d rather that we had two strong competitors in the field, so that we don’t have another Google-like near monopoly. I think there’s room for both Facebook and MySpace…they just need to figure out how to get their sexy back!

I keep thinking MySpace is on its way out, especially with Facebook overtaking it in unique visitors earlier this year, but good grief, it just won’t go away.

New numbers from comScore show that MySpace had its highest number of unique visitors to date in the month of July: 75.2 million. Come on, people, who’s still going there instead of Facebook? If it’s you, please tell me why. I just don’t understand…

I guess it does look some better since they upgraded the design. I can stand it just a little more, but it’s still no Facebook.

Die, MySpace, die…