More and more companies understand the need to be present at social media but not many of them do social media properly and effectively. Why? Because in order to succeed in social media we can no longer treat it as yet another communication channel. It can’t be a random activity. It should be aligned with the overall strategy. Many companies take up SM but have no idea what for and what they will do there. Then it’s like “teen sex” - Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it’s not better.”

Today my HootSuite client was offline for a while, which was a big surprise. In general Hootsuite is a very reliable service. Fortunately, I was informed this was due to a remarkable update. Some time late I noticed significant changes to the social media dashboard beginning with a completely refreshed HTML5 user interface, plus geo-located search, native Twitter ReTweets, and integrated Google Analytics.

For me Hootsuite was already the best Social Media dashboard for both personal and team based social media management. Today’s improvements prove Hootsuite continuously keeps improving its service.

Two weeks ago Facebook launched a new social plugin (”like” button) that works with the Open Graph protocol as part of the strategy to make the Web more social and personalized. The button spreads across the internet and it’s clear that websites’ owners quickly embraced the new social plugin.

There is already a lot of controversy around the plugin. Some people wonder how it will influence the privacy on the net? Many people feel Facebook will soon dominate most of our online experience. Some don’t like that FB is selling user’s private information to marketing companies. Will it affect Twitter or Digg? How will it change advertising and marketing strategies? Time will tell.

When you are working with social media you tend to forget that the adoption of social media is still rather low. I recently noticed this when I was requested to provide a presentation about online corporate branding. Still many people are hardly using the possibilities of social media. Meanwhile, it’s becoming obvious that you can improve your competitive advantage. By means of social media the smallest company is able to gain the branding image of a big corporate. Online the differences in between big and small are way smaller than in the offline world. Below I will share with you what social media you could give a try in 2010.

Apparently, the only constant thing in this world is change. Also social trends change along with the customs and we need to get used to completely different etiquette rules to survive in the jungle of social media. Like with any other form of communication people get to like us or we simply annoy them.

When using social networks we may also offend people and put them off for not following some basic rules of polite behavior. Below I’m presenting the list of practical tips on how to use Twitter in a way that we avoid irritating our potential valuable followers. I hope this list will make things easier for all of us.

Last week Dell announced they earned over $6.5 million through Twitter alone. This message gained a lot of (social) media attention. But I doubt the credits of the success should go to Twitter alone. Dell is putting a lot of effort in social media like their blog, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and multiple Twitter accounts. Their social media effort generated this additional turnover not Twitter. Unfortunately till now Dell is the only good example of a successful social media strategy.

If you follow the latest trends, you’ve probably heard about a new fashion that has started in advertising – it’s called Social Network Marketing. It’s a new way to promote your products using conversation rather than traditional advertising. It gives you an opportunity to show your company’s human side, strengthen your brand and get new customers. In the face of growing popularity of social network sites, this kind of promotion will probably become a core of all campaigns and business strategies. The race has begun and it’s up to you, whether you make use of social network sites or just stand aside and watch.