Chapters 1-2

Can you dig it?

What is dig?

"Digg is a social news website that can help you share blog posts and web pages. If you find a page you want to share, you can "digg" it by submitting the URL and a brief description of the page through the Digg website. Other Digg users will see your submission and "digg" or "bury" it. Submissions that get a log of "diggs" are displayed on the home page of the Digg website where many people will see them and will be likely to click on them.

In short, if your blog post makes it to the home page of Digg, you can expect a huge bump in traffic. Since most bloggers want more traffic, hitting it big with a post that gets featured on the home page of Digg is like winning the lottery. Unfortunately, making it to the home page of Digg is difficult."

GroundSwell says, Groundswell comes from three sources: 

1. People
2. Technology
3. Economics

Social Media Stats;

Messaging/Bulleting Boards

2007: 33%
2008: 35%
2009: 28%

Social Networking

2007: 27%
2008: 49%
2009: 80%

Online Video

2007: 24%
2008: 45%
2009: 36%

Blogging

2007: 19%
2008: 39%
2009: 45%

Wikis

2007: 17%
2008: 27%
2009: 25%

Podcasting

2007: 11%
2008: 21%
2009: 12%

Twitter

2009: 52%

Companies are adapting to Social Media rapidly but many companies start these sites and say yes of course we are on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and then everything becomes apparent they are indeed on these mediums but they are not current with them and more importantly they are not using them the way they are intended. Recently I have been noticing a lot of jobs posted on Indeed.com, Craigslist that are specifically targeted to jobs in Social Media. Recently I applied for a position at TripAdvisor for a Social Media Project Manager since taking this course i figured my experience would be relevant. The position. The description for the position read as follows:

"Position Description 

Are you an avid Facebook user? Do you see the potential of social media in revolutionizing the travel planning experience? Do you want to be involved in ground-breaking product development? If so, then read on!

Reporting to the Director, Platforms and Applications, we are looking for a smart and experienced product management/marketing professional to serve as Product Manager, Social Media. In this role, s/he will be a champion of the consumer's experience by leading the definition, design, development and implementation of social media applications that allow users to experience TripAdvisor content on a variety of social networking sites, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance the value of the TripAdvisor brand. "

So as you can see companies, technologies are adapting their businesses to Social Media practices. They need to embrace the so-called "Groundswell" and flow with these changes in the world. In order to be successful and not lose speed of the momentum of these new media adaptations.