What happened in 2009?

The year went by so quickly, and it is hard to imagine the quantitative impact of the internet on our way of life. I previously wrote a article that visually expressed social media statistics in real time, and now the summation of these numbers have come to an amazing final destination. Royal Pingdom has kept great accounting and are sharing these mind-blowing statistics.

When presenting to organizations it is impossible to convey the magnitude of New Media, and it’s impact on the internet. The internet’s vast arena has seen social media contribute to an ever increasing global internet competency of the world. This has generating the traffic and usage that is represented in these crazy stats.

Here are the some:

• In 2009 90 trillion emails were sent.
• The average number of emails – 247 billion per day
• Of these email’s 81% were spam. No wonder we love Facebook.
• Domain names purchased: .COM –81.8 million, .NET –12.3 million, .ORG –7.8 million.
• Domains are up 8% from 2008
• In December 2009 there were 234 million websites, of which 47 million were added in 2009.
• With an 18% increase from 2008, September 2009 had 1,73 billion internet users.
• North America accounted for 252,908,000. Asia… 738,257,230. Crazy growth!

Social media

• As tracked by BlogPulse, 126 million blogs on the Internet.
• More women than men on 84% of social network sites.
• Tweets per day- 27.3 million (November, 2009)
• 57% – Percentage of Twitter’s user base located in the United States.
• Number of people following @aplusk  4.25 million…..
• Facebook users 350 million. Half of them log in everyday!

Images

• Each month 2.5 billion photos  are uploaded Facebook. We love to share!
• Photos uploaded to Facebook per year – 30 billion

See the rest here.

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Digital Abuse – What is it? & How do you prevent it?

Online Safety series

I read a great article on the Facebook Blog today that I know will be useful to share. It begins with:

Casi Lumbra, 17, is an advisory board member for MTV’s A Thin Line campaign, which launched today to help teens stop the spread of digital abuse. She’s also a member of WiredSafety.org’s Teenangels, a group of teens trained in all aspects of online safety, privacy and security. While people on Facebook may never encounter digital abuse, they still need to be able to spot it and stop it. We asked Casi to share her perspective as a teenager and expert about the causes of digital abuse and ways that teens can avoid it.

In today’s society more and more time is spent online. This is wonderful for the evolution of knowledge, unification of global communities and the overall increase in human’s technological capabilities. But let’s be realistic this progress isn’t without consequences – When asking teens:

· Have you ever snooped on a friend’s text messages, posted nasty messages about a classmate or colleague on Facebook or posted an embarrassing picture of someone to get even?

· Have any of these situations ever happened to you?”

A growing answer is “yes.” Everywhere we go we are connected, 24hours/7days a week. Almost every physical action has a digital part, especially when interacting with friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, and acquaintances. This frequency online can lead many of us to forget the boundaries of online behavior.

If you are one of those that answered “yes” - you’ve experienced “digital abuse.”

Digital abuse is the use of digital technologies—such as cell phones, social networks, instant messaging and e-mail—to hurt someone, even when you didn’t “mean” it. It even includes certain high-risk digital activities that can hurt us, like “sexting”—the act of sending sexually explicit images.

It is also digital abuse if you:

· Harass people with constant text messages

· Demand that they be available at all times and even sleep with their cell phones

· Send nasty or threatening messages, post mean pictures or create groups to gang up on someone online

· Hack into people’s accounts to hurt them

· Spy on people with keystroke loggers or take over their profiles by changing their passwords

Though these interactions occur in the virtual world, there are serious real-world consequences. Much of these situations may begin as a joke, but they eventually end badly. The openness of exploration of curiosity can easily lead to criminal privacy intrusions.

There is a thin line between what is harmless and what is harmful, and that line can be difficult to spot.

MTV release http://www.athinline.org/ in an effort to help teens plagued with virtual abuse. This thin line exists between differing opinion one person’s sarcastic message, and another person’s hurt feelings. The rapid growth in text is leading to lifelong consequences made in an instant. So the important question is how can you stay on the safe side of the line?

In any situation, it ultimately comes down to choices. You have the power to choose. You own your choice. Each of us has a line and we must stand strong.  Determining your values before situations like these occur is crucial to making the smartest choice. When your mind is clear, you can accurately represent your moral compass. There is no set way to avoid digital abuse but here are some ways that you can avoid it:

1. Keep your passwords private, and don’t ask anyone for his or her password. There is a thin line between sharing and snooping. You’re entitled to privacy, and password abuse is the root of much cyber-evil.
2. Hit “delete” instead of “forward.” You have the power to break the cycle of sexting and harassment simply by choosing not to spread such messages.
3. Think twice before you post that picture or send that message, think about the consequences it might have – today, next week, or the years to come.
4. Report abuse on Facebook if you see or are a victim of abusive behavior. Because Facebook is based on a real-name culture, it is important to stop people who are abusing others. Look for “Report” links throughout the site, such as the “Report This Photo” link underneath photos and the “Report” links in Inbox messages from people who aren’t confirmed friends.

We control our lives and thus have the power to prevent digital abuse. Share your experiences. Get your friends involved. When your friends are safe, you become safer.

For more information about digital abuse and ways to protect yourself and your loved ones, become a fan of A Thin Line on Facebook or visit www.AThinLine.org.

It is important to know your Privacy Rights

You have the right to…

1. Keep your passwords to yourself
2. Keep your deets (and others’) private.
3. say “no” to friend requests (or requests for pictures, passwords, or personal info).
4. ask people to remove online pics of you.
5. ask people not to tag, copy, or change your pics.
6. stop people from posing as you or hacking your accounts.
7. choose your own friends (online and off)
8. not to answer calls, texts, or IMs if you don’t want to.

Online – Empowerment

Do you know:
How to prevent phishing or keyloggers from being installed on your computer?
How to use tor or proxies?
How to use encryption on wireless networks that normal people wouldn’t be able to crack easily?

Continue reading my Online Safety series.

Blue pill, or Red Pill of Social Media

"You take the blue pill, the story ends; you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

The majority of people are just batteries for the social media environment just feeding it so it can exist.

The question of which pill, red or blue, is asking us if we should head into the social media direction, where the truth will change our business and our lives and ultimately decide this direction is worth pursuing or choose ignorance and bliss. The blue pill will leave us as we are, in a life consisting of habit, transactional requirements, and a business environment we believe we know. In this state we are comfortable; we do not need truth to live and to be successful. The blue pill symbolizes reading tweets, posting a FB photos and sharing information.

Once you take the red pill and accept that you can control the environment, you can be “The One.” The one symbolizes the exception to the rule. The red pill is an unknown direction. We are told that it can help us to find success. We don’t know what that success is, or even that the pill (choice) will help us to find it. The red pill symbolizes risk, exploration, doubt, and questioning. To answer the question, you can gamble your whole life and business on a reality you have never experienced.

Guy Kawasaki wrote in "The art of the start: the time-tested, battle-hardened guide for anyone," in which the red pill is an analog to leaders of new organizations, in that they face the same choice to either live in reality or fantasy. Guy stresses that if they want to be successful; they have taken the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Whether you’re ready or not the reality is coming.  Get ready…

Tricks Facebook is HERE

In collaboration with the web.splesh.net and PeterLang.us we would share all the Facebook tricks, tips and guides that FB has to offer. Join the Fan site or Subscribe to stay up on the must know FB info.

Update Everything You Need with Ping.fm

Those of you that are worried about the social media demand on time have nothing to fear. I realize that the thought of logging in to every social media and uploading content really puts a damper on the experience.

If this is you, then Ping.fm is a must. This is a one-stop service that will allow you to post to all your important social networks. Not only will Ping.fm update statuses and micro-blogs it can now update your Facebook Page. Their step-by-step guide will help with the setup. The first attempt at creating the connection was tricky but if you follow the steps closely you will be just fine.

To point out- Once you’ve finished the setup you will need to grant permissions to the desired pages. Your options include posting status updates, notes, and photos to pages

Once Ping.fm is setup then you will see the advantages.

Social Media for Writers

I have the pleasure of working with some brilliant writers and have seen similar social media patterns. The list below has been put together from my workshops and consulting. Here’s the deal.

• Writers see social media as simply a marketing tool
• As a way of finding an agent
• Are afraid that social media will take time away from writing
• Question whether or not they can make money blogging
• Many are not sure about the idea of "friending" someone he or she does not know.
• Can see the value of participating in Social Media every day, but don’t believe they have the time.

If you’re a writer who is worried about the step to social media, don’t be. More and more people are realizing that social media (&blogging) is one of the best ways to interact and create loyal readership. These steps come overtime, which is why it is important to participate and explore- before your book is about to come out so that you can build trust with your network.

If you talk with publishers, you will find that if you post content on your blog it will become difficult to publish it in a journal or magazine. With this in mind; you might ask why a writer should be blogging. First, not all benefits are monetary.

• By writing on a regular basis you can stay disciplined and keep your creative juices flowing.
• Connecting with other writers using social media and connecting your blogs.
• If you haven’t already found your voice, a blog and the content you create can enhance your passions and led to unexpected opportunities and developing a voice.
• Controlling your personal brand is important when you want people to find you today and not that article you wrote for your high school paper.

More answers to come. What is your reason for blogging?

@peterclang

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Follow me – T-Shirt

Standout and allow people to see your social media passion. Personalize, popularize, and promote your presence with a Social Media Shirt.

–Peter

Communication in 2009

Are you looking to start a conversation in todays environment? Begin here.

The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

Guitar Hero online – JamLegend

After a visit from an Italian obsessed with Jam Legend- I decided to check it out. Now, I love it. Check out the video bellow, oh ya and it’s free. Plus, any thing you can do to enjoy your time infront of the computer is important. Enhancing the enviornment will make sitting there, all day at times, tolerable.

Play here:

In addition to your 20 min stretch I recommend playing a game that is interactive and challenging (plus Rock-in out) as way to break up the day. Rem a head set would be best if you work in the office with other people.

Social Media Revolution

One of my favorite resources is Mashable. Offered a video from http://www.essentialresearch.co.uk/.

The Video that was relased last Year, with the same music is included below.