Advocate's Studio

Maybe I should have said tabular, but still, this free report from Experian Simmons, entitled the 2010 Social Networking Report contains lots of data on recent increases in social media usage, confirming suspicions that social media networking is indeed on the steep rise. The entire report can be downloaded after filling out some basic information or you can view it online (link here). I thought it worthwhile to quote the follownig two paragraphs from the introduction to give a flavor for the findings:

The 2010 Social Networking Report provides the hard data behind this consumer revolution, including the fact that fully 66% of online Americans use social networking sites today, up from just 20% in 2007. Social networking is an increasingly addictive activity, with nearly half of those who access such sites (43%) reporting that they visit them multiple times per day. While users of social networking sites may have initially signed up to better keep in touch with friends, a growing number say they now use sites like Facebook to connect with family members. An astounding 70% of social networkers keep in touch with family via their various online networks, up from 61% a year ago.

Fully two-thirds of all online adults today have visited a social networking site in the last 30 days, up from 53% in 2008 and 20% in 2007. Social networks have most thoroughly penetrated the young adult market, as nearly 9-in-10 online 18-to 34-year-olds visit such sites today. But even older Americans are tapping into social networks, with 41% of online adults age 50 and older making monthly visits to sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Internet search via search engines has been around a long-time. 15 tech years or more, which is like 102 in people years. Apparently, however, search engines are on the wane, as reported by Hitwise (link here). At least in the U.K. For the month of May, anyway. For the first time, it appears that visits to social networks exceeded visits to search engines. Now, it is kind of unfair to consider this an apples to apples comparison, as they both serve different purposes at present and the difference was approximately .5%.  It is fair to say, however,  that improved search capabilities within social networks might tip the scales even further in the direction of the likes of Twitter and Facebook. During the month, Facebook accounted for the most social networking traffic, followed by YouTube and then Twitter. Check out the graphs from Hitwise, reprinted below:

Another point worth noting is that Google UK was still the top site visited overall. Check out the listings in this chart, also from Hitwise:

Regardless of your take on the results, these still represent some interesting numbers.

Infographic time! This one, from Flowtown, measures online social networking activity of the employees of the most socially active companies. Is this sanctioned activity or unsanctioned? Check out the graphic below:

Oh no! Not another Twitter client! Let’s get this straight: I promise not to talk about them unless there is something new and interesting to report.

Twazzup (link here) is a well-regarded Twitter search engine. From that starting point, Twazzup reader (link here) is now morphing into a new and interesting way to view Twitter on the web. Beta only for now, but very full-figured.

What makes Twazzup appealing? It is web-based, like Brizzly, which is a big plus for me. It offers all the basic Twitter features, but adds some nice tools via a smooth interface. Controls for your stream, mentions and home are located in a menu bar at the top of the screen. Also like Brizzly, it shows media within the stream.

But what is really special about Twazzup is its filtering – you can get “highlights” on your Twitter stream, lists, messages and mentions, which is pretty darn cool. For a webizen like myself, interested in maximizing the value of time spent online, getting the highlights with a click is a massive plus. “Highlights” are determined by your interactions – who you pay the most attention to and interact with, who has the most Twitter clout, etc. You can also filter with searches, with search terms highlighted in the resulting stream. Lawyers using Twitter and short for time (who isn’t?) might appreciate being able to hit the highlights quickly with coffee or between client meetings and court appearances.

Along with this cool “reader”, Twazzup is currently alpha testing a great analytics tool called Insights, which shows detailed information on keyword searches. If you are interested in such fine-grained Twitter detail, submit your request for an invitation at the link here. Lawyers looking to keep a close watch on their brand, their clients or their practice area keywords might appreciate these search and analyze features.

You can check out Twazzup Reader for yourself at the link above. If you would like to see a fantastic run-through on how Twazzup Reader works, check out Louis Gray‘s video below.

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I admit I have a thing about business cards. Not sure why. I guess I have always loved the graphical representation of a person’s vitals  in two-dimensional format.

I also have a thing about modern iterations of the business card, and have discussed options in previous posts here in the Studio (link here).

Today I found another modern appliance for exchanging contact information: CloudContacts (link here).

CloudContacts is an application that takes your business cards, scans them, and exports them into your email application of choice or whatever system you use for maintaining your contacts.  They also are stored on the web (handy backup). You can see images of your cards on-line. CloudContacts will either return the cards to you or will recycle them (how green!). As stated on their site, CloudContacts accepts cards in the following ways:

Mail – shipped via postal mail, FedEx, UPS, DHL and other package carriers

CloudContacts Mailer – we can send you a postal mailer – U.S. only – small shipping charge applies

NYC Pickup – orders of 300 credits or more – we can pickup your cards at your home or office

Email Upload – cards can be emailed via scan or photo using your custom CloudContacts email address

Mobile Email – cards can be sent using your mobile phone

The really cool part, though, is that CloudContacts will then take that information, go forth out into the wilds of the Social web, collect that person’s social profile information, and bring it back to you. Takes the sleuthing out of your complete connection activity. Available networks included Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Plaxo. Supported email and CRM services included Salesforce, Highrise, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Entourage, Thunderbird, Exchange, and Gmail. More are to be added.

CloudContacts costs. One credit is good for one business card. $29.95 gives you 100 credits and economics scale in your favor as you ncrease the number of credits you purchase.

But, if you depend heavily on securing cards and managing that information in a Web 2.0 way, CloudContacts seems a decent investment.