The rise of social media usage has undoubtedly changed the way we communicate, but does it mean that the art of conversation is dead?

Paul Harrison gave his views on this to BBC Radio this week. He believes that rather than social media tools hampering our ability to talk, we are now able to participate in a more global conversation. Yes there is a certain amount of inanity on social sites (Paul too was questioning the value of his beer-related tweets during a bbq this weekend) but that aside, there is a tremendous amount of value to be found in our wider online conversational abilities.

Paul also discussed how we unconsciously give away private information on social sites. As we mentioned in a previous blog, we should be mindful of our privacy settings and ensure that we think about the impact (preferably in advance) of what we post online.

You can listen to Paul’s interview with BBC Radio in full here, from 49:11 into the broadcast:

Having all your clients and customers following you on Twitter has always been a pain (until today). One reason for this is that you probably won’t be able to find them if they use  their dog’s name or something like “TheBrain55b1″ to log on Twitter. The other reason is that you don’t need to follow/be followed by their sales or customer services but would like to be able to be connected directly to your client, a real human being, not an engagement program.

Twitter just released an embedded app that enables you to connect with your LinkedIn account and automatically lists all of your contacts who have a Twitter account linked to their profile. You won’t reach everyone that way but it’s a good opportunity to tighten up your professional relationships.

Lovely film launching The New Twitter, which of course we’re all very excited about.

Not been upgraded yet? Login to this app that will DM you the moment Biz Stone gives you the OK. And if you really can’t wait to know all there is to know about it, Tim Bradshaw has just published a review on his FT blog.

Well, the average age of a Twitter user  is 39 years old
The Average Age of LinkedIn User? 44
And the Average Age of Facebook User? 38

This and a bunch of other social media insights on this infographic from the tweeps at Flowtown: click here for the full hi-res version.

The customised URL shortener we created for National Tourist Office VisitBritain is really beginning to take off. Why should you do the same for your brand ?

It looks cool, right ? But there is of course more than a geeky guilty pleasure behind this idea. Here’s how Coke describes its URL shortener, http://cokeurl.com/: “As social media continues to evolve we have increasingly smaller spaces to get our messages across. Coke URL is just one way we’re making happiness easier to share.”

The most obvious advantage is the ability to access useful analytics about each tweet’s performance. Then, from a marketing perspective, a branded URL shortener  makes your links memorable and reusable. Branded URL shorteners act as verified transparent and trustable links for users and readers. Last but not least, your brand name gets promoted with every use!

So, Share the Love ! Branded!

http://LoveUK.us/2D

Chris

Sure to be part of an infinitely longer series…

Let’s say you just sent a DVD to one of your friends and would like to be informed about how this is going.
In addition to a classic phonecall or customer service website visit, you can now follow your mail journey on Twitter with La Poste.
The process is as innovative as it is simple. You simply send your reference number mentionning @suivi_avec_lisa and you will then be sent a Direct Message every time your mail’s status is updated.

Brilliant, right?

We were thrilled to have been at the launch of the community consultations for the update of the South Australian Strategic Plan today.

It was inspiring to see so many community groups, businesses, individuals and government come together for the common goal of making the place we live the best it can be.

Launch of South Australia's Strategic Plan community consultations

South Australia has been really innovative in its approach - which has been recently acknowledged with an international award.

Carve has been working hard alongside the SA Plan team to develop a social media strategy that raises awareness of the plan, its relevance to everyday South Aussies and ultimately encourages them to ‘join the conversation’ wherever it suits them.

This also involved putting the tools in place to allow as many South Australian as possible to engage in the consultation process including a website that allows debate and discussion, a presence on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and more to come as the consultations progress over the next few months.

This is an enlightening presentation for anyone who is involved in social networking by Paul Adams, a UX researcher from Google.

Probably most relevant for someone who’s daily actions can be fairly consistently tracked on Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter and particularly those who want to keep their personal and professional lives separate online.

And while we are on the topic of social profiles, another great post you might like to check out is about knowing and maintaining your own social footprint effectively from Michelle Prak here.

Digging deeper in social interactions, Twitter is testing (and thus expected) to launch a new “You both follow” feature. So far, it looks pretty similar to Facebook’s “Friends in common”.

Thanks to mashable.com

That means that the feature will enable you to see who you and a given account are both following. All in all, a pretty simple, unintrusive and clever addition to the service.