With time and the advent of technology it is but fair that man must adapt to the changes. The politicians of today are no far behind. Be it twitter or Facebook or any other social networking sites, politicians are coming up with new and improved forms of campaigning and reaching the people as a whole. Twitter seems to be the favorite amongst the politicians and now and then we see some encouraging, informative or debatable tweets being posted. It is as though an entire new generation of politicians have been born who have taken technology as their tool for campaigning.

The White House, led by President Obama, started to post on twitter not to campaign any kind of new bill/law, neither to inform about any form of media trivia nor did they try to create any kind of controversy which would lead to any form of negative publicity. The White House used twitter to make the American people aware of the dangers and precautionary methods of swine flu. The Library of Congress is also known to share lots of historical free pictures on Flickr and many agencies have opened up channels in YouTube to handle their media content.

My.barackobama.com is a website which allows hundreds of users to use the website as a blog and this is an online way of getting the opinion of the people forward to the President and his team. Such innovative ideas can be a huge boon to all such politicians who are looking forward to making a bigger change to the economy and social life of the people. Social media is the place where you can connect with millions instantly. What better way to get your voice heard?

The Indian politicians are also coming up with their own set of technology tools and tech-savvy mentalities. We are all aware of the controversies which were initially associated with Shashi Tharoor, but inspite of that, Mr. Tharoor has a huge fanbase known as “followers” on twitter and is a regular user of the service.

Not far behind is the C.M. of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi is considered as one of the most tech-savvy politicians in India and is very often seen keying messages on his palmtop or browsing the internet on his laptop. It is highly encouraging to see that Indian politicians are coming up with new and innovative ideas to stay connected with the “junta”, a common Hindi term for the Common Man.

If you search on Facebook you will also come across a fan page dedicated to the Indian prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The fan page supports opinions of the direct fans and there are lots of updates from the minister’s side which talks about political as well as personal updates. A true visionary and a big supporter of technology, Dr. Singh has made good use of social media to bring about harmony in the online world.

Social networking is an effective marketing tool utilized by many B2B companies as a way to keep the customers updated on key business developments and periodical success stories. A closer and clearer look at social media as a marketing device reveals that it is more effective as a community than a mere communication idea. Most IT companies understand that the online community always begins as discussion threads and with the help of supportive forums. Real value from the customer rolls out from a deep engagement that is substantially relevant and inter-personal.
Recognition is valuable, and the capital that you have truly accrued to your online presence. Community building aspects of social media offer a powerful platform which provides real value to your customers and keeps them coming back for more. For building an effective online community your online experience must however include –
? Building Personal Profiles
This will give your customer a personal bonding and create a belonging with the community. His ability to project himself as he is will immediately help him connect with the surrounding. He will be able to find and communicate with like minded people, look around and desire to expand his horizons. He will be able to permanently retain his online ‘space’ in this gathering of people enriching the virtual space.
? Allow Creation of Different Groups
The community will be what you and the other members make of it. Being a part of it and involved in the growth process helps create strong bonds. These online groups have almost been useful ever since the birth of the internet. Over 270,000 distinct communities and forums were registered at the start of this decade. Different groups allow for the much required breathing space, and enable growth as communities within the community.
? Encourage and Allow Collaboration
Instead of building single communication threads which may collapse any moment without a trace, it would be meaningful to allow for collaboration among members at different levels. This inter-woven structure would withstand all kinds of virtual weather-storms that might affect the health and growth of the virtual community. Working together is not only easy, but it also enables build stronger and lasting platforms. Online saloons and discussion forums therefore must encourage and allow collaboration making inter-linking possible and gain on strength.
? A Rating System Encouraging Personal Recognition
Awarding has always been able to generate the requisite enthusiasm whenever effectively applied. An internal rating system among the members of groups will definitely boost and encourage wider participation.
Man has always been that social animal who has enjoyed meeting people, playing around, sharing jokes, stories, and has always been interested in one another. Online virtual communities will always prosper as an extension of this basic human nature.

What is social media?

Even your teenager would be able to answer this.

Face book, Orkut, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, WordPress or LinkedIn.

The latest buzz is the Google Buzz, The Search Engine Master too has augmented in the Social Media Segment.

No one wants to lag behind. Microsoft’s Bing, Yahoo and Google all have a hand shake with twitter, to milk the enormous market share, the micro-blogger posses.

What’s that makes Social Media site, The Head turner?

Man is a social animal; this traditional adage explains the human urge for social interaction.

Social Media Sites blazes into the masses due to their high accessibility and scalable publishing techniques.  It is a platform that connects you to the entire world, through text, images or videos.

The traditional forms of social Interactions transferred the media from ‘one-to-many’. Today the social interaction sites makes media reach from’ many-to-many’.

How it becomes a Media for marketing?

Social Interaction sites or Social Media sites slip the messages in; subtly, through the back door, very elegantly and diplomatically. It creates a ‘pull effect’.

It transforms the ‘content consumers’ to ‘content producers’.

Such a site opens a doorway, to your product, business, weblog or website. Then you form relationships with those coming in contact, by interacting with them.  The relationships have ample scope to reach to new levels, when people start following you or your content.

It comprehensively and judiciously integrates analytics, SEO, Banner Advertising, Flash Games, Widgets, Rich Media and Mobile Communication. If you can tune in with the possibilities this immense integration provides, you can certainly create Brand awareness and generate ‘leads’ and ‘sales’.

The flavors of Social Media sites:

Blogging sites,

Social networking sites,

Micro blogging sites,

Image sharing sites and

Video sharing sites,

The platter has variations to match your needs and keep you socially involved.

How the www has webbed around it:

Many new concepts and services have come up with the advent of social Media Sites.

With the marketing tools and concepts like social Media optimization, social media marketing and others, web marketers are leaving no stones unturned, to reap the immense business possibilities associated with social Media and Interaction.

Every day, we find a new feature coming up in the online scene, which magnifies the scope of business through such social media sites even more.

To exemplify a few,

Micro Blogging phenomena has given rise to URL shortening, Celebrity Tweeting , Account verification and many more such concepts.

A host of interactive games flourish through the Social networking sites.

A crowd of business concepts like, Bookmarking, content writing and Link building revolves around Blogging.

What some might consider drawbacks:

Time consuming, privacy invading and wrought with annoying marketers, a critic might find these as show stoppers for Social media market.

But when introduced to the nostalgic experience one has when you reconnect to someone in the past, even a loner would start acknowledging the benefits that come along.

Its like a room full of people, enjoying each other’s company, sharing ideas and contacts, with each other, playing interactive games. So what are you waiting for…? Join the party!

Make no mistake. In the kind of ocean the world-wide-web is, it is essential that you learn to navigate if you do not want to get lost. Building a strategy for your online business is going to help you reach your destination easier and faster. In the absence of being strategic, most of these untargeted efforts would only prove to be a big waste of efforts, money and time. Not knowing your way, or the marks that you want to set are a huge disadvantage to begin with.

Looking strategically is big help

Strategy is a lot about how to think more holistically. It enables you to be innovative, lead teams while helping you deliver value tactically daily.  Shouting at people through television ads are actually days of the past when it comes to online marketing, and no more does this work like it used to. The consumers are really looking at different forms of consuming media, the social media scenario is a good example of this changing scenario.

Seeing what you would have otherwise missed

Normally, we are all on the ‘hit’ mode, and trying to work things out in order to generate value. We are constantly working out, planning and making our way through the thick and the thin of the day. Since we lose a strategic eye, there are a lot of instances, which come as glaring situations or opportunities that simply tend to pass by.

The big question is, when you are busy spinning the wheel and trying to get work done, are you really having the time to provide value to the organization?

You’ll miss the bus. This is why, being strategic gives you an opportunity to derive more of value in this marathon. This will mean, halting your daily grind, analyzing a consumer and finding what exactly are they looking for. Understanding the media and developing contacts with them, and giving them a clear picture of what your plans are all about. Looking at data to understand patterns, user behavior and other relevant feeds; this will mean that as a strategic thinker you are providing more value by increasing your customer list, and actively engaging, re-engaging and retaining customers.

Set aside time to think

Set aside time on a daily or weekly structure to think more holistically as a marketer should. Get to know what people really want from you. Marketing is not pushing or advertising products or services, it is about truly understanding what is important in a marketplace. It is a process of creating value in an industry which will eventually lead to obtaining customers and retaining them.

Take professional help

Consultants will be very helpful for strategically thinking over problems in any organization. Firstly, they provide a fresh set of eyes with a wide angled outlook for your business. They are capable and will be more objective about features, content and other aspects. They will externally analyze a business, an industry, and the customer, and suggest recommendations that you can implement.

Moreover, consultants are also tacticians who help alleviate your daily support needs. Whether it is managing communities, managing SEO or PPC campaigns and many other factor professionals can effectively address. The truth, however, is that they will be able to give you that free time, which you needed to think strategically. After all you know your business better than anyone  else ever can.

Your web strategy is crucial

Spend enough time developing your web strategy. It is very important to think strategically as businesses begin to evolve online. Understanding the growing online market is more important now than ever to make that difference which will set you apart. Your web strategy is what will chart your course and help you score for a long, long time.

Google has just introduced Google Buzz a new Gmail based social sharing service, and if you are using Gmail, you are already a member. The Buzz like all Google products is loud and clear, which all other social media websites will closely be observing and devising strategies to counter this offensive. With Gmail, the most popular internet mailing service backing up the new products that Google is rolling out, there is hardly any challenge Yahoo, MSN or any other provider has to offer.

Add anything with Google and they not only start making sense, but are also able to create products and generate business. The internet advertising juggernaut Google has come up with Google Buzz now. Buzz will allow you ‘to start conversations about things that you find interesting, and be able to share updates, photos, videos and more.’ Things that you already have been doing all this time on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other social media sites. However, Buzz insists that this is different. Like Todd Jackson, product manager for Gmail/Buzz says, “Our belief is that organizing the social information on the Web – finding relevance in the noise – has become a large-scale challenge, one that Google’s experience in organizing information can help solve.”

So Buzz will now bring you the news, and keep the chatter low. This will be integrating right in your Gmail box directly and enable you find a new social graph with ease. Buzz will follow all the people that you already email, building from your current contact list. You will automatically be set up with feeds coming in from your contacts right in your Gmail inbox. This will enable Buzz bring millions of users from the start, simply creating by waking up and making an overnight heavyweight in social sharing.

Buzz comes with some of the best key features that will enable overcome competitor challenges and might also contribute to help reduce noise – like.

- Key feature #1: Auto-following

- Key feature #2: Rich, fast sharing experience

- Key feature #3: Public and private sharing

- Key feature #4: Inbox integration

- Key feature #5: Just the good stuff

Google Buzz users may also use their mobile phones and tag posts by location. Google is also going to be helping you find what, is the best thing that you can see. Buzz will recommend certain items that you may or may not wish to see. When you tell Buzz something is dull, the system will learn to keep that sort of update away from you.

So the next time you open your Gmail inbox, do not be surprised if you come up with a Google Buzz splash page.