Google+, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and LinkedIn are competing for the social network spotlight— making it hard for users to decide which sites are best for them. Pointing out the strengths and weakness of each platform, this infographic can help users decided which is the most appropriate site for them to use!

Thanks Mashable.com for highlighting this!

Infographic design by Emily Caufield.

Late last month, the unveiling of Google+ prompted the world over reconsider the future of social media and online networking, and many began to wonder if The Goog’s latest product would boast enough innovative features to dethrone Facebook, king of the social networking realm. Speculation has run rampant as the search giant’s latest foray into new media gains momentum, much of which attempts to size up Google+ against Facebook. Many in the tech world are projecting whether or not + will be successful both in stealing existing social network users and attracting new ones. But here at Oniracom, my compadres and I have been interested in how Google+ will integrate into the larger scheme of social media marketing and brand growth strategies. While wishful thinking would allow Google+, Facebook and others to harmoniously coincide with each other in the virtual world, it is becoming ever-more clear (as is obvious with Facebook’s Skype contract retaliation) that there really may only be room for one. It’s impossible to know which network, if any, will prevail, but Google+ is making a strong attempt by promising features and upgrades not available on Facebook or other social networking sites.

My Blackberry is my best friend. It is practically glued to my hand. I never leave the house without it, it rests next to me on the table during all my meals, and ever so nicely wakes me up in the morning to the sound of Jason Mraz’s, “I’m Yours.” If you had asked me ten years ago if I thought I would be more dependent on a little handheld device than I am to my parents or best friends, I would have thought you were crazy. The concept of being completely and totally attached to a wireless phone was not something that most people would have predicted. Although the “main” purpose of a cell phone is to make phone calls, I personally think that phone calls only account for about 40% of my phone usage. Most of the time I am texting, Facebooking, Googling, or listening to music. The evolution of the cell phone has exceeded all expectations and the influence it has on teen life today is extraordinary. Mobile advertising companies have caught onto this phenomenon and are using it to their full advantage, trying to catch the attention of their consumers. But, the question is, are their advertisements targeting the correct crowd?

Feel free to check out our latest project, Iration’s new website: IrationMusic.com.

Lots of social media integration going on here - music fed in from SoundCloud, tour dates brought in by Bands In Town, Blogs pulled from Tumblr, and a Facebook commenting system. Another fun feature - the background changes from “daytime beach scene” to “evening beach scene” depending on the time of day. Check it out:

Thank you to Ignite Social Media for this great INFOGRAPHIC about our average consumption of social media.

Facebook introduced the new profile to its users this past December, and hoped to upgrade all users from the old profile to the new profile early during the new year. Gradually reeling its users towards the new profile allowed users to sample the new profile before it officially became mandatory, which stirred up different types of discussions between almost all Facebook users. Not only did the new layout get users talking, but the new features such as exposing all users to individual friendships and connecting interests between them, caused much debate between whether the old profile or the new profile was viewed as “better.”

For artists, Modlife is the next-generation of interactive online media and provides Artists a platform equipped with the tools necessary to build an excited, engaged, and loyal community of fans. A Modlife site is the place for fans to interact with artists directly.

Modlife seems to be a new social network for fans as well as a streamlined concentration of all the best tools and features of the most popular multiple social media websites in one location:

Thanks to Facebook who recently released their “Best Practices” guide for musicians.  Facebook attempts to teach musicians how best to connect music fans on their social network.

On page 3 of the PDF, they reference some tips on how to connect, and under point 2 “Create Content Worth Sharing” they show an example of Oniracom’s Lenny Kravitz photo-tagging campaign!

Oniracom is honored to be part of this official Best Practices Facebook guide.

 

Blip.fm is a Social network founded in 2008, but just starting to pick up some good steam. The layout is nearly identical to Twitter, in that you have your “blips” that come in from all of your “favorite DJs” just as tweets come in from whom you’re following.

As the website itself will tell you:

A blip is a combination of 1) a song and 2) a short message that accompanies it. The way you create a blip is to first search for a song that you want to hear (or a song that you want your listeners to hear), then add a short message (under 150 characters), finally you submit it. Submitting a blip is also referred to as “blipping”, so from here on out, when you read “he blipped my favorite track” it means “he submitted a blip that had my favorite song attached”.

Video after the break

Since speaking at the Social Media Business Summit in London on March 18, I’ve been pondering the meaning of transparency and what this paradigm means to business and the social realm. The topic is HOT on the tongues of many as Facebook works out its kinks and philosophy in this area.

I’m convinced that humanity is entering a fantastic age, where undiscovered aspects of ourselves and the world appear the moment we imagine. And I firmly believe that our social networks offer us the means for this evolution to take place. And I believe that transparency plays a significant role in this growth process.

We have entered an age where fantastic job titles are possible, careers for Social Relationship Architects, Social Strategists, and Social Physicists, among others. These careers are for people who have training in existing disciplines AND who are able to think metaphorically, drawing lines across right and left hemispheres of thought, weaving new worlds of relationship. Many brands are using liquid metaphors and the overall ethos in business culture implies, and actually demands, porous, permeable forms.

We live in a time when our networks contain people who are super-relevant and specific to our dreams, aspirations and challenges. Goethe’s quote could not be more true at this time: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” It takes a boldness composed of genius, power and magic to enter one’s social networks and begin creating and synthesizing relationships. It takes a willingness to ask questions, be awe-inspired and open to what your particular network has for you, for where you are right now. No other person has the same network that you have. No other person sees the world like you do. And no other person has the opportunities to contribute to this customized network than you…you are, after all, the one who built it and owns it. Corporations, communities, and the numerous other forms that humanity has created for progress MUST be more like the clear waters of the Mediterranean vs. the opaque waters of the Pacific.

Transparency is not something to be feared. It is the greatest opportunity to be exactly who you are meant to be, no shame, no fear: a wild animal out in the open, a tendril springing across the earth for all to see as you bloom and root into the soil of your community and offer your fruit. And, of course, as in the animal and plant kingdoms, there are associated dangers of competition and survival of the fittest. As human beings, our challenge is to balance all of the shades of experience: thought and heart, mind and body, civilization and “the wild”. And it is this very weaving of opposites, of varying shades, that creates the patchwork quilt of the human family and our social networks. Transparency offers benefits to progress that cannot be ignored. Learning implies freedom of movement and communication. Transparent environments offer us this.

My observation is that an alignment is taking place globally that is akin to a holographic puzzle coming into wholeness. Before, with Google, we looked and found. Now, with social networks like Facebook, we see in multi-colored, multi-dimensional space, what the community surrounding a keyword looks like…we see the faces, read the updates, hear the music and taste the journey that this key-phrase is taking. The paradigm of transparency is revealing the living nature of our languages and images. This is a good thing!