Doctor Tweet? (Image courtesy of thenextweb.com)

It sounds like common sense. The British Medical Association recently warned doctors against befriending patients on social networking sites because it could potentially violate confidentiality.

Now a conscientious medical professional is unlikely to make a mistake of that caliber, but it does illuminate how difficult it can be to build relationships with your patients and still maintain that all-important clinical distance. Continue reading »

The unfortunate Tweet in question...

Social media is social. People communicate in real-time with equal access for all. Everyone has an opinion and a megaphone to share it with. Sometimes, you can fall on your face in an instant.

Entenmann’s learned this the hard way on July 5^th. When the verdict in the Casey Anthony murder trial in Florida was announced that afternoon, Twitter immediately exploded in a flood of instant reaction tweets, many tagged with #notguilty. Someone at Entenmann’s Social Agency made a huge miscalculation by jumping in with the following tweet: “Who’s #notguilty about eating all the tasty treats they want?!” It did not go unnoticed, and while the Agency quickly apologized, damage was done.

At least they aimed for being a “Tasty treat.” Continue reading »

The Future: Ivy Bean became famous at age 102 as the oldest social media user in 2008

It’s been no secret that over the last few years the fastest growing demographic on Facebook has skewed older. Nearly half of Twitter traffic is from users over 35, with nearly 10% of all internet users 50 and over using it. Last year it was reported that the social networking presence of those 65 and over grew by 100% and, currently, nearly a quarter of all grandparents use social networks.

At Welt we’re experienced in reaching target audiences with social media, so we didn’t understand why some are surprised by this news. You can reach any and every demographic marketing online, not just the specific youth market. Continue reading »

Howdy!

I’m Jay and I’m the new Social Media guy here on the Welt Branding team. I guess you could call me the “Social Media Guru.” Personally, I prefer that only slightly to “Social Media Rockstar“, or “Social Media Ninja,” so I’m gonna go with “Social Media Super Hero” instead.

Sure I’m new, and I might do things a bit differently, but we are still gonna post the very best info that we can dig up covering marketing,  pop culture, and the world at large, along with all the latest branding news, right here on the Smackdown. You should also check out our Generation Nerd and Gnome Flash blogs since we’ve got big plans for them.

I have been serving in the social media trenches for a while now. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Foursquare, Google Analytics? I love ‘em! They bring the whole world right to you. Communities, services, products and information that you couldn’t even imagine were out there – ones that didn’t even exist five years ago – you can now interact with all day, every day. Facebook brought back friends I hadn’t seen in a decade, while Twitter introduced me to scores of new ones who’ve changed my social life, for the better.

Need peer reviews of restaurants and services? They’re out there at the stroke of a key. Check-in at a restaurant on Foursquare and you might get rewarded.  Got something to say? Blog it out. Need to figure out how you’re going to get measurable results on a project? Analytics are the key! Need to place an ad and reach a very specific audience? Check out how Facebook breaks down those demographics for you. Social Media is the future and at Welt we do it everyday!

I wanna hear from you: How do you “get social”? At work? At play? Are you tweeting but not checking in? Farmvilling it on the Facebook but not digging into crowd-sourced reviews on Yelp? What works for you? What doesn’t?

Got comments and suggestions for great blog posts? Hit us up:

(images courtesy of Image: zocalogroup.com and  seminarjunkies.com.au)

Intro

I recently attended the Engage Collaborate Commune seminar. In a breakout session, I got into a conversation about followers to following on Twitter. There is a large divide between those who believe in follow-backs, and the picky party. I fall into the latter category. For now, we will address them as Party A, and Party B respectively. Here is the reasoning behind each…

Party A

“My philosophy is to follow everyone who follows me. If someone takes the time to follow me, I’m going to honor that by following them and attempting a relationship and conversation,” argued Cindy Ratzlaff from the Engage Collaborate Commune breakout session.
… For the rest of the entry, join us at Generation Nerd…