Four things for 4th of July

Since it’s the 4th of July tomorrow, here are four things that are trending in social media right now.

1) Instagram video. Earlier this summer Instagram released it’s video component to compete with Twitter’s Vine. Some say it hit Vine hard. Others say, not so fast. In my opinion I like the filters you can use on Instragram but the 15 seconds seems too long compared to Vine’s 6 seconds. Chalk it up to another Facebook imitating what is popular elsewhere instead of creating their own new innovation. can you say #hashtags?

2) Countries again want to block social media because of the political unrest they cause. Countries like Turkey have tightened their control and want offices for the social media giants to be located in their own country so staff may be summoned to government offices when needed. When you have countries insisting on offices and blocking posts you have a very powerful tool at your hands. Use it wisely.

3) You must use Social Media to replace the RRS Feeds that Google and others have dropped. RSS Feeds were a great tool to aggregate news from many sites into one place and you could make it your own. Now you have to use a Web 3.0 social version of it. If someone likes a link and shares it all you have to do is refresh your social media feed. Since Google and others have decided that RSS feeds are no longer necessary, boo hiss, you can use social media in its stead.

4) Here are some APPs picked for you for the 4th of July. From Grilling guides, to beaches and fireworks. Ejnoy!

Searching Just Got Social for NPOs

This week Google announced that they were going to add information from Google+ pages into their search algorithms so that they can create a more personalized result when you search. Sounds great, right?

But hold one for a second. What does this mean for you and your agency? It means Google+ pages now impact the result people see when they use a search engine like Google to find you. To make sure that your agency’s programs and agency name continue to be top 10 results in Google, you’ll want to start a Google+ page if you already haven’t done so yet. On this page, you’ll want to make sure to include keywords and terms that are similar to your agency website’s content.

Here are a couple of resources, that I usually turn to with social media questions, that should help you create and maintain a Google+ page.

• Beth Kanter
• Google’s Blog
• Google for Nonprofits Discussion Group
• John Haydon
• Socialbrite
• Search Engine Land

What are some of the Google+ resources that you’ve found that are helpful?

Top Ten for 2011

It would be the end of the year without another Top Ten list. NCE Social Media is no exception.

Here are the top 10 posts from the past year.

10. Google+
9. Social Media Etiquette
8. 10 Commandments of Posting Online
7. Facebook’s EdgeRank
6. Megaphones
5. Social Media as a Fundraising Tool for 2011
4. Setting Up Facebook Fan Pages
3. New Facebook Groups
2. Share Buttons and Bars
1. Is YouTube Making You Money?

What were your favorites?

Plus 1 Buttons and How to Subscribe to Facebook Pages

Google has a great web page on how to add +1 buttons for your website. If you’re already using Google+ you really should consider adding these to your website, too.

Facebook changed things up a bit in the past few weeks. You now don’t have to ‘like’ something to be able to comment on a page. The subscribe button allows you to be part of a page’s conversation without being previously connected to the page. John Haydon has a great run down on how the changes and specifically the subscribe button helps nonprofits.

What are your thoughts on the changes? Please feel free to share them in the comments box below.

Google+

Google+ (Google Plus) is Google’s newest foray into social media. The service is about a month old and is still being rolled out on an invitation only basis. It took me a few weeks before I received an invitation for it. It’s now over 20 million users. I, like most others, are kicking the tires to see what it really does. Some think it might be a Facebook killer. Others think it will be the new form du jour of blogging.

I like how you can place people into Circles. Google+ Circles are similar to categorizing your Facebook friends with labels. Hangouts are where you can do group video chats. Google+ integrates your Google tools, like Picasa, into its service.

Marc Pitman has a nice write up why your nonprofit should consider Google+. Here is a cheat sheet with Google+ tips. Mashable has a Complete Google+ guide that is helpful, too.

Here’s a video from Google about the service.

Is Google Plus a Facebook killer? I don’t know yet. Are you using it? Let us know your reaction.

Update (3 p.m. 7/25/11): I came across an additional Google+ best practices resource for nonprofits that I needed to share with you.