Learn the latest statistics and trends about social media.

In this quick video, I rant about social media etiquette.

Research results from medical studies, online counseling, and social support groups have shown that people online are more willing to disclose socially undesirable and intimate information about them compared to face to face interactions (Joinson, 2004). Computer mediated communication in general has a tendency to be more personal and self-disclosing than face to face interactions (Joinson, 2001).

The reason why online interactions can be so intimate is partially a product of the nature of medium itself. Visual anonymity and lack of identifiability have been incriminated as reasons for augmented self disclosure behavior online. Intimate communication online is also partially a product of motivated choices that users make.

Do you remember “The Wizard of Oz”? The first time you saw the actual Wizard, he was a talking head with this huge booming voice. If you were a kid, like I was, he may have intimidated you.

But it turned out that the Wizard of Oz was just a regular guy. He hid behind a curtain and used electronics to make his voice more authoritative. The twist is that once the Wizard got outed by the little dog, he solved people’s problems. He got them home. He let them discover their heart and their courage.

For about the last 60 years, most large enterprises have created their own wizards in the form of corporate voices. These voices were designed to be louder than the actual speakers. They also, like the Wizard of Oz, were part of an illusion — to make customers, prospects, partners and recruits think the company spoke with a single, powerful voice.

Still think social networking is just a trend?

Each year, more people engage in conversation online, via social sites and social tools - at a rate of about 30% a year.

It's a lesson that all employees have to learn: What may be OK around the water cooler is not acceptable when an electronic business tool is used. Len Devanna, director of Web strategy at EMC, remembers once having to phone an employee who had tweeted an inconsequential gripe about an internal tracking tool, thinking the comment was just confined to his dozen followers. Devanna informed him that a public channel like Twitter was not the best place for personal frustrations, and the employee apologized. It was the only time in three years an issue with social media usage had emerged, and no confidential information was involved.

Social media tools such as blogs, micro-blogs like Twitter, video and others represent an emerging collaborative environment for customers and employee engagement. But they also mean that companies must expand the conversation they have been having with employees about keeping important information private. While an email goes out to a person, a blog comment can go out to the world. As a result, the repercussions can be great, whether the act was intentional or not.

Dreams of video phones have been around since before Dick Tracy swapped his 2-Way Wrist Radio for a 2-Way Wrist TV in 1964. These days the technology is vastly improved. Forget tiny screens with fuzzy picture quality and voice-synchronization reminiscent of old Godzilla movies. Thanks to powerful microprocessors and luminous screens, smartphone video can look as good as standard TV.

Millions of people already have video chats on their PCs and laptops."We think mobile video calling will first be embraced by tech adopters, frequent travelers, professionals, and young people who are engaged with social media and accustomed to watching Web video," says Skype's Shaw. Pankaj Kedia, an executive in Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, says computer-like smartphones, faster networks, and consumer readiness mean the technology is ready to take off. "The perfect storm is here," he says.

More than 80 percent of college faculty are using social media, with more than half using these tools as part of their teaching, according to a first-of-its-kind survey, "Social Media in Higher Education." The survey was conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group in collaboration with New Marketing Labs and Pearson, a global leader in education, technology and services.

NEWS FACTS

To view a presentation of the results of the Pearson Social Media in Higher Education Survey, visit: http://www.slideshare.net/PearsonLearningSolutions/pearson-socialmediasurvey2010.

Millions of people use social media on a regular basis, and many more are joining the ranks every single day.
 
With the number of people involved, and the enormous amount of time we all spend using social media, it’s only natural to try to save some time and make life easier on yourself.

We’ve compiled this list for just that purpose — over 35 tools that can help you do more with social media in less time.

Mashable's Pete Cashmore (photo, left) says real-time communication threatens to further distract us in 2010.

The "real-time Web" is booming. From Twitter to Facebook to new search engines that discover information posted just seconds ago, it seems the 2010 Web will be fueled by our desire for instant gratification.

But between Facebook status updates, Tweets and new mobile applications that deliver breaking news on our phones, will we be driven to distraction in 2010?