You can currently “check-in” to FourSquare and Facebook when visiting your favorite coffee shop, movie theater or church service. So, it makes sense to “check-in” while watching television shows and movies, reading books and listening to music too. It’s all about letting the world know how you are spending your time. Now with the use of GetGlue, a social network for entertainment, you can earn stickers, rather than FourSquare badges, by letting your friends and followers know what you like. Haven’t heard of it? Well, GetGlue has 2M users that checked-in over 100M times in 2011 and 75 major networks and 10 movie studios use GetGlue to promote their shows and movies to fans. I would say it’s a trend on the rise. CEO and founder Alex Iskold knew CES was the perfect venue this week for receiving Mashable’s Breakout Startup of the Year Award and announcing $12 million in financing.

With more than 150 million people using the free app, Shazam is also one of the leaders in connecting TV audiences with a “second screen.” Most users associate the app with “tagging” a song they want to identify on a TV show, radio or live event, but now they are taking it a few steps further. You can now “tag” a song during a participating television show and it will bring up exclusive content on your mobile device. Ranging from videos, photos/wallpapers to the direct iTunes link to buy the “tagged” song, the reception and feedback gathered from the Facebook Likes and Twitter posts has motivated the company to make an aggressive push to TV with a new $32 million investment.

Last night, VH1 jumped on the “second screen” bandwagon with the 17th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. The feature aired live on their website and included up to four webcam feeds playing simultaneously powered by technology from Spreecast, a social video platform. By using social profiles, users asked questions and posted comments to the experts. The network recently launched a smartphone app, meant as a companion to it’s programming, called Co-Star,  available in iTunes. If all goes well, they will be utilizing this technology for more and more television events.

It will be interesting to see how this “second screen” technology continues to develop, and here at BuzzPlant, we are starting to integrate these outlets into our social media strategies and marketing plans. Are you more likely to watch a show if there is a “second screen” offering?

Change takes place when one person recommends to another a company’s service, not because of the high style of the company’s advertisement but because a service rep went out of his way to be helpful. A consumer responding to good service is nothing new, of course. What is new in the Recommendation Age is that one recommendation from one person can result in thousands or even millions of impressions. This is not theory. It’s happening right now and it is changing society and, very quickly, the way companies do business.

The Recommendation Age phenomenon is expanding mostly through hundreds of online social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, YouTube, LinkedIn, and thousands of smart phone apps that allow anyone to log in and comment or enter a rating about anything. For instance, there is a smart phone app called My Net Diary through which you can find specific nutrient, calorie, and additive information about, not just food types, but many of even the most obscure name brand products from actual consumers who have inputted that information along with a scan of the bar code. Fellow users can then scan the bar code of a product they are considering or the name of a specific variety of raw produce and instantly see more information about the product posted by other users. My Net Diary users are just everyday consumers who are only interested in tapping into resources they feel they can trust more than advertisers and to which they themselves can contribute. That last aspect is the important part that pulls people in. I will discuss examples in Part Three of companies tapping into the consumer urge to be interactive participants in commercial dialog. But you can begin to understand the power of this aspect of social media by understanding one principle: People will be more devoted to that which they help to build.

Yes. I really was asked that question by multiple members of my family a couple weeks ago.  My grandma now has Facebook.

The growth and popularity of Facebook never ceases to amaze me.  I remember when not that long ago, I wasn’t able to get a Facebook account because I didn’t have my “.edu” email address anymore.  Fast forward just a few short years later and my mom now uses Facebook to share her latest pictures and Grandma is hitting the family up with friend requests.

As the age gap of social media users grows, it’s interesting to me to see how the various ages are using it.  Here’s a few trends I’ve observed from my own friends:

• Mom still doesn’t understand Twitter lingo. The hashtags, retweets, and @ replys get confusing, she likes to stick to Facebook.
• Christine’s and Blair’s links to their new blog posts are always the first links I click. Blogs are still really popular for women my age (late 20s/early 30s).  Particularly blogs about decorating your home, cooking, crafts, and parenting.
• Debbie sends Natalie her love through Facebook these days now that Natalie is in college. It’s now “ok” for parents to talk to their kids on Facebook.  I especially see this happening between many moms and children who are college aged and older.
• Jordan likes “Monopoly” and ten other pages and is excited about another snow day. Teens and college students are always liking pages and using extra apps…your usual procrastination from studying.
• Wednesday night activities at Christ Fellowship are canceled tonight due to weather. Churches use their pages to get the word out quickly about upcoming programs, weather cancellations, and needs of the church body.

These observations got me thinking about how age impacts social media usage.

Buzzplant recently conducted a more robust survey about this topic to help in understanding the latest social media trends.  If you’re interested in learning more about what hundreds of people had to say and learn how to better reach your audience, I recommend you check it out.
(http://www.buzzplant.com/surveys/surveyreportfinal.pdf)

Whether your trying to reach people my Grandma’s age or teens, this survey has information you’ll find helpful.

First being, the economy. Before I used to be really particular about my Christmas cards. Coming from a graphic design background, it had to be the perfect marriage between design and message. I was also the type that couldn’t narrow down my list. So, if I decided to send them, I had to send them to my whole address book, and boy that gets expensive! After buying the cards and the postage, I’ve basically payed for a really nice steak dinner with my husband.

Second conclusion is social media. Is this popular form of communication taken over our old holiday traditions? Back in the day, friends and family used to send long newsletters sharing details about their kids, jobs and other memorable events. Anyone else remember those? Does anyone even still do them? It would be a tucked inside a formal holiday card, signed sealed and delivered. With the use of Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs these days, we have a tendency to keep up with our close friends and family throughout the year. Heck, now more than ever, we keep up with those that were only a part of our high school graduating class! These online mediums allow us to consistently post the happenings in our lives without having to do a lot of work. Friendships either become closer or further apart, due to not having to put in real face or talk time. It’s quite a double-edged sword.

So, as the holiday season gets in full swing, we tend to change our personal profile pic to the best one in our tackiest Christmas sweater, or our babies crying in Santa’s lap, and figure a general wall post gets the job done. Cheap, quick and functional, right? Does it change the spirit of the holidays? It’s your call. I believe social media provides a place for people to post what their favorite Christmas songs are, show off pics of their Christmas trees and “check-in” at their holiday  parties. It’s all what you make it…what do you think? As a society, are we becoming lazy and cheap or are we just following a trend?

Have you or have you seen someone else do one of the following:

Talking on your phone loudly in a public place or while trying to pay for something?

Taking someone’s call when you’re in the middle of a conversation or meeting with someone else?

Texting someone else when you’re supposed to be talking with the person you’re actually with?

Reading Twitter or Facebook while someone is talking to you?

I’m the first to admit, I’ve done each of these things.  And when I see it written out, I realize that I was being rude.

I think one of the issues is that technology is such a part of our lives now that it’s become normal to do each of these things.  But does that mean it’s no longer rude?  Is it OK to make whatever is happening on your phone or gadget the priority over the people you are with?

People and being in the moment still trump technology in my mind.  It’s easier said than done though considering all the gadgets begging for our attention.  It’s become second nature to look down at the phone when it lights up or to use it to kill time.  So I offer a couple of ways I’m trying to help myself remember that people always come before the technology at my fingertips.

Just because it rings or gets a text, doesn’t mean you have to answer it. I’m trying to remember to make the person I’m with the priority, not the person who interrupts on my phone.  I know there are exceptions to this idea when certain loved ones call or in some work scenarios, but usually it can wait.

Set it aside for a while. If your phone isn’t in your hand or pocket, you won’t be distracted by it.  For example, my husband and I have started trying to leave our phones in the car when we go out to dinner and leave our phones in another room when we’re spending time together at home.

Prioritize your apps. I love Facebook and Twitter as much as the next person and think they are many positive reasons to use these sites.  But do I really need to access these sites all the time?  I found myself reading my news feeds way too much because I could, not because I needed to.  It became way too easy for me to open up those apps during any down time…a pause in conversation during a meal with friends, at a stop light, during meetings.  I realized that often I was being rude and didn’t even realize it.  For me personally, I deleted these apps from my phone to make it easier to stop looking at them so much.  For you maybe it’s just thinking twice before opening them, or taking them off the front page of your phone.  You control what your priorities are.

So you tell me.

Does technology make us rude or am I completely off base?

How do you manage the use of technology and relationships well?

This shift has also heavily influenced how people shop, research and find information about various topics. For the first time ever, Facebook now refers more traffic than Google. We are now most interested in what others are saying about the product, service, or place than we are what the source of those products are saying.

In other words, we don’t trust big corporations or, for that matter, their advertisements, product placement or paid testimonials to sway us one way or another. We’ll decide for ourselves if Domino’s crust is actually any better now than it was 10 years ago, thanks very much. We’ll go see your movie based on the recommendations of friends or our favorite bloggers, regardless of how many five-star reviews the movie poster features. And if we decide your latest bestseller isn’t up to snuff, it probably won’t remain a bestseller for very much longer.
We can read an excerpt of a book online – posted by a rabid fan – and download it instantly, without waiting for shipping or going to the store. We can pick and choose our own album tracks, downloading our favorite songs based on personal preference or the recommendation of a “dream playlist” from our favorite blog, versus the 10 that are prepackaged in album form.

In short, the days of the media’s power over unwary, unsuspecting and unsophisticated consumers are drawing to a close. Traditional media is fading fast, witnessed by the “death” of many print magazines and the decimation of hundreds of print newspaper positions, and the new “social” media is making “recommenders” of us all.

I have to admit, if it weren’t for my job working in social media, I probably wouldn’t have tried FourSquare.

Here are the reasons I was boycotting:
Reason #1 – I was already really bored with reading my friends updates simply stating “I’ve checked in at PF Changs…” Who cares? Why do I need to know that?!?!

Reason #2 – I had heard stories of burglaries happening because these types of updates allow everyone to know that (*hint, hint) YOU AREN’T HOME.

So, what changed my mind? Well, we had a client that was going to a vendor at a convention. We came up with a promotion utilizing FourSquare and it’s check-in ability at their booth. If I was going to try to encourage our clients to use this new trend in promotions, then I might as well check it out, right?

All I have to say is that FourSquare had me hooked when I scored my first Mayorship! Okay, let me explain. The GPS component on your iPhone, Blackberry or Droid helps keep track of all your “check-in’s” and sends the info back to FourSquare awarding points. You can become Mayor by simply visiting a location more times than anyone from within the Foursquare community. If you are lucky, you might find a business that is rewarding their “Mayor” with special discounts or freebies in return for basically admitting online you are a regular customer.

But you don’t have to be the Mayor to reap the rewards of “checking-in.” Some businesses simply reward their customers with discounts and promotions, as well. I scored a 1/2 price piece of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory with just a few clicks on my iPhone. Enough said.

I’d have to say that I was pretty amazed at how many points I could rack up in one week. I used to think I didn’t really go anywhere, but my check-in’s prove otherwise. The competition between my FourSquare friends is also compelling to me. The fact that your points reset on Sunday evenings revives that competitive streak each week, so don’t be discouraged if you fall behind.

I have to admit, I do keep my reasons for boycotting in mind as I use the program and here’s a few suggestions for you. When you check-in, make sure you set up a tweet saying something interesting about the place you are at or about the friends/colleagues you are with. Don’t just simply state you are there. And as for the burglaries…lock the doors, set your alarm and make sure the people who are going to see your updates are people you actually trust.

I personally haven’t, but I want to.  And you know why I want to see it?  Because everyone keeps talking about it on Facebook and Twitter.

The preview didn’t make me want to see it.  In fact, when I saw the preview, I even said to my husband, “That movie looks intriguing, but kind of weird, maybe worth $1 at RedBox.”  Fast forward to the weekend it released.  My Facebook and Twitter feeds were filled with people talking about how excited they were to see the movie and how incredible it was.  And in an instant my opinion flipped.

Now I want to see it too.  Now I’m scrolling quickly past any comments about the film from those who finally saw it because I don’t want them to ruin it for me.  I hear myself saying to people “I heard that movie is really good, I want to see it.”  The preview hasn’t changed, but what has changed is that people I know are talking about how good it is, and I want to know what the hype is all about.

As someone who works in word of mouth marketing, I want to figure out how to create this type of excitement for our projects.  How can I encourage & motivate our volunteers to talk about our next projects with that same excitement and passion?

I’ve been in countless brainstorming meetings asking questions like that for our various word of mouth campaigns.  And you know what it always comes back to?  The product has to be good and it has to be something worth talking about.

Anyone can have a Facebook page or start up a Twitter account.  And there are many ways we can creatively help you get your message out there through these networks.  But at the end of the day, your product or event has to be worth talking about.  People listen to what their friends say now more than ever.  You have to give them something worth telling others about.  If you don’t, they’ll quickly move on to the next thing, or even worse, they’ll listen to a friend’s negative review and not even give you a chance.

So what have I learned from observing conversations about Inception?

1.  Word of mouth works and is a powerful tool in spreading your message. And through sites like Facebook and Twitter, its even easier for people to influence other’s opinions.
2.  Your product has to be worth talking about.

Now I just need to make plans to go to the movies this week so I can see if I agree with everyone’s reviews.  No matter what my opinion, the movie was obviously good enough to get people talking and to get me to break my five month hiatus from movie theaters.