There is no debate that LinkedIn is an incredible resource for networking, career transitions, and prospecting, great group forums and following your favorite company. But it has a very powerful feature that I find to be more valuable than any other – “Q&A”.

Under the “More” tab in the tool bar, the first category that appears is “Answers”, click on it. Here’s the Gold Mine. About three times a week, I come to this page to contribute. I browse the “categories” section on the right and pay it forward as best I can. Finding a question you can answer for someone else is usually easy to do. Combing the answers that others have provided is equally valuable and I’ve learned a tremendous amount from others commentary on a topic that I thought I knew well. Providing answers is helpful for others and helps establish your presence on LinkedIn and increases your visibility.

For social network geeks like me, clicking on the “Ask a Question” tab is where turbo power of LinkedIn begins. Have you ever had a question about new (or old) technology, travel tips, IT issues, best practices, leadership, sales, healthcare, apps, etc.? This is the place to ask it. You’ll get a response from people around the world or around the block. Chances are you will get more than one incredibly useful answer and will start building relationships, and your network, in the process.

Recent questions that I’ve tossed out to the LinkedIn answer gurus include topics on webinars, video conferencing, alternative names for social media, the effectiveness of QR codes, whiteboards business apps and so on. The responses are timely, incredibly useful, and always provide additional tips and tricks that coincide with their answer(s).

If knowledge is power and information is valuable, LinkedIn’s Q&A section is your Gold Mine. It’s a tremendous resource of experienced professionals willing to share best practices to anyone who asks on almost any topic you might have. And, it’s a great way for us to pay it forward on a topic or solution we know well and that can be useful to others.

So what question do you have for LinkedIn today? Post it and let the power of 120+ Million LinkedIn users help you solve your problem (oh, and it’s free).

The outrage, animosity and antagonism against the current regime of Hosni Mubarak is best followed real-time at #Cairo and #Egypt on Twitter. The influence of mass effervescence, the conviction that the protestors display and its myriad manifestations is translating into whats being seen and reported on the streets of Egypt. This is possibly not a revolution brought forth by social media alone, but blogs, Twitter, Facebook & YouTube have had a consequential role to play in Egypt. Social media once again flexes its muscle to be the catalyst for change, in this case a historic one.

Take for instance Ramy Raoof, a digital activist with Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, (A poster boy for Western media in Egypt!) who is using his blog to spread the message, mobilize support and organize protests. The blog is being used to devise plans to exhibit police atrocities, antagonism of the ordinary Egyptian and furnish plans to save detainees.
Raoof has also been incredibly innovative in linking Bambuser to his blog, which enables live broadcast of protests from different regions from his mobile. His Flickr page, has images collated and updated in an organized fashion which is actively used by protestors, media and government agencies.
The ‘Twitterverse’ has been incredibly supportive of this mass movement. Tweets coming from within Egypt (in spite of blocked internet) is helping followers from around the world to be abreast of the situation on the ground. Even journalists like Ben Wademen of CNN, are using Tweets, when unable to use OB vans.

To help Egyptians, in case of an internet blackout, Google’s SayNow (A brand new acquisition) has launched a ‘tweet via voice’ service, where the protestors can call a central number to leave tweets automatically tagged #Egypt & #Cairo.

[This YouTube video which went viral has the message of an 8 year old to President Mubarak has a quarter of a million views in 72 hours.]

Remember, Egypt has a decent internet penetration of 22%, a total of 16 Million internet users (1/5th of internet users of Africa) compared to neighbors like Sudan and Libya have only 10.2% and 5% respectively. Tunisia, a country which influenced the Egypt uprising strongly also has a remarkably high penetration of 34%. A pattern of correlation between internet penetration and mass movement is emerging.
The Egypt revolution is certainly the result of resentment which emerged from lack of freedom and democracy combined with poor economic conditions and unemployment. But, to commence and sustain movements of this proportion (2 Million people at Tahrir square yesterday), we need innovative, effective and efficient tools. Revolution is as much about emotions and sentiments as much as it is about politics and economics. Social media provides the solutions to these requirements in today’s age. As we see, this movement has succeeded enough to get an autocratic ruler of 30 years to concede defeat, yet another evidence of just how critically influential this medium is turning out to be. To quote an Indian blogger “I have tremendous renewed respect for all pre-internet revolutions!”.

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Written by Arun Varma

Follow me on Twitter@varmaarun  or Mail me at arunvarma100@gmail.com

Arun is a digital marketing professional who previously worked with Google in India before seeing snow for the first time as a current MBA student at HULT International Business School in Cambridge. He also is a business quiz enthusiast and has hosted and conceptualized several of them.

Source: Mashable.com / The infographic was created for Mashable by Lisa Waananen and researched by Alexander Hotz

Written by Cidney Carver
Cidney is a contributing columnist to Socialnomics helping to give a Generation Y and Z perspective on digital trends.

Cid is a contributing columnist to Socialnomics helping to give a Generation Y and Z perspective on digital trends.

• Premium brands are beginning to talk less about their products and more about lifestyle
• Other brands are encouraging product specific discussion to drive purchase consideration
• Campaigns that linked social media back into the real world helped drive engagement
• Tried and tested competitions and giveaways are continuing to work well
• Some brands are beginning to monetise social media

Premium brands begin to talk less about products and more about lifestyle
During Q4 2010, a number of premium brands used non-product specific social media content in order to focus consumer attention on their wider brand image, rather than their specific product offering.

For example, Burberry promoted emerging music artists under the slogan “Bands Burberry believes in”, with 28% of Burberry Facebook discussion relating to this Burberry Music project, rather than Burberry products themselves.

Only a minority Burberry Facebook fans focus on products:

Other brands encouraged product-specific discussion which drove purchase consideration
Gucci, Xbox and BMW encouraged a tighter focus on specific products by promoting product related material.  This led more consumers to actively say they were considering purchasing, but also stimulated some criticism of the specific product.
For example, BMW engaged consumers with their new models successfully and this drove some potential owners to explicitly say they were “considering” a BMW. However, high levels of product discussion also led to 34% of product comments being negative, with “impractical” BMW models criticised.

Linking social media back into the real world helps drive engagement
Using social media to promote real-world events and initiatives worked well towards the end of 2010. Consumers showed interest in tangible events and showed that social media can drive footfall in store.
For example, Smirnoff invited consumers across the globe to use social media to share ideas for their ideal night out and then promptly made those ideas a reality through the Nightlife Exchange Party. This scheme drove large amounts of engagement, with 87% of buzz on Smirnoff’s Facebook page revolving around the parties.
Tried and tested competitions and giveaways continue to work well
Mainstay marketing techniques like competitions and giveaways continued to work well in Q4 2010. Corona, Netgear, Sony Ericsson and Pizza Express all used simple competitions and giveaways to drive engagement from current fans and also to capture new fans.
Some brands begin to successfully monetise social media
The end of 2010 saw a few brands take the first steps into monetising social media. Panasonic provided exclusive offers and discounts for Facebook fans and allowed them to purchase directly through an integrated Facebook store.

For further information, please download the full quarterly summary report, which includes all relevant case studies.

Written by Andy Pilkington

Andy works as a senior research executive at WaveMetrix, a social media monitoring company that doesn’t  just capture buzz, but actually reads it.

1. Licensing is holding up the Swedish based music service
2. Spotify is based on freemium model
3. Spotify offers both paid and unpaid services
4. 10% sign-up for paid; 90% use free services
5. U.S. Labels want guaranteed money
6. Difficult to sign-up enough users to meet labels’ guarantee $
7. Spotify may look to additional funding to appease labels

The main difference between Spotify and Pandora is that on Spotify you have the option for music on demand – think of a free jukebox without having to be the Fonz from Happy Days. 

Groovshark – based in Gainesville Florida – is a current music streaming site that is similar to Spotify in many respects.  Below is a great graphic courtesy of The Danosphere that compares all three music sites:

By Erik Qualman

Read More:  Cory Tate Spacelab | The Danosphere

Social commerce will flex its muscle.

Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business
By Erik Qualman

Fail Whale image courtesy of Bjarne Tveskov, Denmark

Since it’s the season of giving, we thought it appropriate to highlight a great organization that is using technology to further its cause. Specifically, with demand for emergency food at record high levels, City Harvest is reaching donors with an innovative advertising campaign that uses technology commonly used by for-profit marketers but new to fundraisers.

On advertisements in print, phone kiosks, transit shelters, and on Facebook, City Harvest has incorporated a QR code, which functions like a barcode and can be scanned by mobile phones. As a result they will deliver 8.5 million pounds of food this holiday season.

This cutting edge technology offers donors the highest level of flexibility. Cell phone users that scan the QR code will immediately have the option to go to the City Harvest website, read facts about City Harvest, view a video illustrating City Harvest’s work, and make a donation online or by clicking a button to call City Harvest directly.

Donors can choose the amount they wish to donate and get more information about City Harvest at the touch of a button.

The QR codes can be found on City Harvest’s new advertising campaign featuring New York City residents that have taken action to fight hunger. Though the food City Harvest rescues and delivers is donated, City Harvest needs cash donations to maintain their trucks and staff that are essential to picking up and distributing food. The advertisements demonstrate the impact of donors who pull out their wallet or checkbook in helping City Harvest feed more hungry New Yorkers.

“In an era of mobile technology, potential donors want and expect to be able to act immediately,” said Jilly Stephens, executive director of City Harvest. “QR codes allow New Yorkers just learning about City Harvest to get more information quickly and easily as well as give.”

“QR codes are changing the future of donor-charity relationships. They allow nonprofits to interact with their donors by exchanging engaging content,” said Irina Skaya, marketing manager at Horizon Media. “QR codes can be used without monthly running costs and function without limiting the dollar amount donors give to the nonprofit.”

Despite other indicators that the recession has ended, agencies served by City Harvest have reported no relief since demand for emergency food spiked last year. City Harvest works to meet greater need at soup kitchens and food pantries by rescuing and delivering food to some 600 programs throughout the five boroughs. Currently, City Harvest helps feed over 300,000 hungry men, women, and children each week. Donate

Keywords: QR codes, qr code

Social media insights in Brazil include:

• Traffic to Social Networking sites grew 51% in the past year, with sites in the category currently reaching more than 36 million visitors age 15 and older
• Facebook experienced triple-digital growth, increasing its audience 479% in the past year
• Traffic to Orkut grew 30% in the past year, while Twitter climbed 86%
• Twitter.com reached 23% of the entire Brazilian online population, the highest penetration in the world
• Visitation to the Blogs category grew 48% to 29 million visitors. Blogger ranked as the top blog destination with more than 21 million visitors