My friend John Haydon posted an interesting status update on his Facebook profile. Short and simple, it said: “Dear Facebook user. Please don’t tag me in a photo or video unless I’m actually in the photo or video. Thanks.” And it stopped and made me think – are we now offering permission spamming for friends on social networks? The minute we sign up for a service like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, we offer our details so we can find our…

This is a guest post from close friend and writer Christina Kingston, who blogs over at CtKingston.com and is one of my 10 Bloggers to Watch in 2010. If you’re online right now then… Who’s watching rickety, old, near-death grandpa? Who’s feeding the children? Who’s French kissing the wife? I was chatting with good friend and fellow blogger, Danny Brown, randomly discussing a multitude of topics. We touched upon one that made us both laugh. The questions above, though harrowing, propelled…

Image by luc legay via Flickr If you’re a business owner, do you have a social media presence yet? Set up your Twitter account, added a shiny new company blog and joined Facebook? How about a Squidoo page or a Ning community? Networking on LinkedIn? Got them all on your checklist? No? GOOD. Despite what you might hear, you don’t need a presence on every single social media network or community. Contrary to popular belief, social media is not the…

Many businesses are failing to use the benefits that social media offers. Whether it’s misunderstanding how to use social media effectively to not seeing any immediate monetary return, brands are unwilling to step inside. Yet there are companies that are showing how it can and should be done – so why aren’t more?