Posted By: Jared Cook

I want to share an article written by Melissa Jun Rowley from Mashable.com about social media and the resort industry.

How the Resort Industry is Using Social Media

A growing number of resort and spa destinations are spreading their wings and reaching a wider customer base via social media. With the help of social networking platforms and niche bloggers, vacation spots are broadening their branding efforts from the sand to the slopes, and connecting with potential patrons they may not have reached through traditional advertising.

Here’s a look at some of the social strategies these getaway companies are employing and what we can learn from their success.

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Posted by: Xavier Loya

I would like to share a unique study over the age demographics of social media users. Many would assume that most social media users are young tech-savvy teens but this online story brings out the truth behind the myth.

Study: Ages of social network users

How old is the average Twitter or Facebook user? What about all the other social network sites, like MySpace, LinkedIn, and so on? How is age distributed across the millions and millions of social network users out there?

To find out, we pulled together age statistics for 19 different social network sites, and crunched the numbers.

Full list of sites in this study: Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Slashdot, Reddit, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, FriendFeed, Last.fm, Friendster, LiveJournal, Hi5, Tagged, Ning, Xanga, Classmates.com, Bebo.

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Posted by: Benjamin Wickman

Jeremiah Owyang, Web Strategy Blogger, has come out with what he is calling a “definitive matrix” to help companies objectively sort through several social media networks, including the new Google Buzz. Owyang advises that a company’s ultimate decision, when evaluating these networks, should be based on one basic strategy: find out where your customers are and use the channel that is the most effective way to reach them.

From Owyang’s Executive Summary:

Find out where customers already are through developing data around consumer behavior called socialgraphics. Facebook continues to demonstrate a sophisticated marketplace for consumers and brands to mix about, however don’t discount MySpace’s active consumer based – if your customers are there. Continue to monitor Twitter and respond if customers are there – but they’ve yet to indicate sophistication to help marketers, instead rely on third party tools and agencies to respond. The feature set of newly spawned Google Buzz isn’t important, what matters is their ability to aggregate social content which will impact search strategy for businesses trying to reach consumers.

Read the entire blog post at Web-Strategist.com

By: Leslie Fischer

Green initiatives and social media go together like two (organic) peas in a pod. Green companies looking to grow their business, clientele and networking base with other environmentally friendly prospects need to utilize social media to decrease their carbon footprint, while increasing business. Social media reaches green audiences like no other communication medium available today. Green bloggers are blogging about environmental issues and major media sources are listening. Sustainability is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, and now, with social media, green companies are able to be heard in unprecedented ways. One tweet about a tip on greening up your home or a blog about a new green product is now visible for major media forums, not to mention, can be targeted toward the exact green audience companies have been trying to reach for years. Greening our global community is imperative. Mobilizing the forces that can make that dream a reality are most easily reached through social media.

Tweeters like Ecogiant @algore and Eco-friendly Vegan Filmmaker @ecovegangal, know what’s up. In a mashable.com article written by Cameron Chapman about environmentalists to follow on twitter, these two ecologically sound trendsetters, along with 73 others are the focus of top green voices to listen to.

Green Tweets: 75+ Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter

Twitter has a huge green community. There are green media, green companies and green charities all active on the microblogging service, as well as a whole bunch of individual environmentalists and green bloggers. The #EcoMonday hashtag — the environmental equivalent of #FollowFriday, in which Twitter users suggest “green” tweeters to follow and share green news and info — has grown into a regular trending topic every Monday, along with a variety of other green initiatives.

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If your company is not already sustainable or you are still trying to figure out your green strategy for employees, vendors and clients, check out this video from Brad Roderick on greening-up your office!

Check it out!