It’s here, there and everywhere. The popularity of social networking is climbing by the week with virtually every age bracket, right up to seniors.

Today 110 million Americans, or 60% of the online population, use social networks, according to a new study by Anderson Analytics. That number is conservative, because instead of counting unique users or everyone who has an account, the Anderson study counted only people who have used a social network at least once in the past month.

Read the full article >

Twitter has a new section on their website offering information on how businesses are using twitter for marketing and customer service.

This Twitter & Social Media Marketing Guide includes recommended books, Twitter definitions, and case studies of businesses using Twitter for marketing:

When people working in the Empire State Building twittered that they were craving ice cream delivery, New York local chain Tasti D Lite was there to listen and meet their need. When electronics buyers look for good deals, the Dell Outlet Twitter account helps them save money with exclusive coupons. When Houston’s coffee drinkers decide where to get their daily dose, many choose Coffee Groundz, which lets them order via Twitter.

The guide addresses topics such as “So how do businesses use Twitter?” and “Twitter Best Practices”.

Read more of the Twitter Social Media Marketing Guide on Twitter here:

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101

Read Twitter Marketing Case Studies here: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_dell

Google Wave Marketing? Wait a Minute, What is Google Wave?

Coming late 2009, Google Wave is a mashup of communications tools provided by Google to make it easier for people to work and communicate online. (Read more about Google Wave)

What Could Google Wave Change for Internet Marketing and Social Media Marketers? 

• Google Wave could further fragment online audiences and limit the number and growth of today’s large social networks.
• Dave Coursey of PC World says “Google Wave as a mash-up of chat, e-mail, and document sharing, it’s really something else: Google Wave could be the Twitter that everyone really wants. Maybe it’s the Facebook, too.”
• Brands and social media marketers will need to dive deeper into authentic conversations in niches, to invite customers into personal and sometimes real-time conversations, collaborations, product testing & development.
• Along with Google Profiles, Google Search and Gmail, Google Wave will provide Google an even deeper look into our digital lives. Privacy advocates may not like it but marketers will love the ability to run very tightly focused Adwords campaigns in Wave.
• iPhone, Blackberry and Android mobile phone app developers and mobile marketers will likely concoct and use collaborative Wave-technology-based, multi-editor, real-time events in rich media and interactive apps as means to build customer loyalty and brand exposure, to get instant product testing feedback, to enable live user participation in webisodes and online reality, augmented reality events and products.

What do you think?

Google Wave is a mash-up of online communications tools to make it easier for people to work and communicate online. It’s a web application and computing platform designed to bring together social networking, IM, email and wiki — all with a collaborative focus and all working in real time.

 The folks at Google describe Google Wave as:

 “a new model for communication and collaboration on the web,”

“what email would look like if it were invented today”. 

Dave Coursey of PC World says “Google Wave as a mash-up of chat, e-mail, and document sharing, it’s really something else: Google Wave could be the Twitter that everyone really wants. Maybe it’s the Facebook, too.”

 Many Bloggers say Google Wave is more like creating a bunch of independent online social networks that are based on a marriage of email and instant messaging.

Writing a Wave is similar to typing text into Gmail, Google Docs, or a blog. A Wave acts like an instant message, except that other Wave participants see each character as it’s typed. A Wave is equal parts conversation and document, allowing people to communicate and work together quickly at any time with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

 Watch the Google Wave “first look” video from early 2009

How do I sign up for Google Wave? You have to wait til late 2009 when it’s launched.