I have read several blogs and listened to some podcasts that basically say there is no value to systems such as Foursquare and Facebook Places and that those who are using them are just wasting time checking in to locations.

Well, there is always another side to the story and I thought this picture would show there is a value to both the person checking in and the local businesses in the area that are listed on such systems.

Foursquare suggest The Horse's Mouth

While visiting Mickey’s Pizza in Buffalo, Texas I checked in to Foursquare. Although I already knew about The Horse’s Mouth Bookstore and Coffee Shop just down the street, it was nice to have Foursquare present me with a comment from another person who had checked in there before.

And this benefit is extended to the businesses as well.

What if I did not know about the coffee shop down the street?

This message is enough to get me to at least stop in and give them a look.

These businesses realize that social media is as close to word of mouth advertising as it gets. And pretty much everyone agrees that there is no better marketing than word of mouth.

Even if they have a website, there is absolutely no reason not to take advantage of social media.

The social media playing field is probably as level as it gets for businesses of all sizes to reach and connect with their current and potential customers.

So why are so many small businesses hesitating getting on social media?

They are not necessarily in any particular order.

1. TextPad
2. Firefox with FireBug extension.
3. Chrome Browser
4. Skype
5. Google Talk
6. Google Reader
7. Twitter
8. Facebook
9. WordPress
10. Email (Gmail)

As an extra mention, most of these are used on my desktop and my iPhone. I am still doing 99.9% of my work on an HP Mini 311 Verizon Netbook, which is simply amazing.

Any Admin can now delete another Admin and any Admin can delete the entire page. Wow, this could get ugly.

I have been in situations where a customer has hired me to manage their Facebook page, and we had no way to remove the previous Admin, so this change is good in that aspect.  It also helps in cases where 3rd parties can create the page and hand it off to the business owner with the security that they can add or delete Admins as needed.

However, there should be some form of verification needed to delete an admin or page.

For all the wonderful things about Facebook, they do seem to lack an understanding of security and how it affects businesses in the real world.

Google is making another run at Social Networking and using Gmail to do it this time. After their previous attempts this is probably their final shot at getting some traction with social networking, if they miss here, they should just forget about it. At first glance it appears that they acknowledge Twitter and Flickr but they are not going to help anyone lean towards Facebook.

Google Wave did not get it done, Orkut, Zingku, or how about Dodgeball?

As usual they are diving in with API support at Google Code.

I will not pass judgement until I have some real time to invest in Google Buzz, but looking over the API, it looks like they realize the importance of connectivity to other systems and keeping the system as open as possible.

By default Facebook gives you an address such as http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1234456789.

As I have discussed before, once you have 25 friends or 25 fans you can change this default to something more meaningful, such as my Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/CyberCoded.

Here is another tip. The Facebook Vanity URL is not case sensitive and ignores characters such as the period (.) and the hyphen (-). You can use this to your advantage when showing your URL in print or telling someone the address.

Examples:

• My personal Facebook account I made the Vanity URL, facebook.com/david.cooley, I did this because I think it looks better in the address bar. However, when I tell someone my address I can tell them it is just facebook.com/davidcooley and it will take them to my page. Easier to say “Facebook dot com davidcooley” than to say “facebook dot com david dot cooley”.

• My Business Fan Page is facebook.com/cybercoded, however, I can change the capitalization so it is easier to read, such as facebook.com/CyberCoded

• facebook.com/Cyber-Coded
• facebook.com/Cyber.Coded
• facebook.com/david.cooley
• facebook.com/David-Cooley

As you can see there are several ways to modify the address in print or online to make it easier to read, and yet they all resolve to the same page.

Another helpful function you can utilize is having multiple Admins assigned to a Fan Page so you can have someone else help you with your page design, programming and updating.

After reviewing the sites and applications I use most in conjunction with Twitter, I discovered it was more than I thought. I use the Twitter Home page,  HootSuite,  Tweetie,  Bit.ly, Facebook,  Twitter API, and probably a couple more every now and then. I then reviewed how and why I used each one and this process helped me considerably.

Each one of these systems has a place in my work and comfort zones and there is no reason for me to change what works well for me.

I think too many people try to force themselves to use one system, use what works the best for you!

And maybe a more interesting part of this study was the rest of the Top 50. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft own the Top 3 spots, no real surprise there. But look at the rest of the comScore Top 50 (table 3).  Ask.com at #9 and Target at #14 are unexpected, at least in my view.  And I did not even realize that Sears was still considered a major retailer, listed at #31.

The reports about the Weather Channel sale all place a large portion of the asking price on the website. All the suspected suitors are lining up, NBC, Time Warner, NewsCorp and Comcast. Hey, how about Google. At $5 billion it would just be a petty cash expenditure!

That chart really got my attention. I had no idea that Twitter was that popular, or that the term Micro Blogging was coming into it’s own.

Micro Blogging probably has a good chance of staying with us. Just look at what the younger generations do. They do not use full Blogs and Email to communicate. Typically they use Facebook and MySpace to blog and communicate with others.

When my teenagers say they are checking messages, that means they are looking at their Facebook and/or MySpace pages.

Put Micro Blogging on your list for 2008.