As a designer & marketer, I love seeing rebrands. Some are very successful and others are not so much. At least Gap listened to their fans and brand community via social media and public mockery on TV, radio & print. Some advertising experts say this may have been a stunt to get media attention. Just this morning, the Today Show on NBC mentioned the brand going back to the classic logo then immediately asked why that was considered news.

Do you have a favorite brand that did a great rebrand or maybe another brand horror story? Do tell.

“There are now more people playing the Facebook game “FarmVille” than there are members of [the micro-blogging network] Twitter,” stated a turn-of-the-new year article published by SLATE. This summer, Facebook announced its 150 millionth member. (and we congratulate them!) Today, alone, 370,000 more will sign up to join. With a new movie released this week – about young mastermind Mark Zuckerburg, who began a movement of revolutionary social networking – I believe its safe to confirm…to confess…that our characteristically “Westernized” society becomes more technologically functional and dependent, everyday.

We are spending more and more time on the internet. Does this mean, then, that we are becoming more independent and isolated from the masses we tweet to?

Online networking keeps us attuned to the whereabouts and happenings of thousands; and yet we are intently unfocused on the outside world, only our computer monitor.  Smashing Magazine contributor, Paul Boag, wrote in the article, “Web Designers, Don’t Do It Alone,” “The downfall of the digital revolution is isolation.” (Read the full article)

For me, it’s at least two, white, apple-stamped cords that plug me into my 13″ completely mobile workplace, with all of  “255 friends,” and my thoughts. Therefore, fellow media socialites, as we progress further into this era (and rear up a technologically-saturated generation) remember to remain balanced. Your days of leaving the pen and paper on the catch-all table at home are behind. Work with your hands, use your mind and memory to draw something from nothing. Exercise your talent in other activities to broaden your borders a little. Try something new. Remember: all creative genius within your daily workspace must at some point generate from the “outside perspective” you receive from engaging in all other facets of daily life.

For designers, working in isolation may be a downfall, but let’s always look on the brighter side. Use your electronic real estate wisely. Entertain great ideas! Discuss trend and trade. Share tips and tricks. Think about it. At your fingertips, you have the opportunity and power to enlighten “500 million.” Take time to explore the expanse of creative freedom you have, wherever you are.

This reminded me of another conversation I had with a prospect back in August of 2008 when he said he wanted to blob on My Face. He was confused with what social media was and that one does not blog (not blob) on MySpace or Facebook. I explained to him the differences in the mediums and after learning more about him and his business, I suggested LinkedIn and blogging. I later blogged about the conversation and the basics of social media on our website.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading it – There are No Blobs on Myface. (Just a warning, that the blog may be a bit dated now.)

Current Events – Tell me what’s going on and why it’s important. I think it’s great when my wife comes home with news from work, the Audubon Zoo, and I already know because it was posted on their Facebook page. Facebook is a great to get the word out and fill last minute openings/promotions.

Have a Personality - One of my favorite Fan pages is the Demo Diva (a local woman-owned demolition company). Saying the Demo Diva brand has a personality is an understatement. The company is built on the diva attitude with pink dumpsters and a pink excavator all around New Orleans. When you read the Demo Diva’s posts, you feel like you’re talking to the owner Simone. They brand and Simone are one in the same and this stays consistent throughout each post from pictures of current projects, tips about demolition, and company news including naming kittens founds on a jobsite.

Stay Consistent on the Personality – If you’re brand is a company and you always talk in the third-person, you can’t jump to a first person viewpoint. On a recent post, a local non-profit went from talking about different services and events to saying she thought something was too cute not to post. At first glance, I thought I was reading someone else’s post. This confusion breaks the brand consistency and makes me want to skip the next posting.

Rewards - It is great when companies/brands have Facebook only promotions as a reward for following the brand and reading their posts. Something simple like 10% off or a Fanpage member only event goes a long way to building brand loyalty and word-of-mouth-marketing.

Too Many Posts - Most of the time, I think 2 posts a day is the limit unless you have a very active Fan page with lots of events, promotions, and new items. Also, space the posts out. When a Fan page posts 3 items in a row, usually they all get skipped. I wish you could automatically space them out like Twitter, but I’m not aware of tools like that for Facebook.

Spell Check – Kind of obvious, but spell things correctly, especially if you’re marketing your brand as the expert in the industry. If you’re a rap label or a brand that appeals to <16, you may be able to get away with intentional typos if they continue your brand.

Well in summary, have a personality, reward your fans and don’t annoy your fans with too many posts. Stay try true to your brand and post as if you had to read it. Check out our Facebook Fan page at http://www.facebook.com/designtheplanet.

Wow! The United States only has a touch over 300 million citizens according to Google Public Data. In a recent article on US Today, the author states that just 2 years ago, Facebook had 200 million members. So in less than 2 years, the website community has increased their population 2.5 times. The website has grown out of the universities and now 70% of Facebook’s users live outside of the United States.

In May of last year, I wrote a blog that if Facebook were a country it would be the fifth most populous country in the world. Well, Facebook has obviously passed the United States and now sits in the third position behind only China & India. I guess it’s only a matter of time before Facebook has more users than China has citizens. To supersede India, Facebook needs to double itself. Hard to believe, but totally possible since the website recently doubled itself in less than two years.

The concept is this:

Flinc users A, B, C, D, and E all have this app on their smart phone. Ideally, there would be hundreds of people using this app in each city on a daily basis. A user can either be a passenger or a driver, depending on how they set their status, which can be changed throughout the day, depending on if you need a ride or if you’re looking to pick up another user.

If you are a user, you input your destination, and based on your vicinity, other users will be able to decide if you are on their way. They can pick you up, for a fee, and drop you off where you need to go. The driver makes a quick buck, you don’t spend as much as a cab, and hopefully the ride isn’t as painful as a city bus or some other form of public transportation.

The idea is that you pick up another user, and they pay you for the ride, via the mobile app. Each user links their account to a checking or some other kind of money account. Theoretically this is for safety purposes, to ensure that you can’t change your identity, and work the system anonymously.

Also, to ensure politeness and cleanliness, Flinc will set up a rating system so that you can rate your experience with the users. Were they a courteous driver? Did they smoke? Did they shower? Were they maniacs? You get the idea. Once the passenger was dropped off, you would be able to rate your experience with the other user, hopefully setting up some kind of trust system.

For simplification here, let’s say their are only five users, “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” and “E.” Users A – D have their settings switched to driver, and User E to passenger. User E inputs his destination, and all users in his vicinity are displayed. In his case, Users A – D.

User E can use the rating system to set preferences of who they’d like to pick them up. For the sake of argument, let’s say user C has 5 stars, User A has 4 starts, User B three stars, User D one star.

User E  can set his preferences in whichever order he likes, so let’s say he chooses C, A, B, D.

User C is sent a message first with the user profile, along with the rating and final destination of User E. User A is not going that direction, so he declines, and a message is automatically sent to user A. User A accepts the offer, and picks up User E.

Once the ride is complete, the money is transferred from User E’s account to User A’s account, and they are then able to rate their experience. Let’s say User A smoked, and User E didn’t like that, so User E notes that in his review for future passengers.

It sounds great, right? Well, in a perfect world, sure. It’d be awesome if a system like this worked out. I wouldn’t bother driving anywhere if I weren’t so scared of being abducted, raped, or murdered.

Also, there are certainly legal issues. I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I would be willing to bet there will be some issues in certain cities regarding hire taxi regulations. Does this violate some of those laws? I don’t doubt that this app will receive a lot of attention from large cab companies. I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought civil cases or some other kind of lawsuits trying to ban such an app.

On top of the legal issues, there is the obvious safety issues. Without the set up of certain requirements, checks, or balances, what would stop a perfectly deranged person from picking up a young girl, and never dropping them off? I’m sure I’m not the only person that is a bit put off by a service like this.

Is it sad? Sure it is. Is it reality? You bet.

Personally, I think the technology is great. I think the concept is genius, but at what point do we say: “OK, I think technology shouldn’t enable certain things?” If you ask me, this app is only asking for abuse. Without certain restrictions and other safety nets, I think this idea could turn into a real mess.

Not sure what that exactly means. It means more and more people are going to LinkedIn to find employment through via networking and more people are doing business through LinkedIn. This also shows rapid growth for LinkedIn. WebProNews.com stated that the website had announced 55 million members less than two months ago which translates to a 9 percent growth in two months!

I hope you enjoy Facebook and other possibly other social media avenues to reach out to old friends, disconnected family members and even your spouse, but if you’re a business owner, hopefully your connecting with your company’s brand community through it’s tools.

Developing a simple fan page on Facebook and providing news about your products and/or services is an easy way to keep your best customers & clients informed and help them spread your message to their friends and family. The main reason why people don’t talk about your company is because they have nothing pertinent to say or it’s hard. Give them something to talk about it and Facebook allows them to share it with their friends.

For many New Orleans brand names, there are already Facebook fan pages set up by your fans. I love talking to business owners that don’t even know they have a fan page for their business. That shows real fan devotion and imagine how your business will grow if you add fuel to their fire.

If you’re a numbers person, here are the stats on Facebook:

• Facebook has over 400 Million Global Users
• Facebook has 100 Million U.S. Users
• The average Facebook User Spends 55 Minutes Per Day
• Real-time Search Is Important: Facebook is searchable by Google (without privacy controls)

Twitter is another social media outlet that let’s you communicate with others without all the extra applications to download, pictures to browse and tag, favorite music, books or tv shows to add, pages to keep up with and organize, or even ads to stare at… all for free! Twitter only allows you 140 characters to answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ Only 140 characters you ask? Below are 12 ways to use 140 characters to your advantage:

01. Networking: I used Twitter to find people attending an event I was about to take part in. I met lots of great people who I’d previously befriended on Twitter. I’ve also heard of people meeting (via Twitter) before an event to discuss sharing costs for hotel rooms, cabs, etc. Which brings me to my next point…

02. Get Conference/Event Updates: So you couldn’t make it to the latest conference for financial reasons, too much work, or whatever excuse? Hop on twitter and search for terms relating to the conference. If it’s the least bit techy of a conference, you will find tweets! #AEA #WordCampNOLA. My buddy even won a ticket worth $895 just for ‘re-tweeting’ a sentence!! Congrats @geoffthibeau

03. Communicating: Want to join in a conversation about a related industry? Twitter is just like talking on the phone… but with a stranger. Who says you can’t communicate with people you don’t already know?

04. Just Listening: You want real peoples views on a particular subject? Open up Twitter and search away. You can get as serious as religion and politics, or as casual as food and art – probably even simultaneously.

05. Just Jotting: Sure, it’s okay to talk about where you just ate (maybe even a review), that you’re going to the beach this weekend, or that your lawn needs to be cut – I’ve done it. Maybe you’re using Twitter as a mini-blog and that’s fine – just don’t be too mundane.

06. News: Whether it’s local or national, you can get news updates via Twitter in small enough chunks to entice a read (or not).

07. Being Resourceful: I use Twitter on many occasions before going to see a new movie. I’ll check the buzz of people who actually saw the movie (versus critics) and decide what I’m seeing that night. You could do this for restaurants too.

08. Buying/Selling Products/Services: Well it hasn’t sold yet (as of this writing), but we’re getting rid of a printer and I tweeted it on Twitter. Still hoping for a bite… Do you need a laser printer? I’ve seen mobile food units using Twitter to Tweet their location and menu specials as well.

09. Promotion (websites, blogs, folio updates): Twitter is a great way to promote your own blog, website or client updates. Don’t plug yourself too much though – you don’t want to look like a self-centered-tweeter.

10. Be a Resource: Maybe you can offer great info on a particular subject you’re passionate about? This is a great way to be a resource, help others in the process, and network even more.

11. Get Feedback: Surveys, Polls, Questions – if you have enough followers, you can get great feedback in a short amount of time.

12. Hire People: Have people spread the work via Twitter that you’re hiring a position. It’s easier than you think to find (via search.twitter.com). Someone can search for terms like ‘hire’, ‘job’, ‘graphic design’ within 50 miles of New Orleans and see who’s hiring!

So, how about you – how do you use Twitter? How would you like to use Twitter? What do you wish Twitter could do?

Ready to get started? Go sign up (for free) and get to Tweeting!

Further Reading:

Essential Guide to Using Twitter for Inspiration

Super Basics (setting up a Twitter account)

Some Don’ts of Twitter

17 [more] ways to use Twitter

Twitter for Marketing & PR (via Hubspot)