Nebraska Humane Society- Raising the bar

If you can look in the face of Nebraska Humane Society animal and not want to pick them up and take them home- there is something wrong with you.

Not only has NHS embodied what it means to help those in need, they have developed a stellar social media presence on twitter and on facebook. Participating in social media as allowed NHS to provide the community with photos of the animals and the animals stories. Not only is this a genius idea, but it is really helping the animals who desperately need a home.

After visiting NHS, I saw social media in a completely different light. It can really make a difference in the lives of people and in the lives of these animals. I have never wanted a dog or a cat (even though I’m allergic) so badly. NHS keeps up with their social media on a dil basis, which means they are taking this impact seriously. It’s not just something to do to fill spare time, it has an effect!

Be sure to visit their Web site and to like them on Facebook!

Silicon Prairie News- Innovative and Fresh

Hyperlocal. It is one of the hottest buzz words in journalism right now, meaning to make connections with people and focus on a specific geographical local.

Silicon Prairie News has found its niche in Omaha, and took the idea of being hyperlocal and put it into action. They focus on the positive and cool happenings in and around Omaha. Their site is set up in almost a blog type format where articles are eye catching. PLUS- not only is their site well laid out- the content is awesome. It has everything from news, to events, to opinions.

Silicon Prairie News has used social media to promote their site- extremely successfully. @SiliconPrairie has over 1,600 followers on twitter. They don’t just sit around waiting for people to find them, they actively reach out to their followers and continuously update their twitter and facebook accounts. You can no longer hope people read what you write, you must go out and participate in the conversation. Silicon Prairie News has found it’s niche in social media- have you?

All I do is sit at my computer… and talk to people

There have been many negative statements made about social media including that it is tearing apart our ability to actually interact with one another.

In Pew Internet’s Social Isolation and New Technology they show an executive summary of their findings- including that social media is bringing people closer, not creating isolation. “Internet use does not pull people away from public places. Rather, it is associated with engagement in places such as parks, cafes, and restaurants, the kinds of locales where research shows that people are likely to encounter a wider array of people and diverse points of view.”

There are many ways that Twitter and Facebook can bring others together- including setting up events for others to attend. I am in full agreement that it is really nice to receive a hand written invitation to something, but Facebook provides the “create an event” tool made specifically so others can attend events in person. Just today I saw events posted on Twitter via users- Big Omaha, an annual event held for entrepreneurs to come an share ideas, posted their opening party invitation on Twitter about an hour and a half ago.

Social Media can be used for all different types of communication. It provides an avenue towards personal interaction, and to that I say it’s beyond valuable.

Yahoo takes a stab at Google: clever, but will it work?

In yahoo’s latest ad they make an attempt at revitalising their service as not only a search engine, but a place that knows you. You can access your facebook, twitter, myspace and ebay accounts as well as finding the latest information on news, entertainment, weather etc.

Here are my thoughts: it’s clever, and I certainly love a good commercial when I see one, but the reality of it is when I think “hey, I need to find more info on that,” my reaction is to go straight to Google. I think for most people, Google is their go-to source for a search engine.

Yahoo makes an interesting argument for having all of the social media networks at your fingertips the moment you open your homepage, so I thought I would check it out. I’ve had a yahoo account since I was in high school and needed an email address, but I had no idea yahoo offered such a cool interface for all of my social media. After trying it out- I might actually make yahoo my homepage.

My final thoughts are this- Yahoo is smart to promote this tool, it is slick and really convenient. This said, they are going to have a hard time convincing people they have a better search engine than Google.

*Video found at Mashable- The Social Media Guide