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Right now Social Media is huge. For some people Facebook is the internet. Every TV show you watch has a back channel on twitter, and live commentary on most sports shows are now mentioning the tweets they are reading during the broadcast – indicating the commentators are well aware of how their performance as well as the sport itself are being discussed in this live manner. People were even given early warning of a recent earthquake in the US via Twitter.

As companies and brands race to adopt social media and harness the obvious power in the potential engagement with their fans and others there are scores of tools and analytics being produced and made available to users. Some of these are free, others have a free component as a teaser to get you to purchase their premium services and others are far more consultative and personalised and thus more expensive from the get go.

I have been trialling and researching a lot here recently. My tweet cloud shows my most used word in twitter is #socialmedia.

Here are some of the tools I have been using and trialling. This isn’t a “thou should use these” type of post, but i do invite you to check these out and see if they suit your requirements. No particular order to these.

The power of the human spirit never ceases to amaze me. But this last weekend I was treated to some pretty unusual displays of just how incredible humans can actually be.

I attended, photographed and even competed in an ultra running event, the 24 and 48 hour ultra event at http://geoffsruns.com/. I saw people run 280+km (175 miles). I saw records broken, i saw pain and suffering and individual determination and grit, and most importantly I saw the incredible power of encouragement. I saw friends and relatives camp over night in cold uncomfortable conditions in order to be able to get out on the track and walk a couple of laps with competitors and mentally assist them to over come the physical demands they were placing on their systems. i witnessed first hand the incredible power of transformation of a persons face from resigned grit and determination (or even pain) to sheer joy through a simple spoken word – a “you can do it”. I saw the camaraderie of those who shared the same trials, and for a brief 1.5 hours i was amongst it. As I churned out laps (more of a slow grind then a churn) I was guaranteed of numerous encouraging remarks from complete strangers on the sidelines, a “well done Tim” and “you are looking great” from other competitors who went flying past me, and the cheers from the crowd around the timing tent.

And at the end they were no longer strangers. Many of these runners I have seen and photographed (and run with) before, but as Tamyka put it – “you got to be friends with someone you shared the same physical space with for 48 hours!”

The ultra running community is a small tight knit friendly group of positive goal orientated cheerful people. I’m proud to be associated with such amazing human beings.

Here are some pics. More at http://dreamsportphotography.com/results/2012-caboolture-24-48-hour-race

Here are some videos I made also

I was interviewed yesterday by 3CR breakfast radio show in their technology spot for this morning.

I was talking about the role social media, primarily twitter, has in TV shows as a engagement method for fans and watchers, as well as the opportunity for the show broadcasters to be involved with and engage their audiences through these channels.

Here is the audio recording of the show.

Download this Media File - (Right Click)

Here are some interesting links and reviews from this weeks reading and research.

Far Cry 3 preview – reviewed by Fidget from fragdolls – I loved Far Cry 1 and 2 – cant wait for 3.

Assassin’s Creed 3 preview – reviewed by Cryptik from fragdolls – I have played and loved every Assassins Creed game so far – cant wait for this one!

Windows 8 and Metro Development – great explanation of Metro for Windows 8 by Damana.

Skydrive has now launched apps for Windows and Mac. We have tested the Windows one extensively and are now implementing it as a cloud backup strategy for small home users.

We love Photosynth. I have yet to install and play with the new Photosynth app on a Windows phone – but will try it later and let you know how it goes. There is also a Photosynth iPhone app available

Australia’s Labor government is about to start stealing money off us with a Carbon Tax – explained away by insisting that global warming is caused by human emitted CO2. The video here shows the fallacy of this “science”.

Social Media Links

Social Media use is on the rise on a massive way. Companies and businesses are still learning if and how to get involved. Here are a number of great articles.

Dion Hinchcliffe writes an excellent article titled Should companies drive their traffic to Facebook?

I wish this social media course run by Laurel Papworth was coming to Brisbane. Sydney people go and learn!

26 Tips for Integrating Social Media Activities – lots of good info here. Worth a read.

5 Reasons you should measure Social Media Return on Investment

5 Ways to tell if Pinterest is right for your business. We have started using Pinterest; watch for our boards to grow and expand as we learn more about this cool new tool.

Facebook Adds Admin Roles – a good explanation of the role settings and use.

5 Simple Metrics to Track Your Social Media Efforts