Tuesday, March 20, 2012

'Tis the Season For Weddings, Jobs and Social Media Annoyances


The new "Timeline" is not popular. 
Gasp! Like Humans, Social Media Isn’t Perfect

Does the new Facebook Timeline bug you? Do you skip Words With Friends turns because your app takes forever to load? You’re not alone. Social media is like the freeway—you have to travel on it to get anything done, but you can reserve the right to get frustrated when there’s too much traffic, slowdowns or detours due to new construction.

What’s frustrating you in social media right now? In “Was This Broken, Why Did You Fix It?” news, the new Facebook Timeline is “Liked” by only 8 percent of Facebook users, according to The Daily Mail.

That’s a pretty low number, Zuckerberg. What’s often more concerning is that the timeline has been called a “Stalker’s Paradise,” that allows everyone to know what you’ve eaten, written, photographed and liked for however long you’ve been on Facebook, all wrapped up with a super-large, sometimes-scary “Cover Photo.”

While we’re on the subject of annoying social media, the results from the “Who Gives a Tweet” study from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Georgia Tech have recently launched. Time magazine reported that some, but not all, of the top Twitter annoyances were:

• Too Many Hashtags: When you have more hashtags than characters, you have too many hashtags. Give it a rest, already.

• Too Many @Mentions: See above about hashtags, but replace with @Mentions

• Talking About Old News or “Pedestrian Tweets”: If you’re only Tweet contributions are what you had for lunch or the last Presidential election, you aren’t using Twitter effectively.

If you’re afraid you’re turning into a Twitter offender, check out “Why Your Business Can’t Afford Not to Tweet” for some quality advice from the Amplification, Inc. experts about how to effectively use Twitter.

April from The D-Tales
The D-Tales: Making Grandma (and You) Happy 

April Dorsey, Founder of The D-Tales event planning and production, has dedicated her career to making weddings memorable and unique. But she says that when it comes to wedding planning, the most difficult obstacle isn’t the budget or even the amount of time to plan. Instead, the biggest obstacle has to do with balancing what the bride, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother all want from the wedding.

“The first advice I give brides is to realize that it’s not your mother’s wedding, and that throwing out the rules can equal a special, personal wedding,” April says. “The second piece of advice is to realize there’s a fine balance between traditions that are important to you and those that are not.”

Once you have these ground rules set, April says the next steps are a matter of give-and-take. Think about what you and your fiancé have to have to achieve the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. The rest of the details can come together and be achieved through compromise should your mother-in-law insist on a particular seating arrangement, having your cousin Mitzi circulate the guest book, etc.

“The key is to find a way to put little touches of your own that still respect traditions you hold most dear,” April says.

Need April’s touch for your upcoming wedding? Visit www.thedtales.com and click on “Contact Us” for more information or e-mail April@TheDTales.com.

Calling All Future Social Media Mavens

Position: Intern with the Social Media Experts at Amplification, Inc.

Description: If you love all things social media, including Twitter, Facebook, blogging and video production, come and join us at Amplification, Inc. to learn and contribute in a fast-paced, ever-growing social media company.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting in social media efforts for clients, including updating Facebook and Twitter profiles and helping to develop and implement social media strategies for clients.

• Contributing to growing video production efforts, including help with filming and conceptualizing video ideas.

“We’re really looking for an intern who loves social media and the digital environment—this is the opportunity to learn how something you love can turn into a potential career,” says Marnie Goldberg, Social Medium and Twitter Goddess at Amplification, Inc. “Our intern will be very involved with all of our projects, so prepare to get your hands dirty.”

If you’re ready to add “Amplification, Inc. Intern” to your resume, e-mail Marnie at Marnie@AmplificationInc.com, including your resume and cover letter about why you would be a great fit for the position. We are located in Broward County, Florida (Ft. Lauderdale area) so only local applicants need apply.

YOU Could Break Records

Our friends at Florida Community Support (get some more info on them by clicking here) have a fantastic event coming up. Here’s more information from our guest poster, Matthew Johnson, Florida Community Support Intern:


My name is Matthew Johnson and I am a student at Everest University in Pompano Beach, Fla. I am in my last semester and am doing my internship with Florida Community Support. While interning, I am one of the project managers for the forthcoming world record attempt of the “Largest Simon Says Game." Mark your calendars for August 27, 2012, to help us break the records and celebrate the anniversary of the Guinness World Records first publication in 1955. 



The August 27 event will take place throughout Broward County at Homeowner's Association meeting rooms and local community rooms. If you are interested in participating, you need only bring a plate of food from your culture or that celebrates your heritage that can feed at least five people.


The inspiration for the event is the same drive behind Florida Community Support's mission: The unfortunate reality that on any given day you can walk up to someone and ask them if they know their neighbors, and there is a really good chance that a majority will say no. This is why Florida Community Support is dedicated to “Building Communities One Neighbor at a Time.” We hope this event will bring each community closer together by allowing you to meet your neighbors from down the street or right next door. 


Don't miss out on the fun and your chance to be a part of the record books as we try to break the previous record that was set back on June 14, 2007, in Cedar City, Utah, at the Utah Summer Games Opening Ceremony and involved 12,215 participants. We anticipate the event will be fun for the whole family.

For more information on this event, stay tuned to the Florida Community Support website at FloridaCommunitySupport.org and like them on Facebook by clicking here.

Need help making sense of social media marketing? Turn to Amplification, Inc. Think you may be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy but aren't sure? Visit FindYourPolicy.com and thank us later.