Ideas and insight

Social media

For our latest articles and podcasts, visit alexandrasamuel.com and robcottingham.ca.

twitter social media facebook social networking LinkedIn YouTube flickr Second Life foursquare digg delicious social web real-time web HootSuite linkedin answers twitterquickstart Wikipedia memes tagging tags 3 hour social media social media for small organizations smse influence backchannel ReadWriteWeb

2005

Introducing Social Signal: collaboration for communitiesAlexandra Samuel · 6 October, 2005

2006

About this siteAlexandra Samuel · 25 February, 2006
Social bookmarks 101Alexandra Samuel · 9 March, 2006
RSS, tags & social bookmarking: building blocks for nonprofit collaborationAlexandra Samuel · 24 March, 2006
Rob talks about Petro-Canada and YouTube: CFAX 1070Rob Cottingham · 18 August, 2006
Targeting your video message to the community you want to reachRob Cottingham · 19 August, 2006
Tagging tips and strategies that make content easier to find and manageAlexandra Samuel · 26 August, 2006
MacBook with tag cloudAlexandra Samuel · 19 September, 2006
2006 Political campaigns engage with social web, but fall short in building vibrant online communitiesRob Cottingham · 4 October, 2006
The netroots are coming to Second LifeRob Cottingham · 6 November, 2006
Discovering Second LifeAlexandra Samuel · 2 December, 2006
Packing my virtual bags for CaseCamp Second LifeRob Cottingham · 14 December, 2006

2007

Seven reasons your organization should consider Second Life in 2007Catherine Winters · 2 January, 2007
Welcome aboard, Catherine Winters... as Social Signal takes on Second LifeAlexandra Samuel · 2 January, 2007
Second Life: What it is and why it matters - a Social Signal white paper (and spoiler)Rob Cottingham · 3 January, 2007
Matters of taste: When Second Life gets too explicitRob Cottingham · 19 January, 2007
2007 ValentineRob Cottingham · 15 February, 2007
George Stroumboulopoulos has a new hangout in Second LifeRob Cottingham · 23 February, 2007
How citizen journalism powered by social media reframes politics, politicians, and the people involvedRob Cottingham · 25 February, 2007
Lijit: a social web search widgetRob Cottingham · 27 February, 2007
StumbleUpon: think Digg, but with staying powerRob Cottingham · 5 March, 2007
Twittering to myselfAlexandra Samuel · 12 March, 2007
Viva virtual Las Vegas: taking in Community 2.0 without attendingRob Cottingham · 12 March, 2007
Does your organization have a Wikipedia entry? Start monitoring it now.Rob Cottingham · 13 March, 2007
Looking for Oberlin alumni in social media/nonprofit technologyAlexandra Samuel · 24 March, 2007
Risk and social media: the Canadian Marketing Association's Word of Mouth Marketing ConferenceRob Cottingham · 12 April, 2007
30 Days of Sustainability's Turn It Off campaign grows participation with FacebookRob Cottingham · 14 April, 2007
What I'd like to do on Facebook tonightRob Cottingham · 18 April, 2007
How social networks (especially Facebook) bring value to your online outreachAlexandra Samuel · 28 April, 2007
Risk and social media: the podcastRob Cottingham · 2 May, 2007
Apparent hoax hits FacebookRob Cottingham · 4 May, 2007
How to make friends on social networksRob Cottingham · 6 May, 2007
Cartoon: On Facebook, nobody knows...Rob Cottingham · 23 June, 2007
Cartoon: FOAF your way to the topRob Cottingham · 24 June, 2007
Cartoon: Survival in the workplaceRob Cottingham · 24 June, 2007
Where do the cool kids hang out?Rob Cottingham · 10 July, 2007
WikipedinsomniaRob Cottingham · 12 July, 2007
Solve your business problems - with help from a communityRob Cottingham · 14 August, 2007
Facebook discriminates against the fictitiousRob Cottingham · 23 August, 2007
This week's vendetta: user-driven sites without user-driven feedsAlexandra Samuel · 28 September, 2007
Change status: Facebooking and Twittering for a new worldAlexandra Samuel · 1 October, 2007
...which ate the rat, that lived in the house that tags built.Rob Cottingham · 10 October, 2007
BC Hydro's Green Gifts: harnessing Facebook gift-giving energy for conservationRob Cottingham · 16 October, 2007
Bridging the virtual world and your information in DrupalRob Cottingham · 26 November, 2007

2008

Social media for social enterpriseAlexandra Samuel · 18 January, 2008
Nine (or ten) ways to stumble in social mediaRob Cottingham · 6 February, 2008
What robots in popular culture tell us about our technology nightmaresAlexandra Samuel · 6 February, 2008
Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 4: the long-distance episodeAlex and Rob · 7 February, 2008
How your non-profit can earn revenue with Web 2.0: Part 2 - Intellectual propertyAlexandra Samuel · 1 March, 2008
Comparing the impact of web video on Obama and Clinton campaignsAlexandra Samuel · 30 March, 2008
Do adjust your set: viewers flock to YouTube over TV to see ObamaRob Cottingham · 30 March, 2008
How your non-profit can earn revenue with Web 2.0: Part 3 - Earning revenue with advertisingAlexandra Samuel · 1 April, 2008
How your non-profit can earn revenue with Web 2.0: Part 4 - Fee for serviceAlex and Rob · 2 April, 2008
ChangeEverything.ca gets a Webby nomination... and some big-league peersAlex and Rob · 15 April, 2008
How your non-profit can earn revenue with Web 2.0: Part 5 - Product salesAlexandra Samuel · 22 April, 2008
Supporters show love for ChangeEverything at the Webby AwardsRob Cottingham · 7 May, 2008
Bookmark Devil readers, please enjoy this stolen postRob Cottingham · 7 June, 2008
Now appearing on ReadWriteWebRob Cottingham · 15 July, 2008
Exploring the Legal Implications of Social Media in the Election ProcessRob Cottingham · 23 July, 2008
A big Digg for Noise to SignalRob Cottingham · 9 September, 2008
Announcing updates to the BC Hydro Green Gifts Facebook ApplicationRob Cottingham · 8 October, 2008
Status update: Twittering your way to effective (and expressive) communicationAlexandra Samuel · 17 October, 2008
10 ways to maximize your blog's ROI: Part 1, give your organization a human voiceRob Cottingham · 9 November, 2008

2009

BC Hydro hits YouTubeRob Cottingham · 8 January, 2009
Session Picks for Northern Voice 2009Karen Fung · 3 February, 2009
In praise of uncertainty (I think)Rob Cottingham · 9 February, 2009
NIche messaging with social mediaAlexandra Samuel · 9 February, 2009
Pew: One in 10 online Americans using Twitter or something like itRob Cottingham · 18 February, 2009
Rob's Northern Voice keynoteAlexandra Samuel · 21 February, 2009
Social network invitations: Rules for services and usersAlexandra Samuel · 22 February, 2009
Twitter monitoring to strengthen your teamAlexandra Samuel · 26 February, 2009
Social media tips for business travel, today in Harvard Business onlineAlexandra Samuel · 6 March, 2009
Three steps for companies getting started with social mediaAlexandra Samuel · 9 March, 2009
Using B2C social media for B2B marketingAlexandra Samuel · 9 March, 2009
4 steps for calculating ROI on social mediaAlexandra Samuel · 10 March, 2009
5 reasons to send Direct Messages on TwitterAlexandra Samuel · 10 March, 2009
Tips for a successful Facebook application launchAlexandra Samuel · 10 March, 2009
10 ways to maximize your blog's ROI: Part 5, crisis communicationsRob Cottingham · 15 March, 2009
Using online contests as a marketing toolAlexandra Samuel · 15 March, 2009
Rob in Vancouver Sun story on Facebook "Photo Stalker" appRob Cottingham · 26 March, 2009
17 tips for using Twitter to grow your businessAlexandra Samuel · 29 March, 2009
4 questions to answer before you get started (or move forward) with social mediaAlexandra Samuel · 30 March, 2009
6 essential social media tools for your business or organizationAlexandra Samuel · 30 March, 2009
14 tips for Twitter contests that build followers and brand visibilityAlexandra Samuel · 3 April, 2009
3 steps to jumpstart your corporate Twitter account by moving friends and followers from other accountsAlexandra Samuel · 4 April, 2009
Using social media to drive business innovation: insights from Guy Kawasaki and Target's Michael AxelinAlexandra Samuel · 5 April, 2009
3 great options for Twitter and delicious integrationAlexandra Samuel · 8 April, 2009
10 ways to maximize your blog's ROI: Part 7, turning readers into messengersRob Cottingham · 9 April, 2009
Bureaucracies and new media: How the US Air Force deals with blogsDavid Eaves · 10 April, 2009
Speakers: how to use Twitter to magnify your speech's online impactRob Cottingham · 10 April, 2009
10 ways to maximize your blog's ROI: Part 8, skills developmentRob Cottingham · 20 April, 2009
Twitter quickstart: Your first 21 tweetsAlexandra Samuel · 20 April, 2009
Twitter quickstart: Effective twittering in 5 minutes a weekAlexandra Samuel · 21 April, 2009
Twitter quickstart: 10 ways to make time to TwitterAlexandra Samuel · 22 April, 2009
Vendetta of the week: Twitter ponzi schemes for building followersAlexandra Samuel · 24 April, 2009
How Twitter groups can make your twittering more a meaningful, conversational and connectedAlexandra Samuel · 26 April, 2009
Clay Shirky on crowds, the web and success through failure at NTENRob Cottingham · 27 April, 2009
NTEN panel explores social media metricsRob Cottingham · 27 April, 2009
10 ways to maximize your blog's ROI: Part 9, Embracing opennessRob Cottingham · 30 April, 2009
Winner in our Twitter contest gets her Flip HDRob Cottingham · 30 April, 2009
David Plouffe on how technology+people helped elect ObamaRob Cottingham · 11 May, 2009
12 questions for meaningful online conversationsAlexandra Samuel · 2 June, 2009
Getting to know a tool before pigeonholing itRob Cottingham · 2 June, 2009
Five social media lessons for avoiding disasterRob Cottingham · 12 June, 2009
Social media questions for Industry Canada's conference on Canada's Digital EconomyAlexandra Samuel · 22 June, 2009
"Chicks Who Click" this Saturday in VancouverRob Cottingham · 23 June, 2009
When it comes to engagement, social media is the art of the possibleRob Cottingham · 23 June, 2009
Surefire ways to send would-be LinkedIn contacts fleeing in terrorRob Cottingham · 14 July, 2009
Social media can give new life to old communication vehiclesRob Cottingham · 17 July, 2009
Google Reader: the first social newsreader?Rob Cottingham · 20 July, 2009
Some Twitter "crimes" are anything butRob Cottingham · 2 August, 2009
Just because there's no price tag doesn't make you aren't paying for itRob Cottingham · 6 August, 2009
Alex and Rob to teach Introduction to Social Media at UBCRob Cottingham · 8 August, 2009
How to make sense of Twitter follows and unfollowsAlexandra Samuel · 10 August, 2009
Personalized video, Facebook widget raising funds for BC Children's HospitalRob Cottingham · 20 August, 2009
Know the people doing your social media marketing - and their methods and ethicsRob Cottingham · 26 August, 2009
Five ways to say goodbye to scolding tweetsAlexandra Samuel · 3 September, 2009
Seven ways to break the habit of compulsive e-mail and Twitter check-insAlexandra Samuel · 10 September, 2009
How to monitor your blog's comments using TwitterAlexandra Samuel · 15 September, 2009
A little history... and some of the cartoon's greatest hitsRob Cottingham · 23 September, 2009
An introduction to social media with examples from the health sectorAlexandra Samuel · 23 September, 2009
New BC Hydro app lets users harness conservation efforts to greening 2010 Winter GamesRob Cottingham · 7 October, 2009
Almost-real-time cartoon blogging at the Real-Time Web SummitRob Cottingham · 15 October, 2009
Measure your social media influence with Influ-a-rama-matic Pro 2.0! (beta)Rob Cottingham · 13 November, 2009
Lessons from cartoon-blogging at the Real-time Web SummitRob Cottingham · 5 December, 2009
2009: a social media retrospective in cartoonsRob Cottingham · 30 December, 2009

2010

One way or another, organizations have to pay for their social media presenceRob Cottingham · 5 January, 2010
Alex and Rob teaching Fundamentals of Social Media at UBC in MarchRob Cottingham · 6 January, 2010
Six tools for trying social media on for sizeRob Cottingham · 13 January, 2010
Show your users you've heard their feedbackRob Cottingham · 25 January, 2010
Book Review: "The Backchannel"Rob Cottingham · 10 February, 2010
Finding and Keeping Love Online: A video ValentineAlex and Rob · 11 February, 2010
Rob on what 2010 will bring for social mediaRob Cottingham · 15 February, 2010
Three ways I get value from LinkedInRob Cottingham · 18 February, 2010
Combining social and selfish reasons to share and contributeAlexandra Samuel · 25 February, 2010
Tickets on sale for March 25 Twestival: Twitter-organized fundraising in hundreds of citiesRob Cottingham · 18 March, 2010
Little disclosures can add up to big exposuresRob Cottingham · 28 March, 2010
New Twitter feature lets you embed tweets in your blog posts with original formattingRob Cottingham · 5 May, 2010
Northern Voice: Alexandra Samuel on coping with social mediaRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2010
Northern Voice: Chris Messina on the open web - and what threatens to close it upRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2010
With great market share comes great responsibilityRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2010
Twitter search gets a little more powerfulRob Cottingham · 20 May, 2010
Why Quit Facebook Day didn't workRob Cottingham · 1 June, 2010
Foursquare needs a little judiciousness to stay usefulRob Cottingham · 12 June, 2010
Is it ambush marketing, or conversation?Rob Cottingham · 23 June, 2010
Convert Twitter lists to RSS feeds with one clickRob Cottingham · 12 July, 2010
My entry in Fast Company's Influence ProjectRob Cottingham · 13 July, 2010
Klout and HootSuite: when influence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecyRob Cottingham · 14 July, 2010
Flipboard could gently challenge your intellectual comfort zoneRob Cottingham · 27 July, 2010
What you don't need in your Twitter biographyRob Cottingham · 9 September, 2010
A brief history of social media, seen through five years of conversationAlex and Rob · 6 October, 2010
Defend your email inbox from a Facebook Groups barrageRob Cottingham · 7 October, 2010
Creating a social media presence in 2010Alexandra Samuel · 18 October, 2010
The Rule of 84: Social media for your limited budget or small audienceAlexandra Samuel · 18 October, 2010
Social media for small organizations: why size mattersAlexandra Samuel · 20 October, 2010
The 5 requirements for using RSS aggregation to build your online presenceAlexandra Samuel · 21 October, 2010
How a small organization can build a content-driven social media presenceAlexandra Samuel · 22 October, 2010
The small organization’s guide to investing in social mediaAlexandra Samuel · 25 October, 2010
Open Community offers social web approaches for associations (and more!)Rob Cottingham · 2 November, 2010
How to get your Wikipedia entry changed... without breaking the rulesRob Cottingham · 5 December, 2010
What's missing from the Vancouver Police Twitter feed?Rob Cottingham · 14 December, 2010

2011

Social media in 2010: a cartoon year in reviewRob Cottingham · 3 January, 2011
The Art of Social Media starts Jan. 17 at Emily Carr UniversityRob Cottingham · 10 January, 2011
Do Pentagon shifts signal the mainstreaming of social media?Rob Cottingham · 15 January, 2011
What's the strategy behind your communication vehicle?Rob Cottingham · 20 January, 2011
One Oscar nominee has special relevance for social media. And it isn't The Social Network.Rob Cottingham · 31 January, 2011
A tasty Valentine's Day greeting from Social SignalAlex and Rob · 14 February, 2011
The 5 requirements for a starter social media presenceAlexandra Samuel · 21 March, 2011
5 steps to create your social media toolkitAlexandra Samuel · 2 April, 2011
How to sustain a social media presence in three hours a weekAlexandra Samuel · 2 April, 2011
How to write a blog post in 10 minutesAlexandra Samuel · 2 April, 2011
Five ways to use Twitter to make the most of an election debateRob Cottingham · 12 April, 2011
Want to stop election-night tweeting? Appeal to online cultureRob Cottingham · 28 April, 2011
Everything I needed to know about social networking, I learned from my momRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2011
Facebook Group or Facebook Page? Time to decide... now.Rob Cottingham · 1 June, 2011
Google Circles is great. But I'm waiting for Google Venn Diagrams.Rob Cottingham · 8 July, 2011
Twitter for Good: positive social change, 140 characters at a timeRob Cottingham · 6 September, 2011
Three handy tools for engaging on Google+Rob Cottingham · 12 October, 2011
BBC: podcasting still around, and it's bigger than TwitterRob Cottingham · 20 October, 2011
Good news: you don't have to follow people back on TwitterRob Cottingham · 13 November, 2011
Using social media to turn your next speech into an ongoing conversationRob Cottingham · 27 November, 2011
Is online activism effective? 5 ways to ask (and answer) the questionAlexandra Samuel · 6 December, 2011
The social speech: How your friends and followers can help you write your next presentationRob Cottingham · 7 December, 2011
Engage your audience before your speechRob Cottingham · 12 December, 2011

2012

Just because you have numbers doesn't mean you have insightRob Cottingham · 6 January, 2012
A social media ValentineAlex and Rob · 14 February, 2012
Introducing the Social Speech PodcastRob Cottingham · 6 March, 2012
Why you should help users recover gracefully from their mistakesRob Cottingham · 15 March, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 2: with Tod MaffinRob Cottingham · 20 March, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 3: Maggie FoxRob Cottingham · 28 March, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 4: David EavesRob Cottingham · 10 April, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 5: Ian GriffinRob Cottingham · 16 April, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 7: Chris BroganRob Cottingham · 4 May, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 9: JD LasicaRob Cottingham · 31 May, 2012
Nora Young on what our virtual selves are buildingRob Cottingham · 20 June, 2012
Theo Lamb and Darren Barefoot on the science of Facebook for non-profitsRob Cottingham · 12 September, 2012
How right-sized graphics can lend a whole new dimension to your online appearanceRob Cottingham · 10 December, 2012
Terms of service changes deserve more than just a shrug and a clickRob Cottingham · 18 December, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 12: Mitchell BeerRob Cottingham · 27 December, 2012

2013

Five ways sharing links can build relationships instead of breaking faithRob Cottingham · 11 January, 2013
Work Smarter with LinkedIn: Alex's newest HBR e-bookAlexandra Samuel · 25 June, 2013