Social Media Defeats Communism
Those of us lucky enough to have lived through the 80’s remember this picture of the “Unknown Rebel”, a young man who defiantly stands in the path of oncoming tanks in China’s Tiananman Square. The picture has become a symbol of independence and inspiration to stand against oppression like Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Ghandi did during their own life times. Today social media is making a stand being used in unprecedented ways to elect government officials (like in the 2008 US Presidential election), organize during disasters (Haiti hurricane) and now changing the way the Chinese communicate.
Today NPR reported on how Tang Hui got justice by using the Weibo network to prosecute local police officers. In 2006 Hui’s 11 year old daughter was kidnapped by a pimp and forced to work in a brothel. After months of searching, Hui found her daughter and called the police who failed to arrest anyone due to their connections with top officials.
Fast forward to earlier this year when Tang Hui is arrested for continuing to pursue just measures and is sentenced to 18 months in a re-education labor camp by the same police who failed to uphold the law. Her lawyer then posts the story to his Weibo account and it quickly spreads like wildfire to 30 million of Weibo’s 400 million users in China. 10 days later, Hui is released.
Google+’s AuthorRank
Google’s algorithm is now taking the author of content posted to the web into consideration when ranking pages in search engine results. They are also using Google+ to determine who writes what and can even start to decipher David Conti in NY from David Conti in Atlanta. Google is going to use your circles to determine your AuthorRank which means you need to be 100% sure people have a good reason to follow you.
Here’s how Google describes the concept (writing in a patent for Agent Rank) as summarized by Dave Ashworth:
“The name of the writer can be used to influence the ranking of web search results by indicating the writer responsible for a particular content piece … Assuming that a given writer has a high reputational score, representing an established reputation for authoring valuable content, then additional content authored and signed by that writer will be promoted relative to unsigned content or content from less reputable writers in search results.”
A few Google+ tips:
- Post regularly, try to post updates 3-7 a day
- +1 and comment on stories you find interesting
- Fill out your “About” section and title
Conclusion
Examples of social media positively impacting our lives is growing at a staggering rate. Take a look at the number of social media users in the chart above, this medium is not going anywhere and is continuing to grow very quickly. As a small business leader it is imperative that you start learning how to use Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and Facebook to market your business. If you have any question or need help give us a call.
