This Week On Twitter: Amazing Social Media Stats, McDonald’s #McFail & Getting More Twitter Clicks

Need a little weekend reading? We’ve compiled our top ten Twitter stories of the week, which includes a look at some amazing statistics from social media and the internet in 2011, a social media cheat sheet, how McDonald’s keeps getting it wrong on Twitter, how to get more clicks on your Twitter links and the importance of a fan base in social media. Here are our top 10 Twitter stories of the week: 1. The Numbers Just Keep On Getting Bigger: Social Media And The Internet 2011 [STATISTICS] Did you know that there are now more than a billion social media profiles, representing around half of all internet users worldwide? Or that 44 percent of all online users are in Asia, and that China accounts for 485 million people, even with a countywide internet penetration of just 36.3 percent? 2. The Social Media Cheat Sheet [INFOGRAPHIC] Social media is changing the world. It’s true. Stop for a while and listen: everywhere you go people are singing its praises. They’re talking about how Twitter is this fantastic customer service and news-sharing tool. That Facebook is an incredible platform for raising brand awareness and building community. Corporations around the world are using YouTube to share tutorials and video blogs. And Google+ has a really nice logo. It all sounds amazing. So: where do you begin? 3. McDonald’s Twitter Ad Campaign Was A #McFail They try, they really do. This was McDonald’s umpteenth time purchasing a Promoted Product on Twitter to try and cash in on some social media success. And – as before – the campaign was commandeered by sarcastic users who twisted the purpose of their Promoted Tweets. 4. How To Get More Clicks On Twitter [STUDY] How do you get more clicks on the links that you share on Twitter? How about using as a few characters as possible? Or placing links at the beginning of your tweets? Maybe you should tweet constantly throughout the day, at a furious pace. Or perhaps maintaining a passive-aggressive stance, using the word ‘marketing’ all the time, is the right way to go. Or maybe that’s everything that you shouldn’t do. 5. The Importance Of A Fan Base On Twitter And Facebook (And How To Get One) [INFOGRAPHIC] What is a true fan? It’s an interesting question, and you’ll have your own definition. But what’s enchanting about this metric is that the notion of a true fan, inasmuch as how they behave and the things that they do, is a constant, and doesn’t really differ between the true fans of artists and people, and the true fans of brands and products. A true fan is a true fan is a true fan. So, maybe the more relevant questions are: how many true fans do you need and, more importantly, where do you find them? 6. How To Use Social Media To Power Your Business [INFOGRAPHIC] The growth of social media is pretty astonishing. Not only has it happened almost overnight – both Twitter and Facebook fully opened their doors to the general public less than six years ago – but the rate at which users and brands have adopted and embraced these channels into their personal and professional lives is incredible – and it’s not showing any signs that it’s slowing down. 7. 3 Ways To Use Social Media To Improve Your Reputation [INFOGRAPHIC] As social media continues its full court press into seemingly every aspect of our personal and professional lives, it’s never been more important to have a positive reputation on the internet. You don’t have to be 100 percent good, clean and wholesome – seriously, nobody really likes shiny, happy people (apart from other shiny, happy people, and who likes them?) – but the things that you say and do on channels such as Twitter and Facebook will have a direct impact on how you are perceived, not only by friends and family, but also colleagues, clients, investors and your boss. 8. How Does Africa Tweet? [INFOGRAPHIC] It’s very easy to think that the joys of Twitter are limited to the USA, UK and Western Europe, but the microblogging platform is making inroads in almost every country all around the world. Take Africa, for example. How well has Twitter been adopted there? A new study has taken a closer look at tweeting across the world’s second-largest continent, and discovered that it’s a lot bigger than you probably thought. 9. Market Research Gets Social [INFOGRAPHIC] Did you know that consumers spend one out of every five minutes online using social media and blogs? That number isn’t stagnant, either – it’s growing – and consumers are proving themselves to be very social buyers. A full 60 percent of people learn about a brand directly through social media when researching a product via three or more digital means. 10. Be Prepared To Pony Up $25,000 If You Want A Slick Brand Page For Your Business On Twitter One way to get your company noticed on Twitter is to convert your regular profile page to a brand page, a feature the companylaunched in December. And while rumors have it they’re opening up brand pages to more than just their 21 test partners soon, they’re not going to be cheap. Also this week: Ever wondered where you can find great content to tweet? Twitter is beefing up its malware protection How did Twitter respond to the State Of The Union? Twitter can now censor tweets on a country-by-country basis European Twitter users will soon have the “right to be forgotten” Did you know we have a newsletter? Sign-up to receive a daily digest of all things Twitter, sent straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up for the AllTwitter Newsletter.

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This Week On Twitter: Amazing Social Media Stats, McDonald’s #McFail & Getting More Twitter Clicks

Shea Bennett

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Shea Bennett