May 18, 2012, will mark the single largest tech IPO in American history, eclipsing even Apple, the undisputed titan of tech. From a historic perspective, today is important. Facebook may ultimately fail but the digital world’s “social layer” isn’t going anywhere. Conservative executives, resistant business owners, public naysayers – do what you want – but ignoring Facebook, and all it stands for, will not make your problems go away.

Facebook is the centerpiece of our most recent technological evolution. The 80′s and 90′s were all about building hardware and a network. Facebook’s era – the past decade and these next few years – are all about people.

When Facebook filed for the IPO earlier this year, Zuckerberg talked about rewiring communication patterns; shifting the digital world towards peer-to-peer conversation as opposed to top-down, corporate-driven broadcasts. The concept may not play on Wallstreet and it makes many decision-makers uncomfortable, but don’t think for one second that “Facebook anxiety” is due to its lack of potential.

Let’s get real: the massive power struggle implicit in Facebook’s success is what is at stake with today’s IPO.

Facebook is leading a digital movement that is changing the internet so it more closely reflects reality and boldly attempts to fill in the gaps. Facebook is creating a world where barriers like distance and limited access are surmountable. A reality where ignorance is increasingly hard to claim and almost impossible to blame on “situations”. Information is out there and freely accessible.

The general public is in the catbird seat. I think most of us can agree that this is a fairly admirable mission; and admirable missions tend to have staying power.

I’m not claiming Facebook’s corporate powers have saintly motivations, but the overarching concept that Facebook developed will have plenty of play in industries and economies all around the globe. With or without Facebook, the digital world’s social revolution is a bet I would put my money behind.

-Meredith Singer

COO & Co-Creative, Verge Pipe Media | @mascomm | meredith@vergepipemedia.com

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Verge Pipe Media (VPM) is all about taking the seemingly endless flood of content, advertising, Web 2.0 messaging and social media and “converging” it into consumable media that consumers want and need. VPM is an Android and iPhone mobile application developer and social media marketing agency based out of Auburn, Alabama.

1. Envy

Envy, the green-eyed monster. The Capital Vice has been known to rear its ugly head in many a setting: junior high cliques, sibling rivalries, neighborhoods concerned with the Jones’s… and now the online realm.

It seems everyone has a Facebook page, a Twitter following, a group of devout Pinners; for the novice social media user, there is a lot to take in.

So where does envy come into play? If you are a micro-brewery just starting out online: don’t expect to beat Budweiser or come even close to that level of activity right out of the gates. If you are a brand new cosmetics business with e-commerce capabilities: don’t go chasing Sephora‘s 3 million plus followers. If you just launched this really cool mobile app for golfers: be patient with your Nike Golf social clout aspirations.

The lesson here: you are building your own community, your own band of loyal followers and eventual customers. Establishing that trust, creating content that your users crave… that work takes time.

Use your envy to motivate – as opposed to dictate – your strategy. “Unreasonable” goals are something that you can work towards (you never know!). Unreasonable expectations are a distraction and poor business strategy. Focus on getting your business right, before you start focusing on others.

2. Lust

We are all guilty of wanting to friend and follow everyone. We judge. An impressive number of friends or followers seems to indicate power and influence.

“New” and “more” are tantalizing prospects.

But as much as the numbers game is fun & easy to play, wouldn’t you much rather have followers and patrons that actually care about what you have to say, not just your stats?! We’re talking about people that will stick with your business for the long haul, as opposed to hiding your feed or dropping you all together within a few weeks.

So take a cue from the dating world: keep the conversation flowing, be attentive to your followers’ wants / needs and surprise them from time-to-time. Communicate and make it personal; let your followers know that you care and it’s not about putting another notch on your social media belt.

3. Greed

Twitter and Facebook can be interesting sources of information – or a boring feed chock full of self praise, empty content and meaningless drivel. We know you are hard-pressed for resources but being greedy with your knowledge and intel won’t get you anywhere.

We skim our feeds for unique or clever tweets and posts that catch our eyes. Use your expertise and unique position to advantage.

Don’t worry about giving your competitors insight into your business. Unless you work for LifeLock or you are the vanguard for KFC‘s super-secret blend of seasoning, you’ll come off as impersonal online. Share and be generous with what you know, move fast and be more responsive than your competition – you’ll beat ‘em.

If you are going social, it is time to stop hoarding the good stuff and share it with your friends. The process takes time, but producing unique content will make a huge difference with your followers. They are doing free word-of-mouth marketing for you, so make sure the content they have at their fingertips is something worth sharing!

4. Wrath

My momma always said: “if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.”

The sad truth is that many social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and Google have morphed into trash talking locker rooms where the audience is bigger than your traditional football team.

Having a business is hard but, in 2012, your social media presence can make or break your business like never before. So sorry mom, but the “don’t say anything at all” approach won’t serve you well if your company is on the receiving end of complaints. Don’t believe us? That’s fine, just check with Eurostar before you decide to go radio-silent.

Brands and businesses should stand up to unruly customers with deft (but polite) responses, and be equally swift and genuine with an apology when an error occurs.

So how can you safe-guard yourself?

• To start, don’t throw stones unless you know inside-and-out what you are doing. You are just inviting trouble to your doorstep.
• Setup Google alerts, social mentions, etc. so you can stay on top of what is being said about your business.
• Be quick, fair and human with your response. Ditch the PR-speak. Get real.
• When necessary, take the conversation offline. Provide an e-mail or phone number if a situation requires nuanced attention.
• Have a plan. We call it an “emergency response matrix” here at VPM.

5. Gluttony

The next wave of consumers hail from the iGeneration – a group that is absolutely inundated with information and choice.

Social media gluttons are taking the “content is king” notion overboard. We become addicted to the attention and, to make up for less-than-desired engagement, we churn out more and more and more, causing an overload.

Consistent content production is necessary for brands to maintain attention, but there is no reason to hover over your dashboard retweeting everyone and anyone in hopes of extra attention. Auto-tweeting is annoying. Stop the bots! And, even the best writers can’t pound out 5 (quality) blog posts in a day.

Social media is not a numbers game. Sure, you could build up a massive (uninterested) following and machine gun content at them. Inevitably, you’ll hit a lead or two. But, that is glorified mass marketing 2.0. No relationships are being formed because no one can love a robot.

You might as well skip the party because you’re not taking anyone home tonight.

6. Pride

Social media makes it easy to seem as though the world revolves around us. “Look what I did today! I’m so great, look what this person posted about me.”

ME, ME, ME.

But Social media is just that: social. Even if you have reached success on Facebook or Twitter in terms of your Likes or followers, your job is far from done. It’s just as easy for someone to Unlike your Facebook page as it is for them to Like it. Why are company pages like Chick-Fil-A and Coca Cola so successful? Because they constantly post, interact, share and incorporate their followers into everything they do.

Stop posting, interacting and sharing and there will be no sign of you on anyone’s news feed. Then soon enough, hot stuff, you will be forgotten. So don’t get too comfortable with your social media strategy because that chip on shoulder from your current success can be knocked off in a skinny minute.

7. Sloth

“I’m too busy.”

“I’ll get to it later.”

“Do I really need to respond to everything?”

We’ve all got a million things occupying our time.  We have orders to fill, taxes to file and financial projections to execute against… with everything going on it’s easy to let a social media strategy slip through the cracks.

Let your page lie fallow and the lack of engagement will leave your consumer-base uninterested, leaving them to seek the love an adoration of other businesses who seem to care just a little bit more. You’ll never regret taking the extra time to keep your pages updated with current information, to respond to followers in a timely manner and give your customers something to talk about.

But with so many social outlets, responding to every single little post can consume extraordinary amounts of time. It’s a Catch-22.

So just treat social media as you would any other part of your marketing engine. What do you do when you find a critical initiative under-staffed or lacking resources? You find a way to make it work.

Bring on a P/T employee, consider outsourcing and/or get creative with your current resources because let’s get real: under-performance has nothing to do with the platform (social media marketing works, time-and-time again) and everything to do with resource allocation and strategy… in essence, it’s on you.

If you’ve erred in the past, just repent, reform and move on down the road. We live in a mad, mad world but social media “success” is attainable. Keep your nose clean and steer clear of these cardinal social media sins.

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Contributions by: Verge Pipe Media’s Spring 2012 Imagineers

Verge Pipe Media still has a long way to go but, as iOS and Android mobile application developers and social media marketers, we’re constantly growing, pushing and evolving our strategies as we move towards a (wholly unattainable) state of enlightened and perfectly balanced B2B / B2C nirvana.

Facebook fell in love – his simple functionality and her alluring beauty would surely create something special. And thus a child was born, whom they named PinView, a Facebook app that turns your Timeline layout into a Pinterest board.

And, it is truly a chip off the ol’ block.

PinView takes elements from Facebook and turns them into a grid sorted by popularity, allowing you to browse the news feed, Timeline or friend pages. Just like you would browse Pinterest.

Users can attempt to digest ALL the latest news at once, or sift through photos and video. Either way, you are faced with a flood of visuals. PinView is truly an image-dominated platform.

Like every child, PinView picked up momma’s looks and daddy’s brains, for better or for worse. But we’ll let you decide if PinView is worthy of the family name.

The good genes:
1. PinView is photo-heavy, allowing you to quickly scan lots of image-rich content, which is the dialect of the future.
2. A quick glance reveals all of the top news from all of your friends, which means…
3. No more scroooollllllling.
4. Unlike Pinterest, there are less pictures of food, furniture and wedding dresses. And, unlike Pinterest, there are men hanging around.

The bad genes:
1. There is no organization or natural flow of information. Everything feels cluttered at first glance. It may cause anxiety for the Type A personality.
2. PinView doesn’t provide anything unique, new or extremely useful.
3. Its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Pinview is image-driven, but the content on Facebook is not as visually captivating as Pinterest’s usual content. So it feels like a cheap knock off.
4. There is no sense of when updates are published (beyond their position on the grid), adding to the disorganization.

But don’t take our word for it. Play with PinView for yourself, here.

My conclusions:
While PinView is really cool, it doesn’t possess the raw functionality of Facebook. And, while pretty, it doesn’t quite capitalize on image-rich content like Pinterest. I had fun playing around in PinView, especially the ‘friends view,’ but in the end, it feels more like the bastard child of two social media powerhouses.

Article by: Micah Whitehead, Imagineer || micah.vpm@gmail.com

So you want your business to thrive. Sell more widgets? Produce more doodads? Save on company spending? Get in line buddy.

Most of you know the impact that Pete Cashmore has made on the tech, digital and entertainment news worlds: he changed the face of them all.

What you probably don’t know is the 26-year-old entrepreneur never went to college and he graduated high school two years later than his peers.

Guess he was too busy launching his gajillion dollar website, Mashable.com.

Far from calling myself a Ninja, expert, guru or other such self-anointed glorious title, I’ll just say I’m an astute observer, pretty good listener, well-mannered RT’er and all around reformed good guy when it comes to Twitter usage.

There is a right way and a wrong way to use Twitter. IMHO, here’s a few of each.

Right.

• Take the time to thank people for RTs if they are legitimate
• Share content which is meaningful to you
• Share content you feel confident would be meaningful to another by tagging them with their handle
• Be respectful of different opinions. Your content may not be meaningful to others in the same manner it was to you. Nothing says “new to the Internet” like the easily offended counter rant
• Report bots and spam
• Use a photo of yourself in your profile (Brands: Your logo is okay in most cases)
• Complete your profile info so visitors know what to expect (reasonably)
• Customize your background. It’s your personality and brand, make it count!

Wrong.

• Drunk tweets (especially after philosophizing with co-workers over a half dozen bottles of wine and reaching the enlightened state of, “everyone loves me”)
• Rants which don’t begin with “RANT:”
• Quote a RT and leave out the contributors
• Not saying ‘Thanks’ for a well-intentioned and meaningful RT
• Follow everyone who follows you
• Auto-tweeting
• Auto-Direct messages
• Follow Friday – it’s so 2008!

And now, I’ll move onto what I call “Advanced Twitter usage” for those who wish to continue.

Use a service like, Just Unfollow (www.justunfollow.com) to aggressively manage your followers and those you follow. There are others out there, and I’ve tried several of them, but JustUnfollow is a personal favorite and, with their recent design changes, the service is much cleaner and easier to use.

Why go to the effort?

Twitter is a conversation tool: Two-way conversation is preferable, but one-way is allowable in some cases.

Imagine sitting in a room full of peers, celebrities and friends, family and acquaintances. Now imagine you are talking and asking questions within this room. Who do you expect to respond? Most of us would agree we would expect our friends, family and acquaintances to respond, and depending upon our industry or work-life, we might expect our peers to weigh-in from time to time.

If you’re expecting a response from, “celebrity” you may now move to the back of the room and look for the door marked, “Exit.”

You should expect (I personally demand it) your acquaintances, friends and family to respond and even contribute or add to the conversation. You could even expect feedback from your peers. I do.

I wouldn’t count on celebrities or news organizations to do much. There are even some brands out there who don’t respond. I can’t name any because I stopped following them long ago.

My philosophy on this is simple – I enjoy spending time with folks who challenge, educate and entertain me. I’d like to think I can add to their lives as well, so I choose to focus on Twitter relationships which do one or all three. I think you’ll enjoy Twitter a lot more too if you incorporate some of these thoughts into your own Twitter usage.

Other social networks have the walled garden approach: you approve or don’t approve who sees what. Twitter is different, so it requires a different rule-set.

JustUnfollow allows you to see and manage the following:

• People you follow who don’t follow you back – this is fine again if it is an industry thought leader, celebrity or news organization you follow for education and entertainment
• Inactive followers – if they haven’t tweeted in over a month, I’d say cut them loose
• Your own followers – take a good look at the list. My rule is if I don’t recognize them or remember anything they’ve tweeted, then look at their profile again and make certain this is someone I really want to engage with. If not, I unfollow

And lastly, the practice of “locking” or protecting your tweets to me says, “pre-adolescent.” In other words, stick to Facebook or texting. You aren’t THAT important.

• Facebook filed for IPO back in February and appears to be on track for a May offering
• The team launched a overhaul, including Timeline, for Facebook Pages
• New paid advertising options are revealed, emphasizing brand content and engagement over ad design and placement
• A marketing conference (fMC) was also unveiled alongside the slew of changes to Facebook Pages
• Users now have access to expanded archives and personal data
• Facebook appears to be ramping up e-commerce capabilities with the acquisition of the Tagtile team

Then there is the matter of Facebook’s recent $1,000,000,000.00 acquisition of Instagr.am. Some crazy math for you to consider: each one of Instagram’s 30 million users are worth about $33 apiece. The news is fresh, the number is huge and there is a lot of reading being done between the lines.

1. Instagram’s success threatens $1B worth of damage to Facebook’s profits and/or…
2. The offspring of the FB-Insta collaboration is worth more than the billion dollar price tag.

Instagram is a simple product that does one thing really well: fast, beautiful photo sharing with filters that turn the average iPhone (or Android) user into a semi-professional photographer. The app boasts crowd-sourced visual experiences that allow the user to see the world through the eyes of their friends – virtual storytelling at its best.

Facebook, on the other hand, is an inherently complex product that has become a hub for life on the web and birthed new concepts like “social commerce” and “social currency”. Facebook knows that the future of the social web is experiential and multimedia-driven… a collaborative experience that unfolds within your iPhone (or Android if you’re @DonCrow).

So, we are all anxious to see what Facebook decides to does with Instagram. Zuckerberg claims the two entities will remain separate (I think I just heard a sigh of relief from all the Instagram lovers). We’ll just see about that…

The fact remains, Facebook has been wolfing down social platforms like hotcakes and hoarding more apps than ever. In a match made in content-sharing heaven, StumbleUpon just moved to integrate their service into Facebook Timeline. In fact, hundreds of companies like Viddy, Pinterest and Fandango are getting tremendous traction from Timeline and that number is only growing.

As growth accelerates, Facebook is also making a conscious effort to (seemingly) double-back and touch on its roots. They launched a new version of Groups for Schools this month – a nod to the social platforms on-campus origins.

Users share .docs, class notes and curriculum; it’s not much of a leap to imagine a full-on file-sharing and productivity suite laying entirely on top of Facebook. Here at Verge Pipe Media’s office, there are a handful of SaaS platforms that could easily be folded into this sort of scenario.

Given all of this recent movement out of Palo Alto, it’s easy to get nervous about what it all means for business-as-usual.

Mark Zuckerberg: “we hope to rewire the way people spread and consume information. We think the world’s information infrastructure should resemble the social graph — a network built from the bottom up or peer-to-peer, rather than the monolithic, top-down structure that has existed to date. We also believe that giving people control over what they share is a fundamental principle of this rewiring.”

The pace at which Facebook is evolving is perhaps what’s most exciting (or unsettling, depending on your personal philosophy). But it is happening.

Are you ready?

Kibits gives you the ability to create small, intimate social networks with the blink of an eye. We’re not talking “groups” within Facebook. Kibits lets you create many different, super-specific networks, thus leading to subject-focused conversation and sharing.

The app syncs with your Facebook friends and phone/email contacts, and also connects with people based on calendar appointments and general proximity of you and your phone.

By this point you are probably wondering, “OK, so I can create micro-networks… so what?” Within each micro-network, Kibits goes far beyond text-based conversation. Users can share and post photos, videos, links, locations, notes and documents.  Kibits has the potential to be a useful tool for small group communication and creative hubs.

Suppose you have a big project coming up or perhaps an important business presentation; Kibits gives you the ability to share, view and discuss anything associated with that project or presentation from anywhere, all on the fly.

By most accounts, Kibits is working diligently to attract new users. With a large pool of mobile social apps out there it is hard to say how well it will do.  For me, however, Kibits seems to have a unique edge.

Normally, on any given day you can walk into Verge Pipe Media and hear anything from Motley Crue to Bonnaroo, but for some unknown reason, today just ain’t my day. The silence is deafening in here. I work better with background music and, lately, I have Songza.com to thank for my sanity.

Songza is a completely FREE website that offers you a chance to delve into an endless array of pre-made playlists that are sure to enhance the overall quality of your well-being.

At first glance, the site has a pretty simple, but enticing layout.  The three tabs near the top of the page read, “Music Concierge,” “Popular” and “Browse All.”  While the “Popular” and “Browse All” sections are pretty self explanatory, it’s the “Music Concierge” that is most intriguing.

The “Concierge” is the home page; this is the page that sets Songza apart from all other music sites.

Just in case you didn’t already know, Songza fills you in on the day of the week and time of day.  From here, the site asks you about the type of mood you’re in by giving you five tabs complete with stick men depicting activities like studying and dancing.

Songza’s Concierge options change as often as the time of day.  At any given point in time you can visit the site and be presented with an entirely new list of possible moods and playlist solutions.  Songza has managed to create a listening experience that is so precise that it really only leaves yourself to blame if you don’t like what you’re presented with.

As I write this, it’s Thursday afternoon; my choices consist of “Work or Study (No Lyrics)”, “Work or Study (With Lyrics)”, “Easing The Tension” (which has a nice little visual of the previously mentioned stick man laying on a massage table), “A Weekday Dance Party” and “Discovering New Music”.

“Weekday Dance Party,” it is.

What kind of party am I in the mood for?  Well Songza, I’m so glad you asked.

Although I’ve been given the nearly impossible task of choosing between various party hits of the ‘70s and ‘80s, ‘00s, Today and an Eclectic Mix, this afternoon I think I’ll stick with “‘90s Party Hits”.

I am ecstatic to be taken back to yesteryear with the musical stylings of such ‘90s staples as Hanson, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys bumping through the tiny speakers in my headphones. Judge me all you want, but Songza has hit a homerun with this playlist.

Ok, I know that not everyone is as enthusiastic about the mood enhancing powers of Ace of Base as I am, but a 90’s boy-band dream land is such a small portion of what Songza has to offer.  With an array of playlists that will satisfy everyone from the hippest of the hipsters to the most backwoods country bumpkin, Songza has a little something for everyone.

Like the Pandora’s and Spotify’s of the world, Songza will prevent you from skipping through too many songs on your playlist and will periodically stop you every few minutes, sometimes on a not so desirable song choice – it is a small price to pay for everything that Songza has to offer.

With all the prewritten playlist sites out there (i.e. Pandora and Spotify) why should you choose Songza?  Well, for me it really comes down to the personal experience that Songza creates when you log in.  Yes, with Pandora you can enter in your favorite type of music or specific band and create a playlist from that, but anyone can take five seconds to run a search.  Songza takes the time to ask you how you’re feeling, what your preferences are and where you would like your listening experience to go. Songza cares about you, and you alone. Songza is your friend.

So, with the term “social media” being such a prevalent portion of what we do here at Verge Pipe Media (it’s not like it’s in our company description or anything), why do we care about a music site?

Songza is just about as interactive as they come.  It allows you to log in through Facebook to show your friends exactly what you’ve been listening to.  The type of music you listen to can really define who you are or who you would like to be perceived as, so why wouldn’t you want to share with your entire friend base?

Social media is all about creating yourself as a brand, and what better way to show people who you are than through your taste in music?  I’m not sure what a love for 90s pop says about me, but the great thing about Songza is you don’t have to stream everything you listen to through a social media outlet if you don’t want to.  This is yet another option where the big shots at Spotify and Pandora fall short.

Every playlist that I have had the pleasure of listening to has been spot on.  I love being able to show my friends the amazing music I’ve been listening to while still being able to hide certain guilty pleasures from the public eye.  My days are a little brighter and my thoughts are a whole lot clearer. My mind is made up.  From here on out, I’m sticking with Songza.

Article by: Morgan Webb, Imagineer || morgan.vpm@gmail.com

Essentially, you can play the stock market with friends.

MeARKET has invented investment crowdsourcing, turning the stock market into a multiplayer experience that fosters collective, knowledgeable investments.

They want to allow users to combine their efforts and make the most out of their investments – by knowing when your friends are transacting and why, you are able to make sure you move early and efficiently.

Sounds good, right? The hardcores market manipulators can combine forces and get richer.

But what about those who have little or nothing to share? What about the average dude that sees value in investing, but has been too intimidated and too unequipped to take the leap?

MeARKET helps beginners make better investment decisions by helping them tap their social networks for the financially savvy. Odds are that others in their network are dialed in with company knowledge that they could use when making their first purchases.

Social investing allows normal people to engage with the pros, watch how they interact with the market, and glean some of their wisdom.

That average dude is me.

Stop. I know what you’re thinking. How can this clown review an investment webapp when he has no experience?

Well, let me tell you my story…

As a young professional (early 20’s), I am toeing the waters of a new career, tight finances and, last but not least, a love life.

I had plans for engagement (and a $3000 ring) but only $800 to my name. I needed something with an unbelievable ROI, and a magic wand.

Enter, social media.

When you spend 8 hours a day playing on Facebook and Twitter, you “stumble” upon some interesting people. A couple of these happened to be investors. I saw opportunity and engaged, watching them get richer and richer.

Enter, stock market.

I listened to advice, took it all in, saw opportunity and – 2 months later – I took the leap. With the measly $800, I bought a handful of shares and went to work. Three months later, I bought that ring.

I never read a single investment book. I never took a single college course.

Social Media was the magic wand I needed. My social network crowdsourced all the knowledge I needed. Risky, yes. Stupid, definitely. But I bought that ring, and I learned a heck of a lot along the way.

Now, what does this have to do with MeARKET, exactly? While my story ends before MeARKET’s begins, the idea is the same. Social media + stock market = crowdsourced wealth and collaboration (MeARKET)

MeARKET’s sociability allows you to join forces with the pros. When you sign up, you enter the stocks that you own (…or wish you owned. They say that practicing with fake money is the best way to learn). Then connect with your friends on the social network of your choice. Look at their portfolios, and watch their buying and selling habits. Track industries, and create a watch-list of intriguing companies. And, most importantly, participate in the conversation.

And boom, you’re in the game.

Social Investing sets the stage for the emergence of the timid average investors who want to play around with their own money. And it allows the pros to reach new levels they never thought possible. Iron sharpens iron.

Some are concerned about the privacy issues associated with the public display of a personal portfolio. But, for the sake of collaboration, I hope they get over it.

Article by: Micah Whitehead, Imagineer || micah.vpm@gmail.com