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And they are just starting. Social media giants Facebook & Twitter, together with “newcomer” Google Plus, are rolling out new and improved features to attract more usage and to dominate the web’s social sphere. If you’ve missed out on social media news this week, here are a few of the new features that came out of your social networks: Read more

Last week, Pieter and Martin from Reprise Media introduced me the wonder wheel from Google. The wonder wheel is another way to envision what are the search requests users are entering around a certain topic. The keyword tool was already existing with Google Adwords but even if based on the same information the wonder wheel is different as it provides you with a visual and dynamic interface. From a long list of keywords, you now have a mapping of related keywords that you can click on and explore when you look for inspiration…inspiration based on user behaviors!

How to get it? Simply enter your search and click on “more search tools” in the left column. Then pick the wonder wheel in the new menu. This is it.

Twitter spreading the “gfails” message faster than ever and seriously impacting the brand in just a minute…

Twitter search on Gfail

This is a serious challenge for communication as time to react is getting close to real time. Not only the speed to market but also the source of information is switching from key stakeholders to the online community, creating a buzz or destroying your corporate image while you just had time to organize… a meeting.

The rules are changing and so the communication consultant have to adapt.

More on the Gfail issue on TechCrunch

Last week Google launched (yet another) new service.  This one was called ‘Google Latitude’ and allows you to be located on a map through your mobile phone.  The thinking behind this new software is that you can find ‘where your friends are on a map’ which means Google is presenting this as a social networking software rather than a gps locating service.  This makes sense since social networking is all the rage, however I’m not sure that this service is most useful as social networking tool.  The new service quickly caused controversy and privacy groups where claiming that this was one further step towards a big brother society where our every step can be tracked.  Oblivious to such concerns I decide to test the software.

The installation worked well enough and I was impressed with the fact they had already thought of the status bar in below the location (after all this is clearly the year of the twitter.com).   The tracking of my movements however wasn’t all that accurate and my virtual self was clearly not keeping up with my actual self.  So it isn’t quite the answer for those who want to know for certain where their kids or loved ones are, however there is clearly some great scope for some smart use of this in marketing and other entertaining fields.  I can also see it as a great tool to combine with facebook or twitter if you are on the move and want to share your travels with your friends.

“We think the web is better when it’s social. Currently, you have friends locked up in one or more social networks, social applications that work on only a few sites, and multiple usernames and passwords to remember. It can be better, and we are developing tools to make “any app, any site, any friends” a reality.”

Read more on http://googlesocialweb.blogspot.com

A great story for all of those who need an excuse to spend so much time surfing the web: we are in fact getting smarter by doing this!

If you spend too much time on the internet and need to justify your habits to your family, friends and colleagues, look no further than this article on the bbc website.  You are are training your brain to counter old age, reduce their risk of dementia and generally become an all round more intelligent person…

According to researcher Professor Gary Small:

Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.