The major changes to branded accounts in Twitter include:

• More prominent logo and taglines
• Customised headers
• Self-promoted tweets to appear at the top of the brand’s timeline
• Promoted tweets to automatically expand so the user will view photos or content that was posted as part of the tweet
• Allows brands to separate @ replies and mentions

Ad Age reported on the story, mentioning a quote from Chief Revenue Officer, Adam Bain that resonated well with me:

“A tweet’s only 140 characters,” said Mr. Bain. “[Brand page are] like an invitation to learn more. When consumers want to learn more, spend more time or get deeper in terms of engagement, we think they’ll end up on the brand page.”

We always knew Twitter was going to transform into something bigger, who would have thought they would transform into something that Facebook and Google+ are already offering?

You can find out more about the Twitter redesign Twitter’s advertising blog.

What do you think of the new brand pages?

Australia has jumped to the top of the leader board ahead of the USA, Britain and Japan. The research found that almost ten million Australians are spending time on at least one social networking site. With a population of 21 million, this figure equates to almost half the country.

Facebook topped the list as the most popular of all social networking sites, with over 8.2 million unique visitors per month, followed by YouTube, then MySpace and with Twitter coming in fourth.

So, if Facebook is the most commonly used social networking site and Australian’s are spending 7 hours a month interacting on social networking sites – How come there are only 357,871 fans on the Australia Facebook fan page?

The Huffington Post in conjunction with Hopenhagen.org is sending one person to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference to both represent concerns of people around the world and to report back daily as a HuffPost citizen journalist.

Australian Cathie McGinn has put in her submission for the HuffPo Citizen Journalist competition, and we’re doing everything we can to support her bid to get there. So please help. Vote for Cathie, and when you’re done, get others to vote. Once you’re done with that, tweet about it. Then, once you’ve done that, share it on Facebook. And don’t forget to become a citizen of Hopenhagen! Call it bias if you will, but I think there is no one better suited for this role, than someone living in a country that is already feeling the effects of Climate Change.

Since 1950, Australia has already warmed by up to 0.7 per cent. We are seeing more heat waves, an increase in the intensity of Australian droughts and have experienced a 70 mm rise is sea levels. In Asia, crop yields are declining, and the retreat of glaciers is unprecedented. This is real. It’s happening now, and it would appear that the changes are gaining velocity with each day that we choose to do nothing.

Hopenhagen is change – and that change will be powered by all of us. Change will not happen unless the people demand it.

[Disclaimer: Ogilvy PR Worldwide Pty Ltd are a global partner for Hopenhagen.]

The flash mob that was created in New York Grand Central Station is fantastic. The mob was instructed to stand frozen for a total of 5 minutes and then vacate the area. The result was a mass of confusion by commuters and people passing by. My favorite part is when one guy says “I think it must be some kind of a protest”. Who protests by freezing in a train station?

A great example of online networking can be seen in the first international flash mob – the Worldwide Pillow Fight Day. Word spread via Facebook, Myspace, private blogs, public forums, personal websites, as well as by word of mouth, text messaging, and email. This networking enabled over 25 cities in the world to participate in the pillow fight on the same day at the same time. It just reiterates how much communication has changed since the creation of social media. Ten years ago, an impromptu event like a flash mob would have been near impossible (or at least expensive) to organise. Today, the tools we have available to us, the access to people and immediacy of communication is so prevalent that impromptu events like flash mobs are possible. That is why I like flash mobs so much, they are created from the possibilities that social media offers.

So are they selling out? Is every Tom Dick and Harry organising a flash mob to generate publicity for their brand or product, or to create a “viral clip”? The use of paid actors and professional dancing seems to be all that flash mobs are about now, they are rehearsed and perfected and the timing is impeccable. While it is entertaining to watch, the participants may as well build a stage and perform their act like any other street performer. I can’t help but feel betrayed that flash mobs are no longer about the privilege of being connected online, they no longer represent transparency or authenticity, they no longer create confusion, its only about entertainment now. I believe they have sold out, but I guess it was only a matter of time.

Having just celebrated its 5th birthday, Faster Louder is hardly what one would class as new, but even as a social media veteran, FL hasn’t missed a beat when it comes to keeping up to speed with all things social. There are so many features, I wouldn’t know where to begin. But, I’ll try.

Faster Louder has an army of over 2000 active contributors who are constantly reviewing, podcasting, interviewing, photographing, filming and sharing their love of music with like minded fans. Once you set yourself up on the site, you start having a personalised user experience straight away, with all the relevant gig listings and reviews for your city being available to you. If you like any photos, reviews or articles, you simply click the “I heart this” button, and it will be bookmarked to your profile, so you can start searching for like minded music-lovers to connect with on FL. Similarly, any events you’re going to will be added to your social calendar, so if you’re looking for a concert buddy you only need to check who else is going.

Competitions are constantly being added, so you’re never short of great chances to win experiences that money can’t buy. Pretty much anything you see or do in FL, you can broadcast it to the rest of your social networks, and if you’re on twitter, you can follow @fasterlouder to be updated every time there are new reviews, concert announcements or competitions. The crew at Faster Louder have also done a great job of connecting their community in real life: hosting parties and gatherings and members only gigs. What can I say? I’m a fan!

So, whether or not you’re a music-lover, I can’t recommend Faster Louder enough. Click around; become a member; take a look at how people who GET social, DO social.

There is a mobile app for almost everything and the technologies behind these apps are getting more sophisticated with every new addition. There are navigation apps to tell you directions from A to B anywhere in the world, novelty apps that identify the song that is playing in the background, organising apps to manage your social networking sites, not to mention the recently launched FoodScanner app which uses the iPhone camera to scan the UPC codes of foods and link them with full nutritional information.
Some say the driving demand in the mobile apps market could grow bigger than the internet. It has been said that there are currently over 75,000 iPhone applications, the Blackberry maker Research in Motion has a few thousand and Nokia’s Ovi store has about 5500 content items including apps, ringtones and wallpaper graphics (Sydney Morning Herald).
Is this becoming the new way for us to source information or even communicate? It has been a while since we have had to write a letter to seek assistance, some organisations prefer us to call and speak to an automated voice while most want us to jump online and not speak to anybody. Is the demand now for us to download an app and seek assistance on the go? Is this the future of communication?
What is driving the demand for mobile apps? Some would say it is the need for convenience and sourcing information on the go, others would claim it’s the Gen Y demand for instantaneous results. Personally, I think it is a combination of 2 things; consumers are looking for fun, they are looking to customise their lives but more obviously they are constantly looking for something new, the latest. Mobile apps cover all bases, they can be informative, fun, colourful, free or expensive, and the potential is limitless.
Mobile apps are like viral YouTube clips, they get passed around, talked about, reviewed and before you know it, they have been downloaded millions of times. They are the new tactic in communications campaigns. It is no longer about creating a fan page on Facebook or getting the company on Twitter; it’s all about the demand for mobile apps.

Mark my words mobile apps are here to stay … until the next thing rolls around!