Mediaboss Marketing

Social media marketing is the process of marketing through social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. By utilizing the social aspect of the web, social media marketing is able to connect and interact on a much more personalized and dynamic level than through traditional marketing.

A social media marketing strategy can be as simple as having a company blog, a Twitter account, or attaching "Digg This" and "Tweet This" tags to the end of articles.

It can also be as complicated as having a full campaign that encompasses blogs, Twitter, social networking and viral videos through YouTube.

The simplest form of social media marketing is to tag articles and blog entries for easy submission and voting on social news sites like Digg.

If you've ever come across a Digg vote counter or a Share This widget at the end of an article, you've seen this form of social media marketing in action.

This type of marketing can often be automated, so it is simple to implement. It can also be very effective for media companies, and can be a great way to promote a company blog.

In many respects, blogs can serve as an extension of traditional media. Much as review copies might be sent to traditional media outlets like newspapers and magazines, they can also be sent to popular blogs on the subject.

Blogs also offer the opportunity to put together 'virtual tours'. For example, many authors have gravitated towards having virtual book tours, which allows them to reach their fans without the travel expenses.

These virtual book tours can include author interviews and Q&A sessions as well as book reviews and book giveaways.

It has become increasingly important to have a presence on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. In addition to these popular social networks, there are also many specialized social networks that might be the perfect place to set up camp for specific products.

For example, a musician might set up a profile on Last.FM as well as MySpace, while a movie might be best promoted through Flixster in addition to Facebook.

Social networks not only give the marketer a place to get the word out, they also provide a place to interact with customers and allow customers to interact with each other. This can be a great starting point for the marketing to go viral and pick up a grassroots effort.

Twitter has picked up a lot of steam in the last year for being a great place for social media marketing. While Twitter has grown far beyond its microblogging roots, it is important to think of Twitter similar to a company blog. While the primary purpose is to get the word out, it is just as important to add a personal touch rather than relying on RSS feeds to deliver stale press releases or simply repeat the company blog.

In addition growing the amount of followers, Twitter can be particularly effective when interacting with customers and fans.

Some of the most effective social media marketing strategies center around YouTube and the viral video. While often more time-consuming and expensive, YouTube can easily become the centerpiece of a larger social media campaign.

Because of its social nature, YouTube can be a great way to interact with customers and get them involved with the marketing as well as the product. An excellent example of social media marketing on YouTube done well was Microsoft's response to the "I'm a Mac" commercials.

Rather than face Apple head on through commercials, Microsoft engaged in a viral "I'm a PC" marketing campaign that centered around customers uploading their own "I'm a PC" video responses. This type of customer interaction is at the core of what social media marketng is all about and is the cornerstone for building an effective strategy.

The more you interact with the customer, the more brand loyalty you build.

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What is Social Media Marketing? - About.com Tech

NCTE Principles for Intellectual Freedom in Education

All students have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others. Denial or restriction of this right is an infringement of intellectual freedom. Toward this end, NCTE encourages school communities to generate, implement, and follow policies and procedures for defending intellectual freedom at the classroom, institution, and system/campus levels to limit and/or address attacks on free expression. Read more . . .

NCTE offers advice, helpful documents, and other support to teachers faced with challenges to texts (e.g. literary works, films and videos, drama productions) or teaching methods used in their classrooms and schools.

There are several ways to report an incident:

Millie Davis, Director, Intellectual Freedom Center

The materials below have been identified by teachers as most useful in preventing and combating censorship.

Students' Right to ReadGives model procedures for responding to challenges, including "Citizen's Request for Reconsideration of a Work."

Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English Language Arts Programs Presents criteria and procedures that ensure thoughtful teacher selection of novels and other materials.

Rationales for Teaching Challenged BooksRich resource section included table of contents of NCTE's Rationales for Commonly Challenged Books CD-ROM, an alphabetical list of other rationales on file, the SLATE Starter Sheet on "How to Write a Rationale," and sample rationales for Bridge to Terabithia and The Color Purple.

Guidelines for Dealing with Censorship of Nonprint MaterialsOffers principles and practices regarding nonprint materials.

Defining and Defending Instructional Methods Gives rationales for various English language arts teaching methods and other defenses against common challenges to them.

Isabel Allendewrites a letter to defend her book The House of the Spirits

Judy Blume has some "Good Words" to share.

Chris Crutchertells us "How They Do It"

NCTE actively began fighting censorship in the 1950's. McCarthyism spurred NCTE to take a more active stance against censorship and, in 1953, NCTE's Committee on Censorship of Teaching Materials published Censorship and Controversy, condemning McCarthy's tactics and championing freedom of thought. In 1962 NCTE published its seminal intellectual freedom guideline The Students' Right to Read, that led to today's active Anti-Censorship program which works with 60-100 educators and school districts a year on challenges to texts used in classrooms. Over these years the Council has voiced its opposition to censorship and promoted intellectual freedom as portrayed in this video clip from the NCTE Centennial Film.

Read more . . .

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National Council of Teachers of English Anti-Censorship Center

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You have heard the expression a dog is a mans best friend, but what about a little girl? Bella Burton proves that a dog can be not only a best friend, but a huge help in getting around. Bella has a debilitating disease, which makes it difficult for her to get around witho...

Spending time in the hospital is never fun. Sure, doctors and nurses are nice and take great care of us, but if youre a six-year-old undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, you can begin to forget what it feels like to be a kid. Read moreNoah Wi...

Dear Earthtalk: Where do the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination stand on environmental issues? -- S.W. In recent decades, Republicans have certainly been far less sympathetic to environmental causes than the Democrats, and this yea...

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Below is the list of recently sold homes for Brookhaven PA. You can review MLS sale prices, home details and public records (including data from the tax assessor's office information) for all of the houses sold recently in Brookhaven. Be sure to bookmark this page and visit ...

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Brookhaven News - Local News for Brookhaven, PA

Trump, the Republican front-runner, said he "would certainly be open to closing [the Internet] in areas where we are at war with somebody" at the CNN Republican debate Tuesday. The billionaire businessman was referencing shutting off parts of the Internet that helped incite or facilitate terrorism.

But Paul said following Trump's strategy was fundamentally against the Constitution.

"If you're going to close the Internet -- that's like something they do in North Korea, something like they do in China -- but it also goes against the Constitution. It goes against the First Amendment," he said on "America's Newsroom" on Fox News.

"Closing the Internet would require a change to our Constitution where we get rid of the First Amendment. That's a big step," he said.

Paul dismissed Trump's current standing in the 2016 horse race, saying that the polls could change in a matter of weeks.

"The polls are very fluid. Ben Carson, who I like a lot, has dropped 20 points," the Kentucky Senator said. "Same thing could happen to Trump."

Paul painted to one of Trump's positions on terrorists as being potential popularity shifters.

"He's talking about killing women and children -- the families of terrorists," he said. "I don't think many Americans want to kill two-year-old children or four-year-old children."

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Rand Paul: Donald Trump Internet plan un-constitutional ...

Trigger warning! This story and video may be unsuitable viewing for the safe space crowd.

Looking to understand just how controversial the debate over free speech on our college campuses really is, filmmaker and satirist Ami Horowitz recently traveled to Yale University, one of our nations most prestigious institutions of higher learning, to speak directly to students.

I decided to take this campus free speech debate to its logical conclusion, said Horowitz, who asked students if theyd sign a petition calling for an outright repeal of the First Amendment. The result was this unbelievable display of total stupidity.

In fact, Horowitz discovered a solid majority of the students asked willingly signed the petition, with several expressing their enthusiastic approval for his anti-First Amendment efforts.

I think its really awesome that youre out here, said one student.

Watch the video to find out just how many supported the petition, and how willing many students were to sign away their more basic rights of free speech and expression.

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Yale fail: Ivy leaguers sign 'petition' to repeal First Amendment