As part of your ticket purchase, guests were treated with two drinks and plenty of mingling and networking they could handle. But showing that we’re more than tech geeks, the closing party was also a fundraiser to help benefit the work done by Internet solution company NetSquared towards helping educate non-profit companies on how to use social media technologies.

Here are some photos from the closing party:

Biz360’s Maria Ogneva & Ryan Kuder

Violet Blue, Ben Metcalfe & Cathy Brooks

A representative from NetSquared tells the crowd about their efforts helping non-profits.

The crowd at 111 Minna celebrating Social Media Week

Claire Chang, Rachel Polish & Gregarious Narain

Derek Overbey, Brett Petersel, Adrian Chan, Claire Chang & Tina Hui

You can’t really tell, but Chris Heuer is spinning the tunes on stage

Brian Remmel, Kristie Wells, Derek Overbey, Tina Hui, Anthony Grant, Claire Chang, Bernadette Balla, Brett Petersel, Gregarious Narain, Adrian Chan, Maria Ogneva & Chris Heuer

Wednesday, February 3rd  I attended the kickoff of Motally’s moChats. Motally plans to hold a moChat the 1st. Wednesday of every month at their cozy headquarters in SOMA.  MoChats are casual talks designed to share insights about successful mobile development and optimizing mobile sites and apps through analytics. Analytics is what Motally provides, not only for mobile devices on the iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms but also for the Apple iPad.

Pizza and drinks, including adult beverages, were served while sitting around a projector and chatting about Motally. Many features were discussed including the 2-way communications, user statistics such as unique users, page views, top referrers, top devices etc.  Also discussed was their search tracking feature.  When someone does an internal search on a mobile website, the website publisher can track what happens after the search to determine whether an action took place.  For example, say an individual searches for pizza on a mobile website and then later makes a phone call to place an order.  This is the type of data that is captured by Motally’s analytics and is particularly useful for sites that have strong search functionality. In fact, Yelp,  the local search and review site is one of its customers. Other clients include Fandango, IAC , Portable Zoo, and Verve Wireless.

Connect with Motally on Twitter at and keep up with them and all the excitement at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 15-18th or if you are in Barcelona, Motally will be at RIM’s App Planet in Hall 7, booth 7B26. You can also join them at the next Motally moChat on Wednesday, March 3rd.

The Motally Team at the AppShowcase/Buzzworthy Event.

The premise behind StopTweet is that it’s an easier Twitter management tool than many of the others, making it easier for the average Twitter user to set up. And StopTweet is pretty simple to use; it’s got an easily-navigated interface and several blocking and reporting options that you won’t find on Twitter’s main site.

One of the drawback’s to Twitter and its process for handling spam or abusive content and behavior on Twitter is that the company itself has to take a rather top-down approach to anything it implements. This requires overarching modifications to its system, affecting all users. Any changes made on such a high level means that individual needs aren’t being met as readily as they could through the use of third party services.

Additionally, Twitter is able to primarily address the content and behavior as it pertains to the direct use of its site. While this is useful for those that are on the main site, there is still a good amount of Twitter activity that takes place through remote interactions (email and social network integration) and third party applications.

Spam on Twitter is only getting to be a larger issue, as more automated capabilities and trends permeate throughout our Twitter culture. Many users are forgoing the regular checking of direct messages all together, because they too are riddled with bot and automated tweets that are spammy or down right annoying.

Finding the best way to deal with Twitter spam is still an ongoing issue, for Twitter as well as third party services. As Twitter continues to grow in size and reach, it’s more than likely going to find additional ways in which to help users manage the spam associated with their Twitter accounts.

We’re surely going to see a growing interest in the dealing of spam and abusive behavior on Twitter, similar to the process that was applied to the major email clients a few years back. With spam becoming such a large issue for publicaly-shared social media outlets, something more definitive will have to be instituted on a wide scale.

Even beyond Twitter, spam, malware and abusive behavior within social media networks is going to be something that the networks themselves have to deal with. As the networks open further to public sharing and forums, something will need to be done about the onslaught of spam.

Microsoft has said in a blog post that the decision to stop selling display ads on Facebook was a mutual decision, and that Microsoft would like to focus on the aspects of Facebook advertising that make sense. As Microsoft has already shared its plans to expand its current Bing offering on Facebook, it appars as though search may have a lot to do with the monetization of Facebook and related advertising options.

Right now Microsoft Bing is still rolling out new features on a regular basis, seeking additional adoption from web users and mobile users alike. Upon launch, Bing was already rather inclusive as far as features go, with a multimedia approach to search that also leveraged the social web more directly than Google. Incorporating Twitter and Facebook into their long term search plans indicates Microsoft’s hopes around the social web as they pertain to its own investment in Facebook.

Bing’s search results on Facebook, however, are pretty dismal. Going along with Facebook’s simple format for displaying information, it’s difficult to even tell that it’s a Bing search. Unlike the vibrancy of Bing’s main search portal, Bing results on Facebook are merely a series of links. That’s archaic compared to most search engine’s increasing ability to better contextualize search data. This is particularly notable as far as Bing is concerned, as its move towards contextual search results is one way in which Microsoft could be looking to out-do Google.

This process of contextualizing search data has been an ideal attached to the potential of social networking platforms, with Facebook leading the race. As Facebook continues to open up its platform towards more default public sharing, Microsoft’s Bing is leveraging that publicly-shared information to provide more relative search results in some cases. Tying search into more aspects of our actual Facebook experience can be another way in which an improved Bing presence on the social network could be used to Microsoft’s advantage.

The old tactic of becoming a default tool across as many partnering services as possible is one that Microsoft is now able to better employ on web-related platforms, particularly Facebook. With the social network claiming over 375 million users now, accessing those users on such a large scale could be a major benefit for Microsoft Bing.

With the new iPhone app, WeeWorld is taking its virtual environments one step closer to the mobile realm. Having incorporated itself into a wider-range virtual world and porting that to other platforms such as Facebook, WeeWorld has been rather calculated in its strategy towards expansion. Having a greater mobile presence indicates that WeeWorld is seeking better engagement and interactivity with new and existing users. I, for one, would love to see more ways in which to interact with my virtual environments through my mobile device.

While there aren’t many direct ways in which the new WeeWorld avatar creator can interact with the WeeWorld’s online virtual world, the new iPhone app is certainly a step in the right direction. Given the growing presence virtual environments have on our every day social interactions, even something less involved such as an avatar can have a great impact on the mobile and associated web-based markets.

Virtual goods, for one, present an opportunity for WeeWorld to increase visibility and revenue by offering an iPhone app such as this, especially if the economy around purchasing accessories for an avatar grows through WeeWorld’s mobile presence. Tying this in with other socially-driven platforms and marketplaces is a good way for WeeWorld to segment and re-aggregate a good portion of its existing and upcoming options around its virtual environments.

Especially with the upcoming release of the Apple iPad, WeeWorld could have even more chances to combine its mobile and web-based efforts. As the iPad will have a greater focus on web activity and mobile browsers, the opportunity for Facebook apps to increase their mobile options may be achieved with the iPad and similar devices. For those, such as WeWorld, that already have iPhone apps, the potential behind the iPad is even greater for mobile access and interfacing options with its users.

A new option from Yield Software gives you a taste of what the company can provide to help with your website behavior needs. Features include content recommendations and inbound link building and outbound link repair. Also included is info on URL structure and content, as as well as data on page accessibility and performance.

With these features you can see a range of options that Yield Software has with its premium service, which combines several aspects of web page monitoring and analysis. Yield Software tracks all the metrics, lets you set up various actions to be run automatically, and also recommends what areas can be improved for optimizing your web page. Creating a central hub for managing all of this is where Yield Software aims to stand out from the rest.

Having raised $6 million in funding from Draper Fisher Jurveston and launching its flagship product about a year ago, Yield Software has also spent the last few months building out the options around its service. In creating a central operations tool for website publishers, Yield Software is now looking to improve upon its own products and services to become more prevalent in its space. Yield Software has been hailed as a pretty powerful tool for what it does, and the automation of its services is a main focus of its overall goals.

As we push towards a web-based market for things like content-sharing, marketing, advertising, brand engagement, research and education, the amount of content to be published and searched for on the web will only continue to increase. While Google, Bing and other search engines look to compile all of that shared information in order to make it easier for you to find, Yield Software appeals to publishers and small businesses to make it easier for you to leverage those search tools in order to increase your visibility.

The move towards contextual search has also raised the bar for services like Yield Build, as they must also seek ways in which to provide publishers with the tools necessary for becoming a highly trafficked web resource. Search engines are looking to provide direct answers instead of mere links that reroute us all across the web. That means the very nature of the content will change, pulling its context out and shifting the way in which we consume and interact with our search results. Staying on top of the continuously changing face of search marketing is a tough task. Preserving your productivity and your sanity almost requires a tool like Yield Software.

This day-long unconference was hosted by the Social Media Club and offered a standard program while offering attendees the chance to have their own agenda by suggesting topics they wanted to share or hear from.  With 10 unconference panels and five traditional sessions, the attendees were treated to a variety of viewpoints and perspectives that they could take away.

Social Media Camp opened up with three keynotes along the lines of how to frame your conversation. From Khris Loux (Echo) to Kevin Marks (Ribbit/BT) and Cathy Brooks (Social Media Hour/Other Than This), lessons on building a conversation by understanding the synaptic web and coming to terms on being comfortable with what we do were cleverly given before moving on to focusing on more social media marketing principles. Other panels covered measurement in social media, social media & marketing, how customer service is the big thing in 2010, understanding collaboration, and the reality of the real-time web.

Here are some photos from the event:

Chris Heuer kicks off the Social Media Camp.

Echo founder, Khris Loux, gives his opening keynote on the synaptic web.

Kevin Marks talking about the art of tummeling.

Cathy Brooks gives her spin on the art of storytelling.

Maria Ogneva from Biz360 moderates a talk on social media metrics.

Chris Pitre (Idea) moderates a panel featuring Kristie Wells (Ribbit), Bliss Dake (Mighty Leaf Tea) and Thor Muller (GetSatisfaction).

Brian Zisk (Collecta), Jeremy Toeman (Stage Two) and Jolie O’Dell (ReadWriteWeb)

You can view more photos from this event by clicking here.

Concern from users, yes. We’ve seen plenty of that. Several blogs have made resource guides for aiding users in setting up their new privacy settings, with others merely pointing out the ramifications of the new privacy settings.

Yet a recent study has finally revealed what users have been doing on Facebook since the new privacy settings were rolled out late last year. Turns out, a good portion of them have gone and modified their Facebook privacy settings. Many of those that did so were Facebook users that had never even bothered with their privacy settings, meaning that Facebook’s changes have highlighted the concern around user privacy.

According to BayNewser, 35% of Facebook users that updated their privacy settings as a result of the changes were users that had never done so previously. This indicates that the very act of releasing new privacy default settings has brought about enough concern from users to drive them to action.

It also indicates that Facebook did a good job with its own education of its users. Upon revealing the new privacy settings, Facebook posted a large welcome greeting to all of its users, alerting them to the changes that had been instituted. A link was also provided for them to update their privacy settings, as well as explanations as to what each new default setting means for their social graph interaction.

While Facebook could have done a better job explaining the new settings individually, I think Facebook did a pretty good job of making its users aware of the changes. The education process around any major updates Facebook makes on an executive level is a task in and of itself, potentially conjuring a massive backlash from users or the temporary entanglement of its customer service department.

With users updating their privacy settings instead of leaving Facebook all together, it’s clear that Facebook has become an important aspect of many users’ regular communication with others. This level of user commitment to Facebook is what the company relies on for brand loyalty, allowing the social network to make changes on such a large scale.

With other growing networks such as Twitter reaching high rates of growth, Facebook is also looking to remain competitive in the space. The public acceptance of more open sharing has also given Facebook the validation it needed to move forward with the new privacy settings.

As a relatively private network by default, however, Facebook also helps to create the standards around with we operate our social networking behavior. With that being said, it’s also important for Facebook to retain its commitment to its user base. Bringing up the topic of privacy to its users was a forcible action, but a necessary one.

As social networks become more integrated with each other and accessible on multiple devices, consumers will have to continue to address their own privacy concerns when it comes to social networking. Realizing the gravity of their social networking privacy is the next step towards revolutionizing the way in which we communicate, ultimately shaping every existing and upcoming social network that sees success in the future.