It is not really a surprising news if you ask me. First of all, I told you about the female Internet in autumn 2008. At the time, I reported that Women’s community was the most visited and fastest growing Internet category, tied with politics according to ComScore Media Metrix’s year-end report.

I attributed these statistics to the fact that women are the ones who typically lead conversations, share information amongst themselves and create relationships with their peers. This is basically what social media is all about. What surprised me is what age groups haves the most users. As you can see, it is either 35 to 44 years old or 45 to 55 years old.

I added the more popular age group on the graph produced by Information is Beautiful. The data were compiled by Brian Solis.

+ via a tweet by Miss Rogue

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We installed BackType Connect to integrate related Twitter conversations into the post comments. It is not hard to do by yourself. Adding a plugin in WordPress usually works like a charm.

Since we are perfectionists, I asked my tech guy to fine-tune a few things that required his programming skills. One thing, Jerome did what to add the @ character before the username of every tweet (see the arrow on the image). This way, it is easier for you to notice that the comment originated from Twitter.

If you are a blogger, you probably notice that comments on blogs are broken. They are because many people say they like your post on Facebook or share their opinions about your posts on other social networks. I personally concentrate my efforts on Twitter and Facebook. Since Facebook is a closed network, we cannot export the comments and likes.  For Twitter, you can retrieve the relevant tweets. On tools that enable you to do this is BackType Connect that works for WordPress blogs.

Besides Twitter, your can include comments from Digg, FriendFeed, Reddit and Hacker News. Here is a small description from the information BackType is gathering per social networks.

• Twitter – whenever someone tweets one of your posts
• FriendFeed – whenever someone comments on an entry for one of your posts
• Digg – whenever someone comments on a submission for one of your posts
• Reddit – whenever someone comments on a submission for one of your posts
• Hacker News – whenever someone comments on a submission for one of your posts
• Other Blogs – whenever someone comments on a post that links to one of yours (I do not recommend this option)

For my blogs, I feel that only tweets are making sense. Analyze what it is best for you. There are a few preferences amongst which I choose to:

• Not include retweets with no additional comment
• Do not include connected conversations from my own blog
• Mix comments by time stamp. Since I believe in the life stream effect, I feel it is easier for people to follow conversations as they happen. The other option is to separate the tweets from the blog comments.

The only thing I wish there was available is to eliminate my own tweets. Since I promote every post on Twitter, I feel it adds noise.

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I put that story on hold after the long weekend. Plus, the summer vacations are at our door. I am writing this now because it is always after a vacation or a break that it is the hardest to get back to our blogging schedule.

People often ask me if I get the writer’s block. I don’t! I always have more stories than time on my hands. Many elements contribute to that fact. Let’s explore the ones that could be useful to you.

Frequency

The main reason in my mind is the fact that I write every day. The more you write, the easier it gets but most importantly, the more ideas pop up. But that does not mean that you have no chance to succeed if you do not write every day. There are other ways to achieve frequency.

You can write a few tweets about your topic every day, have a conversation with peers, post a few comments on related blogs. The idea is to concentrate on your blog topic for at least 15 to 20 minutes every day.

Do not waste any ideas

Develop a fast system to track potential story lines. I use the notes on my iPhone to do that. Audio notes will work too. Before my iPhone, I used the old fashioned way where I scribbled my thoughts on a pocket notebook that I carried around everywhere.

When you are hooked to your computer, create a draft post on Wordpress or Blogger for each future topic.  They will be there whenever you need it.

If you do that daily, it is enough to keep the creative flow active.

RSS Feeds

When I started blogging four years ago, I used to read my RSS feeds every morning before writing my first post. I bookmarked my favorite posts. Sometimes, I would write a post about the best of what you read that day. Most of the times, simply reading your RSS feeds puts your brain in the right set of mind and a story will emerge from nowhere.

Be sure to select a wide enough niche

The key to my inspiration is not only that I write about what I am passionate about. The fact that my topics (home design, entertaining and social media) are very dynamic universes helps a lot. There are always new ideas, new products, practical tips or solutions, sharing experiences to talk about.

If you have problems finding good stories all year long, ask yourself if the angle of your blog confines you. Analyze if it would be appropriate to add a new dimension to your talk.

With everyone having a busy life, people are also looking for curators. Examine how and if you can write useful short posts (75 words or less) a few times a week. Ask yourself what will be useful to your readers may be the only question you should answer to release the creative juice.

For a boost of creativity, watch the handmade video portraits of an inspiring etsy seller, birdhouseaccents.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Birdhouses created by Fred and Lynn of Birdhouseaccents on etsy

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Newspapers are endangered species. Like many industries, it must adapt to its time. Although it is easier to read a print media, the hyperlinks, the velocity of the news and the multimedia power of the Internet clearly highlighted the weakness of the print media. Look at how this article I read on the San Francisco magazine is enriched by simply putting the hyperlinks.

Journalism is not dead but to survive these professionals must adapt. San Francisco is known for being a bed of fresh ideas. San Francisco magazine produced two excellent articles this July on how journalism could adapt to better serve their communities.

IDEO explores how we might someday experience the news

I particularly like the conclusions from an IDEO retreat on the future of journalism. If you do know them, IDEO is a consulting firm renowned for its creative problem solving. They take a design approach to create human-centered innovation and how to experience products and services.

The Power of Being Hyperlocal

People care about what happen in their communities. Readers said over and over that they want hyperlocal information and coverage on niche topics. They care about what affects their daily life. The Web enables anyone, including news media, to deliver specific choices to people. But the local newspapers cannot afford anymore to properly cover the news by neighborhoods. Many blogs have filled that gap and gained the trust of their readers.

Blogs are an affordable way to cater to a specific crowd. By establishing partnerships with residents, passionate bloggers and citizen journalists who concentrate on niches, local newspapers could aggregate these local stories. Then, the local newspapers could concentrate on more global stories. This is one way they can modernize their process.

Social media offers great ways to deliver the news. Anyone in the community could report and comments on facts and events. Non-profit news agency could provide fact-checking services that even citizen journalists could afford.

Multimedia Storytelling

Some journalism schools are starting to recognize the current challenge and the need to prepare their students for the new reality of journalism.

Berkeley provides a Digital News Project where 60 students participated so far. Thanks to a $500,000 grant from Ford Foundation, they produced 7 hyperlocal news Websites where they put in practice multimedia storytelling.

The content is excellent and well researched. In fact, Mission Local, on the most popular site, repeatedly scooped the San Francisco Chronicle on breaking news stories in 2008. There is a bright future for journalism.  And I wish that citizens and bloggers could collaborate in this adventure.

MORE:
+ Ignore the clutter by Caroline Lea
+ Newspapers are dead. Long live journalism! by Nina Martin
+ News Flash from the Future produced by IDEO
+ Credits: Shown Illustrations by Tom Manning for IDEO

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San Francisco is known as a city with a diverse pool of Web 2.0 professionals. So maybe it is not surprising that the City of San Francisco launched a Twitter application where anyone can send direct messages (DM) to report a problem or send a request to the city’s customer service hotline.

Twitter became one more point of contact with the 311 Customer Service Center. View “Sample Tweets” of their most requested services to help ensure you provide the information needed to properly service your request. 311 can help with:

• Street Cleaning
• Graffiti Removal
• Pothole and Sidewalk Defects
• Abandoned Vehicles
• City Garbage Can Maintenance
• Department Information (office hours, location, phone numbers)
• … and much more!

Added Value of Attaching Pictures to Your Requests

Like any direct message that you send on Twitter, you can attach a picture. This is an added value of the Twitter reporting.  Seeing the pictures help the City gives a round estimate of the problem. With that added information, the City could better and faster prioritize every request.

If you are not on twitter, know that San Francisco residents, businesses or tourists wishing to get non-emergency information or request services pertaining to San Francisco government may call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by dialing 311 and talk to a real person.

+ Via RT @jeromeparadis : RT @mathewi : @craignewmark

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Each pet has its profile page. It starts with community members assigning a cuteness level to pets in Cute as Hell. If you are up for the challenge, you can enter your pets in the Thunderdome which is a big tournament to find the Cutest Pet of All. The winner get a prize.

Cute as Hell’s business model involves a pet store with 1300 products right now. You can also vote on pet products.The fourth element of Cute as Hell will be launched in a few months.  It is a directory of pet services from animal shelters, groomers to veterinarians.

Animals are divided in birds, cats, dogs, fish, reptiles and others. I also like the design of the site. We live with two beautiful and adorable cats. We will grab our camera and go in search for the most lovable pictures.

+ Via Mashable

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In the first part, I highlighted key statistics about women Internet usage.  Learn why and how women use social media. These statistics will help any blogger grasp the extent of the women and mom social media universe.

Continue with part 2

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Since my goal is follow people who say things that are relevant to me, I did not see at first how Mr. Tweet could help me. As I gathered the info for this post, I decided to give Mr. Tweet a second chance. It seems only fair. I learned that they made several changes since they launched.

I tried this morning the “Discover new people based on my recent activities” feature. I do not know exactly how it works except that it is based on my recent follows and tweets. I read their blog and find some clues on how to make the best of their tool.

How I used Mr. Tweet so far

When I assess the possibility of following someone, I checked who followed them on my followers. Name in bold are people who interact often with the recommended Tweeple. Basically, it gives me an idea of who trust them from the Tweeple I follow. I can see their last tweets and viewed their Twitter usage statistics. I may open their Twitter page to see more.

Overall results: I am following a few more Tweeple now and I discovered new blogs.

I wish for a filtering system where I could enter a few twitter names, or other parameters before I see who I do not follow.

Notice that Mr. Tweet is not a real-time service. They updated their recommendation lists twice a week. When they show me a new name, they identify them as New. Otherwise, I get their current rank on my list with an up or down arrow to show me the trend in my list position.

I will continue to use Mr. Tweet sporadically over the next months. I will see how it goes.

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Pixman takes advantage of the momentum created by this historic event to get the words out about their technology. After all, Pixman provides nomadic media solutions to advertisers and help brands established virtual communities. The chairman of Pixman is Daniel Langlois, a man that is well-known for bringing multimedia innovative ideas.  Pixman hired VDL2 three weeks ago to make their Web 2.0 idea a reality.  I have friends that work at VDL2. It is impressive what you can accomplish in three weeks these days.

What is in it for you?

The World is ecstatic to the prospect of having Obama as the American President. On their site, you can read that Pixman let people from around the world connect to the first iconic figure of the 21st century: Barack Obama. On January 20th, 2009 United States will enter in a new era with the inauguration of Barack Obama as President. To celebrate your happiness, excitement, hopes and simply to congratulate the man, join the wave and post your home video.

If you are lucky, you can meet a Pixman cameraman in one of the 30 Worldwide cities. They will capture your 5-second video and link it to a globe map. If you deliver a great performance, you may be the lucky ones  with extracts featured in a special medley delivered to Obama. Be part of the Worldwide Wave for Obama.

+ Join The Wave

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A year ago, Twitter was only used by the in the know social media crowd. Since the middle of 2008, new user groups have emerged. New mothers use Twitter to inform their friends and family of what is going on with their newborn. The foodies are a very active crowd on Twitter. I also follow several wedding and event planners.

Some types of users felt the need to connect deeper than the 140 characters. Social networking sites are born like Twitter Moms that now count 5,400+ awesome moms who love Twittering. Moms can connect, discuss and create groups of interest.

New Services to Enhance the Experience

twitTangle comes handy when you follow a large of Tweeple. twitTangle enables you to organize your followers in custom groups and to filter your timeline for a specific group.

Since this morning Mr. Tweet follows me. This new service aims to recommend new Tweeple to follow based on your current network. It sounds interesting. Mr. Tweet is not ready to serve a large crowd. I am waiting my invitation to give it a try.

Are you on Twitter? If so, I invite you to follow me.

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