I know, right? I didn’t know either.

Prince went on to claim that “computers and digital gadgets are no good either and they just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

As much as I’d like to believe the man who penned such insightful lyrics as:

“I ain’t wit that, cuz she too fat, so I give her to my buddy cuz it’s like that!”

I think the web is going to stick around for a while – especially the social web.

Now, I don’t want to speak for Prince, but I can’t help but notice that his “internet is dead” claim came around the same time that Lady Gaga became the first living person to pass 10 million followers on Facebook. Prince only has a little over 230,000.

I’m going to assume that Prince listens to the show and reads our blog, so I want to take this opportunity to say, it’s okay. Let Lady Gaga have Facebook. It’s a big world out there and there are other social networking sites that you can make a run for.

How about China?

Right there you have over 1.3 billion people…and believe me…they love them some internet. Sure, they’re a little restricted by their government, but that doesn’t stop them from leading the world in engagement with the social networks, according to the July-August issue of the Harvard Business Review. In China there are over 176 million social network users and they’re not on Facebook – which is blocked in China – instead they’re split between many different sites.

You could be the star of Qzone or 51.com, heck, play your cards right and you could even dominate wangyou.com while you’re at it.

Keep in mind, each culture is a little different in how they approach social media, so you’ll have to adjust. For instance, people in China tend to be much more open online than they are when face-to-face. Also the Chinese have been found to have a much higher tolerance for intrusive calls to action – so don’t be afraid to push that new CD while you’re there or add some friends to your Farmtown or Mafia war.

Once China is taken care of, consider moving on to India. Like the Chinese, Indians are sited as being at the forefront of social media usage as 23% of their online population is involved in micro-blogging sites like Twitter, compared to only 7% in the US.

Now, be warned, Facebook usage is growing in India – and growing fast. Facebook has experienced 400% growth within India in the past year alone. However, the number one site in India is still Google’s Orkut. But just to be safe, I suggest you target ibibo and Fropper too.

Speaking of Orkut, that brings me to my final recommendation:

Prince, my friend, I see no better place for you than Brazil.

According to Nielsen research, Brazil is the country that leads the world in both usage and time spent on social networks. Nearly 80% of the population is active on social networking sites, and of that group, 73% use Orkut. Furthermore, Brazilians have been found to carefully craft their online persona, much like you would Mr. “Artist formally known as but now known as again”. Everything they do and say online is thought out and intended to promote the image they want to portray about themselves.

Which brings me back to Lady Gaga. Let’s be honest, she’s a big star and I get it – she kind of stole your act and maybe some of your fans. But don’t blame the internet. To borrow a phrase that we’ve been hearing lately, the internet is just too big to fail. So adapt, try new things and embrace your future fanbase on Fropper, before Lady Gaga does.

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This post was featured as a social media dream segment of the July 8th edition of This Week In Social Media.

Kevin Smith is an Account Supervisor at PJA Advertising & Marketing. Follow him on Twitter: @Mr_KevinSmith

Not too long ago, travelers that wanted to complain about an airline or hotel would be sitting on hold for a long, long time, usually listening to very bad hold music with a recorded voice every now and again reminding them that their call is important…even if it’s really not.

Well the “glory days” are over and social media has made complaining about someone’s product or service not only much more of a creative exercise, but also much more effective.

Sure, there are many people that use tools like Twitter for run-of-the-mill complaints about fuzzy cable or delayed flights, and do so in a very similar way to how they would over the phone. However, many have proven that if you really want your complaint to mean something you have to put a little more thought into it.

For instance, musicians among us have probably heard that United Airlines breaks guitars. When Dave Carroll, a singer with the band Sons of Maxwell, had his $3,500 guitar broken by some uncaring baggage handlers at United Airlines, he complained in a way he knew best – musically – and on YouTube. His first United song has over 8.7 million views and United was forced to contact him directly and “make it right”, which they would not do when he first simply called them.

Another example comes from a man with a great name (if I do say so myself), director Kevin Smith. At the time of his, now-famous, incident with Southwest airlines when he was kicked off a plane for being “too wide” for one seat, Mr. Smith already had quite an online following with over 1.6 million twitter followers and a blog with a loyal readership. He immediately used both to get a public apology from Southwest and put many of Southwest’s policies into question – also very publicly.

But you don’t have to be famous or be a musician in order to have your complaint go viral. A Virgin Airlines passenger drafted what some claim is the ‘world’s best complaint letter’. The result of the letter – besides quite a bit of press – was a personal call from Sir Richard Branson thanking him for his “constructive if tongue-in-cheek” e-mail.

How many times has a CEO called you after a complaint – let alone a knight?

Becoming a more vocal traveler is becoming easier too. The travel market research firm PhocusWright claims that “social media use among travelers is growing faster than the travel industry itself as unique monthly visitors to social travel sites jumped 24% between the first have of 2008 and the last half of 2009”.

And it makes sense when you think about it in terms of ‘the strength of weak ties’ (PDF), a theory often cited when talking about networking or a job search. However, it’s just as applicable in the travel industry, now that social media has come into play.

Someone out there in the fringe of your social network has had an experience that you can gain from and that new information will be the determining factor in your decision process – whether it comes to you as a tweet, status comment or video. Have any doubts? Just ask any musician you know if they’ll be taking United the next time they fly.

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This post was featured as a social media dream segment of the July 1st edition of This Week In Social Media.

Kevin Smith is an Account Supervisor at PJA Advertising & Marketing. Follow him on Twitter: @Mr_KevinSmith

Recently, PricewaterhouseCoopers released their latest update to their Global Entertainment & Media Outlook for 2010-2014.

As you can imagine, much of the report focused on the impact of new media and the observation that “consumers are embracing new media experiences with staggering speed.”

More specifically, they claimed that the trend propelling the entertainment and media industry most is the “re-socialisation” of the media consumption experience.

According to Marcel Fenez from PWC, “Historically reading books or newspapers has been a solitary activity. However the combination of digital access, mobility and social networking is seeing consumption of all forms of media migrate from a solo activity towards being a social experience as consumers use social networking forums to discuss and share their views and content.”

However, many would argue that this trend of “re-socialization” doesn’t end with the entertainment and media industry – but rather, extends to all industries, as even simple purchases are moving from solo activities to social activities.

Not too long ago, Rubicon Consulting released a whitepaper citing online communities – including Facebook and Twitter – as the second most influential factor in US consumer purchases – second only to direct word of mouth. Interestingly, the report found that:

• Small groups of enthusiasts dominate most online conversations. In fact, only about 9% of web users produce 80% of all user-generated content.

Given the above statistic, it’s not hard to agree with another key finding within the report: most web users are voyeurs more than contributors.

Now, before knowing those two statistics you may have imagined social networks as being similar to a beehive – chaotic, a lot of noise and no real focus. However, the findings from the Rubicon research suggest that social networks are more like a theatre – a small group of people ‘perform’ while others watch and form their opinions based upon the performance.

So, who’s performing in these social networks? According to the April 2010 issue of the Harvard Business Review, it’s most likely the “extreme consumers”. These are the evangelists, bloggers and the early adopters of a brand. They interact with the brands online and they interact often. Most often, they’re loyal, they have resources to develop long-term purchasing relationships with the brand, and they add value either by spreading the word or trying to improve the product or service through their feedback.

So, now that you know who they are, how do you use them? The HBR article suggests the following:

• Let customers take ownership

Give them the tools and channels to help attract other customers

• Ask customers for help

Whether it’s product testing or small feedback, when customers feel that they’re a part of the process, they’re happier with the results.

• Sponsor events

Tailoring events for your extreme consumers can promote a feeling of belonging and create a positive buzz that lasts longer than the typical industry news cycle.

• Share customer stories

As mentioned, social media and word of mouth carry the most influence in terms of purchasing behavior. So help spread the word.

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This post was featured as a social media nightmare segment of the July 17th edition of This Week In Social Media.

Kevin Smith is an Account Supervisor at PJA Advertising & Marketing. Follow him on Twitter: @Mr_KevinSmith