See that little teeny arrow next to your avatar? You can grab the G+ Widget from the right side of the page when you create your page or create your own with your Gplus avatar and a link to your new page. Once you leave this page, just click “Get Started” under your avatar and you’ll find a place to create a custom badge for your website as well as some good advice from Google about making the most of your page. Everybody’s been arguing over the value of Google Plus lately. Because this is clearly a direct assault on Facebook pages. Not yet. MORE >>

Before wikis were used by the Intelligence Community to develop reports on IEDs , people were creating user badges to show off their favorite NFL teams. So embrace the LOLCats, the fantasy football threads, the lunch discussions, and the custom avatars – at least your employees will be creating and sharing something with someone else. "Even with the sacred printing press, we got erotic novels 150 years before we got scientific journals." " - Clay Shirky at TED Cannes in June 2010. Let's all agree now to stop trying to take the social out of social media. MORE >>

Many companies also create avatar badges for employees to use with their personal profile picture. The problem with any new function in a business is deciding how it fits with existing operations. This could be the reason we see so many social media programs that operate in a sort of silo apart from other outreach. The following list of questions and resources should provide a comprehensive roadmap for developing a strong social media strategy with clear organizational alignment. This is going to be a long post, so let’s get started! The Foundation. Get specific. Reactive? MORE >>

Identity (overview) Profile (Preferences, Claiming, Decorating, Faceted, Private Information) Reflectors Identity Cards Attribution Testimonial Avatar (Default Avatar, Multiple Avatars, Mood Expressions, Gravatar) Personal Dashboard Testimonials (or Personal Recommendations) Presence chapter title: We Are Here! Whats a pattern? Contents 1 Social Patterns & Best Practices 1.1 Principles 1.1.1 Fundamental Principles 1.2 Self 1.2.1 Engagement 1.2.2 Identity 1.2.3 Presence 1.2.4 Reputation 1.3 Activities 1.3.1 Collecting 1.3.2 Broadcasting & Publishing 1.3.3 Unported. MORE >>

Identity (overview) Profile (Preferences, Claiming, Decorating, Faceted, Private Information) Reflectors Identity Cards Attribution Testimonial Avatar (Default Avatar, Multiple Avatars, Mood Expressions, Gravatar) Personal Dashboard Testimonials (or Personal Recommendations) Presence chapter title: We Are Here! Whats a pattern? Contents 1 Social Patterns & Best Practices 1.1 Principles 1.1.1 Fundamental Principles 1.2 Self 1.2.1 Engagement 1.2.2 Identity 1.2.3 Presence 1.2.4 Reputation 1.3 Activities 1.3.1 Collecting 1.3.2 Broadcasting & Publishing 1.3.3 Unported. MORE >>