In other countries social networks are not yet the main way that people interact online – they use message boards, forums, blogs and other social media tools. The Social Network. Facebook will today announce that it has reached 500 million users. This number is incredible, and perhaps even more impressive is the rate at which the social network is growing. Just five months ago they had 400 million users. The site’s user base has grown by 25% in less than half a year. Incredible stuff. But let’s not get carried away by this. And all too often it isn’t. Tweet This! MORE >>

It is getting a fair bit of content that is more like this particular blog post than an idea of lightbulb moment. Image by Kaptain Kobold via Flickr. LEGO is a brand that many people are very passionate about, a brand people love and we’ve written before about how they use segmentation to engage their consumer base from children to enthusiasts in an innovative way. Now they have continued their innovative approaches to engagement and embraced social media. In a big way. The site is designed to bring together ideas in written form, images and videos. MORE >>

The survey highlights the ways in which these firms are using social media and is also insightful in terms of the tools and platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or a corporate blog) they are using. It is interesting to compare the use of the different tools – Twitter is the most popular and blogging the least. Facebook and YouTube are next (54% and 50% respectively) with corporate blogs the least used (just 33% of firms surveyed). 82% of those using Twitter have tweeted within the last week, whilst only 36% of those with blogs have added a new post in the last week. MORE >>

Commentful – This service watches comments/follow-ups on Blog posts and similar content such as Flickr or Digg. Icerocket – Searches a variety of online services, including Twitter, blogs, videos and MySpace. Technorati – Search engine and monitoring tool for user-generated media and blogs. Image by clownbastard via Flickr. When brands are getting started in social media , they really benefit from understanding who is currently talking about them online, what they are saying, to whom and where. The best results come from using paid-for services such as Radian6. Yahoo! MORE >>

From the short stories on Twitter and other micro blogs, to the stories you share with people on message boards or the longer stories you might post on a blog or in a discussion. Image by Jill Clardy via Flickr. In online communities it is the content that matters most. People talk to and with each other not because they know each other or are already connected. Rather, because they share a similar interest, question, concern, ambition, query, challenge or other issue. People engage with each other on content and not on connections. View more presentations from Jenni Lloyd. MORE >>