This brilliant infographic by Symphony Teleca entitled “The Meaning of Like”, illustrates how mobile devices and real-time access to review sites and social networks impact consumers’ buying decisions and overall retail experience. Social networks influence buying behavior. The infographic clearly shows that consumers rely on peer recommendations: Links to user-generated content on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest) make up a quarter of the search results for the top 20 brands in the world. Consumers go mobile. MORE >>

So how do you buy your t-shirts, or shoes? And maybe if you were buying an unbranded shoe or a t-shirt from janpath, you might want to take help from your friend in bargaining the prices won’t you? So, right from getting inspired to getting the location of product availability to feedback and then finally buying; shopping is social even in the offline world! And that brings us to a couple of questions everyone is asking today- Is Group Buying going to be the next big thing? Or Is Group buying = social shopping? Reason?- How soon? MORE >>

The launch of Geocities by Yahoo marked for some the beginning of a new revolution in the online media called social networking. Later, several other websites such as Classmates.com and Friendster contributed to the development of social networking to help reach our present day scenario, where we see the domination of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. From an evolutionary standpoint and through historical data, there have been several milestones that have been reached that can help us formulate a true life cycle phenomenon in the social networking space. MORE >>

The #RLTM Scoreboard:  Social Networking Stats for the Week. via  SmartBlog on Social Media. Please email marissa@modernmediapartners.com if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list. 63% of Facebook Users Share Product Info on the Social Network With Friends, Family. Those who share product information on social media are most likely to do so on Facebook, according to a recently released study by 8thBridge. Out of those surveyed, 63% of Facebook users share product info on the social network. MORE >>

With all the hype surrounding Facebook’s public offering, GM’s decision to stop Facebook advertising and the countless articles pointing out how abyssmal click through rates are – we tend to lose sight of the value Social Media provides for marketing. If you are providing content that elicits any sort of emotional response – like, share, comment – from your fans you are tapping into their “preferred” network. Seriously, are you buying anything endorsed by Kim Kardashian ?) Steve Allan, Social Media Specialist. Your thoughts? MORE >>