Google Wave the latest new service by Google is out and ready for use. What’s the catch? Only a certain number of invites have been sent out by Google to users. The people who receive the first invites have the power to send invites to others. (Does this remind you when Gmail first came out? The same thing happened then. Now with the use of social networks, forums, chat applications the people who haven’t gotten an invite yet are trying their best to find people who would be willing to send them an invite. There are websites formed around this demand and people selling them on Ebay too! Apparently there was a Google Wave Invite being sold on Ebay for $70! There is also a website http://www.wave-info.info/ which apparently sends you an invite within the hour if you tweet the following on your Twitter account: “@wave_info Requested my Google Wave Invite! Get yours now at http://www.wave-info.info/ – #googlewave #googlewaveinvite.” I tried it since I still haven’t received an invite but it didn’t work.

It’s interesting to see how social media optimization has been used to promote Google Wave. People have been using Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to talk about their experiences with the service. People who haven’t received an invite are trying to connect with those who would be willing to give them an invite through their interaction on social networks. Social media optimization is a great marketing strategy for businesses to get feedback and test out a product or service. Social media optimization is the strategy that promotes a particular website through the interaction of social networks. Companies can use their business profiles on a number of social networks to promote a particular product or service. Asking a consumer for their feedback or opinion gives the customer a feeling of being appreciated. When a number of consumers express their like or dislike for your product or service you will be able to get an idea of the kind of response your product will get on a larger scale without investing too much money in the initial phases.

source: http://www.wave-info.info

If you receive a positive response through social networks you can gage that this product or service would be a successful product if you launch it on a larger scale. Sometimes through the feedback of a consumer you will get an idea to improve your product or service even more. Promoting a product or service through social media optimization is a lot more affordable that promoting through the television or newspaper. Social media optimization allows you to get a response back. It’s two way communication. Information is sent out from the business to its consumers and the consumers are able to respond back.

With a television or newspaper its only information being sent out to the consumers without having any idea how the consumers felt about it. Once you engage your followers through a social network it is important to keep them active with regular updates exclusive offers and promotions. You can distribute pictures and videos also to keep up their interest and curiosity and attract them to visit your company website. However social media optimization is not as simple as it looks. You need the guidance of an experienced professional to help you put a strategy in place. Social media optimization services are offered by Offshore SEO companies that will help your company website generate quality traffic through social networks. Eventually just like Gmail everyone will receive their invite for Google Wave. But the initial Google Wave hype on social networks will Google an idea of how this service is being received by consumers. They will get an idea if people are like the service or people want changes made. Rumor has it that this service is so diverse and interactive that it could altogether replace the need for email. I will definitely let you know what I think of Google Wave once I get my invite. Google Luck for those out there who are still waiting to receive their invite!

Google Wave is the newest Google tool to hit the Internet. Google created this tool so that a number of users can share a conversation or a document that incorporates photos, videos, maps and rich text format at the same time. In fact you can see users sharing embedding, discussing while they are in action and you are all logged in at the same time! The idea of Google Wave is to create a platform where a number of users can discuss and share a variety of information in different forms. Google Wave developers created this tool so that users can email, chat through social networks, share pictures, or any other bits of information they please. It also records all the conversations you have with other users through Google Wave and allows you to capture what you find interesting and directly post it to your blog. Internet marketers predict Google Wave’s innovative qualities will replace the email concept altogether.

Hotmail and Yahoo used to be the most sought after email service websites on the Internet. Since Gmail was introduced by Google they have never regained their fame as it once was. Google has noticed Microsoft’s effort to introduce and popularize the new search engine Bing. Bing has succeeded and gained a lot of hype for its image and video search features. But Google will not sit idle and wait for Microsoft to come up with a new email service. In fact, Google has beat them to the punch by coming up with something better than email and eventually replacing the need of it altogether. Who would want a regular email service when you have a tool such as Google Wave to email, chat, share and communicate everything else you could ever need?

source: http://www.deviantart.com

Google Wave has been designed to keep the needs of companies and businesses in mind as well. They have easy options to upload and send attachments to others with just a drag of your mouse. Apparently Google Wave’s upload and download speeds are faster than the regular email services you can find on the Internet. Did I mention you can add your own applications? Offshore SEO companies will be keeping a close watch on this tool to see how they can optimize websites through Google Wave. Google Wave will be an essential social media and communication resource for businesses and companies to utilize so that quality traffic can be directed back to their websites.

The same Google developers that created Google Maps are the ones to come up with Google Wave. Google is giving schools and businesses the first hand look of the tool because they have designed the tool keeping educational institutions and corporations in mind. Seek professional assistance with an Offshore SEO company that can help you make the necessary adjustments to your website so it will be Google Wave friendly. Offshore SEO companies are aware of the latest social media and communication platforms on the Internet that will help attract users to visit your website.

Google Wave is the new big topic that everyone is focused on. And it deserves the attention. I recently read an article by Ben Parr from Mashable about Twave. Twave is the Google Wave extension for Twitter. And as I was reading the comments left behind, I couldn’t help but notice the excitement it is causing.

I also noticed a lot of people saying that they will stop using applications like TweetDeck if Twave matches up with them. Does this mean what I think it means? Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that if Google Wave matches the services provided by the countless other Twitter applications sites, then all those sites will be obsolete. Why would we need to use them when we can complete all our work on one single page? It will surely be a monopoly in a field that was very recently emerging – that of all the Twitter applications that are still being developed or already in use.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/

Personally, I do not know head or tales of what it takes to create an application. But Google, being the giant it is, would certainly by able to integrate all the services that sites like TweetLater and Twellow provide.

I have noticed this as a growing concern among many, that Google has yet again proven that it is invincible. (I know some experts are saying that it is not necessarily invincible, but for the moment it sure looks that way!) The reason they are concerned, even though they use Google extensively in their own fields, is because of the amount of control Google has at the moment. The freedom of choice – what some crave and all need – is the issue. And right now, especially after the announcement of Google Wave, things are likely to stay in their favor; but only time will tell.

For the moment though, they seem to be adding to the ever growing vocabulary of the World Wide Web. First it was the term ‘to Google’ and now it seems like the term ‘surf the web’ will be changing to ‘surf the wave’.

(source: http://www.childreninfilm.blogspot.com)

Is Twitter on its way downhill when it comes to being ‘the best search engine’? Just a month back I read all these blog posts about how Twitter and Google are competing to be the best search engine sites with real time. But I think we spoke too soon.

A few days ago, I was checking the trending topics on my Twitter account and I noticed that Rick Astley was on the top of the list. I clicked on it to find out what it is all about and all I could see was a stream of spam tweets – the kind of tweet that just lists all the 10 different trending topics. I kept refreshing it but apart from the spam all I could see were other confused tweets about why Rick Astley is trending or just unrelated and unhelpful tweets with his name mentioned.

That is when I turned to Google. And the first result I got after typing Rick Astley in the search box was of the news report with an explanation of what was going on. Apparently the rumor that Rick Astley has also passed away was spreading like wildfire. And the spammers on Twitter were no help. They kept the confusion alive.

So is Google back on top of the list when it comes to a reliable search engine? Were we just kidding ourselves into thinking that a live stream of organic micro blogs will prove to be the ultimate real time search engine? Were we too quick to trust the random individual from whom we would get the information to begin with?

I really hope not. The ideal thing to happen now would be for Twitter to somehow find a way to stop these spammers from their constant interference with what could be a very healthy and informative community. If nothing is done to stop them then I’m afraid all this Twitter mania would be nullified. No more real time search results for us. At least not from Twitter.

So what will Google Wave do? Will they have some smart solution to this problem? I really hope so. Because if Google Wave is what it promises to be, then it would be a real shame if it were to have a fate like Twitter seems to have right now.

Or maybe I am just overreacting. Certainly it is just the trending topics that would be affected this way? Spammers head straight to the gold after all. So anything else that you try to search for will be ok since they will be pure tweets by genuine people. Okay, so that is one good thing. But still the trending topics section is way too useful to be subjected to spammers. I am sure eventually it will be ignored by us because of the constant stream of nonsense.

All I can do is talk about it and complain but I really hope someone has a real solution to this problem.
If you have any suggestions why don’t you leave a comment below?

“Addiction – The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.”

That is the definition of the word addiction. Apart from narcotics, it has been used to describe the obsession that people develop for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. But is this really true? Do people really get so fixated on a website that it can be called an addiction? And if this is really the case, is it a good thing or a bad one? There are a lot of people out there who seem to be condemning these sites, saying the younger generation spends less time studying now because of them or that the time spent on these sites is a waste in general.

But no matter what people complain about and how much they complain, the fact of the matter is that these sites are here and they are here to stay. They will probably be a more advanced and developed form of the same sites in a few years, but they will still be here because the web evolving as a social platform is what it was ultimately destined to be. This is what our human nature demands. It was inevitable that we become social even in the comfort of our own homes.

So, going back to the first question, are these social media sites an addiction or are people who are not used to change overreacting? It might seem like an easy question but the answer will depend on your own perspective on the situation. Which means the question is a simple one to answer but it is too diverse and personal. Some will complain about its supposed ill effects but all that talk will mostly come to nothing in the end. The reason for that is this – there will always be someone who opposes the new ‘toy’ and at the same time, some who cannot resist it. The latter being the majority of the population, (or lets say the part of the population with the louder voice on the web), the end of social media becomes impossible.

I personally believe that it is for the good of society as a whole. Communication is developing at an increasingly fast pace and social media has suddenly taken the lead and taking us to a whole new level. Take Google Wave for example and don’t think about the fear of monopoly for a moment. It is quite an achievement. Of course it is the next obvious step to merge IM chat, e-mail, wiki, etc. within one single platform, but you and I did not predict it, it just looks obvious now that we’re looking back.

So my point is, (and I’m sorry if I dint’ make it too clear at the beginning) that no matter what field the progress is in, there will always be opposition, (although it is very important to have a few cynics around to keep our heads in balance). But you must also remember that progress will come no matter how much you try to stop it, and things will change.

If you are reading this you probably agree with me. If you don’t, feel free to convince me otherwise! Leave a comment…