I’ve often talked to my clients about how Social Media is like a school yard.

I think there are some distinct groups represented:

• Friends
• Enemies
• Sportstars
• Cool Kids
• Nerds

Let’s look at them…

Friends:

This is an easy one; there are many users, businesses, organisations and general peeps who are madly giving you value, ‘how to’ tips and information to help you do whatever you are trying to do….awesome!

Enemies:

Hmmm…just like the world there are people who are using the internet to take advantage of you. Be aware and always ask the extra questions to make your self more comfortable…not so great.

Sportstars:

These are the guys at the gym that are lifting weights in the mirror! Lot of eye candy but not much substance. These are the many ’10 weirdest family photos’ type sites. Spend brief amounts of time to  enjoy the view and not too much that you waste valuable working time…ok in short bursts but serious time waste otherwise!

Cool Kids:

There’s so many of them! Here’s a few of my ‘go-to’ cool kids!

• Seth Godin
• Marty Weintraub
• Erik Qualman

The best thing about these cool kids is they are sharing their coolness with all of us!

Nerds:

There are some fab technical sites or resources out there. Here’s a few that I use:

• Mashable – has so much other than what you might need but great for getting good early advice!
• Adweek – quite wide offering but use to pick up some great info
• Google alerts – perfect for getting current info on the run

Have a great day!