You can use Twitter for more than just gaining a huge mass of followers. It's also a great way to engage with customers--even dissatisfied ones--and turn them into happy advocates of your brand in less time than traditional customer service often takes. All it takes is being active on Twitter and following a few simple steps.
It’s telling that when the Google+ social network launched in June, businesses <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/235272/why_google_business_profiles_will_trump_facebook_pages.html">clamored to get on the service</a> as quickly as possible. For most businesses, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/221798/claim_your_brand_on_the_social_web.html">being active on social media is now a requirement</a>. Although Google+ is still dragging its feet on creating pages for businesses, getting your company page started on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter takes just minutes.
Google+ just opened its doors to the world by enabling open signups and moving to the beta, testing phase. The nascent social network is still thin on features and ways for businesses to properly use it, but its minimalist approach has gained Google+ millions of users in a very short period.
There are more than a few critics of cloud computing, even at PCWorld; I'm probably one of them. But I've been turning over in my mind different perspectives on the cloud. I've tried to set aside the views of the IT executive, who seems to dominate the debate.
Facebook's unveiling of Facebook Places is an obvious banshee cry to Foursquare and other location-based check-in services. As with those services, Facebook Places allows users to share their location and discover new hot spots by following the stops of people in their network.
