Survey: Does Twitter have a personality? If it does, could you describe it? I am working with Assistant Professor, Iryna Pentina, Ph. D., of the Marketing and International Business department at The University of Toledo on a research project to determine exactly that. We want to understand if personalizing social networks, starting with Twitter, may lead to increased activity by those who think their personalities match their social network

As a social media consultant I have often cited Dell for its work in social media. This week, in the same week that Dell earned the prestigious “Voice of the Customer” award from Forrester Research, its social media team released “CAPtivating Conversation: Dell CAP Days Participants Speak Their Mind”; video of the participants in its inaugural Customer Advisory Panel.

Social media is all about building relationships. Reaching out and connecting over the phone, or over coffee or a meal, is a valuable step in getting to know someone better. How often do you reach out to social media friends and followers? Have you had success in building stronger business relationships in this manner?

As a social media consultant, I have used my name as a search term to demonstrate that social networking sites come up early as search results.Until recently a search on my name in either Google or Yahoo produced the same results: my website and blog, my profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and my fledgling Facebook fan page for my social media consulting business. Earlier this week, while searching on my name in Google and Yahoo!, I realized my Facebook fan page did not come up in search results. What has changed?

On Twitter I tweet about social media and its use in business. This theme is reflected in the people I recommend for #FollowFriday. This post details some of the reasons I recommend people for today’s #FollowFriday on Twitter.

Today is, once again, #FollowFriday on Twitter and I have just spent a little bit of time putting together my Halloween #FollowFriday recommendations. I used the Twitter List function this time. You can follow my Halloween #FollowFriday list at Today is, once again, #FollowFriday on Twitter and I have just spent a little bit of time putting together my Halloween #FollowFriday recommendations. I used the Twitter List function this time. You can follow my Halloween #FollowFrdiay list at http://twitter.com/allenmireles/halloween-followfriday/.

The ramifications for using Twitter Lists as a business growth tool are enormous. Inclusion in certain Twitter Lists can quickly build your online trust factor and reputation. Twitter Lists can help increase traffic to your website, or blog, as Twitter users find you in a list, read your tweets and follow to your site to learn more. Lists will go viral as people find them useful and recommend them to others—increasing your visibility.

Over the weekend I got a call from a friend and Twittermate who woke to find his Twitter account suspended. He was truly perplexed about the suspension. Twitter recently released new terms of service and is intent on cracking down on spam (a good thing) and perhaps his account was mistakenly included in that effort. Here are some things you can do to safeguard your Twitter account and what you should do if your account is mistakenly suspended.

Last week I had the honor of leading a teleseminar on social media for John Assaraf’s OneCoach Intl.OneCoach, a leading provider of business growth and business coaching services, works with entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses and lead extraordinary lives. John Assaraf , CEO of OneCoach, understands the power of social media and its value as an integral part of a business owner’s marketing strategy.

I’m actually a nice person. I try to be helpful. I add value and I am often compassionate. I’m also an excellent customer since I network and provide word-of-mouth referrals. Most of the time. Things have been difficult this last week, what with the funeral, getting the 16 year old back to school and catching [...]