Tag Archives: social media

Top 30 By George QOTDs

To commemorate CG&A Communications passing the 30-year milestone, we have selected the top 30 By George QOTDs from over the past dozen years. These are the very best of the best, counted down to the number one QOTD shared across the By George social media platforms.

… and the # 1 By George QOTD for the past decade-plus is:

You can find the By George QOTDs posted daily on the By George Journal’s Facebook page and X page, as well as on Chris George’s LinkedIn posts.

Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com.

Twitter Facts

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Readers of By George Journal will know we are on Twitter – @ByGeorgeJournal – and we tweet a regular stream of quotes, communications insights and remarkable retweets.

Here are some facts about Twitter that may surprise you…

Today, Twitter has 313 Million monthly active users
500 Million visit Twitter monthly but do not log in
82% of Twitter users are mobile
The average Twitter account has 208 followers – and is a woman with an iPhone
29,2% of US social media users are Twitter users. That makes for 66 million Twitter users in the United States.
83% of world’s leaders are on Twitter
63% of Twitter users find Twitter a relevant source for news
500 Mio tweets are sent very day. That is an insane 6000 tweets every second.
Tweets with images get more reactions. Images can increase click-throughs by 18%, result in 89% more likes, and get you 150% more retweets.
Hashtags were introduced in 2007. Today, tweets with hashtags twice as much engagement than tweets without hashtags.
One or two hashtags are optimum, while more than two hashtags can result in a drop in engagement.
BTW – The most tweeted hashtag is #FF (Follow Friday).
The Twitter account with the most followers is Katy Perry with over 93.3 Million followers, followed by Justin Bieber (88.7 Million), Taylor Swift (81.1 Million), and Barack Obama (77.8 Million).
82% of Twitter users watch Video on Twitter. 90% of video views on Twitter happen on a mobile device.
The top five markets for Twitter are US, Japan, Indonesia, UK and Brazil. Together these five countries produce 50% of all tweets. However, this is an international tool as Twitter supports over 40 languages
Two-thirds (65.8%) of US companies use Twitter for marketing purposes. And 92% of brands tweet more than once a day.
60% of people expect brands to answer a query in a tweet within an hour
76% are likely to recommend a brand if they experience friendly service on Twitter
Twitter was created in 2006 and the first tweet was sent by Jack Dorsey on March 21.
Twitter has 3860 employees (worldwide) with 40% of these employees working in a technical role.
In Q2 2016 Twitter made $602 million in revenues

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

20 Beautiful Quotes on Social Good

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@ByGeorgeJournal follows Amy Neumann on Twitter – Amy is a Director for Audience Targeting, Social Media, and Content Marketing for an American marketing firm, Northeast Ohio Media Group. Amy posted her “88 Favorite Social Good Quotes” recently and By George has selected our FAV 20 for a Sunday morning reflection.

Here are 20 of our FAV beautiful quotes on “social Good”

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” – Martin Luther
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
“The time is always right to do what’s right.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“The highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion.” – Richard P. Feynman
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” – Oscar Wilde
“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” – Dr. Loretta Scott
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
“A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.” – Washington Irving
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton
“It matters if you just don’t give up.” – Stephen Hawking
“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” – Jean Baptiste Massieu
“Unselfish and noble actions are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls.” – David Thomas
“Thanks are the highest form of thought; gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” – Seneca
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama
“I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble.” – Rudyard Kipling
“Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.” – Samuel Johnson
“The best portion of a good life – little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” – William Wordsworth
“When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” – Abraham Heschel

Follow By George on Twitter: @ByGeorgeJournal

Follow Amy Neuman on Twitter: @CharityIdeas

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a can-do EA or go-to-scribe? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

2016 By George editorial mission

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Through the years By George Journal has offered ideas and background on effective PR and GR tactics as well as the craft of writing. This body of work is an extension of our company’s forte – delivering reliable, strategic advocacy advice and exceptional writing services.

And to add some levity to the Journal we pepper each month with remarkable quotes and humourous pieces for use in our readers’ workplace and social settings.

Each year, we take up an issue to feature in this space – last year it was federal politics and the election campaign, and in years prior we have featured everything from “the cost of big government” to “what is the essence of quality writing?”

For 2016, the By George Journal has set as its editorial mission an exploration of the changing dynamics of effective communications for organizations and groups who wish to have their issues heard. How do you best convey something relevant and memorable in our daily maelstrom of media images and information? Consider:

For decision-makers, our world is spinning much faster with the accelerated flow of information 24/7.
Social media is evolving and content developers and IT managers are taking the place of wordsmiths and researchers.
The interplay between making a favourable first impression and making your case has become a key focus for everything communicated.

All of these discussions are up for inspection through this year. We hope our readers may gain insight into what it means to communicate effectively in our super-charged, wired world. (Given our bent for words and wordsmithing, you might expect to hear a lament or two through the year.)

By George will be carrying this discussion to our Twitter and Facebook feeds as well, so we hope followers will consider joining the dialogue.

All the best through 2016! We wish you a prosperous year!

The Selfie – a mental disorder

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The ‘selfie’ is now officially a mental disorder as confirmed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Many people have already suspected ‘selfie’ as a serious mental disorder. Those theories are now confirmed by the APA. ‘Selfies’ are officially classified as a mental disorder!

The APA announced this vital information at its recent annual board of directors meeting in Chicago! The APA decided to named the disorder as “selfitis”.

The official definition of Selfitis is scientifically defined as an obsessive compulsive desire to snap several photos of one’s self and post the photos on social media as a way to make up for the lack of self-esteem and to fill a big gap in intimacy.

The APA classified the disorder into three levels

Borderline selfitis: snapping several photos of one’s self at least 3 times a day but not exactly posting them on social media
Acute selfitis: snapping several photos of one’s self at least 3 times a day and posting each of the photos taken on the camera on to social media
Chronic selfitis: uncontrollable desire and urge to snap many photos of one’s self round the clock and posting the photos on social media more than 6 times a day.

The APA has no current cure for the disorder. However, temporary treatment is available. Such temporary treatment includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also known as CBT. For those that are low on income, there is good news. CBT is currently coveted by Obamacare.

Here is an interesting aside. After the APA classifying ‘selfie’ as a mental disorder, large group of members of the medical community quickly began to criticize the APA’s use of the term ‘selfitis.’ They claimed and argues that the suffix ‘itis’ refers to a condition in which some form of inflammation of a body part or system occurs. Example: Bronchitis is and inflammation of the bronchial passages in the lungs. Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils, etc. The medical community argued and believed that the correct word, or term, for the ‘addiction’ should be “selfism’ just as alcoholism; the addiction to alcohol. The APA came back and was extremely quick to defend its choice for the term ‘selfitis’ claiming that the newly classified disorder was an ‘inflammation of one’s ego.’

So, believe it or not!! Our source is the website Soloreads – click here.

(ed. – Go ahead and forward this news… we expect there are likely many people who come to mind who would find this humourous.)

25 favourite quotes on the Internet

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There’s a statistical theory that if you gave a million monkeys typewriters and set them to work, they’d eventually come up with the complete works of Shakespeare. — Anonymous
Thanks to the Internet, we now know this isn’t true. — Ian Hart
Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. — Mitchell Kapor
The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow. — Bill Gates
The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn’t understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had. — Eric Schmidt
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the Internet has evolved into a force strong enough to reflect the greatest hopes and fears of those who use it. — Denise Caruso
Describing the Internet as the Network of Networks is like calling the Space Shuttle, a thing that flies. — John Lester.
Nowadays, anyone who cannot speak English and is incapable of using the Internet is regarded as backward. — Al-Waleed bin Talal
Looking at the proliferation of personal web pages on the Net, it looks like very soon everyone on Earth will have 15 megabytes of fame. — M.G. Sriram
Internet: absolute communication, absolute isolation. — Paul Carvel
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks. Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life. — Andrew Brown
[The Internet,] A Superhighway through the Wasteland? — Mitchell Kapor and Jerry Berman.
The net’s a cross between an elephant and a white elephant sale: it never forgets, and it’s always crap. – Nemo
The Internet is the most powerful magnifier of slack ever invented. – author unknown
The Internet is the trailer park for the soul. — Marilyn Manson
A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click. — author unknown
The Internet is the Viagra of big business. –Jack Welch
The Internet is like a gold-rush; the only people making money are those who sell the pans. — Will Hobbs
Spending an evening on the World Wide Web is much like sitting down to a dinner of Cheetos. Two hours later your fingers are yellow and you’re no longer hungry, but you haven’t been nourished.” — Cliff Stoll
The Internet is the world’s largest library. It’s just that all the books are on the floor. — John Allen Paulos
Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea — massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind- boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it. — Gene Spafford
Information on the Internet is subject to the same rules and regulations as conversation at a bar. — George Lundberg
Hooked on Internet? Help is a just a click away. — author unknown
During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. — Al Gore
If Al Gore invented the Internet, I invented spell check. — Dan Quayle

(ed. – This list of great quotes was compiled years ago and first appeared in the By George Journal is 2009.)

Current social media trends

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The websource Social Media Examiner released a compilation of study data that provides a picture of current social media trends all businesses and organizations should be aware of when making decisions on their sm strategy. For a quick 5-minute scan of the trends, here is the data provided by the SME’s post:

Total social commerce sales that could be tracked to social networks hit $3.30 billion through 2014, up 26% from 2013’s $2.62 billion, which is quite a leap. Overall traffic to retailer websites originating from social networks ticked up 7%.
Christmas 2014 and Internet sites are the number-one place consumers go to buy gifts in US. In 2015, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (and even Amazon.com) are busy developing buy-type buttons and promotions to help marketers track sales directly to the platform.
March 2015 US study reveals that mobile access to the Internet has quadrupled over the past four years, and desktop has risen 37%. The study also found that the predominant Internet activity on mobile was social networking. 31% of all traffic to the top 10 digital sites was mobile-only visitation (top three are Google, Yahoo and Facebook).
44% of Americans now are listening to streaming audio. Monthly audio podcast consumption grew from approximately 39 million monthly users in 2014 to approximately 46 million in 2015, an increase of 18%.
87% of podcast sponsors are mid-tier, dot.com companies selling web-based services (subscription) or ecommerce products (Dollar Shave Club). One-third of the podcasts had no sponsors at all, indicating that the host was most likely selling his or her own products or services.
Move to mobile – and Facebook still dominates the sm narrative. Facebook not only became the provider of 61% of all social logins, but also makes up 72% of all ecommerce social logins. Facebook’s 61% stretches far ahead of Google+’s second runner-up status at 22%.
70% of Facebook’s users engage with the site daily. That number increased 7% from 2013, and beat Instagram’s daily user number of 49%.

For instructive commentary, we suggest reading the article in its entirety:
Social Media Marketing Trends Gaining Traction in 2015: New Research

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For this federal budget week By George Journal serves up ten of our favourite memes on the subject of taxes. So, come Thursday, hold onto your wallet and laugh it off.

Nothing but contentment near Blakeney

Almonte’s Rail Trail – heading out

Storm clouds forming over the Indian River