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Just spent an hour or so going back through some old bookmarks, it's amazing what you forget you've unearthed, and I found this infographic from 2010 regarding the Social Media Landscape from CMO.com.

So, it got me thinking about how much Social Media marketing had changed just in the last twelve months.

Luckily, I had the forethought to jump over to their site again to see if they had and update, before I started scouring the web for info, and lo and behold, they had produced a new infographic for 2011.

I think the takeaway here is the fact the big three for engagement for B2C are still the big three - Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, but there has been a pretty big rise in LinkedIn over the last year as a solid marketing tool for B2B using their paid advertising offering.

I think this will change next year with the introduction of Google+ (or Google Plus or Google Plus Project - what is the name?), the new social network that's creating quite a stir in online marketing circles.

How has your involvement with Social Media changed the way your business works? Let me know in the comments section below. 

How elated did I feel last Friday when I finally became one of the chosen few to get an invite to join Google Plus. That smug superiority didn't last long though. Minutes after joining I realised I was one of 10 million, which kind of puts a bit of a dampener on the whole experience. But hey, I'm in and that's what counts.

I got stuck straight in and first things first set up my privacy details with the help of Chris Brogan's really useful article and screencast. It was a pretty simple and understandably important first task which led me to build a few Circles... and then I stopped.

It dawned on me that maybe I'm falling for the next new shiny object. So, I decided to take the weekend to perform my due diligence, reading blog posts, articles and keeping my eye on Twitter for all things Google Plus.

Finally, late last night after watching Bloomberg West on TV I made my decision. Right now was not the time to be getting involved with another social network.

That didn't last long...

Today, after reading another article, 10 Things CMO's Need To Know About Google+ , yet again from Chris Brogan and published on the Forbes blog, I did a complete 'U' turn on my previous decision.

Go on, read this article and make up your own mind.  Once you have, head over to this page for a special webinar Chris is holding Wednesday, July 20th at 12PM EDT and get his 250 hours of delving into Google+ boiled down to the juiciest bits in his 2 hour webinar.

What are your thoughts and feelings towards Google Plus - Let me know in the comments section below.
 

Lately, Google seems to have gone into overdrive. They just launched their new social network Google + Project, although getting in is proving difficult for us mere mortals at the moment, and last Thursday announced, on the YouTube Blog, a new dark interface for videos. They are calling this experiment 'Cosmic Panda'.

As you'll see, they've ditched the old white background and added simple buttons to change the view size, which I think is pretty useful. Another great improvement is the ability to remove comments from below the video allowing suggested videos to be easier to see.

They have also made it easier to customise your channel by adding four new channel templates; Creators, Bloggers, Networks and Everything (for general use).



Overall, I think these changes are a good move and make your YouTube experience that much better, but it doesn't matter what I think, what do you think? You can try it out for yourself at the dedicated Cosmic Panda page.