We’ve all been duped by the latest myth in technology at some point in our lives:

• Polaroids develop faster when you shake them (nope)
• Blowing air into Nintendo cartridges help them load (no, but as a kid it sometimes seemed like magic)

Read more on Do you believe the #hashtag myth?…

Every marketer has a story of a Board Member that wants to see a big push for a Certificate promotion — because that is mainly what they use at the credit union. Or maybe it’s learning about a planned new branch — in the neighborhood where the CEO just happens to live.

Read more on Are you a focus group of one?…

Ben & Jerry’s has 124,000 fans on Instagram. Yes, Instagram. And believe it or not, they get about 5,000 “likes” every day on the photos they post.

So they decided to encourage their biggest fans to post Instagram pics with the hashtag (#captureeuphoria). The pics are all shown on their Capture Euphoria campaign site, and during November through January, B&J’s agency will select about 20 photos to use as “Thank You” ads, placing them in the fan’s local newspaper, magazine, bus shelter or outdoor board. To kick off the campaign, they even filmed the first winner’s reaction, which you can see on their instruction page.

Read more on What does Instagram have to do with ice cream?…

Here are a few great reasons why a tech-geek may not be the best choice when looking for someone to handle your social media…

No, not completely. Just while you are at work. (Unless your job is social media, of course.)

Why? Well, if you’ve ever wondered why bosses ban social media in the workplace, just look at this infographic.

Read more on Want to help the economy? Give up Facebook….

Social media and gray hair may not seem to go together, but over the last three years AARP has been gaining attention online. Yes, that AARP.

According to Digiday, AARP had no online strategy and only began sending employees to social media conferences as recently as 2010. Since then they have hired a social media chief, have a managing editor for their company blog, plus five community managers who are focused on a specific issue, such as financial security or health, and developed a content strategy that mainly uses YouTube, Twitter and Facebook (with over 430,000 fans).

Read more on Your mom (or grandma) may be better at social media than you are…

Building a social media presence/online community for your credit union can be a lot like dating. You dress up nice and are friendly to the world, but don’t always get the attention you deserve. Well, according to various studies by the IBM Institute for Business Value, what you are experiencing could simply be one of several perception gaps between businesses and consumers when it comes to social media interaction:

Read more on Maybe they don’t really want a relationship with you?…

Stop and think for a moment about some of the products you use.

Why exactly do you use them?

For example, I use Tide to wash my clothes. My mom used it, it worked, and so when I left for college, she armed me with Tide and some basic laundering techniques. And I still use it.

Read more on Please spread the word…

I have to carry an electronic device with me at all times. It’s expected, isn’t it? After all, my office and family needs to be able to reach me by phone, text, email or tweet at all times. I have to be able to upload photos and status updates to Facebook so my friends all know what I’ve been doing, or check-in to places so they know where I am/have been, and I don’t want to think about how much time I spend playing games.

Read more on No social media? People will think you are weird….

Blogs are still cutting edge technology, right?

Well, yes and no. By having a blog you’ve definitely joined the 21^st century, but that’s no great feat thanks to sites like WordPress. Nowadays it’s not about whether or not you have a blog, but instead how you use it.

Read more on Ask Sam: What’s your take on blogs?…

I’m sure all of you have heard about Chick-fil-A being tried in the court of public opinion. You might even be going to their restaurants today to support one side or the other. But I’m not going to get into who is right and wrong because that’s not what this blog is all about.

Read more on How NOT to handle PR: Chick-fil-A lays an egg…

Ask Sam: So how important is social media involvement anyway? Do people your age really care whether your CU/bank tweets regularly?

This is a complicated question. I don’t have to tell anyone that advertising through social media is both new and ambiguous. You can spend more time than you can imagine trying to find the balance between posting too much and not posting enough in an effort to reach your desired audience. Even then you’re eventually going to ask yourself, “is it worth it?”

Read more on Ask Sam: How important is social media?…

When it comes to social sites, what do you think? Do consumers follow brands to be part of the online community or are they just looking for a “deal”?

If you answered deal, you’re right, according to Patrick Spenne on Forbes.com, who was citing a study by the IBM Institute for Business Value. The IBMIBV (who comes up with these acronyms, anyway?) found that while 60-65% of business leaders believed it was all about the community, only 25-30% of consumers agreed with them. Everyone else seemed to be there for the potential savings, not the conversation.

Read more on “I’m here for the community” v. “I’m here for the discount”…

Describe Pinterest: Unorganized. Overwhelming. Inspiring. Endless. Fascinating. It’s hard to decide but I’ve felt all of the above whenever I stumble onto their home page. And it sucks you in immediately. Hours later you’re still on the site, looking at things you aren’t even really interested in. It’s like walking around in a maze – no clear way out and the harder you try, the deeper in you go.

Read more on The mad, mad world of Pinterest…

At least that’s what Matt Hodson, of Health Care Credit Union told attendees at the 2012 MAC conference in Seattle.

He wasn’t necessarily bad-mouthing anyone, however. His point was simply that anyone can participate, that it isn’t as hard as it looks, and there were several good reasons why you should at least monitor social media channels:

Read more on MAC2012: Most people in Social Media are not rocket scientists…