The decision was announced yesterday by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after overwhelming support for the blackout was demonstrated on a community decision page that Wikipedia put up to get user reactions. The blackout is designed to call attention to the SOPA and PIPA bills which include broad language that threatens the freedom that has been inherent in the Internet since it was created. Wales believes that shutting down the English version of the Wikipedia website for one day will affect 25 million users.

We applaud the actions of Wikipedia in this instance and the many other websites that have called their users’ attention to the potential damage these bills could inflict on individual rights and freedoms. Our hope is that these actions will get the attention and garner the support needed to get rid of these bills and move toward more sensible solutions to securing private property rights on the Internet – like the OPEN legislation.

Check out their site here: LuzerneYR.com

Political organizations rely heavily on the emergence of social media as a way of expanding their reach online and garnering greater support and enthusiasm for their causes. Salvo Media focuses on helping such groups to get a website that can act as a base of operations and a platform from which to sound off on what is most important to them. At the same time we work to integrate a social media strategy into the site that helps organizations to consolidate their overall Web marketing strategy.

If you or anyone you know is in the market for such services, I encourage you to reach out to us today to find out how you can take advantage of the services Salvo Media provides to grow your online presence.

KeepTheWebOpen.com is a resource for more information on SOPA. Right now they are debating the legislation live and you can watch on the site and actually interact with those who are involved in developing the law. We encourage everyone who enjoys the Internet as it is now to get involved and use their influence to make sure that the Internet remains open and free from government over-regulation.

We all believe that intellectual and all other property rights should be protected by the government, however this proposed legislation is too much of a power grab leaving open the potential for the DoJ to shut down websites according to its own discretion without proper due process. This is a net loss of freedom for citizens and we hope that it does not become law.

This is not the first time these allegations have arisen after an election in Russia. However, most of the time the damning evidence is lacking and the state media operations show little interest in investigating and reporting on the allegations. The difference this time is the citizen journalism taking place on social networks.

Where in the past it was unheard of to see more than a couple hundred people participate in political protests, this time the outrage fueled by online communications has led to protests of 5,000 people in some instances. As a result, the former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev has called for the election results to be annulled and a new vote take place.

Much like events leading to what has been called the “Arab Spring,” this provides another example of the power of social media in the world we live in today. We hope for the best outcomes in Russia, and that social media is allowed to continue to thrive and empower the average citizen.

Read the story from Reuters here.

Of course property rights are important to uphold, but the legislation gives the Department of Justice the power to shut down websites without due process according to the DoJ’s own discretion. That is an awful lot of power being handed to government in an age where Internet communication is so vitally important.

Fortunately, a great deal of opposition has risen up against this power grab by members of both political parties and a growing number of businesses. A bi-partisan alternative has been developed and will likely be proposed soon. The alternative is more commerce/market based, giving more of the oversight responsibilities to the International Trade Commission and offering a system of due process for those accused of wrongdoing.

The last thing the Internet needs is more regulation by government bureaucrats who have no sense of how the Internet really works. The Internet is an endless engine of growth and innovation that the government can only impede, not help. Freedom comes at a cost, which means paying for the goods and services we want – not downloading for free from shady online sources. If we want to keep government’s hands off the Internet we need to be part of the solution and call out those who are part of the problem.

The Internet will never be perfect and some will get away with whatever they can, but what comes around goes around. They will get theirs, don’t let it be an excuse for government to get involved.

This story is a perfect example of how social media continues to take the place of tools people have been using since the early days of the Internet. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have evolved the way people and businesses search, communicate, and advertise online in a way that improves interaction and relevance while providing the capability of reducing spam or unwanted communications.

For this reason Salvo Media places the focus on optimizing our clients’ social media initiatives to gain superior placement and exposure in these networks in addition to other marketing channels such as search and email. We believe social media is the future and getting established in the major networks is one of the most important things that our clients could do to ensure long term success in their online strategy.

If you agree, and want to learn more about how we could help you take advantage of social media marketing, I encourage you to reach out to us today. We will be happy to give you a free assessment of what our company can do to help your online marketing strategy succeed.

That being said, I really like the theme of this article I found on the Social Media Examiner today regarding the updates to Company Pages at LinkedIn. The author describes how the success of company pages on Facebook provide a good insight to how they should fare on LinkedIn as more and more companies start using them. She makes a great point that most of the focus is on larger companies now, but small and mid-size companies can no doubt use these pages to drive business and grow their networks online as well.

We have always included LinkedIn as part of our social media integration and optimization strategy at Salvo Media, but these company pages offer a new dynamic that we intend to utilize moving forward. As the article mentions these pages will most likely be very popular in the near future, so best get started on building your company pages today!

Every site we build at Salvo Media is equipped with Google Analytics because of its in-depth reporting that is intuitive and easy to navigate. These new features added by Google will enable us and our clients to act on new information much faster than is currently possible. Innovations like Google Real-Time are the result of an increasing need to stay nimble and react quickly when it comes to online media strategies. That is why it is so important to pick a media company who can keep up with the pace of innovation in the industry and use them to your advantage.

Read the full article here.

Striking that balance is a skill that Salvo Media has worked to develop over years in the Internet marketing industry as a marketer and for advertising clients. This is one of the primary services we offer our clients now on a monthly basis who wish to use social media as a tool to grow their reach and influence online, but haven’t developed the skill themselves of leveraging this medium in an effective way.

You can read the full article from Entrepreneur here.

To get more information on how Salvo Media can help you implement a your social media marketing strategy, contact us here.

Political organizations have increasingly turned to digital technology and social networking as a base of operations to gain greater exposure for their message and stimulate interaction with their target audiences. This uniquely positions political organizations, committees, and candidates to take advantage of the services that Salvo Media provides.

“We are very excited to work with the Luzerne County Young Republicans,” said Dan Salvaterra of Salvo Media. ”We intend to build them a site that can act as a virtual meeting grounds for their members, and a way to consolidate their communications to help organize and scale their efforts.”

“In the last few years, social networking has become the best way to engage the youth in politics,” Bob Zaruta of the Luzerne County Young Republicans explained. “With our new website, the Luzerne County Young Republicans will be able to more effectively communicate our message and get young people involved. We look forward to working with Salvo Media to help us make that happen.”

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