New Facebook "Send" Button

Facebook has added another powerhouse button to their arsenal of features. The new “Send” button, which was launched Monday, is set to replace the classic “Email to a friend” button.

Situated next to the “Like” button, the send button will allow users to share content more privately with friends, groups, or other email addresses. Similar to the Like button, it allows you to quickly share pages and articles with your friends, but now it won’t be posted to the News Feed for all to see. It’s a great option for sharing gift ideas, travel destinations, book reviews, etc. to a specific group.

Another interesting thing to note is that Send counts towards the total number of Likes a page has. The Like total is now calculated by adding the number of Likes, shares, comments and inbox messages containing a URL.

The Send button is being launched on more than 50 websites, and I have no doubt that more will follow suit. The Send button’s private sharing ability makes it even more tempting to simply use Facebook rather than firing up your email to share a link.

Below is an example of what the Send button looks like:

Google Offers A Groupon Of Its Own

Almost half a year after a failed attempt to buy Groupon, Google is starting to roll out a daily deals service of its own.

Called Google Offers, the service is launching (in beta form) to Portland, Oregon and will expand to San Francisco, Oakland/East Bay and New York City’s downtown, midtown and uptown areas.

Google Offers will compete with existing services like Groupon or LivingSocial, featuring the same local-deal-of-the-day-for-a-limited-time formula that made those other services successful.

Aside from the very limited number of locations, I see one glaring potential issue with Google Offers. Pretty much everyone who would be interested in the whole daily deals concept has likely already aligned themselves with the other services. This means that the potential target audience has shrunk quite a bit since Google started developing this service back in January.

So although I feel Google is more than a little late to the daily deals party, we'll have to wait for the full launch to better judge whether or not Google is making us an offer we can't refuse.

Video Post: Social Media Spending on the Rise

Social media worked its way into the marketing mix early on due to a multitude of free networks that still delivered big impression numbers and high viewership levels. However, as more and more time and creativity was needed to stand out from everyone else, greater financial backing was needed. Case in point: A recent study shows that a majority of marketers are increasing their social media budgets this year. In fact, the study found that 70% plan to increase their budget by more than 10%. Steve and Ashley look into this issue in today's Daily Axioms video post.

Social Media and Philanthropy

Social media has the power to entertain, engage, and connect both people and ideas. It is in that power that social media is also able to help businesses become more socially responsible.

The Home Depot Foundation for example, just launched a campaign on Facebook that allows users to vote where the company should spend its grant dollars and volunteer hours. It’s a program through Team Depot and Aprons in Action, and it will tap into Home Depot’s 250,000+ Facebook fans to give thousands of dollars to deserving organizations.

The reason I find this so ingenious is that it combines two things I support: social media and giving back. Not only is it a great way to give exposure to nonprofit organizations, it also spreads the responsibility of helping out to 250,000+ people.

What if more companies embraced the connection between social media and philanthropy? I find them to be a natural fit together. After all, the ethos of social media sites is predisposed to support humanitarianism. It’s a spirit of community, networking, individuality and impact. Combine that with the convenient, quick, easy and accessible platform of social media sites, and you have an audience willing to make a difference.