Previously, customizing your Twitter profile was limited to the small avatar image and the background image. And while the custom Twitter background provides ample space for branding possibilities, the background image depends heavily on the user’s screen resolution. The larger photo on the profile page allows for strong branding across multiple screen sizes.

Once you are logged into your Twitter account, follow these steps to quickly and easily change your Twitter Header image:

• Click on the Settings icon in the top right corner and choose Settings.
• Select Design from the left sidebar menu.
• Scroll down and click the Change Header button.
• Select an image to use. Twitter recommends an image size of 1,200 x 600 pixels to best suit your profile page.
• Use the optional slider tool to adjust the image if it is not sized correctly. This also means you don’t need to do any cropping beforehand.

This will allow to take advantage of Twitter’s new profile design, as well as leverage the branding potential of the Twitter header image. What are some good Twitter header images that you’ve seen?

This year with the adoption of social media and mobile applications, charities are adding new ways to give and making it easier for people to donate.

I’m going to explain three organizations and the way they are changing online giving. The website Givemn.org, The Salvation Army, and a new Twitter application called Rainmaker.

Givemn.org
Givemn.org is a great example of an organization that uses tools to promote giving in different ways.

Givemn.org acts as a portal for non-profits to easily raise funds on their website through their online payment system, called Razoo.

They recently had the 2nd annual “Give to the Max Day” on November 16th and gave out prizes to individuals or organizations which gave the largest donations that day. They raised over 10 million dollars for Minnesota non-profits and used various social media tools during the day to promote the event, including: live streaming on sites like MinnPost.com, unique Twitter hashtags, blog mentions and Facebook promotions.

The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army also represents a new approach to online giving this year.

The Salvation Army has created a Red Kettle symbol that other organizations can host on their website. This allows for people to give to The Salvation Army through multiple websites, in addition to The Salvation Army’s own website. People will have more options for where, when and through what website they donate, while giving to the same cause. Additionally, this is a great opportunity for organizations to display their association with The Salvation Army. One unique feature of the Red Kettle iPhone application is that it allows users to track their donation progress.

Additionally, people have the option for the mobile “text-to-give” to 85944 to make a $10 donation to the Salvation Army. People will have more options for where, when, and through what medium they donate, while giving to the same cause.

Rainmaker
This application caught my attention this year.

The Rainmaker application allows users to donate money directly through Twitter. If you have a PayPal account, you can simply connect your PayPal account to your Twitter account and tweet to raise money for the charity or cause of your choice.

How it works.
Send out a tweet, with a minimum donation of a dollar, and then add the name of your cause or charity with a hashtag and @rainmakerapp. The Rainmaker application sends a Direct Message and Paypal is charged shortly thereafter.

Example tweet:
I’m donating $20 to #SecondHarvestHoliday @rainmakerapp

Giving to your charity of choice is now easier than ever. With all these new ways to give this year, how are you going to give back?

Before I dig in, let me first preface that I am willing to be wrong. The predictions below are mainly based on the feedback I have seen with client relationships and observed by engaging with consumers.

Social fatigue is going to be a more frequently used term as people continue to feel the weight of constant connectivity. Staying connected is only one factor. The question becomes how does one manage the vast amount of virtual relationships over time. As marketers we need to constantly find new ways to reward advocacy through quality content, incentives, new benefits, etc.

Techno stress is another term that today’s workforce should be familiar with. It’s the feeling you get when Twitter is down for a half hour or your e-mail is down for the afternoon. When technology works it’s amazing, when technology fails it can feel like the world is grinding to a halt. Techno-stress is our response to technology and how we are changing due to its influence.

The average worker can handle 50 e-mails a day. Now think about the fact that 90 trillion emails went through cyberspace in 2009, or 247 billion emails a day. When people are constantly being inundated with information and interruptions, their focus is not operating at full capacity and can lead to stress related problems like information fatigue syndrome.

Micro-communications are now, and will be the future, how information is corresponded to people. They are bit-sized pieces of information that get messages across as efficiently as possible. Micro-communications combine elements of blogging with instant messaging and social networking. There are multiple channels that allow diverse audiences to view a broad range of content at the virtual water coolers.

Because it’s much easier to talk than to type, eventually, people will be able to micro-communicate audibly. Think about traveling to a conference, you’re stuck in traffic, and you just found out that your business has made a huge discovery; you will be able to talk into your smart phone, which will subsequently put your announcement on Twitter, Foursquare, Google, etc.

The future by definition is unknown, but the future is right in front of us. Technology will always be evolving and coincidentally becoming outdated. The more we can learn to harness all the capabilities of our technology, and accept the stress that comes with it, the sooner we will be able to take full advantage of what it can do for us.

This article was originally featured in the Minnesota Business Magazine’s Expert Forum.

Twitter does the same thing by scanning through people you are already following and finding similar users you may be interested in.

I rarely pay attention to the recommendations given to me by Facebook because the pages recommended to me are usually loosely connected to my current interests, and my friendship recommendations are often ex-girlfriends or people I do not want to be connected to. Sometimes, if you are not connected with someone, there is a good reason why and Facebook does not recognize that.

I have found the “Who To Follow” tool very useful in connecting with people I consider relevant. The majority of my followers are from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Twitter has done a great job of recommending numerous local Twitterers, many of whom I was familiar with via retweets or public conversations.

Conversely, I have noticed my follower total on Twitter increase by 25+ in the last week. Most of these people are people I have either been following already or have followed back immediately.

The fact that I am using the Twitter suggestion tool often and am disregarding the Facebook equivalent is interesting, but not surprising. It is a perfect reminder that the rules for interaction are different on Facebook and Twitter. We can save that for a future blog post

I want to hear about your experiences with the new Twitter ‘Who To Follow’ suggestion tool. Have you found relevant people to follow? Have you noticed more people following you that you are now connecting with?

I hope your experiences have been positive like mine and we can connect soon.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

Why is social media right for sports teams? As with anyone using a social media channel, it is another opportunity to connect with people inside and outside of your network. You can keep the loyalists connected, and connect with disengaged fans.

Locally, there are teams using social media better than others. The Minnesota Timberwolves, for example, are using social media closer to its full potential than our other local teams.

On Twitter, the @MNTimberwolves provide injury updates, in game updates, and behind the scenes insight for the casual fan. For the serious fan, the Timberwolves are good at responding to followers, and following back fans as shown with their 7,574 followers and by following 3,357 back (as of the time of this post).

The Timberwolves also integrate social media with their traditional and other online marketing tactics by promoting their social media channels as part of Wolves Nation prominently on their website and with in-game promotions.

One team that is not using social media to its fullest potential is the Minnesota Twins. Their job should be one of the easier Twitter campaigns to manage, as they have a brand new stadium, a great product, and of course, Joe Mauer.

However, the @MinnesotaTwins have chosen to establish their channels, especially Twitter, as an elite club. Despite more than 9,000 followers, the Twins have chosen to only follow back 20 users comprised of Major League Baseball accounts, other local sports teams, Twins player accounts, and Andrew Zimmern.

The Twins have largely pushed their own content on Twitter, and they have handed out tickets to users who follow them, but by not engaging or following their fans back, they are essentially shutting the doors on them. Are Target Field’s stands only full of MLB representatives, Twins players, and celebrities?

On the Minnesota Twins’ Facebook page, it is more of the same. While their reach is significantly larger with more than 280,000 fans, the same behavior is taking place. On their wall, it is just the Twins pushing out their own content, and not responding to the numerous likes and comments on each status update.

Now this may not hurt a brand like the Minnesota Twins now, as they are enjoying great success. But, what happens if – or when – the Twins experience a long term losing streak like the Minnesota Timberwolves? It is very possible that the fans they chose to ostracize may not be there in tough times.

It is critical that any brand using social media take advantage of the connectivity that each channel allows. For some, this may be the closest one comes to connecting with the brand. If that person reaches out to them, and receives no response, it will most likely leave a bitter taste in their mouth.

What are your expectations when engaging with a brand? Do you want a response? Do you want to be followed?

What makes you feel connected to a brand?

NBC has made it easier to follow the pulse of the Olympics by developing the Olympic Twitter Tracker, which categorizes tweets for each sport in an interactive, visual interface.

The tool works by indexing tweets related to each Olympic sport every minute, and showcasing the most popular sports in a given time period by the size of that sport’s image.

A similar zeitgeist (a tool used to capture the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time) was created during the 2009 SXSW event, through which users could keep tabs on all the happenings of the event, from what people were saying about particular restaurants in the area, to using location based devices to help people find each other.

The coolest feature – in my opinion – about the NBC Olympic Twitter Tracker is the ability to change the time frame, and see the change in popular trending sports, minute-by-minute.

What do you think of the NBC Olympic Twitter Tracker? With the pervasiveness of social media, are these zeitgeists becoming a necessity for coordinators and hosts of major events to develop?