“News Feed” is sort of like the old style feed from a year or two ago – basically a list of the most popular of news items. At least what Facebooks deems most popular, based on comments and click throughs. The “View Live Feed” link at the top will give you a true chronological, unfiltered news feed of status updates, new friend and Facebook page updates.

The old Facebook home page use to display items similar to this new New Feed option. Personally I kind of liked it, and was sorry when it disappeared in exchange for a complete real-time feed, a la Twitter. I think having both options is convenient, and after the initial round of inevitable grips, I’m sure most users will agree.

The list is very deceiving. Fan ‘growth’ means nothing if these brands are not using the media to engage users. Look at Opel’s fan page – there’s not a single wall post. Compare that to the Prius page which has a LOT fans/drivers more than willing to post their love of the Prius. Playing the numbers game is wrong way to measure Social Media.

While the article does touch on the issue of how automotive companies are using their fan pages, presenting social media success as a measure of pure numbers is no good. I’d rather have 100 rabid, enthusiastic fans spreading the word about my brand, engaging the media, and each other, than 5,000 fans who merely clicked the ‘become a fan’ button and called it a day.

Make notes on the types of discussions and activities that generate the most activity. Examine how people are using social media in ways that are relevant to your product or service offerings. Then, think about ways you can jump in and enhance the conversation, or build better tools, to reach users with content they’re thirsty for.

Exploring online communities relevant to your products and services is also an easy way to find competitors – many of whom might already be a few steps ahead in using the latest emerging media.

Once a week / month give away a product, free trial, t-shirt, etc. to one random fan who has added content to your wall.

Rotate your call to action every so often to encourage previous posters to put up something new.

I’ve started a Twine of related sites and services.

The integration of popular social media channels into other mainstream media is really the next wave. CNN.com’s Live ‘with Facebook’, is the perfect example. If you’re a Facebook user hopefully you to tried it out during the Jackson memorial ceremony. If not, check out the screenshot above. Directly to the right of the live, streaming video you’ll see live comments streaming in from all Facebook users. You can update your own status right from the page, as well as flip to a tab showing just your own friends. A simple privacy button lets you decide whether or not to share you comments with everyone watching the event, or just your friends.

Simple, and well done, it’s a great example of how social media is extending functionality and community into other forms of popular media.

Read the story here.

So my original thought was to put together a comprehensive list of Twitter accounts for major car companies. Well, turns out that’s not as quite easy as I thought. Finding a Facebook or Twitter logo anywhere on their sites was nearly impossible, and on the homepage – forget it. Even Google searches for the twitter accounts of major brands failed to turn up their official pages in most cases. If automakers are truly to embrace these new media channels they need to start by letting visitors actually know they are using them.

Here’s a list in progress of what I’ve managed to dig up for Twitter accounts. A few are indeed using the medium well.

• GM
• Ford’s
• Chrysler
• VW – RSS
• Toyota – Twitter account Lexus, Scion and Toyota brands
• Honda -
• Volvo – Twitter for XC60
• Jaguar
• Tesla
• Infiniti – Twitter for US Dealers, not sure if this is authentic
• Mazda
• Suzuki
• Smart Car
• Mercedes Benz
• BMW
• Audi
• Acura
• Hyundai
• Kia
• Porsche
• Ferrari
• Lamborghini
• Aston Martin – fake Twitter account was debunked
• Bentley
• Maserati