Earlier in 2009, Forrester Research predicted a huge surge in online advertising, particularly with social media and mobile platforms. As advertising professionals we are often asked by our clients and business leaders about the continued expansion and use of social media. Gary Hayes, director of the Australian Laboratory for Advanced Media Production, has provided a great resource for all of us to begin to address these questions. Gary’s Social Media Count is a Flash application that was created to show how dynamic and active social media is. The application includes live data feeds and features a second-timer which shows how many new blog posts, new members of Facebook and Twitter and even how much revenue is generated from Facebook ads each second. There are tabs that allow the user to switch between social media, mobile and games with a myriad of variables measured in each category. So, the next time you want to get a handle on social media stats, check out Gary’s application for some dynamic and real time information.

- Todd