Eight years ago this week, Merge was launched.

It was 2011 and All Access President/Publisher, Joel Denver, was the one with the foresight to know a column on the emerging social media space would be something of value.

And through the support of All Access, as well as my former boss, Jacobs Media, President (and Radio Hall of Famer), Fred Jacobs (who spent excruciating hours editing me until I learned to be a better writer), I have come to love writing these short pieces on why social matters, and the writing and behavior behind it that plays a pivotal role.

It is also fun to showcase the inventive and memorable moments others create for all of us to learn from.

Facebook turned 15 this week. Later this year, Twitter will turn 13 (Mar. 2006), Instagram turns 9 (Oct. 2010) and Snapchat will turn 8 (Sept. 2011). No doubt social media has turned our moments that matter into shared experiences, giving us the opportunity to ...

As consumers become more and more social during live events, experiencing these moments with mobile devices in their faces, it couldn't be a more important time to have something dynamic flowing through social media news feeds. And Super Bowl is one of those huge live ...

The headline comes from The Art of War, attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, covering the aspects of warfare and how it applies to strategy and tactics. And it's the (critical) truth for any company who mirrors what was revealed in Buffer's ...

Empathy: The capacity to share and recognize the emotions felt by another being. Empathy has long been a tactic used to enhance marketing. Jet Blue, for example, has used empathy-based marketing to grow and resonate by focusing on the experiences of flying - from the ...

A new year should always bring optimism for how we want to be a better version of ourselves, and be an even more meaningful brand. In the social space, it takes executing a strategic plan to drive brand purpose and create real impact. And part of that plan should be ...

We all love lists. From Facebook's "2018 Year In Review", Twitter's 2018 data, or YouTube's "2018 Rewind", it's interesting to look back. Being in the trenches daily, we all know there's nothing easy about operating in this culture so addicted to ...

For the past decade, many brands have experienced increased awareness, interest and ultimately conversion from the social space. And for other brands - they are still asking the age-old question how to grow followers and/or engagement. It's not as easy as perhaps some ...

Earlier this year, we looked at the correlation between heavy social media use and the state of our welfare. It began with researcher Rebecca Darmoc, MS, revealing findings printed in the Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, linking the toll ...

As Instagram Stories continue to surge in use - now with 400 million Daily Active Users - it’s important to understand user expectations; what people want from brands with this feature. Because Stories is not like Feed, and it should be treated ...