Facebook in collaboration with Opower and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has launched a new app that allows users to compare their electric energy use with their Facebook friends. This social energy app is currently available to customers of 16 utility companies comprising of 20 million households.
The app will allow users to understand their current energy usage and ways to reduce their consumption in order to beat their Facebook friends. Users can benchmark their electricity usage against similar homes, compare usage, enter competitions and also share tips on how to reduce the consumption. The process for participating is easy and requires the users to search for the Opower app on Facebook. The list of 16 utility companies currently covered in the app is available on the page. The energy data of these companies will be fed into the application automatically while the customers from other companies will have to put in this data manually.
After participating, the users can also publish conversations about energy conservation on the Facebook Newsfeed. The users can take on the challenge individually or set collective goals for a group. This app will help consumers understand their usage patterns and also allow them to remedy unnecessary usage. The NRDC is optimistic that the improvements in energy usage have the potential to save more than $700 billion in the USA.

The advent of internet has dramatically changed the approach to marketing, be it small business or otherwise. Web 1.0 was all about websites and information being thrown the consumers' way; large businesses, with their large marketing budgets still managed to overshadow the smaller and emerging businesses. Web2.0, however, has created immense opportunities for small businesses to level the playing field. Web 2.0 has brought with it information sharing and collaboration. Businesses can now, if they use the tools smartly, make consumers participate in product design and even promote a small business' products to a much wider audience.

Web 2.0 offers a multitude of tools like blogging, social networking sites, wikis and online communities. This can be very confusing for any small business with a small marketing budget as they need to select the right tools and effectively employ them. However, a number of professional internet marketing consultants, like deluxe consultants, can be hired to develop the right strategy. They help devise the most effective strategy by identifying the right mix of blogs, podcasts, wikis and social networking sites.

Some advisors, like merchengines ppc, further support performance measurement of the devised marketing strategy. Typically, businesses will first identify the target customer set and the tools they most use on the internet. They will use blogs and podcasts to share information with potential customers. Social networking sites and wikis are used to create communities and encourage customer participation in the entire marketing process.

Social web commerce is being boosted by Sellaround, the first social web platform that is designed for resale, distribution and selling on the internet. The platform now has a 'Recommend' function for buyers who want to receive discounts.

These discounts can now be taken advantage of by buyers who share the Sellaround widget with their friends on the social web. Another 'Crowdsaving' function on the Sellaround widget allows sellers of a product to set a minimum number of sales which will activate a discount on a given product. Buyers then have the chance to purchase at a lower price and sellers benefit as their product is distributed through social web likes and tweets. There are more ways than ever to buy or sell easily thanks to these Sellaround social web features.