While it still rings true for fishermen, the Looksmart application never made any sense in the first place. What Looksmart seemed to overlook was the fact that most of the “fish” never used Looksmart so, as a result, could never be reached by placing text adds there.

The next logical question, therefore, is where do you find the fish now? The obvious answers, of course are Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. According to MarketProfs, the number of Facebook users reached 350 million in 2009, and while the number of MySpace users seems to be on the decline, Twitter may be heading in that direction as well.

So, if the fish are on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, the logical conclusion would be for a company to use them as opposed to starting their own social network.

A new genre of websites, however, that combine social media and small business profiles is now upon us.

The primary examples are small business communities such as VISA Business Network, AMX Open Forum,and ATT Insite.

Maybe these aren’t exactly where the fish are right now, but look for them to grow their small business memberships substantially in 2010; keep in mind that AT&T almost always wins; and if nothing else, you’ll be creating high-quality back-links to your website when you set up your business profile on the small business networks.

• More than 1.5 million pieces of content are shared on Facebook daily.
• One out of eight couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.
• If Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth largest, between the U.S. and Indonesia.
• 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily. 34% post opinions about products or brands.
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations.

While McDonald’s didn’t originate these stats, they certainly deserve credit for gathering them together and publishing them all in one place. Unfortunately, however, the presentation on Slideshare has now been removed.

My question to McDonalds is simply, why did you take it down? Although it was well written and well presented, it certainly didn’t reveal any earth shattering, one-of-a-kind, or secret social media tactics or strategies. It merely presented the same old social media content we see elsewhere on the web; for example, their social media strategic vision: “Deepen and enrich the brand’s relationship with consumers through knowledge, sharing, and entertainment ultimately providing moments of simple easy enjoyment.” I guess we can delete the part about sharing.

Their Twitter and Facebook strategies were also good and well written, but again, hardly earth shattering, game changing, or even new.

So, why then, did they take it down? I can only surmise they must have thought giving away the store through texting and coupons was one thing, but giving away social media tactics and strategies was tantamount to giving away the Big Mac secret sauce recipe.

If you missed it on Slideshare, you can still check out the “McDonald’s Serves Up Social Media” presentation on the Scalable Intimacy blog.