A few weeks ago I was delighted to find out that the international event, Social Media Week, had launched in Australia – finally.

I am just astounded that it has taken five long years for this conference to reach our beautiful shores. After all, I have always thought of Australia as one of the most active social media hubs in the world.

Just to put that thought into perspective, here are a few stats that speak for themselves (source: January 2014 Australia Social Indicators from We Are Social):

And according to Social Media News, Facebook and YouTube are topping the charts of our all-time favourite social networks, each accounting for over half of the population (58% and 56% respectively). That’s a lot of us – and so about time that we kicked off our very own Social Media Week Down Under.

Aside from the official calendar, local businesses were also encouraged to host their own event in support of SMW, to show and share the love about all things social and help champion best practice. I went to the one hosted by advertising agency The Works Sydney: Over Anxious, Over Shared; Over Social, Under the Microscope – How Aussies Really Use Social Media.

I was both amused and inspired by some of the insights the panel shared with us that evening. Essentially, it appears that social media has a tendency to bring out the worst in people – from self-loathing to selfitis and many shades in between. I tell you all about it here in B&T.

If you were lucky enough to make it to any of the other talks, I would love to hear from you; let us know the highlights here and for the globetrotters amongst you, how you felt it compared to Social Media Week held in other cities.

Oh and you may want to think twice about posting that selfie next time :-)