An overwhelming amount of news has been about Facebook’s new Timeline, a feature which all users will be required to implement in the near future. (If you are unfamiliar with the Timeline layout, please check out my colleague Andrea Corbo’s blog post for a detailed explanation of this new debatable feature.) Other headlines have focused on Facebook’s Rise From Start-Up to Establishment and its latest IPO.  

Personally, I’m much more interested in Facebook’s recent study on how the social giant has changed the way we gather and transfer information.

In a 2011 study conducted by Facebook’s Eytan Bakshy — which I found when I subscribed to Mark Zuckerberg’s statuses via Facebook this past month — the  author debates whether or not social media acts as a reinforcement of our own ideas we share with “strong ties” (such as friends, family, coworkers, classmates) or  a tool that broadens your view of the world by taking in new opinions from “weak ties” (strangers or acquaintances) and asks us to Rethink Information Diversity in Networks. Bakshy’s study was inspired by a 1973 American Journal of Sociology study conducted by economic sociologist Mark Granovetter called, The Strength of Weak Ties. In Granovetter’s study, documented well before the Internet, stronger ties flock together sharing similar information while weaker ties aren’t as prominent and withhold eye-opening news.

Fast-forward to the age of social media … Interaction is often compared to that of a party-like setting in which you must interact and share information with people in a similar manner. Bakshy conducted his current study to measure to and/or from whom at this “party” we are more likely to share information. With the help of Facebook’s newsfeeds feature, the study measured how often a Facebook member would re-share their weak ties links versus their strong ties links. While it was found that strong ties’ links would be reposted more often, it was the weaker ties that were the ones who provided the most information. How? While the strong ties may have more interests in common and a stronger influence,  Facebook friends are more likely to have a majority of acquaintances invited to their metaphorical social media bash than close friends.

The majority of a person’s newsfeed will contain new information from more dissimilar members via new updates posted throughout the day. Now more than ever, “weak ties” are able to share information spread throughout a social group. Whereas before this segment would not have the capability to reach a broader audience without the assistance of a larger media outlet, but now thanks to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ and any other social network site that has a newsfeed element these “weak ties” are spreading their influence. I can say that Bakshy’s theory explains why I read his article in the first place from Mark Zuckerberg, a “weak tie.”

 Do you believe we are more likely to spread information due to the quality of the connection or the quality of content? Have you found that you are more aware of opinions that differ from your own, now that use of social media outlets has increased as opposed to face to face interactions? Most importantly, did you read or share my article because of this theory?

***

Bio: Before joining the BurrellesLuce team in 2011, Kelly interned at CondeNast’s Glamour magazine as an editorial intern to the senior style writer and was an editor of her college newspaper. She received a B.A. in Behavioral Science and Business, Society and Culture from Drew University with honors. After graduation, she worked as a sales associate at Nordstrom and took a month off to travel abroad throughout Europe. In Kelly’s free time, she enjoys traveling, fashion, reading, bringing awareness to Breast Cancer, running 5Ks, baking and social media. Twitter:@miss_mulholland Facebook: BurrellesLuce; LinkedIn: Kelly Mulholland

“until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew whether this one was that one… or that one was this one or which one was what one… or what one was who.”

The last few month, the news out of the “television” world has been very Seuss-like to say the least:

At this year’s winter TV press tour Kevin Reilly, entertainment president, Fox Broadcasting Company, revealed that his network plans to use web content as a development tool for the airwaves. “Something that starts in digital could be the next big primetime hit… We have an expertise, and a history, and proficiency, and a primetime audience base,” he confirms in this Atlantic.com article about 5 Ways the Networks Want to Change How You Watch TV. Reilly goes on to use Web Therapy starring Lisa Kudrow (of Friends fame) as one example of a web-only series that has successfully made the switch and is now aired on Showtime.

In an effort to kick start their declining subscription base, Netflix is beginning to act more like a network rather than your average streaming video provider. By jumping into the original programming waters, Netflix plans to release three new series in 2012 – starting with Lilyhammer, a crime comedy set in Norway’s former Winter Olympics headquarters, starring The Soprano’s Steven Van Zandt. Not to be outdone and fresh off a year where they realized 60 percent revenue growth in 2011, the web streaming service Hulu is launching its first ever original scripted series. Battleground, a mockumentary series described as “The Office meets The West Wing, premieres February 14, explains, this opinion brief on TheWeek.com.

And remember when YouTube was just a site where you could watch short clips of people doing funny and unusual things? Well, last week Reuters joined CNN and the BBC by unveiling its own channel to be shown on the popular video sharing site. The channels will show original content from Reuters on YouTube, which will allow them to leverage an army of over 3,000 reporters worldwide.

I doubt all the players involved with getting content to the masses will end up in blissful harmony like our friends the Sneetches, but it should be fun watching them run from one machine to the next having their green stars removed and re-added over again.

What are your thoughts? Please share them with me here on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

At this time of year, perhaps more than any other, we PR and marketing professionals can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that there are no shortages of bloggers and writers flexing their “intuitive” muscles to predict the trends and topics in store for the coming year.

Not too long ago I posted on Fresh Ideas about the 10 Brands That May Not Be Around in 2012 as revealed by 24/7 Wall Street, a firm offering insight analysis and commentary for U.S. and global equity investors.

Now CoreBrand, a branding and marketing research firm, is making some predictions of its own. According to an article on Business Insider, These Famous Brands Will Disappear in 2012, “two days before the Wall Street Journal  reported Kodak will fill for bankruptcy, James R. Gregory, CEO of branding and marketing research firm CoreBrand, predicted that Kodak would ‘disappear’ as a brand in 2012.”

The article is quick to address that “bankruptcy doesn’t mean the end of Kodak as a business. The company and its brands could be bought or restructured.”  Still we can’t ignore that many businesses within the tech industry are struggling to find relevancy in a rapidly changing digital landscape – even the ones who have consistently relied on their strong branding efforts to pull them into the new millennium.

The same can be said for companies in the automotive industry, which have struggled to balance their bottom lines even after extensive government and taxpayer bailouts. In fact, Saab, number four on the list, also recently filed bankruptcy.  Yet the company still garners media attention, because, as this Wall Street Journal article explains, “this quirky little car brand with its few, but fiercely loyal enthusiasts, has been a source of great affection, nostalgia, and Swedish nationalism.”

But having a recognizable and timeless brand can’t do much when an organization suffers financially and structurally… or can it?

Lesser known companies may not seem to do well on their own, but might still rely on the success of their products. For example, Yum Brands! (number 7 on the list) is parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, all of which seem to do well in their own right. That is, if Yum Brands! avoids taking a page from the playbook of Hostess (whose classic brands include Twinkie, Sno Balls and Wonder Bread brands). Last week, Hostess filed for bankruptcy just two years after emerging from bankruptcy, confirms the Huffington Post.

What are your thoughts? Are these “disappearing acts” just a sign of the times or can something be done from a communications and PR standpoint to help other brands from avoiding a similar fate? What is digital media’s role in all of this, if any? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Bio: After graduating from Rider University, where she received a B.A. in English-writing and minor degrees in Gender Studies and French, Deborah joined the BurrellesLuce Marketing team in 2007.  As a marketing specialist she continues to help develop the company’s thought leadership and social media efforts, including the copywriting and editing of day-to-day marketing initiatives and management of the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog. Facebook: BurrellesLuce Twitter: @BurrellesLuce LinkedIn: dgrogers

New Year’s Resolutions can get tiring. A lot of people don’t even bother making a resolution (I’m included in that list of people).  And usually by the second week of January, resolutions have become false promises, half-hearted attempts at self improvement, and empty words. If you run a basic Google search for Resolutions 2012, you’ll find a ton of material, mostly talking about resolutions already lost and weight-oriented ideas. There’s even an app dedicated to success through habits – New Year’s Resolutions.

What about something different for a change? So, I ran a Google search for New Years’ Resolution 2012 for a good cause and came up with some other options.

• A New Year’s Resolution to Raise Awareness: How about the group of women climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for National Human Trafficking Awareness Day as part of a campaign called, The Freedom Climb?
• Resolution Revolution: How about completing small tasks locally like helping an elderly neighbor with their garden or offering to prepare a weekly meal to a family in need nearby?  
• Volunteer or fundraise: Next Generation Nepal reconnects trafficked children with their parents in Nepal. Or do the same for an organization that promotes women’s empowerment to women in India like International Princess Project or Vidya.

The internet may be your best resource to help you find a resolution that means something to you. And if it means something to you, you’re more likely to stick to it! An easy way to start is to run a Google search for good causes, an issue you’re already interested in or volunteer opportunities. From there, you may develop ideas that lead to a worthy New Year’s Resolution.

How are you choosing to revamp your resolutions and create more meaningful intentions this year? Please share your thoughts with the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

***

Bio: After receiving a B.A. in communications, and briefly working at a TV production studio, Andrea began volunteering abroad. This lead her to work in the non-profit world, where she was fortunate enough to learn about international education, women’s empowerment and social issues for the elderly, while traveling to over a dozen countries.  Since joining BurrellesLuce in 2011, Andrea is excited to share her thoughts and views on branding, social media, and communications with the growing Fresh Ideas audience, as well as her passion for cultural awareness, volunteerism, and sustainable efforts. Twitter: @AndreaCorbo; Facebook: BurrellesLuce; LinkedIn: BurrellesLuce 

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend the PRSA-NJ panel discussion on Tools of the Trade:  Effective Online News sponsored by BurrellesLuce.  The event was held at the beautiful Monmouth University campus and had a great turnout of emerging journalists and up-and-coming publicists. 

The panel had one consistent message across the board for students and professionals in attendance: 

• Know who you are pitching.
• Know your news hook.
• Be relevant, specific and succinct.

Judith Feeney —  digital editor for NJ Press Media,  Asbury Park Press (app.com), Daily Record (dailyrecord.com), the Home News Tribune, and the Courier News — started the discussion by reminding us there are a vast number of new tools and a lot less time to get the job done.  She suggested that PR and media relations professionals need to become familiar with all of the tools out there.  Know who you are pitching and don’t blanket your pitch to multiple people.  Look at the type of material the publication and journalist produces and tailor your pitch accordingly.

Christopher Sheldon, the Long Branch editor of Patch.com, a hyperlocal publication, said to make sure to include the who, what, where, when and why in the first paragraph.  If it’s not local to his area, he cannot write about it.  His audience is looking for community news.

Christy Potter Kass, assistant editor of The Alternative Press, agreed with Chris and said her publication is also hyperlocal and stories must tie into the values and interests of local readers.  She emphasized not to confuse hyperlocal publications with national publications.  When asked the definition of “hyperlocal,” Christy said the more local the story the better.  News must be about something going on in town or have a connection to the community.

Joan Bosisio, group vice president of Stern & Associates said that (with all the recent layoffs) PR people have an opportunity to help journalists, who are working on stories, do their jobs.  Journalists are now doing more than one job and by presenting them with not only the story, but the materials to help them write the story (e.g., video, spokespeople and social media) you make their job easier.

Kristine Brown oversees PR for St. Barnabas Health, the state’s largest hospital system.  She gave us some real life examples of crisis communications and advised that essential PR skills have not changed with all the new online tools available.  Kristine said you still need to know your audience, know your story, cultivate relationships with the media (this has helped her in time of crisis) and move at the same pace the news is moving.

As for journalists and PR professionals alike, essential skills include: spelling, grammar, and attention to detail. The ability to take your own photos, as a journalist, will also help prospective media professionals stand out.

How are you using online tools to help you connect with journalists and the media? As a member of the media, what other ways can PR and communications professionals work with you to get their stories out? Please leave your comments below on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

***

The social media buzz was unavoidable. A posting by Arik Hanson prompted an idea. BurrellesLuce currently posts transcripts of several industry Twitter chats, so why not see what the social media world is saying about Jobs?

Many of the posts were posted via Apple products, and the re-tweeting of this fact, probably helped to stall Twitter. There were several trending words and hashtags, but the most poignant was #iSad.

Some of my favorite posts were:

• @Peter_Max: Remembering Steve Jobs 4 more than computers & iPhones. His concern for the environment & the idea to Think Different were his true gifts!
• @libbykober: “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple” #RIPSteveJobs
• @wobiwan: Three apples changed human life; Adam’s apple, Newton’s apple and the Steve Job’s apple. #RIPSteveJobs #iSad
• @ladygaga: From his own invention I open my browser to it’s homepage. Today it took my breath away. #ThankYouSteve. Going to eat Apples all day.
• @claiirebearclaiirebear: My life has been changed and impacted by a man i’ve never met. Such dedication and brilliance. RIP. #ThankYouSteve
• @rene: #ThankYouSteve for all the products you’ve made for Apple. I can’t live without my iPhone 4, iPad 2, & Other products. RIP Steve Jobs! #iSad
• @Vegas__Paul: Steve Jobs: born out of wedlock, put up for adoption, dropped out of college, then changed the world. What’s your excuse #thankyousteve
• @debhalasz: All I know is 10 years ago we still had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope, and Johnny Cash and now we have no Jobs, no Hope, and no Cash. #isad
• The Next Web blog – Beautiful: Public #thankyousteve Tweets visualised into a giant Steve Jobs poster. http://ca.engage121.com/articles/1094388190/
• Apple World – Slideshow: Steve Jobs through the years. http://ca.engage121.com/articles/1093980712/

You can view the entire #iSad and other Steve Jobs related transcripts here.

What are your favorite Steve Job tributes?

Emailers Not Notified If It Lands in Junk (MediaPost/Return Path)
19 percent of all emails sent from corporate accounts either go missing or end up as “junk.”

Network News Chiefs: ‘The audience ultimately will make the decision as to whether we are still relevant or capable or not’ (MediaBistro/TVnewser)
TV network executives recently got together to discuss the future of evening news and broadcast journalism.

Study: Tablets Make Their Owners Less Social, More Sedentary (Forbes)
gfK MRI survey reveals that since buying a tablet device, 19 percent of users are less likely to play sports and 9 percent are not as likely to socialize with friends and family.

Facebook has described it’s new timeline as a way to “tell your life story.” If you have any presence on social media sites, you’ve surely been hearing the hype from friends and online articles alike.

Users will now be able to display their likes, photos, apps, and more from the beginning to the end in timeline format rather than a traditional profile. This leaves many users wondering if the site will display things from the start of their account or if they’ll be asked to fill in the blanks from earlier moments in life. Of course there are other questions:

• Will there still be a newsfeed?
• Will there still be status updates?
• How does this new type of profile influence the way we connect with friends and fans?

The company itself seems pretty confident in the new layout and timeline. They’ve even released a promotional video in anticipation of its launch.

With the countless changes to Facebook in the past, the most recent being the addition of a ticker of real-time updates from connections, I can’t recall a video for any of those new features.

With all this hype over timelines, I’m left wondering, what is the damage verses the gain when changing a social media site? Each time Facebook makes even a small layout change, users post angry statuses complaining about what they don’t like. When Facebook first added the newsfeed back in 2006 it seemed that everyone was outraged. Now, users are comfortable with the newsfeed (despite the latest updates that change the way posts are displayed in a feed) and expect to see it. So, do users just want to keep things the same for the sake of comfort? Or are these new projected changes really a negative thing?

With the new timeline, some current users fear threats to privacy, dislike the open display of too much information, and dread adjusting to the differences. Yet, others seem excited to relive moments with friends and embrace a new approach to display their info. I can guess that once the timeline is launched to all users, people will reject the change at first and then eventually learn to love it.

But for now, we will have to wait and see as Facebook Timeline Has One Week Time-Out and has delayed beta testing in order to sort out issues over possible trademark infringement.

***

After receiving a B.A. in communications, and briefly working at a TV production studio, Andrea began volunteering abroad. This lead her to work in the non-profit world, where she was fortunate enough to learn about international education, women’s empowerment and social issues for the elderly, while traveling to over a dozen countries.  Since joining BurrellesLuce in 2011, Andrea is excited to share her thoughts and views on branding, social media, and communications with the growing Fresh Ideas audience, as well as her passion for cultural awareness, volunteerism, and sustainable efforts. Twitter: @AndreaCorbo; Facebook: BurrellesLuce; LinkedIn: BurrellesLuce

Adbusters-Organized Protest Occupies Wall Street (MinOnline)
“It wasn’t quite the turnout Adbusters magazine originally had expected, but the counter-cultural activist magazine helped organize a march on Wall Street on Saturday Sept. 17. Dubbed “Occupy Wall Street” by the magazine, the effort to assemble people via mobile phones, Tweets and web site notifications had hoped to organize thousands to join the protests.”

In Kabul, It’s Not MTV, It’s a Mission (New York Times)
“Tom Freston is a pretty mellow guy, but sitting in the corner of a downtown Manhattan restaurant last week he was getting very excited as he talked about his new project. ‘Every time I go there, there are kids doing a bunch of new things, making all kinds of interesting programming,’ he said.”

Associated Press Teams With 40 Newspapers On Mobile Coupons (PaidContent.org)
“With newspapers having suffered through 20 straight quarters of decline—and no end in sight—a collaborative effort on the part of the Associated Press and 40 newspapers is designed to play on two of the industry’s last advertising strengths: digital and pre-print circulars.”

Breaking: Netflix Splits DVD And Streaming Businesses; Creates Qwikster For DVDs (TechCrunch)
“Netflix CEO Reed Hastings just dropped a bombshell. In the wake of a rapid decline in Netflix’s stock price last week, Hastings is taking a bold step by separating the DVD and video streaming services. The DVD-by-mail service will now be called Qwikster, and the streaming service will maintain the Netflix brand.”

The New York Observer Grabs Mediagazer’s  ‘Human Editor’ (Yahoo!/TheCutline)

Gannett Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow Will Take Medical Leave of Absence (TVSpy)

PBS ‘Need to Know’ EP Joins Current TV as Programming Exec (TVNewser)

Lanctot Returns To Razorfish As Chief Media Officer (MediaPost)

Trading Places: Glam’s Jacobs To Head Omnicom’s Accuen (MediaPost)

1st Female Editor Denies Influence of Gender (Maynard Institute)
“Jill Abramson, who last week became the first female editor of the New York Times in its 160-year history, said Sunday, ‘The idea that women journalists bring a different taste in stories or sensibility isn’t true.’ The statement was challenged by women who have studied the topic of women in journalism.

Shoppers Via Twitter Spend More, Online Behavior Impacts Retail (MediaPost)
“Shoppers who land on retail sites through Facebook or Twitter are less likely to make purchases. Their conversion rates average 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively. Per average order, however, they spend more than those who come through Google.”

UPDATE: Facebook Suggests Subscribing To Profiles (All Facebook)
“Facebook is suggesting that you subscribe to people’s public status updates and customize how much of their feeds you receive. The site is rolling out a new subscribe button that will enable you to receive in your news feed publicly visible status updates from people who aren’t yet on your friend list.”

Are Big Media’s Partnerships With Seattle ‘Indies’ the Future of Hyperlocal? (StreetFight)
“In the furiously expanding, highly competitive and often conflicted hyperlocal space, some pieces appear to be coming together. Just possibly, highly digital Seattle may be the birthplace for what has long eluded hyperlocal: a sustainable business model.”

Where Newspapers Thrive (LA Times)
“Some 8,000 weekly papers still hit the front porches and mailboxes in small towns across America every week and, for some reason, they’ve been left out of the conversation.”

Court OKs Suit Over Toyota ‘Prank’ Campaign (MediaPost)
“A California appellate court has handed a defeat to Toyota and Saatchi & Saatchi, its ad agency, in a lawsuit stemming from a viral “prank a friend” campaign that went awry.”

Photo Posts Major Mobile Activity (MediaPost)
“Tracking its panel of 294 smartphone and tablet owners, Prosper finds 69.4% are reading status updates on their networks, 53.4% are updating their own status. But 65.6% are viewing photos and 49% are posting photos.”

Lights, Camera, Advertisements (WSJ.com)
“More advertiser-created shows are running on the internet. They could provide a new template for TV that harkens back to the era when advertisers not only sponsored but helped to create, cast, and script ‘soap operas’ and variety shows.”

Flickr Image: Craig S.

Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, a blog focusing on technology startups, continues to cause quite a stir in the journalism world. Arrington announced last week that he is starting his own fund (CrunchFund), with the help of AOL, that will invest in small startup companies and has been under a barrage of criticism, mostly from journalists, for this unique arrangement.

Their main complaint is that Arrington, and other TechCrunch writers, can use the site, a highly trafficked blog ranking number 2 on Technorati’s list of Top 100 blogs (as of today), to potentially post comments and promote the same companies his fund holds positions in. 

As reported by Claire Cain Miller in the New York Times, the journalism world is claiming this type of arrangement violates the covenant of all journalism; reporters should avoid conflicts of interest by maintaining distance from the people, organizations and issues they cover. And, once again, fuels the debate over whether bloggers should be held to the same standards as journalists.

“Journalists write with the principle of public illumination,” said Edward Wasserman, the Knight Professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University, in the above mentioned article. “If it’s helping a group of investors make decisions or advancing one’s own portfolio, you’re not really in the journalism business. You’re in the private enrichment business.” 

To complicate matters even more, Arianna Huffington, AOL’s editorial chief, recently told David Carr of the New York Times that Arrington would be relinquishing all editorial control of TechCrunch so he can run his new fund. (Read the full article here.)

Arrington sees it differently and told another New York Times writer that “I am TechCrunch and TechCrunch is me,” according to this Reuters article.

Hoping to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the issues and set the record straight, Arrington wrote a recent blog post about “editorial independence,” stating: “I believe that AOL should be held to their promise when they acquired us to give TechCrunch complete editorial independence. As of late last week, TechCrunch no longer has editorial independence. Some argue that the circumstances demanded it. I disagree.”

Arrington is demanding AOL relinquish all editorial control, insisting TechCrunch remain autonomous from and independent of the Huffington Post or that AOL sell all TechCrunch shares back to the original shareholders, regardless of his own personal role with the company going forward.

Things should really get interesting if Arrington regains editorial control, especially if his fund begins to thrive and he starts to show a return on investment to AOL, who incidentally has 10 million reasons for wanting his fund to succeed.

So what do you think? Should bloggers and journalists be held to the same standards of transparency and avoiding potential conflicts of interest? Do the latest developments at TechCrunch, Huffington Post, and AOL affect the on-going evolution of the media and how we practice media relations and PR?

E-Books Get More Interactive With Amazon’s New Author Q&A Feature (ReadWriteWeb)
“Amazon nudged the experience of reading books ever-so-slightly further into the future today. The company announced a new feature for its Kindle reading platform that lets readers ask authors questions about their books as they’re reading.”

 Juror Pleads Guilty After ‘Friending’ Defendent (Mashable.com)
“Jurors and defendants are not meant to be friends — even if it’s just Facebook friends. Four charges of contempt of court probably drilled this point home for 22-year-old Jonathan Hudson of Arlington, Texas.”  

Apple’s Cloud Still Isn’t Streaming (AllThingsDigital.com)
“When is a stream not a stream? When it’s a download. While a video making the rounds today makes it seem as if Apple’s upcoming iTunes Match service will stream music from Apple’s servers to a user’s device, that’s not the case.”

Zuckerberg Tops Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” List Again (And Look Who’s No. 40) (AllThingsDigital.com)
“Vanity Fair magazine put out its high-profile “New Establishment” list of the top 50 people, who are ‘an innovative new breed of buccaneering visionaries, engineering prodigies, and entrepreneurs, who quite often sport hoodies, floppy hair, and backpacks.’”

Ex-NYC Deputy Mayor: Hyperlocals Should Help Citizens ‘March on City Hall’ (StreetFightMag.com)
“Journalism and community are rapidly converging in the hyperlocal space. But the big missing piece is meaningful participation by local government.”

Nielsen 2011-12 Rankings: Washington DC, Seattle Move Up, While Atlanta and Phoenix Drop (TVSpy)
“The Top 20 local markets will see some changes this year, according to Nielsen. The 2011-12 list of DMAs, released today, measures Washington, DC and Seattle each moving up a rank — to 8 and 12, respectively — while Atlanta and Phoenix each drop down one spot, to 9 and 13.”

Ad Giant Nurtures Startups (WSJ)
“Advertising companies keep finding new ways to cozy up to technology businesses—even tiny ones. Omnicom Group’s OMD and its client General Electric just completed a summer-long tech incubator to get an early in on new tech trends relevant to marketing. They awarded the $10,000 prize to a website called …”

7 Parts of a Facebook Post (SocialMediaToday)
“Content creation is one the biggest challenges for brands. Many of the folks I work with have a hard time trying to find the right thing to say to their listeners. There are two approaches I like to guide brands to take…”

Twitter Limits: Maximum Tweets Per Day? (SocialMediaToday)
“There are over two hundred million registered users of Twitter. This number grows by hundreds of thousands each day as new users sign-up. There are over one hundred and fifty million Tweets per day. So many, in fact, that many people find it hard to monitor ongoing conversations without using special platforms.”

Google Explores Re-Ranking Search Results Using +1 Button Data (Wired)
“Google is making plans to turn its +1 button into a crowdsourcing tool that helps it re-order search results and fight web spam. While not surprising, the move would bring Google’s search engine into the social networking era, while simultaneously creating a new avenue for blackhats to manipulate search results and potentially incurring the wrath of trust-busting authorities. Google confirmed its plans in an e-mail to Wired.com.”

News International confirms internal review of ‘journalistic standards’ (YahooNews/TheCutline)
“As the saga of the British phone-hacking scandal continues slowly to unfold, News International, the British arm of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has confirmed it is conducting a thorough internal investigation of its properties.”

 Golden Globes Trial: Inside One of TV’s Messiest, Nastiest Battles (HollywoodReporter)
“THR’s in-depth look at why the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is accusing Dick Clark Productions of secretly squeezing it out of its own awards show.”

Here’s Why Fox News Claims Gawker’s Traffic Fell 75 Percent (Forbes.com)
“Fox News and Gawker are going at it again. The Rupert Murdoch-owned cable channel says Gawker is irrelevant, so much so that its irrelevancy needs to be discussed both on Fox’s No. 1-rated air and on its website. The Nick Denton-owned gossip site says Fox’s logic-challenged attack is preemptive payback — pretaliation? — for a juicy story on a major Fox personality it’s getting set to publish.”

Steve Jobs’ Greatest Legacy: Persuading The World To Pay For Content (PaidContent.org)
“Jobs pried open many content companies’ thinking, because his focus was always on getting something great to the customer with as few obstacles as possible.”

Study Reveals Facebook Age Gap: Older Users Don’t ‘Like’ It, But Are More Likely To Click Through (MediaPost)
“Don’t expect Facebook users age 50+ to ‘Like’ a product or service in an ad, but do expect them to click through to the landing page or Web site, according to a new study.”

G.E. to Produce Short Films About Innovation (NYTimes/MediaCoder)
“General Electric just can’t stay away from the movies. Barely eight months after ceding control of NBC Universal and its Universal Studios to Comcast, G.E. is diving into the documentary world as the financial backer of 30 three-minute films by directors including Morgan Spurlock (“POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”), Joe Berlinger (“Crude”), Barbara Kopple (“Shut Up and Sing”) and Alex Gibney (“Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place”).”

I know all the Californians reading this, are still laughing about our reaction to a 5.9 earthquake, but this is a terrorism-scared town and coast (on the cusp of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11) and we don’t usually have earthquakes. There were a lot of funny and useless tweets, which had Howard Kurtz commenting on the media’s feeding frenzy of the event in “Washington’s Earthquake Farce” in The Daily Beast.

However, there were some organizations using new media to help communicate to the public. Concerned about my limited service, I tweeted Verizon Wireless, who answered my question quite quickly. Because many phone lines from various companies were jammed or down, people were encouraged to use social media or texting to communicate.   

Several other organizations used social media to push-out the most current service information.

Crisis Information
The earthquake caused several spires to fall from the National Cathedral, which is home to many national events and presidential funerals. The cathedral quickly created an impressive website page with a Twitter stream, information on the damage and a donation form for help paying for the repairs.

Round-up the Customers
Many stranded workers gave retailers an opportunity to offer earthquake specials or let customers know they were open via their Facebook pages and Twitter. I thought the $5.80 specials were a nice tie-in to the 5.8-magnitude earthquake.

What other creative social media marketing have you seen centered on a natural event? Are you prepared to communicate through social media in a crisis situation?

The East Coast is now waiting for Hurricane Irene to hit this weekend. I wonder what the Twitter-sphere will be saying about it and which bar will be the first to offer a special on hurricanes.

Miramax Launching Multi-Title Facebook Movie App In U.S., UK & Turkey (PaidContent.org)
Miramax eXperience launches on Facebook, giving users the ability to rent some 20 U.S. titles. Movies cost 30 Facebook credits ($3) and can be viewed over the course of 48 hours.

Specific Media Settles Flash Cookie Suit, Promises Never To Use Them (MediaPost)
A privacy lawsuit between web user Stefen Kaufman and Specific Media, which recently purchased MySpace, has been settled for an undisclosed sum.  But the debate over Flash cookies and ETags are far from other. AOL, Hulu, and Kissmetrics, are just a few the companies that still have cases pending against them.

Tumblr Talking To Top VCs About An $800 Million+ Valuation (BusinessInsider)
As Tumblr continues its expansions reports are speculating that the blogging giant is in talks to raise $75 million to $100 million.

Fox’s 8 Day Delay On Hulu Triggers Piracy Surge (FreakTorrent)
In an effort to encourage viewers to watch its shows live, Fox has stopped posting its shows online the day after the show airs. The result: viewers, who would ordinarily seek legal streams to view their shows, are now frequenting pirated sources.