Minding Your Online Ps and Qs
As the scope of social media continues to shape-shift so does the online etiquette that loosely governs it

Let’s go ahead and get started because there’s so much to remember here: For instance, DON’T tweet about your co-workers, DO use emoticons in emails to your girlfriends but not your boyfriends, and whatever you do, DON’T overuse your exclamation points or spam anyone with anything, ever. Mister Manners himself, Dale Carnegie, can get you sorted on [...]

The infamous hacking group Anonymous is allegedly planning to delete Facebook on Nov. 5, 2011. In a YouTube video, allegedly posted by Anonymous, the group announced that it will erase the social media giant to save the public from Facebook’s evil, privacy-stealing ways—though there have been conflicting reports of the group’s involvement, via an Anonymous spokesperson. Apparently, the hackers’ collective is just as uncertain as the rest of us if the attack will actually happen, because the hackers are (obviously) [...]

A recent survey by Bloomberg and YouGov found that Google+ is on track to become the second largest social networking site within the next 12 months. I’ve been a member of Google+ since it launched about a month ago, but I’m just not buying it—the survey, that is.
The survey (which only interviewed 1,003 adults, not quite a representative sample in my opinion) claims that Google+ is “chipping away at engagement levels on Facebook and Twitter” based on the following statistics:

30 [...]

The following article was originally published on Campaign Asia.
July 13, 2011. A day that unfortunately saw a spate of bomb blasts in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai, India.
It was also a day that saw social media, specifically Twitter, come of age.  And not just come of age, but actually score over the big television networks in the manner in which the aftermath of the bomb blasts was handled.
Almost miraculously, within minutes, a community formed. Not of people who necessarily [...]

The following post was originally published on Mommylens.com.
There were 80,000 people in attendance at the U2 concert I went to recently.  And from what I could tell, all 80,000 were sharing their experience with friends and family through their own social networks and mobile devices.  As my husband and I photographed, tweeted and posted updates on Facebook, I was convinced that this was more than half the fun.
Rewind to one of my most favorite assignments over [...]

Our Safety Net
As our social media connections grow deeper and stronger, it’s getting easier to extend a helping hand

As social networks play an increasingly integral role in all our lives, we’re learning how to use them not just to communicate with friends and family but also to help one another. Sometimes it can be for fun—like aiding a fellow linguist in learning a new language through a networking site. Or it can be life-changing: One man in South Korea [...]

Suppressive Regimes
Free speech is losing its freedom and gaining a hefty prison sentence in authoritarian nations

Social networks were the linchpin of recent Arab revolutions—providing a platform for free speech and organization that is often hard to come by in authoritarian countries. Officials in some repressive countries have recognized the power and potential of social networks to catalyze change, and they aren’t happy. In Syria, a 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to five years in solitary confinement for expressing hopes [...]

Let’s start with Twitter this week instead of my usual (Facebook).
During the last few weeks there were some management changes at the top of the micro-blogging service (which is now worth more than $5 billion, by the way). And I recently found different stories about how it was started. For one version, Business Insider’s article called “The real history of Twitter” is a very interesting read.
How do I get people to watch my video and to talk about it? I [...]

Let’s call this Week in Social Media the “Visual Week.” I found quite a few interesting and funny infographics and videos, all of course concerning our favorite topic: social media.
What would Facebook look like, if it was a city? Actually, it would be humongous, with its 600,000,000 inhabitants (20 times bigger than the most populous existing city). Have a look at this infographic on getsatisfaction.
LinkedIn has recently surpassed the 100 million user mark—and to that, we say congratulations! Mashable marked [...]

Can the digital age and that most old-school of pastimes, running, co-exist? I say, absolutely!
I like my Mac and my Android phone, and I love my boyfriend’s iPad, but I am also in the midst of training for the New Jersey Marathon. How am I getting motivated to get off the screen and into my running shoes? Besides the fact that I am naturally a “can’t-sit-still” type of person, I’ve combined my two worlds into one, with great results.
It all [...]