Last week, Facebook launched the new “Send” button, which will replace the “Send an email to a friend” button. It looks fairly similar to the “Like” button. If you click on it, a pop-up will appear and you will be able to send the article or page to friends, groups or any email address you like. One improvement is that you can now add a personal message. It’s actually pretty similar to a “recommend button.” Read more on Mashable.
Social responsibility [...]

I was browsing the clearance racks the other day and bought a t-shirt that caught my eye immediately. Not only because it was $5, and I’m cheap like that. The shirt read: “My Space, Fun for the Whole Family.”
Given my propensity for taking notice of anything social-media related, whether it’s on a clearance rack of last season’s clothes or a billboard in Times Square, my eyes gleamed with delight, because it confirmed my prediction of more than a year [...]

A Good Influence?
What constitutes “influence” in social media—and who has it, and how is it measured? The latest hot topic on the Web is a complex issue

A recent study made headlines, when one respondent posited that “Lady Gaga is popular; Bono is influential,” but the researchers behind the newly launched Pulse of the Tweeters claim that celebs, as many followers as they might have, aren’t trusted sources in areas outside of their expertise. So, in other words, if Ashton [...]

“Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.” – Denis Diderot (French philosopher, 1713-1784)
Among all social media platforms, Facebook is clearly the one that currently leads the game. Despite privacy concerns, the popularity of Mark Zuckerberg’s creation is constantly growing, with a movie about him and the beginnings of Facebook coming up next October. Let’s first take [...]

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” –John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
We’re currently living in an exciting period, where everything is moving fast and changing: It’s totally true that what’s right today might be wrong tomorrow. Anyway, we need to see where we are heading, to create and to adapt. Perhaps it was a side effect of the amazing powers of prediction of Paul the Octopus, [...]

As marketers work around the clock to leverage the newest social media platform, I can’t help but reflect on my first uses of social media. I’m a firm believer that you can’t evolve or grow without knowing your roots and learning from your past—and I realize now that in my past, I was engaged in social media before there was such a thing as “social media.”
It was about 13 years ago when I created my first site—a “Power Rangers” fan [...]

The newest internet celebrity isn’t a smoking baby, nor is it middle-aged mousy woman with an incredible singing voice. Meet Zach Anner, a self-described “wheelchair-bound lady magnet,” who is winning hearts as he competes for a chance to host his own talk show on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
Zach’s contest entry gives his own personal hilarious take on his disability, calling cerebral palsy the “sexiest of the palsies” and discusses his dream to host a travel show for people who [...]

When I think of the phrase “The Beautiful People,” the popular, catchy song from a few years ago by Marilyn Manson comes to mind, but ask some of my single New York City girlfriends and they will sing an entirely different tune that is virtual, attractive and now very controversial.
In fact, I couldn’t believe my ears when they told me about Beautifulpeople.com, a dating website where admittance is based on your level of attractiveness. Yet it wasn’t the site, launched [...]

“A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man … His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.” – Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian philosopher and writer, 1469-1527)
No matter times or places, “influence” has always been the Holy Grail. The social media revolution raised this notion to a new level: Almost everything [...]

“[Brands] need to realize that the conversation will extend beyond their control, so they should have a strong point of view and good, engaging content.” –Russ Lidstone, CEO of Euro RSCG London, in an article on UTalkMarketing
All the changes social media is bringing about now are accelerating, creating new ways for consumers and brands to interact with each other, based on these key characteristics: trust, transparency and humility.

“How Consumers Interact with Brands on Social Networks” on eMarketer
“Fickle [...]