August 2007 Archives

CustomScoop sponsored an early morning (well, for this girl anyway) breakfast for Boston-area social media enthusiasts this morning, and I’m pleased to report the event was a runaway success! The brainchild of Bryan Person, the Social Media Breakfast brought...

Are bloggers journalists? How about are journalists journalists? With all of the fussing about how bloggers don’t check their facts, and run with stories before confirmation, you would think that MSM reporters would take that (alleged) differentiation and run...

A coworker came across this story today and it got me thinking on the recent flap surrounding use of Facebook and other social networks at the office. Obviously, an employer looking to maintain employee productivity (in however misguided a manner)...

I think it’s time for another edition of the Social Media Top Ten. For those that may have missed last week’s inaugural list, a little background: Boston PR blogger (and friend of CustomScoop) Bryan Person has asked other bloggers...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again--use Second Life as an interviewing platform when (and only when) it makes sense. (Sidebar: it likely makes less sense now than it ever did, with companies leaving the boxy confines of the...

Listening to NPR on the way home the other evening, I was intrigued by a story about a recent contest that allowed participants on a writer’s forum to serve as the screeners for novels. As background, aspiring novelists used...

What's on your mind? That is the basic theme behind Bryan Person's latest creation, the Social Media Top Ten. Who is influencing you this week? What social media trends are catching your eye? Which memes are stuck in your head like...

No matter how many companies learn and adapt to the way social media has changed their businesses, there will always be a few who stand and steadfastly refuse to accept the changes.  While I understand in some small way...

I just read a post on BusinessWeek Online-Blogspotting about a survey conducted by Fusion PR, an independent PR agency that focuses on technology communications. The survey sought to determine the impact of social media on the jobs of technology...

I noticed a post on Consumerist recently under the title “Stealth PR.” Figuring it was yet another story about the dangers of astroturfing or another fake blog exposed, I had to click.  It was pretty brief, but definitely pulled...

I had a few different ideas today, so I thought I’d compile a little jots-style rundown of the things I’m reading and thinking about today. Think of it like Potpourri, but with less Trebek. It’s JotPourri! First order of...

According to a piece in USA Today, some parents of incoming college freshmen are using Facebook as a screening tool for their child's roommate, and apparently this is causing an increase in the number of room change requests. One of the beauties/benefits of...

When I saw this post on BrandweekNRx, I did actually have to follow Peter Rost's direction to do a Google News search on the issue--it was (almost) too bizarre to believe. I really have to wonder what Johnson & Johnson thinks that they...

In a lot of blog posts I read, a common theme is that PR pros are flacks and hacks and serve little redeeming value. They obfuscate and spin, and in the world of web 2.0, there is no need for...

Listening to today's For Immediate Release, Shel brought up the Canadian Broadcasting Company's new guidelines regarding employee use of social media. This includes urging CBC journalists with Facebook pages to refrain from adding PR contacts as Facebook "friends," and offering...

It’s a great question, and a point that Kami Huyse raised not too long ago. While it has taken me a bit of time to post about it, the subject has been rolling around in my head since I read her...

I've been fortunate enough to have avoided the dreaded jury duty so far in my life (knock wood), yet I have gathered enough knowledge from my extensive viewings of "Law and Order" to know that potential jurors that have not...

While I’m sure everyone is tiring of the “are bloggers journalists” debate, two interesting items caught my eye today. The first is that Peter Rost will now be blogging at BrandweekNRx. Rost is a blogger who has established a very...