We spent a lot of time talking about the FTC blogger guidelines when they were proposed and approved over the last several months. The new rules, in case you missed the news, went into effect a few days ago, with more or less a whimper.  A few bloggers made note of the event, and some, like Louis Gray, noted what we’ve talked about from the beginning: that these rules aren’t enforceable in today’s world.

I won’t even waste my time reading every word of the FTC’s script, but other folks, including SiliconAngle’s Mark Hopkins have done the dirty work. The obvious places to disclose are, of course, in blog posts, and in Tweets. But what about other people’s content, where I can add visibility to their own comments, even if I was not the original author?

For example, should I not "Like" comments by the client or other shares of the client’s work that others have made on Facebook and FriendFeed? Is it assu/> [...]

Thu Dec 03, 2009 15:30 pm

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See Twitter Trends Around Your Neighborhood with GeoMeme

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In a recent post on Twitter's new geolocation feature and the kinds of apps it would allow developers to create, we received a comment from Bob Hitching telling us to check out GeoMeme.

GeoMeme is Hitching's side project, a real-time web app and also a location-aware mobile web app for iPhone and Android phones. It allows users to see and compare trends in specific locations; for example, you could see the most tweeted-about musicians performing at an award show or the most-tweeted political buzzwords in a given state or town.

Sponsor

Here's how it works: Users choose a location on the map (powered by Google Maps), and they select from the list of current trending Twitter topics or type in two search terms to compare.

GeoMeme then measures and compares the number of matching tweets within the stated geographical area based on public data from a number of geotagged tweets from mobile Twitter apps.

For example, on this Sunday evening, we can see that the Vikings are beating the Bears... in Twitter mentions in Minneapolis, at least:

The app might also be interesting for brands. We can see here that legendary local burger chain In N Out wins over Carl's Jr. in Twitter mentions in Los Angeles:

We can also use /> [...]

Sun Nov 29, 2009 18:15 pm

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Facebook Launches Fellowship Program For Ph.D. Students

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Facebook said today it is launching the Facebook Fellowship Program aimed at Ph.D. students in the 2010-2011 school year.

The goal of the Facebook Fellowship Program is to find candidates who can help solve problems surrounding the social web and Internet technology.

The Facebook Blog provides more details. "We are interested in a wide range of academic topics, including Internet economics, cloud computing, social computing, data mining, machine learning, and systems and information retrieval."

"Full-time Ph.D. students who are enrolled in U.S. universities and working on research in these topical areas qualify to apply for one of five fellowships, which will cover their tuition and fees and provide a $30,000 stipend in addition to conference travel and other benefits."

The deadline for application submission is February 15, 2010. Recipients of the fellowship will be notified by email of their acceptance on March 29.
 

Related Articles:

> Facebook Makes Some Changes

> Facebo/> [...]

Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:10 pm

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News: Twitter Changes Updates to Tweets

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In the grand scheme of things, this news seems a bit insignificant in light of other current events However, it is significant in the world of Social Media. As mainstream audiences embrace new media, every subtle nuance introduced from here on out reverberates across the social landscapes that define, shape, and dictate its evolution and its pace of adoption.

Today, Twitter changed it’s “update’ button to a verb that will only gain in prominence, “Tweet.”

Thanks to good friend @Orli for her observation and also for capturing the screenshot.

It should be noted, that Twitter has applied to trademark “Tweet” and that process is still ongoing.

This is the second recent change in the culture and language of Twitter, with the first, rewording the prompt that triggered or shaped your updates, well, now Tweets. Originally Twitter asked, “What are you doing?” Now, you’re prompted by “What’s happening?” Again, subtle…but profound. As I’ve always believed, Twitter has always asked the wrong question and suggested that it change over time to continually inspire creativity, deep thought, profound statements and observations in addition to everyday status and conversations.

What do you think about this change?

Connect with Brian [...]

Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:15 pm

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