Marcy Kaptur (D-OH9) tweeted a joke from the White House Correspondents Dinner. But then she erased it 8 minutes later. What if more members of Congress could embrace the boldness of a funny tweet, without running away from it as if scared of their own shadow? We might see more real discussions among our elected officials as they work to solve our very real problems.[read more]

As of today, Twitter sees 200 million plus monthly active users globally, and 120 million plus active mobile users monthly. Together they’re tweeting a billion tweets every two and a half days, but Guy Yalif, Head of Global Product Marketing at Twitter, said it’s the kinds of tweets that matter, not the volume.[read more]

All those emails, petitions, fansites, and even banana baskets played a role in bringing back the show by helping Netflix quantify the size of Arrested Development fandom. Netflix has wowed with its marketing campaign, a flurry of tricks (sorry, Gob: illusions) that blur the line between reality and the show.[read more]

IBM plans to launch the Watson Engagement Advisor, aimed at helping organizations provide better customer service and product recommendations in real time at scale. The same technology that once outsmarted humans to win Jeopardy and has recently been used to diagnose cancer will now be used to help organizations sense and respond in real time.[read more]

Tumblr users are passionate and are worried about what will happen to their platform. Is that passion enough to keep their pages safe from being “Yahoo’ed?” If the deal goes down, Tumblr as you and I once knew it, may be done. Though the spin is that Yahoo will not screw it up.[read more]

For most small B2C establishments, particularly brick-and-mortar retail and dining, social media presents a challenge in terms of authenticity, timeliness and scale. Casey at the pizza place is able to capture pure moments as they happen and deliver them to his online audience, such as a toddler enjoying a slice while wearing a Superman cape.[read more]

As more sites have now added share buttons and integrated social media it has become easier to share content socially than ever before. In February 2010, people preferred to share content via email but now sharing content via email has decreased from 93.3% in 2010 to 53.3% in February 2013.[read more]

Many businesses face problems that require them to optimize their processes given constraints faced. Prescriptive analytics help you allocate scares resources, optimize market outcomes or limit risks.[read more]

Consumers, aided by social, mobile and internet technologies, are expecting more from the brands with whom they choose to do business. They are beginning to define a brand mostly, if not solely, by its online presence. To offer value and increase website conversion, make sure you fix these any or all of these five elements if they are broken.[read more]

In the end, CDNs are all about load time and reaching a larger audience. It’s less expensive than any other option if you’re hoping to become a company with a global audience, and getting started will only take you about ten minutes.[read more]

Adam Naide, Social Media & Digital Marketing Lead at Cox Communications

I had a chance to sit down with Adam Naide, Social Media & Digital Marketing Lead at Cox Communications to discuss some of the topics that you will see at the Social Shake-Up Conference where Adam will be speaking. The following is a transcript of that conversation.[read more]

Now, when looking at a product pin, pinners will see pricing and availability, and where to buy that product. Pinterest is calling these "rich pins" and has already worked with a number of retailers to provide these useful ones.[read more]

ereader/shutterstock

Even though the highest growth is happening with young adults, the Baby Boomer generation is also consuming news on social media in growing numbers. Mary Madden reports that “While seniors are testing the waters, many Baby Boomers are beginning to make a trip to the social media pool part of their daily routine.”[read more]

While digital gives you the opportunity to reach out to millions with a single click, it also poses a problem: if not monitored properly, it will not be as effective as face-to-face communication. Since your customers are interacting with you through electronic media, they need to be able to see the human side of the interaction to trust you and do business with you.[read more]

The most important thing you can do to better delight everyone who comes in contact with your brand is to listen to them. Listen with a goal to understand, not just think about the next thing you can shout back at them. Bottom line, listen more than you talk.[read more]

Yahoo & Tumblr: good luck / shutterstock

The $1 billion dollar purchase of Tumblr by Yahoo appears to be in line with many of the moves Yahoo has made since Marissa Mayer took over as CEO last year. Since then, Yahoo has been looking to cover up a few grey hairs and reconnect with the coveted 18-24 year old demographic.[read more]

When asked what was the biggest lesson learned at Mayo, Lee answered, “The biggest lesson is that there is really no substitute for valuable content. Patients want in-depth great content. Interaction is important, but really, you need great content.”[read more]

Last year an employee was sued for taking the Twitter followers he’d amassed with him when he left his company. The case focused attention on just how much a Twitter follower was worth. Suffice to say that since then, a good deal of effort has gone into highlighting just how many followers are fakes. So it’s clear that not all followers are of equal value to you.[read more]

I have been on a bit of a tear as of late on the topic of authenticity and ethics in social media. While this is a vital issue, I had intended to move on--and then I saw a Facebook advertisement that induced me to click. The experience I had with the Bank of America ad has returned me, once again, to the topics of ethics, authenticity and the danger of chasing "fans" rather than furnishing positive brand experiences.[read more]

Most social media campaigns are doomed from the beginning. Nothing you can't recover from. But if you start off on the wrong foot, then it's hard to convince others (or yourself) to keep persevering in the face of lackluster results.[read more]