Weekend read: My weekly share on Twitter, with some unusual finds

This week, I slam-dunked a lot of shared items into the net that is Twitter, where I'm @dontgetcaught and share news, ideas and data that comes through my feed, focusing on communications strategy and social media.  This week, some of my shared items were finds that surprised even me--so I'll try to point those out in a week crowded with sharing:

• This post redefines hang time:  The jaw-dropping find of the week was this data set on when Facebook users are most active. It's down to the hour, and will help answer those when-to-post questions, among many others.  That was so stunning, I nearly missed these big Facebook finds, on why we friend each other, and new pages that will document one set of friends' interactions.
• It doesn't have to be a three-point field goal, either:  But Problogger Darren Rowse writes an outstanding post on why bloggers need goals.  Another excellent read.
• Follow the point forward: Lucy Bernholz is a big thinker in philanthropy, and her post on "Make it easier to know than to not know" simplifies the discussion of why and when you should use data visualization--with a basketfull of tools and ideas.
• Coaching on media ethics in the new media game:  Terry Heaton's PoMo (postmodern journalism) blog has this must-read comparing the ethics of new media and traditional media.  Communicators and journalists have a lot to learn here.
• Big new social tools get a turn on the court:  Groupon--which helped an art museum here in Washington pick up 1,000 new members in just a few days--is a powerful potential tool for nonprofits as well as small businesses. Pricing came out this week for a new "self-serve" or "make-your-own" Groupon deal your organization or business may want to try; Facebook's testing a new deals option connected to Facebook Places check-ins; and PayPal announced a two-click express checkout that can be done on mobile devices.  No mistake that these all take advantage of location and mobile tech.
• A full-court press on university topics:  This week, I shared a report on UNC's digital news "sandbox", a look at 4 website problems that content management can solve (via the University of Minnesota Communicators Forum), and Vanderbilt's Charlie Melichar on taming your web content mullet.  All excellent reads.
• Calling foul on strategies that aim to "go viral:" Remember how you used to wince when colleagues said their goal was to make their program a "household word?" The new equivalent is "I want this to go viral." Here's a smart read on the anti-viral social strategy, one of this week's smarter finds.
• The science behind the communications swish:  My science communications pals shared all sorts of great reads, from the "Dude, you're speaking Romulan" post on why scientists need to drop the jargon even when speaking to other scientists, on the American Geophysical Union's Plainspoken Scientist blog, to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund's look at how scientists are using mobile devices at scientific meetings (which kindly includes thoughts from me), and Joe Bonner's post about mobile apps and news organizations, the most popular post on our joint blog for a new-media panel coming up at the National Association of Science Writers' annual meeting.

Subscribe to For Communications Directors, my free monthly newsletter, which features content before it appears here on the blog.  Then head over to don't get caught on Facebook, where you'll see new social media trends, technology and communications issues as they crop up during the week--and great conversations with our community of communicators.