
- Not from the assembly line: Inspired by my post suggesting media relations types tip more and pitch less, WCG's Brian Reid wrote his own riff on why media relations doesn't (and shouldn't) scale. A worthy read if you work with reporters. (Brian was nice enough to tweet that my post was "Maybe the single best post on media relations ever." I'm still blushing.)
- Button, button: Facebook has ramped up the "like" button, so that whatever you "like" winds up as a shared item in your feed. It's great for your Facebook pages, since it will give them more visibility in feeds when someone likes them. Still to be seen: Whether users think it's invasive. To really grasp this, read this post on “Like,” “share,” and “recommend”: How the warring verbs of social media will influence the news’ future.
- Do we lack advanced social media content at conferences? Arik Hanson gave voice to something I've thought about for some time, since I'm often asked to speak on social media--but rarely find sessions I would find challenging. I've started urging my professional groups to kick it up a notch for advanced users.Nothing wrong with helping newbies, mind you--but not every session should be an enthused pitch for getting started. Maybe some "now what?" workshops?
- Your geekend project: How to turn your PC into a TiVo, that is, to download TV shows as they become available. Please do not tell your spouse you found this here.
- Viewpoint vigor: Women don't write op-eds as often as men do, and The Op-Ed Project is working on that. Figure out how to get their help for your smart women with opinions.
- Data on doctors on Twitter: A JAMA article looked at doctors who tweet, and came up with some interesting finds about their content and patterns. This link is to NPR's coverage.
- And we don't mean they're up on SlideShare: Are your presentations accessible? from PowerPoint's blog shows it's not that tough to make your presos accessible to people with disabilities. Are you taking this extra step?
- Rearview mirror: A university communicator, in creating a new landing page, takes the time to look at how the web (and his approaches) have changed in the several years since the old page went up. These kinds of insights are worth taking the measure of--and sharing with your team and internal clients.
- It's Friday, so...: A New York Times article says it all: Go easy on yourself, a new wave of research urges. You now have Official Permission.
- A must-read, if you read or aim to get things into the New York Times magazine, is this sneak peek at the many changes coming, and how they're being phased in. I'm kind of loving that the letters column is being renamed "Reply All." Lots of fodder here for media relations teams to sift and ponder.
- How important is it for journalists to be able to search an online newsroom archive? This graphic sums up data from a survey of 1,200 journalists. (The good news: They found 1,200 journos to ask.)
- Heads up, filmmakers: Amazon has thought of everything. Its Amazon Studios just handed out $150,000 in prize money to help films get made, and I think this effort's worth keeping your eye on. Content, people, content.
- Sharpen your metaphor skills: A new study suggests that metaphors trump data in getting audiences to respond to an issue. Important read for my nonprofit and cause-related readers, but also for any communicators looking to be more persuasive.

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