The weekend read

You've got mail, communicators: Time to push that envelope toward the weekend. I have a special delivery of great ideas and info, shared this week on Twitter and curated here just for you. Signed, sealed, delivered, this weekend read is yours:

• Mail truck: Social media now tops even email as the thing we do most on the Internets...but we're doing it most on mobile or tablet devices. Read more snippets from a new Business Insider study on social engagement.
• Special delivery: Pew took a look at new-media efforts to fill in for those disappearing statehouse beats and bureaus. If you release news in many states, this one's for you.
• Sealed envelope, anybody? Google+ now allows fake usernames.
• Addressee unknown: Microsoft's Bing search engine now has a form for your "right to be forgotten" requests.
• Junk mail: People don't really understand what your "sponsored content" means...but they know they don't like it, says a new study from Contently.
• The postman always rings twice: Are we coming to the end of SEO? should, I hope, get you to stop worrying about keywords and other shenanigans. Time to pivot, people.
• Return to sender: I told you a while back about the availability of a Twitter metrics dashboard if you signed up for a free account with Twitter advertising. While this article suggests you need to have advertised to use it, mine still works, and now Twitter confirms it's been updated and redesigned to be more useful.
• First day cover: A professional photographer offers advice on your LinkedIn profile photo. Mostly, it involves making sure your face takes up most of the room in the square.
• Snail mail: LG has developed a flexible OLED display that can be rolled up like a newspaper for, well, those of us who remember that.
• Regular mail: Amazon is looking into an e-book subscription service.
• You may already be a winner: Here's a thorough look at how to use quizzes to drive social traffic back to your website or blog.

I'm leading my workshop on women and public speaking, Be The Eloquent Woman, as a pre-conference session before the European Speechwriter Network conference in Amsterdam this October. Are you in? Great new speakers are being added to the lineup every week. Please share both these unique professional development opportunities with your colleagues...and show up yourself. 

Put a stamp on it: I'm glad you stroll over to this mailbox on Fridays. Thanks for reading!