The weekend read

If your week could be a pair of jeans, communicators, what kind would it be? Bell bottom blues? Then it's time to check out my finds of the week, shared via @dontgetcaught on Twitter and curated here just for you.  Patch up the jeans that were your week right here, and get smarter by Monday:

• Frayed: Mike Elgan of Computerworld wrote I'm calling it: Social networking is over. A must-read for communicators, since what you're doing is social media, not social networking. I agree...
• Unhemmed: Facebook and its sites Instagram and Messenger get 50 minutes of your day, on average. They want more.
• Distressed: Comcast gets high marks for its customer service responsiveness on Twitter, but still got trolled on Twitter for Comcast Cares Day.
• In the pocket: Want to embed a Facebook Messenger button on your website? Here's how.
• Patched: Want to try a standing desk, but put off by expense, assembly, and what to do with your existing desk? Ergodriven has a $20 solution in the works. I wrote about their not-flat standing mat in my post on Turning my office into a moveable feast.
• Boot cut: Traditional media companies are turning to virtual reality. Might mean you should get smart about this, finally.
• Riveted: YouTube Unplugged will offer cable-style viewing over the Internet. 'Bye, cords.
• Bell bottoms: Jukeboxes these days are Internet-capable. Now you can load your money and choose your tunes via an app.
• Skinny: Venmo is the app young folks use for cash. Maybe you should get smart about this, too.
• Worn-in: The Library of Congress's early website, Thomas, is transitioning to Congress.gov.
• Cutoffs: The city of Augsburg, Germany, has embedded stop lights in the sidewalks to protect texters.
• Week in review: This week, my Moderating Panels blog shared 3 rhetorical devices moderators can use, even if they're not the main speaker.  On this blog, Will social media deliver a pot roast? The blogger's Web 3.0 casserole looked at sharing guest posts as a favor to fellow bloggers in times of crisis...and why you should cultivate this practice. 
• Denim jacket: Next week, I'm in Heidelberg, Germany, leading workshops and coaching for executives at SAP.
• It's in your jeans: Buy my ebook, The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels; tell your colleagues to put this blog in their feeds; sign up for my free monthly newsletter, or let me know how we can work together in 2016 with an email to eloquentwoman at gmail.com.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by Dewayne Neeley)