This mash-up of memorable (and mandatory) five-word acceptance speeches heralds the 15th annual Webby Awards call for entries.

The Webbys announced “it is expanding its mission to reflect the profound impact apps and the mobile Web are having on advertising, branding, and marketing.” There’s a new suite of categories for handheld and tablet devices and new Academy members include Yelp.com CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, UrbanDaddy CEO Lance Broumand, and Thrillist co-founder Ben Lerer.Continue reading...

Corporations, news outlets and bloggers continue to struggle to navigate the new environment caused by the overlap between social media and traditional media. The latest casualty is freelance writer Mike Albo, who lost his New York Times "Critical Shopper" column today after questions were raised about a Jamaica weekend trip for bloggers he joined that was sponsored by the men's shopping website Thrillist.

But despite new Federal Trade Commission rules that require bloggers to fully disclose any rewards they receive for promoting products, "flogging" (like Coke's Expedition 206 world blogging tour) is likely to grow as social media spirals upward. Consumer giants are more avid than ever about using ordinary consumers to promote their brands through blogs, videos, and social networking.Continue reading...