Those who regularly use Twitter [like the author], it's a regular surprise just how fast information can be designated and how that information can culture, spore, and explode with momentum. Just the same, regular users know just how banal Twitter can seem. As you eat up live updates on the #Syria feed, you realize that, instead of #Syria, #Anchorman is trending. Why? Because some basic cable channel happens to be rerunning the film Anchorman and millions are tweeting about it while watching.

Now Twitter has released a list of 2011's "Hot Topics" and it's exactly what an experienced tweeter would expect: true life and gravity (Japan's earthquake, Egyptian uprising) vs. pointlessness (Charlie Sheen's #tigerblood meme). Continue reading...

As AT&T’s Flash Mob commercial (above) shows, the flash mob has evolved considerably from its hazy historical origins in the early '00s to mainstream commercial TV.

But there is growing agreement that digital technology has pushed social media mobbing to a new edge of immediacy and power. Compare the early reaction (sounding very last century), via Wikipedia:

Flash mob was added to the 11th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary on 8 July 2004 where it noted it as an "unusual and pointless act" separating it from other forms of smart mobs such as types of performance, protests, and other gatherings.

According to CNN, “The phrase flash mob was coined in 2003 by Bill Wasik, then an editor at Harper's magazine. It was later adopted by Web-savvy folks to describe large choreographed dances and songs in public places, usually organized through digital messaging tools. In recent years, the term has taken on an additional, darker meaning.”

In 2011, we’ve seen flash mobs that vary from the Arab Spring protests to the recent London riots and most recently, the 7-Eleven incident when more than two dozen teens ransacked a 7-Eleven store in Germantown, Maryland, and the robbery was recorded by surveillance cameras. Turns out, the 7-Eleven flash mob was actually organized on a bus trip home from a county fair, not over social media. But the coverage evidenced how quickly social media has moved center stage as the purveyor of instantaneous group power.

And now, there are apps for all that – benign, but leveraging social mobbing in unprecedented ways. Continue reading...

Crowdmug is the penultimate in crowdsourcing: a location-based, on-demand, almost real-time app for visual updates. The open commerce platform lets people see what specific spaces look like – for a fee.

• Meeting a client at a downtown hotel and need to see the lobby?
• Hot date at a new Bar or Restaurant that should be seen first?
• Vacation coming up and need to check out the competition on that particular stretch of beach?
• Want the latest Apple device now, but want to see just how long the line is?

“People need a simple way to get on-demand visual updates of places,” said Behzad Behrouzi, CEO and founder of Crowdmug. “With Crowdmug you can now see what the place you're heading to looks like, before you're actually there – all from the help of a community that benefits by making some extra cash.”Continue reading...

The first brand that comes to mind with the term "master of social media" is not Hooters. In fact, pretty much only one thing comes to mind with the brand Hooters. No, it's not wings.

But, it turns out, Hooters is barnstorming the social media world, actively engaging Twitter users, making videos, and even genuinely having a good laugh at its own expense, all in the name of expanding its online presence and reach. It turns out, the brand is no boob when it comes to social media marketing. Continue reading...

When you take the big step to actually follow a brand on Twitter or become a fan of a particular brand on Facebook, a study shows that you are probably very committed to that particular brand.

Brands of all types have grown their social-media offerings a great deal in the past year and ROI Research shows that even with that growth, becoming a fan or following a brand isn’t losing its power on a consumer, according to eMarketer.com. Continue reading...

The Backplane is still in stealth mode but quietly ready for takeoff, with some serious passengers on board: Lady Gaga and Google chairman Eric Schmidt.

Gaga’s involvement makes sense, as the web startup is being piloted by the pop star's business manager and digital strategist, Troy Carter.

VentureWire reports that The Backplane's goal is "to create a communities platform combining calendar, email and social networking functions, including Facebook and Twitter, to allow groups ranging from Girl Scout troops to celebrity fan clubs to communicate seamlessly."Continue reading...

With Congressman Anthony Weiner's Twitter scandal at the top of the political news cycle, the social messaging service which allows you to tell people you've never met that you just relieved your bladder is more popular than ever. And there's new data to prove it. 

The Pew Research Center's Pew Internet and American Life Project (Pewternet?) just updated its data on Twitter usage. It's worth a read for the casually curious, and an absolute requirement for marketers and brand strategists.

Most of all, the results should most remind everyone that Twitter users are not at all representative of larger population.Continue reading...

Twitter is at the center of a UK-sparked battle over courts, so-called super injunctions, and social media conversations which apparently cannot be curtailed by either.

What's a "super injunction," you might ask? The term has come into the public arena following two recent UK court cases, in which judges prohibit naming public figures involved in scandals, with at least three cases, two involving former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Fred Goodwin and Manchester United soccer player Ryan Giggs.

British politician John Hemming was rebuked by the House speaker for naming Giggs (and his affair with Imogen Thomas), because the soccer star had won an injunction prohibiting the media from naming him.

But what about social media? Outing Giggs on Twitter quickly became something of a parlor game, as tweeting and retweeting the gossip swept the site.

"With about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs on Twitter, it's obviously impractical to imprison them all," said Hemming, citing the tweets as reason to lift the British court's publishing ban.Continue reading...