We advise clients to ALWAYS “register an account on Twitter for both the brand and company well in advance of needing it for crisis communications.”  You don’t even have to use it, just be prepared.  It’s like putting batteries in the smoke detector: it’s no fun climbing the ladder to do it, but you’ll be grateful at 3AM when it alerts you. So it’s interesting to note that Twitter is experimenting with “Verified Accounts” which promise the imprint of authenticity on a user’s Tweets.  Does this really matter?  Consider: Exxon – brand jacked by “Janet” who tweets as the putative spokeswoman for Exxon-Mobil “@1WineDude, did you know that the Valdez spill wasn’t even one of the top 10 worst spills in history? Read more »

As first covered by PaidContent, Nielsen Online reported today that MySpace beat Facebook by about 3:1 in terms of video streams watched, with an average of about 40 minutes per viewer per day. Facebook users on the other hand averaged about 11 minutes a day. Read more »

Patients and physicians are increasingly relying upon digital word of mouth – Twitter, YouTube, Facebook – for their peer-to-peer information.  Separating buzzwords from actionable data is a daunting task.  Eularis, a pharmaceutical analytics consultancy focusing on “data-driven decisions” has announced a new report on eMarketing in the age of social media. Key content includes: Pharma Internet Marketing Today, Past and Present. Read more »

CommonCraft released a wonderful 2 1/2 minute video that explains: What the heck is Twitter? Why would ordinary people (read non-geeks) like to use it? What that person tapping on their mobile phone might actually be doing. Read more »

Twitter, the popular social media messaging site, has been all ablaze about “Motrin-Moms.”  These are the mommies targeted by the online ad campaign linking body aches and pains to the practice of carrying children in harnesses and slings. Mothers who advocate this practice took great offense at the message in general and the following voice-over line in particular: “Supposedly it’s a real bonding experience. Read more »