Hopefully this week’s edition of Five for Friday makes it through your clutter in all of this social space on the day of Facebook’s soon-to-be historic IPO. I wish nothing but the best to friends Megan and Xenia over
there, enjoy the day ladies. While many folks will be reading story after story about the book, I will be taking measurements of the soon-to-be casa la Espo that we move into next week. So yes that means I will not be glued to a computer screen and will peep out recaps later in the day. So enjoy and have a great weekend.

Brand Takes a Tweeting – this is a very good read focusing on the ever-present Shakespearean question To Tweet or Not to Tweet… something that all of us have pondered either on a personal or professional level.

Danger: Community/Social Strategist Shortage Ahead – I love when Jim Storer cranks out a thought provoking post. In this article on the Community Roundtable, Jim looks at the social landscape via conversations that he had with community managers feeling a burn, while also looking at the budding community management space. All of this lends the question: Will there be viable bodies to fill all these upcoming openings?

Guinness QR Cup Reveals Scannable Code When Full – Now I am not going to lie, I am not a giant fan of QR codes. This is due mostly to the sub-par experience that I have had with them overall. However my opinion may change if I ever get to sample a Guinness in one of these cups… hell it might even make it into my glassware collection (just don’t tell my wife).

Facebook’s biggest problem is that it’s a media company – I would be negligent in my role as content curator if I excluded an article about Facebook in my roundup on the day of their IPO.  This article from Gigaom takes a look at the ad platform and some of the issues companies have had with it.

Comcast will start charging data hogs extra – do you use the Internet? Do you use it more than the average human? If you do, and you have Comcast as your Internet provider, you may want to read this.

Move over Zuck, Abraham Lincoln filed a patent for Facebook in 1845 – this is one awesome piece of FAKE news from this week. Despite its false nature, it cracks me up how much detail went into the ruse.

Facebook page admins beware! What you CANNOT do on Facebook – do you manage a Facebook fan page? If you answered yes, be sure to peep out this good list of things you can’t do in Zuck’s sandbox.

Justice Served: Hateful Bruins Tweeters Punished For Racial Slurs Against Capitals’ Joel Ward – Last week I posted about the hatetweets that quickly rolled out after the Capitals knocked off the Bruins. At the time of the post, no punishments had been doled out to the folks Tweeting. Well that all changed when the city of Gloucester suspended five from sports.

We’re So Quick to Crown Social-Media Successes That We Forget What They’re Actually Based On – this article takes a look at social media and successes in the space. Sometimes it makes sense to stop and smell the roses a bit before getting caught up in the hype.

The Social Networking Rub – good read, err rant, on social networks and scaling for the human network.

Heineken explains its response to dog-fighting PR crisis – this is an interesting read on how a mega-global brand dealt with a PR nightmare across multiple platforms.

Report: Cover Images Draw Eyeballs On Facebook Timeline Pages – a lot of conflicting studies on Facebook’s Timeline and what it does for conversations and conversion rates. This study takes a different approach and does a heat map of how the eye views the pages.

The Problem With Social Profiling – Jason Falls is a man of his convictions. One of which has been talking about social scoring and how it is being used by brands. In this article, he takes a look at how sites like Klout are being misused and how it may turn ugly in the future.

Market Research with Social Media: “Beyond the Echo Chamber” – Doug Haslam gives a good review of a recent social media breakfast. The main topic is getting outside of the small world of social media.

What Comes First, Multichannel Integration or Social Business? – Right now, there is no buzz word dominating the social media space than social business. While I believe in the concept, I truthfully don’t think companies are ready to get there yet as many are not combining marketing disciplines. This post touches on that argument.

Image - Archangeli

Why Twitter is bigger than you think – This is some really interesting research from Tom Webster. According to the data his company collected ~89% of Americans are familiar with Twitter. While less use the service, it shows that its impact could be quite huge. If you are attending BlogWorld in New York, don’t miss his keynote that will include a deeper dive on this data.

Why half of all PR students will be working at Burger King in 3 years – Arik Hanson offers some good insight into what it takes to break into the public relations industry and stay there. He also notes that Burger King might be getting some folks who need to learn to flip instead of spin in the next 36 months.

AshleyMadison.com Puts $1 Million Bounty On Tim Tebow’s Virginity – I love audacious marketing and public relations ploys. The website that brought married folk hookups (not with their spouses mind you) has now put a bounty on the V-card of Tim Tebow.

Hasbro tricks fan-blogger into revealing his address so they can send him legal threats over widely available leaked product – there are shenanigans and then there are low-down rotten tricks. This is an awful PR move from Hasbro in luring a blogger with products for review only to serve him legal papers and harass his neighbors for reviewing a product that was leaked to him. The kicker, the toy is widely available.

Seven truths about online influence – the word influence is dropped a lot in the social media space. Many folks confuse the meaning. If you are on the fence or need a refresher course, check out this post from Maddie Grant.

Bonus Bonehead Move of the Week

Is it me or has Mother Earth decided that spring was overrated? In Boston, the week started out in the 80’s before closing out a bit cooler and days topping out near 70. Nothing like the crisp days I am longing for… Hopefully you had an eventful week full of nothing but goodness and an even better weekend planned. Enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday and I’ll catch you next week.

Women More Likely To Buy From Pinterest Than Facebook, Twitter – this news should really come as no surprise given the social network’s visual nature and primarily female demographic. I think data like this will start a brand gold rush towards the site’s power users similar to the rush to work with mommy bloggers.

A case for analytics: If you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing – this is a great read for anyone who likes to talk about measurement and why it is not important; also good read for small business owners and PR pros looking for reasons on the importance of measurement.

Is calling someone desperate, desperate? – Jason Falls takes a look at LinkedIn today and how there are a number of articles calling Facebook desperate in the top feed. It brings into question as to whether or not LinkedIn comes across worse to users by populating their front page with articles on the globe’s biggest social network.

Marketing strategy: be where others are not – Christopher Penn might be one of the smartest dudes out there in terms of digital marketing. In this piece he offers some tactical, but relevant advice – why go after the crowded space when you can dominate something that is niche and no one is talking about. Become a leader rather than a sheep.

Pepsi and Red Bull Talk Instagram Activations – with Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, many marketers are now looking at the network as a new social channel. Early adopters Red Bull and Pepsi talk tricks of the trade.

A digital Fenway Park – today is opening day at Boston’s historic Fenway Park. So needless to say, an article about the behind-the-scenes modern digital technology that makes the experience just fit this week’s edition. Now if the Sox could get it together.

Google Doesn’t Understand Its Own Social Network – I wish I could feel bad for Google and how they are misplaying G+, I really do. But, when Larry Page writes a letter to shareholders and has a non-active page, it makes you wonder who is eating their own dog food or just swilling the Kool Aid.

Boy Finds Grenade During Easter Egg Hunt In Britain – file this under scary shit for parents. Seriously how can a WWII grenade still just be lying around?

Groupon PR: Whoops! It Happens – I am pretty sure there is no flack in their right mind that would go and work for Groupon now… this post from my pal Keith Trivitt only goes to show how clueless the company is on public perception.

Stop Trying to Take the Easy Way Out – this is a great post from Steve Radick on conferences just spewing out the same old stuff and attendees eating it up. Now only thing he forgot in the article was the video below…If you only read one article in this post, this is the one.

Final Four scoreboard misspells Atlanta (photo) – I guess the NCAA really can’t say too much about the one and done players on Kentucky. Hell why go to class when the governing body can’t even spell the 2013 host city correctly?

Carl’s Jr. Claims Kate Upton Campaign a Success: 120,000 Additional Facebook Likes – If you ever doubted the adage Sex Sells, look no further than this Carl’s Jr. case study. Thank you Carl’s Jr. I am a big fan of Kate Upton and this commercial is well… judge for yourself. Oh and it added a shit-ton of FB fans too

How Does Facebook’s New Timeline Impact Engagement? – A lot of conflicting information has come out over the past week on what the Timeline means for engagement for business. Most of that is because everyone wants to be first to

market with “research” so they can get social buzz. This post from Edgerank does not fit that bill and gives some great insight into what they have seen.

PR Crisis for Skittles In Wake of Controversial Teen Shooting – This is a very smart post on a complicated issue from my
good friend Gini. If you are in PR, like to be part of an angry mob, or like to educate yourself on how to write an awesome post on a polarizing issue, read this post.

Peeps on Television: 20 Shows Starring Marshmallow Peeps – What Easter edition of Five for Friday would be complete without Peeps? My favorite is the one for Swamp People (left).

Innovation Is About Arguing, Not Brainstorming. Here’s How To Argue Productively – everyone likes to talk about innovation. Everyone also likes to argue and in this article, effective arguing tactics are outlined. This is definitely worth bookmarking.

Indiana High School Student, Expelled For Tweeting Profanity – I am not going to lie but I don’t understand the world that we are living in. Seriously how can you expel a kid for cussing in a Tweet?

What Should You Do With Your Lurkers? – Does your community have lurkers? If so, you might want to peep out this post.

Set sail with Captain Morgan’s new Foursquare-connected game – in all honesty, I am not a huge fan of social gaming. But this new app from the Captain is pretty bad ass and I just may have to download it and blow some stuff up.

Jose Canseco is now fighting global warming and possibly murdered Al Gore – for this week’s edition of bat-shit-crazy, I present you Jose Canseco and his latest rants on the Twitters.

Red Cross goes digital to speed relief to those who need it – this is a pretty cool story with an accompanying video on how the Red Cross leverages social in times of disaster.

State of the News Media 2012 – I love reading Pew research reports, there I said it. While this may make me a dork, I am willing to bet that some of you reading this are dorks as well. This report takes a dive into how media is being consumed by the public.

There’s sharing and then there’s over-sharing – For those of us that play in the social space, forgetting that we are not that important while sharing everything. This post from my friend Elisabeth Michaud kind of lays it out there for folks to remember what is kosher to share.

The Top Reason PR Pros Should Not Go Off The Record – how many times have you advised an executive or client to never go off the record? How many of you heed your own advice? Shame on you, read this post for more reasons why you should always avoid the whole off the record thang.

40 brands using Timeline Cover Photos on Facebook Pages – This is a great visual aid of some pretty slick things you can do with the new timeline cover photos for those of us dragging our feet with a looming March 30 deadline.

The Most Effective Marketing I Saw at SXSW – at conferences, brands blast you with their marketing messages. It makes sense and can be extremely effective. In this post, Tom Webster talks about how Chevy won his attention at SXSW.

Why I left Google – this is an awesome post that highlights some of the inner workings of Google and how obsessed they are with Google+ and how it might not be healthy. This post has made its rounds so apologies if you have seen it already.

Five Takeaways from SXSW Interactive 2012 – my buddy Chuck Hemann takes a look at what five trends stood out to him at this year’s SXSW.

Stop Complaining and Work Harder at Conferences If You Want to Succeed – a lot of people bitched after this weekend on how conferences are worthless and how they are disappointed more times than not after attending. To me a conference is only as good as the work that you put in during it. This post highlights that thought.

Call for Regulation In the PR Industry – I don’t get into PR discussions too much these days. It is mostly because I really don’t practice it all that much. This post from Gini Dietrich piqued my interest because it is a hot-button topic and caused a good stir. Where do you stand on the issue?

Bonus Video

Hey folks, thanks for stopping by to check out this week’s edition of Five for Friday. This week’s edition was drafted on Wednesday as I was packing to head to Austin. If you’re here drop me a DM to get together. Have a great weekend and catch you next week!

You Don’t Always Need 100 Million Dollars or 100 Years for Traditional Advertising to Work – We all know social media is big for marketing. So much so that many see it as a replacement for traditional marketing, but before you drink the Kool Aid or hop on the bandwagon, peep out this piece from my Canadian Hombre, Danny Brown on traditional results.

Is your marketing message too good to be true? – People are skeptical so before you go out with a power claim in your marketing, ask yourself… is it too good to be true?

Facebook Warns Brands that Scale in Social Won’t Come for Free – The No Shit Sherlock award this week comes via the revelation that Facebook’s new timeline is going to influence the way brands market on the site to reach their fans with content and ads.  After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

How Chrysler Screwed Up The Lamest Social Media Contest Ever – This week’s Social Media Blunder award goes to the good folks in Detroit who brought us a Clint Eastwood commercial on the Super Bowl. This is a classic case of contest going awry and poor blogger relations.

Sri Lankan dies trying buried alive record – this article is primed for a SNL skit. Seriously who tries the buried alive record without a death wish?

This amazing Sesame Street augmented reality playset will turn you into a kid again – I can’t lie, I am a big kid and am a big fan of technology. Over the past few years Sesame Street has been doing some really cool things with technology and new media, this playset is no different:

The Cruelty of Childhood Cancer – and What You Can Do – one of the biggest things that I fear as a father is having something wrong with my son or future children. So when I read this post from my friend Mark Story posted this story on his work with St. Baldrick’s I felt compelled to contribute and hope that you’ll do the same, no one wants to see kids suffer.

How I became Amazon’s pitchman for a 55-gallon drum of personal lubricant on Facebook – I am not going to lie, but this story made me laugh my ass off. On one hand it shows the power of Facebook’s ad platform and sponsored stories and on the other, how sharing can make you the pitchman of personal lubricant.

Carnival Cruise Lines Silent About Latest Accident– I see a lot of things that would be classified as social media fails,

Yep that's the Carnival ship I met wifey on

most times its easy to shake a head and walk away. It just makes it harder to do when you have an emotional tie to a brand. In this case of this story it was Carnival Cruise Lines, the same company whose ship I met my wife on and had such regard for. Seeing their blatant lack of acknowledgement and deletion of comments regarding an accident and past pirate encounters on their social properties really pains me.

The Mounting Minuses at Google+ – at some point Google is going to have to do something about Google+. This can be a rebrand a search evolved or just a connective tool to their products. Currently the place is a ghost town, sure there are fanboys who see it as the “next big thing” but its state of relevancy in the social media space is relevant event to the Wall Street Journal.

How Companies Learn Your Secrets – Have you ever wondered how retail chains seem to know when you’ve got something going on? An engagement pending or pregnancy? Well if you do, be sure to check out this article on how Target uses data. It’s a great read and sheds some light on predictive data analysis.

Community vs. Social: Does It Matter What You Call It? – One of the biggest arguments that I see among peers is on the topic of community management. Can a community be hosted on a social site, or is social just a platform to expand a community. To me, there is no right or wrong answer as I see a community as a property owned or rented real estate where a conversation of likeminded folks talk and engage with a brand or idea. With that said, this article paints a great picture of the debate and the role of a community manager.

No Bitter Aftertaste From This Stock Offering – IPOs are all the rage these days with social companies filling for and earning big bucks going public. This article talks to Jim Koch about how the Boston Beer Company did something different with their IPO, selling some stock directly to their fans.

Huggies Taps ‘Baby Bloggers’ to Leverage Tumblr – Ever wonder how a consumer baby brand engages its customers in a blogger outreach program? Huggies spills the beans on how their leveraging Tumblr to build awareness via the millennial mom.

8 Social Media Metrics You Have to Measure – Good video worth the listen for some good measurement insight.

Image Casteel, Seth

Hey everyone! How was your week? On my end it was a long one between work and home with a sick Baby Espo. No complaints just a lot of work so needless to say I am excited for the end of the workweek. Since my brain was on overload of sorts, I decided to do a lighter version of Five for Friday where the articles are much more light-hearted than usual and I think you’ll enjoy ‘em. Have a great weekend and see you next week…same bat time, same bat channel.

Romney Campaign Hunts Down Social Media Satirist – I find this article interesting for the sheer fact that a network that is the new hotness has found itself in the middle of a few controversies the last week or so. In this case there was a user and a spoof Mitt Romney account that had the Romney campaign staff ask for the name to be altered in terms of the user name. While the person was within their rights of free speech Pinterest had to look into changing the name as it did appear to be the Republican frontrunner. To me it is a rite of passage and almost having verified accounts like Twitter.

Greatest Note Ever Left On a Dented Car – I love reading posts about awkward notes left on cars in parking lots when people ding them. This one may take the cake and includes: grand theft auto, Jesus and slankets. Definitely read if you need a laugh and have some time to kill.

If Super Bells Could Talk: Advice for the Susan G. Komen Foundation – this is an open letter to the folks at Susan G. Komen in terms of crisis communications in light of their fiasco with Planned Parenthood.

Social Media and the Hiring Process – this week I did a lot of research on using social media in the recruiting space. So when I read this article it stood out to me as a Five for Friday pick because it takes a look at how our online connections can influence the hiring process.

Scuba dooby doo: Amazing photos of the dogs who love to play fetch underwater  - I saved the best for last on this one… kind of scary/creepy and all out awesome.

How to Make Your Content Go Viral – I love having smart friends who know how to pick you up. So from the bottom of my black heart Gini I <3 you for this. It made my week. OK gushiness over… if you are ever asked to make something viral peep out and bookmark this post.

Over 3 years later, “deleted” Facebook photos are still online – Remember when Facebook said they deleted all those pictures from their servers when you clicked delete on your profile? It was 2009 so it is understandable if you forgot, only problem is you can still get to those pictures because Facebook hasn’t deleted all the data off old servers.

New York Transit Workers Give Prize for Photo of Ugliest Rat on Subway – what can I say but genius in terms of driving publicity for all the wrong reasons. Sure rats are unhealthy and nasty, but if you snap the ugliest one get paid – kind of like Pokemon with a side of the Black Death.

Employers, workers navigate pitfalls of social media – one thing I have never understood about social media on the corporate side is when a company has an individual as the face of their brand. Sure social media rock stars are great to have in your camp but when they are you, well they can take followers with them and boom companies are back at square one. Ever wonder what this kind of flopping is worth, well according to the lawsuit in this article $42,500 a month. YIKES.

Toyota Spams Twitter Users In Super Bowl Ad Campaign – I expected this in 2009, but really 2012 Toyota, really you are sorry for spam on the Twitter, very sad.