Hey folks! How was your week? Mine was busy but I am really glad today is Friday. Any of you have plans for Sunday? I hear something big is going down but have no clue what it is <sarcasm>. Hopefully you have a good one and I’ll catch you next week.

Changes to the Way Customers Buy – raise your hand if you use recommendations to make a purchase. I know I do and am sure 80% of you reading this blog do as well. In this post from Valeria Maltoni, she sheds some light on Google’s new privacy policy and how it will make trusted recommendations out of the data we share with Google.

In Facebook IPO, color this graffiti artist richly rewarded – say someone were to offer you cash for your work or an equivalent in stock in a start-up? Chances are you would say that cash is king, but if you would choose to gamble on the stock you, well you could have wound up like this graffiti artist who did just that. The start-up that the artist took the stock in? Facebook and now he looks to make roughly 200 million in the IPO on those shares from a few years earlier.

Personal Data’s Value? Facebook Is Set to Find Out – how much is the data that Facebook holds worth? Some say 75-100 billion dollars and we will all find out soon as the social network has its IPO on the horizon.

Social Love: Take THAT Writer’s Block! – writer’s block blows. We all get it from time to time and we all deal with it in our own ways. This post offers some crowd-sourced advice that really can help you out too should you find yourself in a rut.

PUMA Adds Instagram and Tumblr To The Blogger Outreach Mix – a behind the scenes look at PUMA’s approach to social PR. Not sure that this would be worth it for all brands but comes across as interesting to me. What say you?

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This week’s edition of Five for Friday was written at Red Rock in Vegas. For some reason, my internal clock wanted to kick it on East coast time despite being three hours early local time. Hey at least the AM view was pretty nice. This week was pretty much a pair of travel days and a conference where I spoke on measuring social media. How was your week? Hopefully I did not miss anything important and if I did, please let me know.

Want More Stickiness? Users Logging In Through Social Networks Spend 50% More Time On Site – this data is very interesting from Gigya. I am not going to lie, but it doesn’t surprise me. People trust social networks more than companies so it can help in the conversion cycle. The funny part is that most of these folks using a social login don’t realize the data that they are sharing willingly.

Flight Grounded For 4 Hours After Cat Gets Loose In Cockpit – file this one under random things that are awesome and odd at the same time… Crazy Canadian Cats…

Facebook, Twitter, Myspace to Google: Don’t be evil – I find it interesting that the social networks are teaming up to poke holes in Google’s social search. While it is a cool thing, at the end of the day users and these companies will be resigned to using a search dominated by Google unless they decide to play ball and share their big data.

4 Strategic Requirements For Corporate Tweeting – with Michelle Obama and Rupert Murdoch recently joining Twitter, Fast Company takes a look at some great tips for corporate bigwigs to look at when they start Tweeting.

The Universe in a Windowpane – one of the reasons I enjoy being friends with Tamsen McMahon is that she shares smarty pants articles. I am not going to lie, but Science is not my usual cup of tea but I enjoyed this read and think I learned something new.

Who is ready for some football this weekend? I know I am and am hoping that at least one of my social media NFL predictions is wrong and that the Ravens earn a berth in the Super Bowl. Who are you pulling for this weekend? If you aren’t into football, what are your plans for the weekend? Hope you have something awesome lined up and I will catch you next week at some point. If for some reason you are in Vegas next week and want to see me talk about social media and show things that you can be measuring, check out Social Commerce Strategies at the Red Rock Resort. Now here’s this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

5 tips for social media success in other languages – working for a global organization is tough when it comes to social media. There are only so many resources and only so much knowledge of languages. When looking to expand, social media managers need to keep their local markets in mind and what their audience wants.

Mom bloggers control $2 trillion worth of America’s purchasing power – to be honest I am not really sure I buy this overall number. While it is not hard to fathom given the purchasing power of women in the family setting, I just am not fully buying it. How about you?

PR Dummies: Smack My Betch Up – being in PR, I have seen and heard of all kinds of bad pitches. This one may take the cake. Really calling dogs Betches? Really? Hang your head low Mr./Mrs. PR person.

Facebook App Lets Sam Adams Fans Crowdsource a Tap – this was a pretty awesome day for my buddy Nick Gosselin over at the Boston Beer Company. Not only did he launch their Twitter account, but the company also announced a pretty cool campaign for this year’s SXSW involving wait for it… wait for it… Beer!

Reading Fiction Helps Your Career – I am a geek who likes to read books. I was an English major in college and am more comfortable around words than numbers. So it comes to a surprise to me that Science, yes science! has shown that reading fiction can help your career.

I can honestly say that I can’t wait to veg out on the couch and watch football this weekend. On one hand I hope to see America’s favorite athlete Tim Tebow (no its true click the link) lose in Foxboro and then the Ravens take on the Texans, on the NFC side of the coin I am looking forward to defense vs. offense in the Saints/49ers tilt and a good ole ass-whipping in Green Bay (sorry Giants fans not feeling the love here). How was your week? Hope it was less stressful and more fruitful than mine was. Have a great weekend and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

Papa John’s Employee Calls Woman ‘Lady Chinky Eyes’ on Receipt – this week’s edition of social media bites brand stars Papa Johns. Now while I used to dig their pizza and dipping sauce, I can honestly say that this can serve as an eye opener for businesses who hire part-time staff. Sure the labor is cheap, but the negative impact caused can be brutal for a brand on today’s social Web.

What Job Does Social Media Do For You? – the Harvard Business Journal is one of my favorite sites to peep out. The main reason for this is that it really makes me think. This article on what social media does for you really had me think about the things that I have received and accomplished since getting started in the space four years ago.

15% Of Customers Aged 16-24 Choose Twitter, Facebook First For Support, Says Study [REPORT] – this study does not surprise me whatsoever. As social media continues to grow its implications spiral from a broadcast or conversational channel to a core business function. Over the next year or so we’re going to see companies take a good hard look at themselves and making their social use cross functional to enhance customer experience and build better relationships.

Tebow sets Twitter record with OT win – what does the assassination of Bin Laden, the Royal Wedding and Steve Jobs death have in common? If you guessed they all had less Tweets than Tebow beating the Steelers in OT, you were correct. Now while I don’t get Tebowmania, as a Ravens fan I did love seeing the Steelers lose, but am still not sure it was enough to set a world record for Tweets.

Less is more? Sometimes less is just less – have we reached a saturation point in social media? Some say yes, I somewhat agree but at the same time don’t. What do you think?

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If I haven’t said it to you in the past week, Happy New Year to you and yours along with great mojo wishes for all of 2012. While I would like to have said it was a week where I could ease into the new calendar, it was not and was busy as hell all four work days. I am sure many of you were at the same time so won’t bother whining. What do you have planned for the weekend? For me it is vegging out in front of the TV watching the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs waiting to see who the Ravens will take on next weekend and catching an outdoor college hockey game or two at the Frozen Fenway event. No matter what you have planned have a great one, and enjoy this eclectic mix of articles in this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

Charlton Library Sends Police to Collect Overdue Books From 5-Year-Old – no you did not read the headline wrong it really happened. I file this one under “Only in Massachusetts,” mostly for the pure absurdity of it. While I find comedy in the story, it is still uber-screwed up, so much so that the cop even felt bad doing it. The real shame that I see in this is that the Commonwealth that I inhabit will waste tax dollars scaring the shit out of an innocent five-year old, but neglect to prosecute a corrupt state officials unless an undercover news unit digs up the dirt and puts it on the 10 O’clock news.

PR Failures: Should We Stop Talking About Them? – interesting post that any PR pro should read from Gini Dietrich. Since we all like to play Nelson and chime in HA HA at every blunder, the real question becomes are we doing more harm or good to the industry we all work in. Hell it has an identity crisis and if it were a child in school, we’d all be bullies. So much like the rallying cry of the 90’s why can’t we all just get along?

IKEA Hosts Sleepover For 100 Lucky Facebook Fans – file this one under oddities from across the pond, while also being a good social campaign and listening to your community. I am not sure about you, but I would not want to spend a night in an IKEA, but hey to each his/her own.

Best Buy Manager Dismisses Best Buy Twitter Customer Service, Says “It Could Be Anybody” – this is a perfect example of how companies should make sure their policies in a public and social space (especially if you advertise one on TV) to the yeoman employees. While I would love to say I feel bad for Best Buy, I do not. Since they lost a business order of mine a few years ago I have not went near their joints.

But My Business Doesn’t Need A Social CRM – In this post, Joey Straw makes a great case for the reasons for companies to utilize a social CRM system. The post is doubly awesome for the usage of the sweet Scrooge picture.

BONUS – LOCAL NEWS Bloopers (Thanks to Kate Ottavio for sharing)

Raise your hand if you have finished your holiday shopping…Thought so, it’s ok though as I still have to get some Christmas gifts as well. With that said I couldn’t even think shopping as my head was below the water line for most of the week. I also have to apologize to anyone who tried visiting my site yesterday and was met with an Apache or Fatal Error message. A mix-up with my hosting company GoDaddy made for an eventful afternoon. Despite the screw-up and original bad advice, I have to credit Jason (service rep) who went above and beyond to help me out. Hopefully your week was better. This week’s edition of Five for Friday juggles an eclectic slew of articles that I hope you geek out on. Have a good weekend and catch you on Monday.

Tolkien Fan Creates His Own Stunning Hobbit House [video] – Not going to lie here, but I am a complete geek when it comes to Tolkien and his books. I am also truly envious of the dude who had the house in the video below built.

Twitter Brand Pages are Pointless – I like this tongue-in-cheek post from Brian Meeks. While I get the satire I also have seen folks make the same argument complaining that they preferred the fail whale to any innovations. Twitter is changing to get mass appeal not appease fanboys like me or you.

If You Like Links, You’ll Hate What Facebook Is Doing To Them – have you ever tried to open a link in Facebook only to be told you have to authorize an app for a publication like the Washington Post or Guardian? If so you know how much a pain in the ass it is. I know that when I get that, I forget about the article and head to Google. The main reason is that I don’t want to share my info with another vendor operating within Facebook. How about you?

Man Takes Out Mom’s Fake Obit to Get Paid Time Off – ever tell a white lie to get off of a day of work? We all have but would you ever think of putting out an ad and saying your mom was dead?

2011 in Lego: the year’s news – in pictures – GEEK ALERT #2 – I know I try not to show too much of my geeky side in these weekly posts but I love Legos. Hell I even broke my two front teeth when I was a kid taking Legos apart. I also like news so when the news is told in Legos, you can bet your sweet ass it winds up in Five for Friday.

So this week was interesting and quick to say the least. Lots of things going on and when I got a chance to pick my head up it was time for the company holiday party. How was your week? Hopefully less hectic and if you are like me, just counting down the days until the holidays. Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

‘Mythbusters’ cannonball hits Dublin home, minivan – if you like watching the explosions on Mythbusters, you probably know that they do them on a bomb range in California. Over the years they have blown up some pretty awesome thing, despite that history, the team had an interesting mishap with a cannonball that is worth the read.

Facebook Flaw Means Anyone Can See Private Photos – have you ever complained about the privacy on Facebook? It is OK, we all have. Well if you want some payback on the network, check out this link for some candid photos of Mark Zuckerberg that were supposed to be kept private on his own network.

What Not To Do On Twitter: Durex Tweets Hugely Offensive Joke, Blames Local PR Agency – so for this week’s edition of social media gone wrong we turn to the South African arm of Durex. This one is worth a read and is a decent case study on insensitivity.

Apple’s internal employee social media policies leaked – this is an interesting look behind the sleek curtain of Apple with a look at their overbearing social media policy.

Twitter Chats, Leadership, and Fantastic Ideologies: A Rant – One of the most repulsive things in the social space is people who think their shit don’t stink and those who think they are better than anyone because of their ideology. While rants are not usually my thing, this one from Dan Perez is spot on and worth a read and is a great reality check.

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This week’sFive for Friday comes with a tinge of sadness mixed with happy news. Today the PR & Social Media team at Vistaprint is losing a great teammate in Nick Gosselin. My buddy is leaving our team after nearly three years to head up the social media and community efforts for the Boston Beer Company, yes they make delicious beer. So while I can say I will miss Nick in the office, I am happy for him and the new challenges that face him as he follows his passion. So please join me in wishing Nick the best of luck, and to the crew over at Samuel Adams, you are getting one hell of a great guy so treat him right. How was your week? Aside from the news above, mine was stuck diving into and figuring out the new Facebook page insights. So have a great weekend and we’ll catch up next week.

How Dallas Cowboys lose at Social Media. While Not Playing. – During last weekend’s Cowboys game, tight end Jason Witten ran into a cheerleader after catching a pass. Following the game, the cheerleader made a few lighthearted Tweets about the incident. No biggie right? Wrong. Her account was shut down until after a media inquiry to the Cowboys as to why the account was shut down… one of these days companies will get it.

New York Teacher Tells Students Santa Claus Isn’t Real – How old where you when you found out that Santa Claus was a figment of your imagination? I can’t remember but figure I will let Baby Espo wait a bit until we break it to him that the fat dude is really mommy & daddy. Imagine the parents surprise when their kids’ second grade teacher broke the news that Saint Nick was not real. On one hand it is hilarious but on the other kind of awful.

Teen tweeter 1, Kansas governor 0 – This is a classic case of overreacting on a social media post. In this instance a teenager tweeted to her friends that she told the governor how much he blew to his face at a school assembly. While she didn’t really say it, a staffer passed the tweet to her school and she was asked for a retraction. As you can see in the scoreboard above, she won the argument and the state’s top office ended up with egg on their faces.

From Junk to Spam to Waste – Content is king, or so we’re told. If you think about it for a second or three, how many corporate blogs do you read? Also how many corporate social media accounts do you engage with? Now subtract that number from the total tally of social media accounts out there. What are you left with?

Social Business 2012 Presentation – This is a really smart presentation on social business from my friend Chris Carfi.

This post contains video, please click here if you cannot view.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my 2011 Movember campaign. I cannot thank you enough, neither can my ‘Stache.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hopefully you are stuffing yourself and having a good ole time. If, for some reason, you are on the computer, be sure to peep out these awesome Thanksgiving clips from YouTube:

This post contains video, please click here if you cannot view.

Thanksgiving is a time where we all take a step back and give thanks for things that we may have taken for granted. One thing that I am thankful that I know you are thankful for is this glorious mustache that I have been growing for Movember.

While it is easy to note the awesome comedy that the ‘stache offers to you, one thing you probably don’t know is that it is fighting cancer. So donating a few dollars or cents will help you not only get a belly chuckle, but also raise funds for research for testicular and prostate cancers.

So when you are giving thanks on Thursday afternoon, please consider visiting http://mobro.co/jeffespo to make a tax-deductible donation.

Thanks in advance for the support.

I am happy for it to be Friday. Aside from heading into a short week for Thanksgiving next week, I just need time to kick back and relax and am sure you feel the same. Aside from a hectic workweek I had to do work most nights when I got home as my family was dealing with a pest problem and we have been trying to resituate Casa La Espo, to mild success. How was your week? Hopefully it was a good one and hope you have an even better weekend. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Five for Friday will take an one-week hiatus.  Have a good one and enjoy this collection of articles from the past week. Would also love to know what links I may have missed this week in the comments below.

When Sites Drag the Unwitting Across the Web – Last week there was a buzz on the social Web about Klout and assigning accounts to users’ profiles even if they didn’t sign up for the service. This article in the New York Times does some good reporting on the issue while bringing the voice of a subsect of bloggers to the public.

We need to protect kids – not touch them – As a new father, seeing the news out of Penn State on child molestation makes me sick. After a week of seeing non-stop coverage and wondering how it could have happened and noting it would never happen to Baby Espo, I wanted to see what other dads were pondering. This post from CC Chapman offers his insight and some good comments from some fellow papas. I’d suggest reading if you have a small fry.

IBM’s 2012 Social Business Predictions – with Christmas music playing on the radio and Santa getting ready to have children tell them they want a pony in the local department store, it is also time for folks to start making predictions for the new year. Here are three from IBM.

Social networking in its oldest form – I dare you to click on this link and not smile. This is an interesting story of connecting via messages in bottles.

Microsoft Socl: inside the company’s secret social network (exclusive) – not sure if you have heard, but Microsoft is working on their own social network that also makes search smarter. Some interesting screenshots of this project that is still in the works.

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As the week comes to a close and most of you are probably off for Veterans Day, I’ll be sitting at my desk working away. I’m really hoping that this is also the day that this cold has finally kicked it. Other than that the week was busy after taking Monday to sleep off the cold. How was your week? Any weekend plans? Enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday and I’ll catch you on Monday.

Be Brilliant at the Basics – The easiest things to forget as you are looking to get ahead of the competition are the little things. When was the last time you focused on just dominating a strong base instead of looking for the next hotness?

The Personal Branding Double Standard – Social media can be both beautiful and ugly at the same time, and not in a Coyote ugly kind of way. Perhaps the most common area where we see this two-headed beast is when it comes to the personal brand. Sure folks like to establish them, but often cannot act civilly when someone questions their brand. Many will challenge established brand, but when their “brand” is questioned, the civility goes out the window. Speaking of windows some should remember that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones or get undressed.

Filmmakers and Family Vacations: A Short Film – I am not going to lie, but Dan Perez is the one person who I have gotten to know over the past three years over social media that I need to meet in person. Sure he is smart and all that, but the guy really knows how to have a good time and chuckle at himself while getting his family in on the act… watch below:

Filmmakers and Family Vacations: A Short Film from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

Why We’re All Wrong About the Future of User Interfaces – interesting rant/video on some futuristic tech that is worth giving a look.

Why Big Corporations Are Putting the Brakes on Social Media – This article from Entrepreneur takes a look at a recent study that shows social media usage dropping in large companies while growing in small ones. The main reason that I see for this is that companies struggle to measure social and don’t want to invest in something that has many unknowns and new metrics that take them out of their comfort zones.

This was an interesting week. Not only did I start the week out (and still have) a nasty cold, but it was also exciting as it was a daddy-baby bachelor pad week in the Esposito household along with the start of Movember (donate $1 and you can laugh at me). How was your week? In this week’s edition of Five for Friday we’ve got some interesting nuggets that you may have missed or if you are seeing them for the first time are well worth the read. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Has social media gone the way of the fax machine? – before you go gritting your teeth or yelling and screaming, take a deep breath and give this article from Shel Israel a chance. Social media is moving towards becoming a marketing staple and is getting past the new and sexy stage; ask yourself – what is next.

The Falls vs. Zarella Cage Match – Not sure if you caught this on Thursday afternoon but there was an interesting argument going on via Twitter on Thursday afternoon between Jason Falls and Dan Zarrella. Definitely worth peeping out this post from Dennis Van Staalduinen with the blow by blow commentary.

Chart: One Year of Prison Costs More Than One Year at Princeton – growing up in New Jersey and having family there, this article just makes me sick. A year of incarcerating a prisoner in a Jersey prison costs more than sending a kid to Princeton for a year. Difference is only one of them will probably contribute to society in a positive manner after four years, but owe a hell of a lot more to the government.

(Relatively) Cheat Resistant Rewards and Metrics for Gamification – I love reading posts on social media measurement. This one looks at metrics that avoid gamification for companies from Lithium’s Michael Wu. It’s a smart read that takes some time to sink in but well worth the read.

Wasting Time on Klout and Influence Metrics – before all the hoopla that went on with Klout this week (more here, here, here, here and here) I came across this post from Geoff Livingston. When looking at influence online we can get caught up in the numbers game and superficial scores, but forget about real-world influence. Just think my Klout score is higher than President Obama’s but who can make more things happen?

It is that time of year again, you know, the one where grown men grow the elusive mustachio in an effort to raise awareness and fight mens’ cancers. What is this awesomeness you ask? One word, Movember.

For the second year in a row, I will be donating my follicaly challenged upper lip to help fight testicular and prostate cancer along with my MoBros on Team Boston, I am also being joined by the Mustache Kid (AKA Baby Espo). Each day, I’ll take a picture on my MoPage where you can track my progress or mock my foolishness.

To help make the event more fun in my fundraising I am selling the following items for the charity:

• $50 naming rights to the mustache
• $75 naming rights for the Mustache Kid’s pacifier (thanks Rebecca Denison for sending it to me)
• $100 pick the mustache style I grow for the month

Now each week I will be making an update video and the names will be referenced. Just think of t as a running gag joke that pops up each week. In all honesty I understand that times are tough and would truly appreciate any donation that you can afford from $0.25 to $100, as all the money goes to a great cause (did I also mention that I will be making an ass of myself?).

So I know you are asking youself how you can get involved, well for that, please click the giant CLICK ME link below or the Movember icon to the left.

CLICK ME TO DONATE!

Thank you in advance for your consideration.