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)

There is no question that social media is the most useful innovation or tool for the public relations industry. It has leveled the playing field and allowed easier access to reporters for public relations pros. This has also served as the catalyst for more meaningful relationships between journalists and flacks. That is great for the industry and clients hungry for coverage, but social media also has a dark side.

You see, aside from the improved coverage and relationship angles for companies, social media gives PR folks an easy way to insert themselves into the story.

Over the past few months I’ve been disgusted seeing an increase in blog posts and even a PR chat surrounding that very notion, often called building a personal brand. These posts have championed the mercenary mentality of caring only about yourself and giving your services to the highest bidder.

Having a good reputation, both online and off, is vital to every professional, so what I find interesting about these folks touting of the personal brand is that they are ironically offering advice to tarnish your professional brand. While it is great to have aspirations of getting your name on the door of the corner office, it does not happen overnight. The folks sitting in those chairs worked their asses off learning hard lessons along the way to get there.

So to me the notion of jumping from job to job, simply because you aren’t moving up fast enough is laughable to me, especially coming from the social media echo chamber. This is mostly because the advice given out there is peer-to-peer coming from folks that for the most part have not reached the ripe old age of 30 yet.

While having 10,000 Twitter followers or 25,000 subscribers to your blog’s RSS is nice, they are meaningless unless you can produce meaningful results for your company.  And if you can’t produce results and continue to improve, no amount of job-jumping can help you more than it can hurt you. Not only does it look bad to recruiters, it also can burn bridges within the industry.

At the end of the day, PR practitioners went into the field to promote businesses or clients. The job entails being in the background, a puppet master if you will, not to be Will Smith or Tom Cruise with your name up in lights.

So before you go burning a bridge in putting yourself first, think about how much being your own publicist pays compared to your current 9-5.

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Last month, I participated in Cision’s the Future of Media. The topic I spoke on was on how PR practitioners can leverage social media to bolster relationships with journalists and gain more placements. Here’s my full piece from the webinar.

Have you leveraged social media to boost your PR output?

This is a guest post from Michael Dolan.

The entire public relations industry is in the last spasms of a loud and painful demise. PR is useless in the 21st Century because everyone is their own personal brand and their own personal media. The gatekeepers took a permanent vacation the minute the media world hit the web and John Q. Public became John Q. Citizen Journalist. Why bother hiring someone to chat up a reporter for you when you can email them yourself? Even better, why bother with the reporter at all? Just write up what you have to say and blog, Tweet, Facebook and Flickr until you get the word out.

What is disturbing is the way that the PR industry is doing everything it can to hold on to their piece of the pie. Instead of adapting and offering clients something they can use, and put value in, they are throwing up a smokescreen. The PR industry is building up a wall of half-truths, scams and frauds to make sure the billable hours keep rolling in.

There are two big areas where PR firms just won’t let go, and are screwing their clients in the process: media relations, press releases and connecting with the media.

Until recently, reporters and PR people were the best of friends. It was a give and take relationship. PR people gave reporters a story that placed their clients in the most favorable light possible, along with a little bit of lagniappe. Some tickets to the game, a nice dinner, an expensive bottle and a good time were frequently provided to grease the wheels of journalism. The reporters wrote about the publicists’ clients in a way that made them look fantastic. A great PR person would have relationships at all the big publications going back years, and having a Rolodex, meant just that: having a bunch of hard to get contact information for how to get in touch with writers.

This world ended with the onset of the social media world. Want to get a hold of a reporter? There is a hot link to their email at the end of every article. In many cases there is even a working phone number with an extension. As for long term relationships,   these are mostly a thing of the past. First, what journalist do you know has kept a steady gig at one publication, on one beat for any length of time in this current media climate? It’s a rarity. Most journos are desperately doing their best to keep enough writing gig balls in the air to keep the lights on. The idea that a reporter will stick around in one place long enough to help a PR person again and again is becoming quainter by the second. Why not type that up on carbon paper while you’re at it?

The expansion of the web into every corner of the world has also made readers much more informed. It’s nearly impossible for a flack and a journo to collude and pass off something slightly dishonest or spin worthy. The truth to just about everything is a quick Google search away. Journalism has never had to be more honest and truthful, and people know when they commit something to be published, it will be checked out from every angle. If a reporter fudges something to make a company look good, and help out a PR buddy, they will be called out for it.

However, it is just as simple for a business owner to send something nice to a journalist, as it is for a PR person. Still, most reputable publications now have gift policies, or at the very least the writer needs to declare if they were setup on a media tour, or a given something free to review. Then again, if you try to buy off a journalists these days, you might just as easily end up on the wrong end of a vicious tweet or blog post calling shenanigans on your shady dealings.  What it all comes down to is the inter-connected media world we live in has made relationships between journalist and PR people practically worthless.  Even at it’s’ best, nothing you should be paying $450 an hour for.

Take a good look around the web at your favorite publications. Can you find an article that was written because of a press release? It’s doubtful. You might dig up something here or there, where a writer was feeling lazy, but it’s uncommon. With all the information in the world at their fingertips, journalists can research and find whatever they like. The chance the most wonderful thing they stumble on out there in the great World Wide Web is your press release can be quantified in decimal points. It’s like hitting that half-court shot when they pull your ticket at a Nets game. It could happen, but don’t spend that prize money just yet.

Those being the case, why do PR firms still recommend, create and bill for press releases? Good question. I still hear people talking about putting releases out “On the Wire”! Really people? Did Thomas Edison rise from his grave to assist you in sending out your news release? Press releases are a relic from a time when information was a hard to come by commodity. That is not the case in 2011. In fact, we have the opposite problem. Too much information and not enough filtering. It’s absolutely egregious that supposedly reputable PR firms charge an arm and a leg to recommend that their clients send out news releases, and a further two limbs to create and distribute them. It’s an out and out fraud.

PR firms know that a press release isn’t going to get any traction, or get any pickup. They know that they’ll have an intern or the most junior staff member write it up. They know they’ll charge you a ton to “distribute “it through a service that is a glorified email list serv. Yet they still do it. From where I’m sitting, that is a first class scam. It’s a way to tack on additional billing for doing work that they know will be ineffective from the get go.

It’s never easy hearing that you’re lively hood is on the way out. I imagine fletchers, blacksmiths, telegraph operators and typewriter repairman have all felt the way some PR firms feel right now. The work you’ve been doing for years has been crushed under a wave of technology. Is there a place for PR firms in the 21st Century? Certainly, but they need to be looking at Public Relations from a 21st Century point of view. It’s time that firms took a long, hard look at what they do for clients, and why they do it.

About Michael Dolan:

I’m a Geeky PR strategist and online troublemaker for hire. Writer. I love designing social media and alternate reality games. Up for creating an online ruckus? Me too. Bike Racer. Cyclocrosser, BMX’er and reluctant roadie. Photographer. Atheist. Book Nerd. Resident of Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn patiently awaiting The Singularity.

My writing, photography, media work and creative projects have shown up in the NY Times, Time Magazine, The Guardian, Wired, Crain’s, NY Post, Mashable, Gothamist, Time Out NY, PR Breakfast Club, Oprah, Travel and Leisure, Fox News, New York Magazine, NPR, Kinky Jews and many other fine media outlets worldwide. I like to document the oddities and bizarre moments of modern life life on Flickr, Twitterand Foursquare.

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire…@EvilPRGuy.

Image - *tomasrotger.com 

On August 23, Tuesday for those of you playing along at home, I will be part of Cision’s The Future of Media. The event is free and is a rapid-fire platform of 30 speakers in 60 minutes on the future of media, public relations and social media.

I am part of a cast that includes Gini Dietrich, Heather Whaling, CC Chapman, Deirdre Breakenridge and many more.

Topics covered will include:

• Is advertising dead?
• What is the new marketing mix?
• How has social media changed our ability to generate earned media?
• What does success look like in the era of radical integration?

This was on helluva quick week for me. Aside from being shortened by the fourth, I spent yesterday at home hanging with Baby Espo and running a ton of errands in preparation for his Christening tomorrow. In the office we’re also cranking up the gears on a project that I am uber-amped for. How was your week? Any big plans for the weekend? Hope you have a good one and here’s this week’s edition of Five for Friday. Catch you next week!

10 Reasons I’m Not Going To Talk About Google+ – this past week seemed like everyone was racing to get out a blog post or top 10 list of reasons to use Google+ and to be honest it was quite nauseating. This post is anti-that and also mixes in some good humor with some facts and assumptions.

Unlocking Viral Secrets On Facebook: MIT Study – While I hate the useage  of viral in the title, this article from Fast Company offers some pretty interesting findings on marketing tactics and their results in the social space.

How “Case Study Blindness” Can Kill Innovation – Have you ever had a brilliant idea that was a surefire win to only have it killed because you couldn’t point to a case study of someone who had done something similar? I thought so. Check out this post on what it can kill on top of your spirit.

Me and the mustard – This post from Geoff Livingston puts the spotlight on the “me” and “I” in social media. Are you overusing the condiment?

How to engage and consult your community online -

Man, I love short weeks. While I am off from work today, I am going to have my hands full with my first full solo day of kickin it with Baby Espo. I am excited, but nervous at the same time so it should be a barrel of monkeys. Well that or I will be losing what hair I have on my head. How was your week? Hopefully it was a good week for y’all as well. Catch you all on Monday, have a great weekend and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

Social Media is NOT as Popular as You Think – Despite popular belief and the online habits of most readers of this blog, social media is not as popular as it may seem. Well it is popular but is not the end all be all. Don’t believe me? Well then peep out this post and accompanying graphic.

N.J. Town Wants To Ban Facebook Pictures Of Kids – As a new dad, I was kind of wary of displaying Baby Espo on social media sights. I am also from Jersey so this one so I kind of find this one interesting, but not sure the resolution will pass. How about you?

The Weird Thing I Want You To Do On My Blog – This is a guest post on Danny Brown’s blog from Michael Schechter that stirred up a heated debate in the comments on selling premium content and giving things away on blogs. While the post stirred the pot, the heated debate in the comments is one not to miss.

Four Reasons You’re Not a Media Company – Everyone can blog, the real question is should they? This topic comes up a lot now with companies entering the space. Many do it because it is cool and often fumble or leave it dead or full of jargon. So how do you avoid that? Well the answer is to follow these four tips.

There’s an Easier Way to Create Standards: Conform – I love talk about social media and PR measurement. Rebecca Denison talks about the need for pros to adopt and conform to a series of measurement tactics and is definitely worth the read.

This post originally ran on PR Breakfast Club, but I wanted to share with you in case you missed it over there.

Over the past few weeks, I have really been questioning what is wrong with PR people. Now, I am no journalist or and I’m not going on a rant about communicating with reporters. I am alarmed at two things: “the state of ME” and coverage.

The first is “the state of ME”. While social media is a really powerful tool that all PR pros should know, lately it seems as if folks in the industry have had their vision clouded by social media. Instead of making the company or client the story, many flacks have made themselves an integral part of the story.

Sure, we could easily say that the Brian Solis’ and Peter Shankman’s of the world have fostered the appearance of PR pros turned media darling pundits, but that is just stupid. At the end of the day both Brian and Peter have busted their asses and I am pretty sure that when either worked on a client, they made sure that it was the client that got credit and didn’t try to make the success about them.  They also made it possible for many to see PR as an important corporate cog. At the end of the day, as a PR pro, you took a selfless job to make others see their name in print, remember that. The C-suite signing your checks surely will.

My second beef with the PR industry is what folks are calling coverage nowadays. In a few recent online chats, I have seen people note that pay-to-play coverage opportunities and Tweets from agency or company representatives qualify as coverage.

When you look at a paid piece of editorial, it is nothing more than an ad and should be handled by an advertising department. By going this route as a PR person, you lose the credibility of earning media. These paid opportunities also cloud your measurements as they are often looked at as needing to bring in a positive return on the money spent on placing them.

Counting agency and company Tweets as coverage is also as foolish. The main reason for this is that no matter what the audience or Klout score of a flack in this situation, the Tweet is worthless unless it causes an action. For example if you do fashion PR and your friends and network are all into NASCAR and hunting, what good does a Tweet announcing Coach’s new line of hand bags? Sure adding a couple thousand impressions on paper may look awesome, but if they aren’t leading to someone checking out the release or purchasing, then you are just padding stats for the sake of padding.

I could go on and on about either of these topics, but I won’t. I want to hear what you think about this. Am I way off base, or is this something that gets at your craw as well?

Image - PropagandaTimes

Man I don’t think I have wanted for a week to be over this bad in a long time. While nothing horrible happened, I am more looking forward to the weekend. For starters some of my best friends from Jersey are coming up to meet Baby Espo and I have a nice Father’s Day event to attend on Saturday at the NE Aquarium with the good folks at Pampers. As I am writing this I am also recovering from a food coma and wondering if that full rack of ribs yesterday was a good idea – for the record I say yes, but the meat sweats a sleep later may be telling me otherwise. How the heck was your week? Have any good weekend plans? Hopefully you have a good one and I’ll catch you next week. Enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

10 Tips for New Community Managers – There is no question that community management is one of the hot job titles right now. The big question on many people’s minds though is what the heck does it mean and what does this person do? In this post from my favorite community manager out there, Janet Aronica, you can get a sense and an education on the topic from her top 10 tips.

Does Google Use Facebook Shares to Influence Search Rankings? – For a while now folks have been debating the value of a like on Facebook. This has ranged from the value of an individual fan to what it is worth in search engines. In this post from SEOMoz, it appears that likes may actually impact the value that Google and Bing put on your sight. While this is interesting it may also have been a test from Google as they rolled out their +1 button.

ROA = Return on Attention – I like this post a lot. It is not because it just introduces a new measurement that also brings the tried and true long-tail theory back into the picture as applied to social media.

Twitter Users Want Businesses to Answer Them – Would you believe that eight out of 10 Twitter users want brands to answer their questions that they place on the 140-character microblogging service? Well in this latest research from InboxQ it shows that and some other cool stats worth peeping out.

Where Does Social Belong? – I loved this post from my pal Gini Dietrich on where social media belongs within an organization. On top of giving her take, there was a rather intelligent and spirited conversation in the comments that touches all areas of this issue and I suggest anyone in the social space check it out.

Bonus video – Can we Be Friends (click here if you can’t view)

You have to love productive weeks, where everything just seems to flow. I got to do some tedious research that was good, but tedious none the less and will help prove some more social value. The week in Boston was kind of warm as well and hopefully the Thunderstorms from yesterday keep it cold through the weekend. How was your week? Hopefully you’ve got some good weekend plans, catch you on the flipside and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

Pixie Dust & The Mountain of Mediocrity – This may be my new favorite analogy for social media. In general there is no amount of magic or spin that can make you rock or be successful in the space it is all about hard work and making meaningful connections that translate into action. This post calls that out in some lovely terms.

Eleven Reasons Domino’s Turnaround Campaign Worked – let’s face it, at the end of the day I love seeing good campaigns get the light they deserve. Many of you will remember that Dominos Pizza tasted horrible and some idiot kids working there did some gross things with their food. To me the only good thing about them was the retired Noid, but recently they made a big PR/Brand/Advertising push to show the changes that they were making to benefit their customer experience. Some people say the ‘za is actually quite good – being allergic to tomatoes, I couldn’t tell you, but their bacon and cheese white pie is delicious.

The Role of Public Relations in Influence – This is a great post from my good buddy Eric Berto (Geek Giant on Twitter) on influence and PR. The part that I like about it is that it touches on areas that we don’t often think about when it comes to influence. There are no rainbows or unicorns, but rather three vehicles of change and influential levers that you can pull that are not on Twitter or Facebook.

Social media’s slice of the marketing pie – This post takes a look at a number of results on marketing spend on social media – definitely worth peeping out.

Why you should be paying attention to the CDC’s tobacco free campaign – I hadn’t seen this commercial or social campaign from the CDC, but I am really a fan of the campaign after seeing this post from Chuck Hemann. In all honesty I am not a fan of smoking, although I do enjoy a cigar a few times a year. The side effects and cancer risk is huge so big ups to the CDC for this campaign.

Image - 2CHIN

Don’t you love short weeks? For four days, this week was sure jam packed. Aside from work things, there was a tornado scare in Boston that resulted in a heck of a lot of rain and hail with our condo losing power with a salesman in our place mid pitch. Let me tell you the night was one I will never forget and I am debating whether or not to tell the tale on this blog via prose or video as it is a series of unfortunate events that equaled to a sleepless night. If enough comments below ask for the story I will schill it out. How was your week? Any big plans for the weekend? Hope you have a great one and I will catch you next week, so without further adieu, here is this week’s Five for Friday.

Who owns your brand’s social media data? – Every company is looking into the social game in one way shape or form nowadays. Facebook is the hotness that many are using as their community platform to build out oodles of fans (Twitter and LinkedIn are doing this to a lesser extent). Problem with this is that the space is rented and many companies don’t think about who owns the data. If you are curious, read this piece. If you already know, don’t play spoiler

Journalism Vacuum Filled by PR Professionals, or Spin Doctors? – I love this piece from Mark Story. Anyone in the PR space worth their weight in salt knows that newsrooms are filled with bias and also roll their eyes when they hear a fellow flack has jumped ship to a newsroom. My whole take on this is moves to be PR-driven newsrooms or driven by former PR folks is that our news is crap and that we just can’t trust it.

Unborn child has Facebook profile – This is the start of a disturbing trend that I see coming. The child with this page will never be unconnected and to me that is sad. Broadcasting ones actions should be a choice not something you are born into… what say you?

The basics of social media measurement for business – Oliver Blanchard is one smart dude and he knows how to get straight to my heart – measurement. This post gives you some tenets for starting out measuring in the space.

Deploy social media effectively – I liked this op-ed piece from the PRSA on who should own social media. Problem is that it should not even be a conversation point anymore. We should not be fighting ownership, but rather how we can integrate across the organization.

Man this week flew by. One morning we were pitching the Small Business Happiness Index from Vistaprint, the next I was sitting home with my son as Mrs. Espo enjoyed a night off checking out the Red Sox. The week was really good for me as I did PR for the first time in earnest in the past couple of months and can’t wait to pick up a copy of the Globe to see the business section cover story I netted for the company. To celebrate the quick and effective week, I’ll be heading to Fenway Park to watch the Cubs take on the Sox. Interesting stat about the game is that it marks the first time that the Cubbies have visited Fenway since 1918. For those of you counting at home, that’s 93 years. How was your week? Hopefully it was as quick as mine and you have some great weekend plans. Have a great weekend and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

Conversation Agents: Predictive Technology or Discovery Channels? – This is an interesting piece that takes a look at the evolution of tools. As we know, machines and formulas can predict many things. As we integrate more and more with tech the big question will be what role do humans play in setting predictions?

The lost origin of Twitter – This Gizmodo piece made the cut this week, because it took me down memory lane – to a world of less connected and wired in devices that evolved into my favorite social platform.

The New Normal of Work Includes Social Media – Let’s face it – a lot of the time that we spend on social media would have been considered slacking off two or three years ago. In some ways we all have to learn to balance things. This article hit home for me, because social is a part of my job, but it also serves as a think tank and inspiration for me to do practical work throughout the day and to continue to push myself. What is it for you?

Don’t be fooled by the last-click analysis of social media – Measurement is something that everyone wants to do in the social space. There are easy ways and there are more in-depth ways of doing this. Unfortunately many folks take the easy approach and stick to the last-click model. This means that companies only track where the person purchasing came in on, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, email or paid search. Unfortunately this is a very flawed method that misses a lot of the pie; this post from Dave Fleet helps highlight that.

Getting Your Klout Out The site’s social media influence score is showing up on resumes – Not going to lie, this post on AdWeek was not only foolish but it is also tremendously flawed. Love it or hate it, Klout can serve as a measuring stick. Some people and companies pay too much attention to these scores. The notion that Klout will show up on resumes is preposterous to me. The real reason is that while it shows a number and some other fancy metrics, it is not the end all be all. There are plenty of bots and bimbos (see Snooki) that have high Klout scores – would you hire any of them for a position on your social media team?

This week seemed to fly by for me. One minute I was heading into Logan Airport getting an extra special pat down from the TSA and then enjoying complimentary drinks on Southwest, who was celebrating their acquisition of AirTran being official – thank you for that by the way. Afterwards a panel and coffee with my pal Rebecca Denison preceeded another fun romp in Midway airport complete with being told hey buddy lose the sling if you can, I don’t want to grab your junk (by the TSA man wearing “Good Touch” gloves) from there it was a blur with me waking up with my son at five wondering where the hell the week went. How was yours? Hopefully a little less crazy and more awesome. Any big plans for the weekend? Remember it is Mother’s Day so get a present for mum if you haven’t already and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo launches new phone app with some animal magnetism – There are not many times that you will hear me say that Cleveland rocks, but today it is well deserved. How many times have you been to a zoo and were left looking for the animal in the exhibit? If you are like me too many – don’t judge me, zoos and aquariums relax me. The folks at the zoo in Cleveland have created an app that points you to where in the exhibit the animals are. Only downside is that the app is only available on a device that is synonymous with something animals would chow down on and they have ignored the Android market. Hopefully that changes.

Authenticity, Transparency, & Hypocrisy: An Observation – One of the things that bugs me about many social media circles, pundits, blogs and conferences is that everyone is attracted to the shiny object. This can be a network, app, phone, rising star or catch phrase. Once it has hit the lexicon it becomes gospel. In this post from Dan Perez, the notion is brought front and center and well called bullshit on. If you only read one post in this list, peep out the Miami-based filmmaker’s blog.

How to Conduct a Comprehensive Social Media Audit – I met Nikki Stephan at SXSW this year for a drink after months of chatting online. I knew then that she was a smart cookie and really like this guest post on Arik Hanson’s blog that talks about social media audits. Let’s face it, the social media space changes quicker than my baby’s diapers and we’re always on the move to the bigger and better pasture and can make mistakes or forget things. If you are managing an account or strategy for a company across many platforms, you should look at doing an audit every now and then.

The Importance of LinkedIn Recommendations – No matter how hard I try, I can’t for the life of me keep up on top of. While my account is up to date, I am far from a model citizen on the platform and will keep trying to get better at it. If you are like me and negligent on your LinkedIn account you should check out this post from Bob Cargill on the recommendations feature.

No One “Consumes” Social Media – This post from Geoff Livingston touches on the common misnomer that is put out there among market research groups – media consumption. Last I checked I read and communicate in excess on many social sites, but have never eaten one as that would just be gross and unhealthy. What say you?

Bonus video:

Via kylelacy.com

Man this was one hell of a week. First week back after we welcomed our little bundle of joy into the world so needless to say, I have been running on fumes a bit. Aside from that I was uber-productive in banging out projects at work and getting through the always awesome year-end reviews. I am rambling I Know, but I blame the lack of sleep . How was your week?

Image InfoBarrel.com

Hopefully as action packed and fun as mine.

I will also be flying into Chicago on Monday for a speaking gig on Tuesday and would love to connect with any readers who live in the area. So please hit me up if you want to meet up.

So without further adieu, here is this week’s edition of Five for Friday brought to you by Monster Energy.

Social Isn’t About Advertising Or PR – This is a great response post from Gini Dietrich to an article titled PR Agencies are Ruining Facebook. Unfortunately there is still a line in the sand and folks just can’t see beyond it or decide on a way to have everyone working together. The comments section is also filled with very smart commentary on the subject.

Who Owns Social Media? – To echo the sentiment t of Gini’s post, this piece from Marketing Profs gets down to the following line Why can’t we all just get along?

4 PR lessons from ‘Saved by the Bell’ – I love Saved by the Bell and any post with that in the title will make this list. With that said, my buddy Arik Hanson offers some great PR lessons with humor sprinkled in with some speed. Definitely check it out.

7 Status Updates That Will Get You Laid! – OK I am not going to lie here, this post made the list because it will never work and has to be a late April Fool’s Day joke right?

Are You Following a Bot? – This is a really smart and almost scary post from the Atlantic. How do you follow people? For me it is mostly people I have conversations with or I find interesting. It looks like the robots are getting smarter, which in turn means that we have to work harder to avoid the crap in the Twitterville.

The first week back in the office went without a hitch and flew by. Only thing I could have asked for was a “W” from the local nine who started the season 0-6 before heading into a weekend series with the Yankees, but it is the home opener so we shall see. I have faith and am hoping the game I head to on Tuesday isn’t their first tick on the positive ledger. How was your week? Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy this week’s edition of Five for Friday.

How PR People are Destroying Social Media – While I don’t agree with everything that Brian Carter says in this post, his rant does point out the areas that usually clog up innovation in terms of institutionalizing social media as a way of adding value to their job. Take this with a grain of salt to get to the meat and potatoes.

AVEs are a Scurge on Public Relations. Can I Get a Witness? – you should read this article from Chuck Hemann if you are in PR or hate PR. This is a nice response to a reckless article published earlier in the week.

Building Your Online Community – How did you build your online community? Was it Twitter, Facebook a forum? Would you believe that a top blogger on the AdAge 150 list utilized hand written notes? Read along to find out who. Also be sure to check out Mitch Joel’s post for a 360 degree view.

12 Perfectly Ordinary Words That Suddenly Have New Meaning – I cannot tell a lie ~ I like words, a lot. So when I see a post that talks about word evolutions, I feel like it’s my duty to share it. So check out this great post from Ann Handley.

What Mashable Isn’t Telling You About Facebook – As many of you know, numbers can be made to say anything. When they are put out by a company that bolsters their product offering, well you need to take them with a grain of salt. Good to see a counterpoint to a fluff piece printed earlier this week.

Image – B Rosen