Given the fact that I’ve always considered the Air Force and the other military organizations as being pretty conservative, the fact that the Air Force has a well organized policy for social media interaction is totally impressive.
Not only do they have a Twitter account, a YouTube channel and Wigets and Podcasts as well as having Airmen proactively “counter-blog”, which is what they refer to replying to bloggers. They’ve got a complete, strategic flow chart for response, and of course have to be careful about what they reveal online.
I first found this through friends, but David Merman Scott also wrote about it …read more

You’d think that the crushing defeat that Obama delivered McCain recently, partially using the power of social networking, would have been taken as an example to other politicians on how to run a successful campaign using social media.
Apparently, local politicians in Vancouver’s civic election didn’t get the memo.
Vancouver is electing a new mayor and city council on November 15th, and the Vision Vancouver candidate, Gregor Robertson’s camp began to “spoof”his opponent, Peter Ladner on Twitter.
A quote from Robertson’s spokesman claimed Vision Vancouver wasn’t trying to pass off the account as Peter Ladner.
“Clearly, it is a spoof,” Ian Baillie said. “I …read more

We just had a (somewhat pointless) federal election in Canada yesterday. There’s generally supposed to be a blackout ban on televising or broadcasting the results  until all of the polls across the country are closed. Because of our geographic spread, polls in Newfoundland closed more than 3 hours before those in Vancouver had. In fact, when the polls closed in Newfoundland, I still hadn’t voted in Vancouver.
The CBC is reporting today that the broadcast blackout was “broken” by the use of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Canadians with an internet connection were among those who could find their way …read more

First there was Janet and the Exxon Mobile twitter debacle, and now, Tim Walker uncovered the fact that the American Airlines twitter account was a fake as well. AA is aware of the situation and is taking care of it.
So, is Twitter, which is primarily a tool for individuals, right for brands? Some brands are doing it right, for sure. Zappos definitely is. Jetblue is out there and so is the New York Times. But I wonder if before brands jump into the Twitter arena with both feet whether it’s really the best place for them. Are they spending …read more

I was reading Social Media Today, and Jennifer A. Jones posted about the new Ben & Jerry’s “community” site. She wasn’t very impressed about it, and frankly, neither am I.
The site, called Support Whirled Peace, is intended to support both a new flavour and Peace Day on September 21st, which is an annual event marked by the member states of the United Nations as an official day of “global ceasefire and non-violence.”

Jennifer’s post made me want to take a look at the site, and like her, I’m just not impressed. It’s cool looking, but it’s essentially just a …read more

The following is a guest post from David Mullings of Realvibez Media and Co-Founder of StartupToons.
Social networking is all the rage right now, and yet many business people are not totally sold on the idea or can’t figure out how they can leverage these networks for their businesses.
It’s vital to think of these networks as additional tools in your box of tactics rather than anything big and scary. I set out to build my personal thought leadership brand via Facebook because I believe that personal brands can fuel corporate brands. Since the age of 15 I have been working …read more