A great philosopher, Dr. Meredith Grey of "Grey's Anatomy," once said, "Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human." And then there are the timeless words of Spock, who reflected on "Star Trek": "Oh yes, you humans have that emotional need to express gratitude. 'You're welcome,' I believe is the correct response." Whether you're human or half-human, you can probably appreciate the timelessness of gratitude. For those in the United States, it's especially timely. While I'm feeling that Thanksgiving spirit, I wanted to do …

Something tells me I’m not alone in this: but, lately, I haven’t been thinking about Twitter all that much, even though I use it every day. Maybe it’s the constant buzz about the advertising potential of Facebook, drowning out everything else. Or maybe it’s that Twitter, even though it is building an advertising-based revenue model, continues to do so at such a slow pace that it’s like watching paint dry. It’s been a long time since brands being on Twitter -- and using it as a customer-service platform, or as a promotional one -- was news. But the most likely …

How prepared are you for the mobile social tidal wave, tsunami, hurricane, and Bieberquake that will hit us in 2012? You'd better get ready. Gartner forecasts that there will be 7.4 billion mobile connections in 2015, when the earth's population is expected to be a mere 7.2 billion. And you know what everyone's going to be doing with their 1.03 mobile connections per person? They'll be undressing catalog models with augmented reality apps. But when they're not doing that, they'll probably be engaging with some kind of social media.

As lucky as I am to have ongoing work, I am vexed by the ongoing high unemployment in our country and around the world. But I'm sensing an opportunity for those well-versed in etiquette and facts: Social Media Spin Doctor!

If you haven't set up a Google+ Page for your brand yet, you're missing out on the Internet's new favorite pastime: complaining about Google+ Pages. Brands should have a lot to complain about. Google took a few months to release Pages, and what went live is a scaled-back version that will satisfy some smaller businesses but will underwhelm large brands accustomed to other social platforms.

So far, the most intriguing social media story of the week is this one from The Wall Street Journal, the headline of which might send marketers straight to their budgetary spreadsheets: "Big Brands Like Facebook, But They Don't Like to Pay." The deeper truth The Wall Street Journal is trying to get at is that "Big Brands Like Facebook, But They Don't Have to Pay." In other words, only chumps pay for their exposure on Facebook. But that conclusion, while sexy, is also a bit specious.

Remember when check-ins were the future of social media? Remember when Foursquare was the next Facebook, Gowalla was the next Foursquare, and Whrrl was the next Gowalla? Yeah, I'm glad we've moved on, too.

Usually, we here at the Social Media Insider try to be smart about things, but occasionally we must wallow in the eternal dumbness of the modern world, and this is one of those times. I'm talking about Chapstick. Just in case the controversy over the new, revamped, recalculated Klout scores wasn't enough social media controversy for one day, Chapstick yesterday proved to be another social media gift that just kept on giving. But, it's not for the reasons you may have read elsewhere on the Web. It's in some, subtle ways, even sillier than that.

Did you miss Social Week? Heaven forbid. It was a whole week dedicated to people talking to each other. Or maybe the name Social Media Week was already taken and Social Week touched on the same theme. Whatever the purpose, I wound up taking part in a panel discussion hosted by the Direct Marketing Association, and it was one of the more thought-provoking sessions I've joined. Here are some highlights.

if advertisers can turn their gaze away from the car crash that is the economy, there's still great opportunity in investing ad budgets in technology, because that's where the money is going, and where the diverging roads of the economy and the tech industry just might come together,