Three Rapes Tied to Skout by Erik Sass

A lot of people have raised concerns about personal security for users of location-based social networks, including the meet-and-greet or "mobile flirtation platforms" as I call them. It turns out those concerns were quite justified, in light of reports that three teen and pre-teen Skout users are claiming they were raped by older men posing as teens on the service. ...Read the whole story

  • Study: Paid, Earned Media On Facebook Boost Purchases by Mark Walsh

    A new study released Tuesday by comScore, in partnership with Facebook, aims to demonstrate that advertising on the site actually works -- by leveraging social context to boost return on investment. In particular, the research showed that Facebook users are more likely to make a purchase after seeing messages about brands their friends like. ...Read the whole story

  • Social Media Propels Branded Entertainment On, Off-Line by Wayne Friedman

    While there is increasing value of social media platforms in relation to entertainment, recommendations of products/services in these arenas aren't universal. A new survey finds that 40% of people see the value from social-media areas -- and the perceived value of entertainment has doubled versus a year ago. ...Read the whole story

  • automotive Nissan Spreads Its Wings At Le Mans by Karl Greenberg

    Ah, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If you can't actually go, you can at least keep tabs on what Nissan is doing there this weekend during the 80th running of the world's premiere (or at least best-known) road race. ...Read the whole story

  • technology LG Encourages Kids To Join Team Energy Star by Aaron Baar

    Continuing an environmental theme begun when the animated movie version of "The Lorax" was released this year, the three-partner initiative uses the Dr. Seuss character as a central part of its visuals. ...Read the whole story

  • financial services Credit Card Direct Mail Hits 25-Month Low by Tanya Irwin

    The marketers for credit card issuers are tentative due to continued economic malaise, with direct mail volume hitting a 25-month low in April, according to Mintel Comperemedia. Other ad channels do not appear to be taking up slack. Online advertising and social media are supporting traditional channels like direct mail rather than replacing them. ...Read the whole story

The End of Social Media by Mike Bloxham

For the last few years, we've been told to stop referring to digital media and simply think of media. It can only be a matter of time before we say the same thing about social media. ...More

  • The Original Social Network by Scott Marden

    Advertisers are starting to question the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, debating the overall effectiveness of social media marketing. The latest example is GM's decision to cancel its $10 million Facebook advertising budget due to unsatisfactory returns and an overall ineffectiveness of their ads on the social networking site. ...More

  • Social Business Important And Becoming More Important by Jack Loechner

    According to a new study from MIT/Sloan and Deloitte, the 2012 Social Business Global Executive Study and Research Project, social business matters. 52% of the survey believe that social business is important or somewhat important to their business today. Fully 86% of managers believe social business will be important or somewhat important in three years. ...More

  • Social Media: 70% Hype, 30% Business Opportunity by Cory Treffiletti

    The last few weeks have confirmed it for me: Social media is about 70% hype, and 30% business. I mean that the majority of conversations surrounding social media center on behavior that creates page views but very little actual value to a brand marketer, and therefore little impact on the business of the Internet. Let's deconstruct my statement for a bit, because I know many of you will immediately jump to skewer me for this ...More