This Week in Social Media

Part of my job @Mirvish is to stay on top of all the trends and takeaways happening in the vast, ever-changing online landscape.  As a longtime blogger, it's always been good, nerdy fun for me.  Don't you love it when your passions and your job intersect?  Sometimes I can't fathom my good fortune.

Starting today, and every Friday going forward I'll share my roundup of the best reading I've found on the topic of Social Media on the web.  Hope you find this new feature useful and interesting.

As always, I encourage your comments.  If there's one thing I'm sure of it's that the best way to wrap our heads around this 2.0 world it's through conversation and collaboration.

Social Media News Site Gains Clout
Great article in the New York Times about Pete Cashmore and the evolution of Mashable - my favourite (and everybody else's) place to get social media and tech news.

Speaking of Mashable, here's their How-To on filling in your new Facebook Timeline

The True So-What of Social Media
The smarty pants at Harvard Business Review lay out the six core principles of Social Media.

Photo courtesy Starbucks

My favourite story this week is about the new Starbucks in Times Square at the corner of 47th Street and Broadway.  It's designed to look and feel like one of the nearby Broadway theatres.  There are giant screens outside the store displaying real-time conversation about Starbucks from Facebook and Twitter and photos from Instagram.  There's also a photo booth set up inside so you can have a keepsake from the store, that Starbucks will send to you via email or directly to your phone.  The future is now, folks.  Can you get me a Quad Grande Latte?

You can read the whole story here, via Starbucks' own blog: Real-Time Starbucks Updates in Time Square

The morning after the news broke that Steve Jobs had passed away, this image was snapped outside the Apple Store in Tokyo.  Could this be any more perfect?

via the New York Times

Speaking of Steve Jobs, another cool thing taking place to honour his memory is Black Turtleneck Friday.  The organizers are urging everyone to wear Job's customary uniform today, Friday, October 14th.  Why not?  If you join in, let me know and share a photo here!

And, finally, to this 1 year old, a magazine is simply an ipad that doesn't work.  I'd say Steve Jobs' legacy is safe.



See you next week when we'll see if there is an answer to the question "is RIM dead?" yet.  I'm guessing they're not, but recovery might be an uphill battle.  I know I love my Blackberry too much to give up on them just yet.  Have a great weekend, everyone!