I’m not by any means a statistician but I’ve been wondering lately if there is a correlation between the growth of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and the national unemployment rate.  So, for fun (I know, kind of perverse idea of fun), I decided just to put some stats together.  I’ll leave it to the real statisticians to run sophisticated models to prove (or disprove) the connection.

What do you think?

In the shadow of the social media fueled Iranian election ferment, hundreds (including me) turned out for 140 Characters Conference at the New World Stages in mid-town Manhattan on June 16-17 to discuss the disruptive effects of Twitter across multiple industries and fields — e.g., news, publishing, advertising, entertainment, etc.

The conference, a brainchild of Jeff Pulver, felt, alternately, like a religious revival tent gathering or a Twitter’s Anonymous Meeting; there were very few in attendance who were not avid or addicted Twitter users.

While Twitter certainly was the connective glue, it was also the springboard for a larger conversation … Read more

Conversations about behavioral targeting inevitably raise the question of data control and privacy. But,it might be time for consumers to accept the social contract of living in public digitally.

Back in 1992, James Carville, political strategist, successfully navigated Bill Clinton to the White House with a manical focus encapsulated in the now famous quip: “it’s the economy, stupid!”  Carville used that simple phrase as the litmus test for all his strategies.

I thought about that mantra last night listening to Steve Rubel, of Edelman Digital presenting at Mashable’s Nextup:NYC Social Media Marketing 101 event.