Digital & Technology

▶ The Glacial Pace of ‘Social Business’: A majority of business professionals (70%) believe “that social business is an opportunity to fundamentally change the way their organization works,”

Knowing how and when to unplug will be one of the key skills for communications leaders in the coming years, says Greg Swan, SVP of digital & interactive for Weber Shandwick.

The multimedia floodgates are open, and for good reason. Audiences are eager for short, playable, sharable content, and the playing field of PR has evolved alongside it.

When Twinkies parent company Hostess went out of business late last year there was an outpouring of sentiment from millions of people for the spongy cake with the creamy filling, which dates back to 1930. Saying goodbye to such an iconic brand was hard to, er, swallow for a lot of older consumers, who equate Twinkies with their childhood.

Branded content is ubiquitous, but you need to have a solid strategy in place to capitalize on it. Doing so will not only ensure that your content gets seen, but also that it doesn’t end up going viral for the wrong reasons.

Facebook is going to implement menus and options that will enable users to say why they are hiding a particular ad or sponsored post in their news feed. This presumably voluntary feedback will help brands target their paid content better on Facebook.

At PR News, we often write about how to stay on the good side of people like journalists or consumers. Yesterday, we decided to ask what really grinds your gears, as communications professionals.

An errant Facebook comment or distasteful quote from a company executive can ignite a crisis in a matter of minutes. Here’s how to fight back on social.

At the same time we suffer from stereotypes in the eyes of our elders. Think about how intimidating it can be trying to prove yourself to someone who thinks you spend the better part of your day tweeting, texting and keeping up with the Kardashians.

Soon after the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, Chick-fil-A President-COO Dan Cathy chimed in on his Twitter account about the decision.