social media

communications, Crenshaw Communications, crisis management, reputation, social media • April 13, 2009

Amazon Turns Up The Gaydar?

Last week a friend joked that, based on her Caucasian husband’s onetime purchase of a novel by bestselling author Toni Morrison as a gift on amazon.com, the site now “thinks he’s an African-American lesbian,” and we had a laugh about the advantages (and drawbacks) of collaborative filtering software. So, I was unaware of the furor surrounding an apparent change […]

Crenshaw Communications, social media, technology • April 10, 2009

Getting The Twitter Religion

I was all set to blog about all the fun Passover action on social networking sites – the constant tweets and updates, the Facebook Haggadah, the Twitter widget for locating a seder in your zip code, when another holiday use of social networking caught my eye. Trinity Wall Street Church in New York will “Twitter […]

Crenshaw Communications, social media • April 4, 2009

Last Night A Twitter Saved A Life

The social media thing can seem frivolous at times…after all, we’re not talking about saving lives, right? Wrong. Yesterday, actress and celebrity Twitterati Demi Moore reportedly helped stop a possible suicide attempt by a woman who tweeted her intent to cut her arm to kill herself. (I admit I follow mrskutcher, and even saw the comment in question, but […]

Crenshaw Communications, social media • March 22, 2009

How Coke Became A Pop Star On Facebook

We saw what happened when Skittles gave up too much of its online identity to consumers. By contrast, Coke’s handling of a recent Facebook challenge shows that it’s possible to engage customers and even offer them ownership without giving up control of the brand. What’s interesting to me is how easily it could have gone, well, flat. […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, social media • March 18, 2009

The “Other” Social Networking

I just returned from a trip to North Carolina for a family wedding. We took a few days’ vacation, but because I had an opportunity to mix in some business meetings, I did just that. Two of my meetings were with people I’d had phone contact with for months or even years. hat a difference […]

Crenshaw Communications, social media • March 8, 2009

Facing Up To The Competition

As the world knows, Facebook is planning to unveil another redesign this week. We were able to preview what users will see on their home pages at our offices last week, courtesy of Facebook, and of course we plugged into the live blogging of its news briefing. Though the early reviews are mixed, to us […]

Crenshaw Communications, social media • March 4, 2009

Skittles Social Makeover Or Trouble In Candyland

What’s up with candy this week? I was planning to cover the Snickers “Snacklish” outdoor advertising campaign, but two things changed that. First, it was more difficult than I thought to blog in the Snacklish dialect, and then….Skittles happened. You’ve got to hand it to the folks at Mars. For at least 48 hours, everyone was […]

social media, technology • February 12, 2009

Random Thoughts In Defense of “25 Things”

Given the backlash, it’s hard to admit that I can’t get enough of “25 Random Things About Me,” the annoying, addictive chain-letter-cum-confessional that got started on Facebook and now is taking over the world. Yes, it typifies what many don’t like about Facebook and Twitter — the over-sharing, time-sucking, sometimes self-indulgent posts, games, applications and invitations […]