Social Media Marketing

Cosmopolitan Magazine Launches Social Media Campaign

Cosmopolitan Magazine is one of many magazines to introduce new campaigns. The magazine is implementing social media techniques in order to send their message to desired readers. The magazine aims to reach the “fun, fearless female” by including her in the campaign, which allows visitors to insert photos of themselves to the photoshoot video. This article from The New York Times shows how social media is being used in the Cosmopolitan advertising campaign.

CosmoAD 189x252 Cosmopolitan Magazine Launches Social Media Campaign

COSMOPOLITAN magazine, Hearst Magazines’ popular publication for young women, is harnessing the power of social media for its first global, digital advertising campaign.

The main focus of the campaign — which will be introduced in New York on Thursday on a billboard in Times Square and at a reception for advertisers, media buyers and press — is a video that simulates a photo shoot for a new Cosmopolitan ad campaign.

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MSNBC.com Posts Jennings Social Media Marketing’s Press Release: SEO Tips for Entrepreneurs, Marketers & Social Media Professionals

Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

Valerie Jennings offered tips in a podcast that was picked up by MSNBC.com. She provided advice for business owners and marketers on attracting visitors to their websites, building brand awareness, and protecting their brand online.

Pressrelease 470x252  MSNBC.com Posts Jennings Social Media Marketing’s Press Release: SEO Tips for Entrepreneurs, Marketers & Social Media Professionals

Jennings said that one method for driving website traffic to a page “is by using social media press releases that are highly search engine optimized.” She goes on to suggest the use of Marketwire and WordPress to increase search engine optimization.

Jennings promotes the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These social media sites build brand awareness. However, she advises managers to utilize them carefully. “If these sites are set up properly and managed well, it will prevent competitors from trying to hijack your company’s brand,” said Jennings.


New Social Media Words Added to the Dictionary

Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

As culture changes, the English language evolves as well. A list of words that will be added to the Oxford Dictionary of English was recently released. One of these words is social media. The recognition of social media as an official word shows the influence that social media has. Read this article from buzz.yahoo.com about the new additions to the dictionary.

dictionary 353x252 New Social Media Words Added to the Dictionary

New Words for the Dictionary

by Mike Krumboltz
Aug 20, 2010

The English language is always evolving. There was a time when words like email, x-ray, and d’oh were nowhere to be found in the dictionary. Today, we add a few more new words to the tome.

The bookworms behind the Oxford Dictionary of English recently released a list of 2,000 or so new words that will be added to their next edition. Some of the new words include staycation, social media, and the groan-inducing chillax.

Perhaps the most high-profile word to be added to the dictionary this year is vuvuzela. For those who slept through the World Cup, a vuvuzela is the one-note plastic horn that creates a horrendously annoying sound. That’s our definition. The official one, via the Oxford Dictionary of English, is a bit more balanced: “A long plastic instrument, in the shape of a trumpet, which makes a very loud noise when you blow it and is popular with football fans in South Africa.”

Some other popular additions include frenemy (“a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry”), cheeseball (“lacking taste, style or originality”), and wardrobe malfunction (“an instance of a person accidentally exposing an intimate part of their body as result of an article of clothing slipping out of position.”)

Frankly, we’re amazed it took so long for that last term to make it into the dictionary. Thanks to Janet Jackson, Paris Hilton, and other Hollywood stars, it’s been part of the public discourse for years.


Why Social Media Monitoring Tools Are About to Get Smarter

Posted by: Carlee Vellinga

Social media marketers are continually improving the systems they use to monitor searches online. While these tools are becoming more complex and intelligent, they still need further development. This article by Jim Tobin at mashable.com shows why analytics are the key to improving these tools.

Why Social Media Monitoring Tools Are About to Get Smarter

Jim Tobin is president of Ignite Social Media, where he works work with clients including Microsoft, Intel, Nature Made, The Body Shop, Disney and more implementing social media marketing strategies. He is also author of the book Social Media is a Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know the Rules of Social Media Marketing.

people pie chart Why Social Media Monitoring Tools Are About to Get Smarter

Over the last three years, social media marketers have gotten a lot more sophisticated about the programs they deploy and how they’re measured. Platforms like Sysomos and Radian6 have become vital tools in understanding not only the social universe in which you operate, but how that universe responds to your brand.

But for all of our success, we’re still largely entering strings of Boolean variables into a tool and waiting for matching results to roll in. Most tools have added sentiment processing, but that clearly has a long way to go. Beyond sentiment, however, how are these tools going to evolve to provide more insights? The answer is with math.

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Jennings Social Media Marketing Presents Social Media for Social Good

Watch this video regarding the humanitarian effort the social media industry has put into the world and the history of Jennings Social Media Marketing.

videoscreenshot 401x252 Jennings Social Media Marketing Presents Social Media for Social Good

Social media has changed the world dramatically. We are seeing more and more charitable actions carried out by social media channels. For example, Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date, raising over $1.2 million within 14 months for 137 nonprofits. Under disastrous circumstances, like the BP oil spill, Tumblr promoted awareness and raised funds by offering a new background color. When earthquakes devastated Haiti and Chile, Google Earth launched special search engines to help families find their loved ones.

Valerie Jennings, the founder and CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing started the company in 2003. Coinciding with the US social and economic conditions, Jennings has been through the unstable post-9/11 period, inflation, recession as well as natural disasters. As a small business, Jennings not only survived, but thrived during the past 7 years. All of these made us reconsider our values and beliefs. Why are we here, what do our families mean to us and what are our life purposes?

Jennings Social Media Marketing is a full service company that utilizes the art of online storytelling with the science of measuring quantifiable results. Jennings creates comprehensive social media marketing and web advertising strategies from website design and development to viral videos. The company represents publicly traded to medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and overseas including technology, sports, sustainability, entertainment, travel, financial, health care and real estate.

Follow Valerie Jennings on Twitter @ValerieJennings

Like Jennings Social Media Marketing on Facebook here



Mobile Advertising with Smart Phones a Success

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Smart phones are becoming more and more popular and advertisers have begun using them as a tool to reach large audience with the use of applications. Here is an article from mashable.com about how people are welcoming advertising with smart phone applications.

Consumers Embrace Mobile Advertising

smartphone Mobile Advertising with Smart Phones a SuccessAdvertisements on mobile devices are both welcome and effective, a recent study from mobile audience media company JiWire revealed.

This is especially true of advertisements that appear in apps. Of the roughly 1,000 smartphone users surveyed, 52% claim they have acted on an advertisement in an app and 18% have made a purchase directly from an ad in an app in the last month.

In addition, 53% said they were willing to share their location to receive more relevant advertising and a full 76% said they would prefer to download a free, advertising-supported app instead of paying an upfront fee for the same app.

This is great news for social gaming apps like Foursquare and Gowalla, which enable users to unlock special deals from advertisers based on their locations. It’s also great news for Apple, whose mobile app advertising platform, iAds, will debut this summer with the iPhone 4.0 OS.


Nielsen Study Reviews Social Networking Activity

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Have you ever wondered how much time the average person spends on the Internet? And have you ever wondered how much of that time is spent on social networking sites? Thanks to Neilsen, we now know that people spend more time on sites such as Facebook and Twitter than on any other site. Here is an article from mashable.com by Adam Ostrow about the Neilsen findings.

Social Networking Dominates Our Time Spent Online [STATS]

boy Nielsen Study Reviews Social Networking Activity Social networking now eats up twice as much of our online time as any other activity. According to new stats from Nielsen, sites like Facebook and Twitter now account for 22.7% of time spent on the web; the next closest activity is online games, which make up 10.2%.

The stats also show the degree to which social networking is displacing other forms of communication, with e-mail as a percentage of online time plunging from 11.5% to 8.3% from June 2009 to June 2010. Instant messaging also saw a significant drop in share, with a 15% decline from last year.

However, e-mail use on mobile is still on the rise – from 37.4% to 41.6% — presumably as users continue to migrate to smartphones from feature phones.

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15 Twitter Lists for C-Suite Execs to Follow

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Twitter Lists have become a popular way for people to talk to a group of people who share the same interests, are in the same profession or who want to be informed about a current topic. CEO’s, CFO’s and other top business executives are increasingly taking advantage of Twitter Lists in order to stay updated on the latest information concerning their industries. Here is an article from mashable.com by Erica Swallow about the top lists for business executives to follow.

15 Twitter Lists for C-Suite Execs to Follow

This series is supported by The Awareness Social Marketing Hub, a leading enterprise-grade application for marketers struggling with the social media chaos of managing multiple social channels. Click here to learn more.

twitter 15 Twitter Lists for C Suite Execs to FollowTwitter Lists are a great way to follow a group of like-minded Twitter users. By following a List, you can get an overview of a particular subject by simply taking a look at the stream from time to time. A well-curated Twitter List can be focused on a specific topic, industry or interest.

With the increase in C-level executives joining and taking part in social networks across the Internet, there are bound to be questions. While Twitter is one of the simplest social media tools out there, Lists are one of the more complicated features for new tweeters to comprehend.

We recommend using tools like TLists, Listorious and TweetMeme Lists to scope out and follow Lists of interest. To get you started or to beef up your current List inventory, here are 15 Twitter Lists for C-suite executives to follow, separated into categories for CEOs, CMOs, CIOs and CTOs, and CFOs.

Twitter Lists for CEOs
For the latest business, management and leadership tweets, here are three Twitter Lists for CEOs to follow:

CEOs: If you’re a CEO and not on this Twitter List, send a friendly tweet to Brand Strategist Valeria Maltoni, and she’ll likely add you to what seems to be the most comprehensive list of CEOs on Twitter. Look to this List for the latest tweets from over 150 CEOs. The List seems to be highly concentrated on digital and technology.

Business News: Curated by The New York Times, this compilation is a short list of the most essential business news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Reuters Business and Silicon Alley Insider.

Management & Leadership: This TLists SuperList compiles the top tweeters from 216 Twitter Lists, tweeting about management, leadership and power.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Talks Business With Diane Sawyer

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Last Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg sat down for a rare public interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer to discuss the continued success of Facebook along with the latest pressure it has faced. Facebook, the largest social networking site, recently hit a major milestone of 500 million users but along with fame has come issues dealing with privacy and a lawsuit that Zuckerberg sold a portion of the ownership in exchange for work in the early years of Facebook.

Watch the interview here.

Picture 43 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Talks Business With Diane Sawyer


Jennings Social Media Marketing Promotes Michelle Jennings-Camber to President

Jennings Social Media Marketing recently promoted Michelle Jennings-Camber to president.

Picture 13 Jennings Social Media Marketing Promotes Michelle Jennings Camber to President

Picture 11 Jennings Social Media Marketing Promotes Michelle Jennings Camber to President


Entrepreneur and CEO Valerie Jennings Reviews Social Media Marketing, Branding & Website Traffic

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Here is a podcast from Valerie Jennings, entrepreneur and CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing.

Picture 46 322x252 Entrepreneur and CEO Valerie Jennings Reviews Social Media Marketing, Branding & Website Traffic “Hi this is Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing. I want to offer a few tips about how you can use social media to protect your brand, build awareness on the Internet and drive traffic to websites like your blog or primary company website or even a landing page. Some of the things that we look at are competitor analysis reports, so that we can see how competitors are appearing on the Internet in comparison to some of our clients. Additionally, we try to make sure that we have all of the holes plugged as far as having a Twitter account, Facebook page and do they have their LinkedIn site set up properly. These are some simple things you can do as a business owner to make sure that you have all of your social networking sites reserved so that a competitor does not try to take the name or hijack your brand.”

Click below to listen to the rest of Jennings’ tips on how to use social media to protect your brand and drive website traffic.

 

Google Buys 20 Years Worth of Wind Farm Energy

Posted by: Micah Pratt

In recent years, Google has built its image around its environmentally conscious stance. Now, it has purchased clean energy from wind turbines to become more energy efficient. Here is an article from mashable.com about Google’s recent contract with an Iowa farm that will help it decrease its carbon footprint.

Google Buys 20 Years’ Worth of Wind Farm Energy

windfarm Google Buys 20 Years Worth of Wind Farm EnergyGoogle has just signed a contract with an Iowa wind farm to purchase clean energy at a set rate for the next 20 years.

This move is in keeping with Google’s strong environmental stance; with specific regard to energy consumption and wind-generated energy, the company has been championing PowerMeter and has invested $38 million in wind farms this year alone.

In fact, Google gained the ability to buy and sell electricity like any other public utility in February in order to achieve its goals for carbon neutrality and more efficient energy use in its massive data centers. This Power Purchase Agreement is the first deal brokered under the auspices of Google Energy.

On the official Google blog, Google’s SVP Operations Urs Hoelzle wrote, “On July 30 we will begin purchasing the clean energy from 114 megawatts of wind generation at the NextEra Energy Resources Story County II facility in Iowa at a predetermined rate for 20 years… This power is enough to supply several data centers.”

The company’s long-term commitment will generate a significant amount of capital for NextEra to develop more wind projects.

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How to Increase Your Search Engine Optimization With LinkedIn

Watch this entertaining video and see why so many people, including celebrities, professional athletes and billionaires like LinkedIn.

Picture 39 418x252 How to Increase Your Search Engine Optimization With LinkedIn

With more than 70 million members in 200 different countries, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network.

Not only is LinkedIn great for building a professional network, but it is also recommended by social media professionals to increase search engine optimization, also known as SEO.

Here are a few tips to search engine optimize your LinkedIn profile. First, complete your profile with search engine optimized keywords. Second, customize the URL to your LinkedIn profile with your name or your company’s name. Third, be sure to include the maximum amount of allowed hyperlinks in your profile.

LinkedIn is one of the best sites to take advantage of to improve your SEO. Sign up for LinkedIn today, complete your free professional profile and watch your search engine rankings increase. To join LinkedIn, visit linkedin.com

This video brought to you by Jennings Social Media Marketing, a global company located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jennings Social Media Marketing is a full service company that utilizes the art of online storytelling with the science of measuring quantifiable results. Jennings creates comprehensive social media marketing and Web advertising strategies from website design and development to viral videos. The company represents publicly traded to medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and overseas including technology, sports, sustainability, entertainment, travel, financial, health care and real estate.


A Facebook Rival in the Making? Google May Stir Up Social Networking

Posted by: Micah Pratt

For years Facebook has been a growing trend for people of all ages. Most recently “FarmVille” has been the latest craze, allowing people to create their own online farm, animals and all. Google and partner Zynga, the creator of “FarmVille” and other popular social media games, may now be in the process of creating Google Me, a site that may lessen the popularity of Facebook. I would like to share an article from cnn.com by Doug Gross about the making of Google Me and its potential impact on social networking.

‘Google Me’ site may be in the works

farmville 329x252 A Facebook Rival in the Making? Google May Stir Up Social Networking(CNN) — If online reports are to be believed, Google could be cooking up a rival for Facebook — and bringing the maker of popular social games like “FarmVille” with them.

Google Games, built around some sort of partnership with casual-gaming company Zynga, is in the works and would be part of a larger social network called Google Me, according to technology blog Tech Crunch.
Statements from notable internet players, including Digg founder Kevin Rose and a former Facebook chief technical officer, have suggested in recent weeks that the search-engine giant is working on a social network geared toward rivaling Facebook.
TechCrunch this weekend reported that unnamed sources said Google has invested between $100 and $200 million in Zynga, the maker of successful online social games like “FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars.”
The investment part of the deal was confirmed last month and a “larger strategic project” is still in the works, according to that report.
A Zynga spokeswoman said Monday that the company has no comment on the reports. A Google spokesman referred questions to the company’s media-relations e-mail account, which did not respond to inquiries.

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Kraft Foods Pushes Facebook & Twitter Campaigns

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Two popular Kraft Food brands are increasing their social media marketing efforts with campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. Here is an article from nytimes.com, by Stuart Elliott, about Oreo cookies and Wheat Thins revamping their brands on social networking sites.

Food Brands Get Sociable on Facebook and Twitter

The number of advertisers with presences in the social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are increasing faster than the lines at the supermarket when the values of the cents-off coupons are being tripled.

Now, two familiar brands of baked goods sold by Kraft Foods are stepping up their marketing efforts in social media.

One brand, Oreo cookies, is going to be giving its Facebook page a global look, effective on Monday. The other brand, Wheat Thins crackers, is starting a campaign to reward fans of the brand who discuss it on Twitter.

Picture 22 353x251 Kraft Foods Pushes Facebook & Twitter Campaigns

Oreo has been on Facebook since last August with a page that has been primarily American-oriented. But the many comments left on the page from other countries — reflecting that more than half the brand’s 5 million Facebook fans are from outside the United States — led to a rethinking of how Oreo is presented on the Web site.

“It was an ‘A-ha’ moment for us,” said Mark Clouse, senior vice president for global biscuits at Kraft Foods in Northfield, Ill., reflecting that the company understands Facebook “is now a global vehicle and a platform we can use to have a global dialog” with consumers.

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10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics

Posted by: Micah Pratt

I would like to share an article from mashable.com, by Grace Smith, about 10 infographics that present social media tools in an appealing format.

10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics

This series is supported by Ben & Jerry’s Joe, Ben & Jerry’s new line-up of Fair Trade and frozen iced coffee drinks. Learn more about it here.

Infographics help communicate information in a digestible manner as they creatively present data in an understandable and engaging format. With social media growing at an ever increasing pace, there is now a wealth of data about how people interacting with one another on the web. Naturally, infographics have proven an excellent aid in expressing high volumes of social web information in a clear, visually appealing manner.

Here are 10 infographics that prove as beautiful as they are interesting.

1. Social Web Involvement

Picture 14 441x252 10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics

This is a global map of social web involvement which illustrates that hundreds of millions of web users are creating and sharing content every month. It provides a clear visualization of the ways in which social technologies are adopted differently across the world, showing the number of active bloggers, social networkers, video sharers, photo uploaders and microbloggers.

Interestingly, it reveals that despite the Twitter hype, microblogging is still not a mass social activity and is nowhere near the size and scale of blogging.

2. Social Marketing Compass

Picture 16 466x252 10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics

A compass is a device for orientating oneself and guiding physical direction. The social marketing compass points a brand in a physical and experimental direction, allowing them to connect with their customers, peers, and influencers, where those users already interact and seek guidance online.

Created to illustrate social marketing within the book Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web, this infographic was also available as a poster to celebrate the book’s pre-sale.

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Chiropractor Dr. Robert Patterson Reviews Social Media Marketing for Health Care Industry

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Dr. Robert Patterson, Chiropractor & Internal Health Specialist of Overland Chiropractic recently reviewed social media marketing for the health care industry, which showed up on bussinessweek.com.

Read it here.

Picture 8 389x252 Chiropractor Dr. Robert Patterson Reviews Social Media Marketing for Health Care Industry


Six Ways to Manage International Relationships Online

Posted by: Micah Pratt

As the world becomes a more global place, businesses are increasingly building relationships with international clients, which can often be difficult. I would like to share an article from mashable.com about six ways to manage international relationships online.

6 Ways to Manage International Relationships Online

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

flag globe 302x252 Six Ways to Manage International Relationships Online Sometimes the hardest part of having international clients is finding a way to connect with them. Small businesses often have to worry about different time zones, different languages, and even different customs and traditions.

While there’s no catch-all, golden resource that can solve every problem a small internationally-minded business could have, there are some easy ways to keep your business up-to-date and in the overseas loop.

Here, we’ll help you through the basic steps of interacting with overseas clients, from translating pleasantries to tracking shipments to making sure you don’t accidentally call them in the middle of the night.

1. Basic Information
Before you even get started, it’s important to know the basic information about your client’s country. Usually the most thorough and reliable way to bone up is through the country’s official webpage. England, for example, has a good site with lots of information. Unfortunately, most of these sites are geared towards tourism and less so the time-pressed businessperson.

Wikipedia can actually be a great, quick and comprehensive alternative. Wikipedia pages exist for most major countries and include a helpful info bar on the right side of the page (usually just below the country’s flag). This information includes official languages, government make up, population estimates, GDP, currency, time zone, and calling code.

Also check out The World Factbook, maintained by the CIA. It includes “information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities,” according to their website.

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Entrepreneur and CEO Valerie Jennings Discusses Social Media Marketing Strategies & Sales

Posted by: Micah Pratt

Here is a podcast from Valerie Jennings, entrepreneur and CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing, regarding social media integration with sales.

article marketing 252x252 Entrepreneur and CEO Valerie Jennings Discusses Social Media Marketing Strategies & Sales“Hi this is Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings social media marketing. I want to review some social media marketing strategies with you that include sales and social media marketing integration. One way we do this is by looking at a current companies sale system. We need to know where there needs are coming from rather that be ecommerce, direct mail, phone calls, it could be advertising. It could be promotions they are currently running. And we want to understand how those needs are being processed in order to best accommodate the sales team and the sales system.”

 

Click the play button above to listen to the rest of Jennings’ strategies for social media marketing integration.


Facebook Posts to Appear in Real-Time Search Results

Posted by: Micah Pratt

I would like to share an article from mashable.com about how Facebook posts will now be available in real-time searches through OneRiot.

Facebook Posts to Appear in Real-Time Search Results

facebook 252x252 Facebook Posts to Appear in Real Time Search Results As of today, real-time results from millions of users’ Facebook posts will now appear in search results on OneRiot, one of the world’s leading real-time search engines.

These Facebook posts will also be accessible through OneRiot’s API, which powers more than 100 real-time apps around the web and on mobile devices.

OneRiot already pulls data from blogs, Twitter, Digg and millions of other sources all over the social web. Having access to Facebook’s nearly 500 million members, however, takes these search results to a higher plane by pooling a much larger dataset when finding and ranking links for search results.

Facebook data that will appear in OneRiot search results include publicly shared links on user profiles and publicly “liked” stories from all over the web. For example, a search for “World Cup” on OneRiot will reveal the most popular links about the soccer tournament being shared by Facebook users right now.

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AP Stylebook Now Includes 42 Social Media Rules

Posted by: Micah Pratt

I would like to share an article from BusinessInsider.com about the new “Social Media Guidelines” section in the AP Stylebook.

Journalism Rules 2.0: AP Stylebook Now Includes 42 Social Media Guidelines

ap 320pi AP Stylebook Now Includes 42 Social Media Rules

The AP Stylebook caused a bit of an uproar back in April when they announced, via Twitter:

Responding to reader input, we are changing Web site to website. This appears on Stylebook Online today and in the 2010 book next month.

Well, the new Stylebook is out, and it includes some additional webby updates. Namely, a new “Social Media Guidelines” section.

AP announced:

The new Social Media Guidelines section includes information and policies on using tools like Facebook and Twitter, how journalists can apply them to their work and how to verify sources found through them. Also included are 42 separate entries on such terms as app, blogs, click-throughs, friend and unfriend, metadata, RSS, search engine optimization, smart phone, trending, widget and wiki.

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Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi at All Stores Nationwide

Posted by: Micah Pratt

I would like to share an article from mashable.com about Starbucks decision to offer free wi-fi at all of it’s stores beginning July 1, 2010.

Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi at All Stores Nationwide

starbucks laptop Starbucks to Offer Free Wi Fi at All Stores Nationwide Starting July 1, Starbucks will offer free Wi-Fi nationwide, with no registration or account required. Even better, Wi-Fi will not be time limited.

Starbucks joins an increasing list of brands and chains to offer free Wi-Fi in its stores. For example, last December, McDonald’s rolled out free Wi-Fi to nearly all of its restaurants across the country. Panera Bread also offers a similar program.

McDonald’s and Starbucks both have partnerships with AT&T, which, while often criticized for the quality of its wireless data network, is one of the largest Wi-Fi hotspot providers in the United States.

Starbucks was one of the first chains to offer Wi-Fi access to its patrons, first via an agreement with T-Mobile and then with AT&T. Starbucks visitors have been able to enjoy up to two hours of free Wi-Fi from their favorite coffee house, provided they are either an AT&T customer or they use a Starbucks Card to login. The new program will do away with any sort of registration, which will make those of us who always forget either our AT&T account information or can’t find our Starbucks cards extremely happy.

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