Tweeting for writers: twice a day, whether you need to or not.

Wonder when to get the most bang for your buck with social? Read on...

Social Media meets Social Responsibilty

Facebook privacy setting defaults in the news. Again.

Will Tweet for $

Win a book!

Nontraditional ways to sell your book: Galleycat.

In this, the week of THE royal wedding, I'm thrilled to report that The Lit Coach has seen fit to feature a post on my character blog, The Empress Chronicles.

Author Sara Sheridan (SECRET OF THE SANDS) has a great piece in The Guardian cautioning writers who think they can ignore social media.

A Murder on Twitter?

I was surprised to read this article in the NYT, claiming the anachronistic death of blogs by the "soon to be adult" set.

With all the web-based social media tools at your avail, have you been wondering about the worth of blogs for your business or corporation? You're not alone. Clearly, there are myriad ways to get your message out there, to interact with your customers, and to build a community around your brand.

Need some new blogs to follow? I love when things come across my desk that feel like serendipity. In the Oregonian today, Jeff Baker offered a five interesting, fun online diversions guaranteed to make your day.

Today, whilst doing my usual digital recon so I know what to blog about, I came across a new kid on the block, Quora. And when I say kid, I mean it. Take a gander at their "team" page. Yikes!

Scrolling Twitter for takes on trending topics has become a new favorite pastime of mine, I'm loath to admit. The "why" and "how" of Zeitgeists that blossom at 140 characters or less is fascinating, yet, I can't help but feel guilty for being sucked in. My iPhone ADD has become as ubiquitous as the People magazines at doctor's offices.

Did you know that there's a Facebook "hate and harassment" team? Despite the double entendre-evoking name, they don't conjure up dirty tricks to play on FB users--they're the police!

Once again I'm running just as fast as I can just to stay two steps behind.

Just when I thought it was safe to get back to work I woke up to the distraction du jour from arch rivals FaceBook and MySpace.

Ask.com, the search engine formerly known as Ask Jeeves, is on its way to extinction. Ten years ago the search behemoth was answering 2 million queries per day. Then Google picked up speed, became the ubiquitous verb for finding things, much like Kleenex is inexorably linked to blowing one's nose.

The connection between social media and infringed privacy roil every once in a while around here--as they do in your home and office, I'm sure. I think that when I feel this most acutely is when I'm blindsided by an unexpected image on my computer screen. Like, say, when I read the NYT headlines and suddenly see my Facebook friends' status updates in the sidebar.

Doesn’t it sometimes seem that as soon as you get used to an interface, it changes? For instance, the Facebook “friends on line” indicator is suddenly a block of faces. What happened to the vertical queue? Twitter wants you to try “New Twitter” just when you’d learned the short-cuts of Old Twitter!

An informative interview with Rodney Walker, underscoring the common marketing mistakes businesses make and how to avoid them.

More scrutiny? More Power? More fun? Read what David Kirkpatrick thinks!

I post on Facebook so others know what I think. As a business owner then, it's not a stretch to call this a fundamental part of "brand building." Facebook, Twitter, blogging, these are our culture's most contemporary methods for direct brand-building. On the other hand, it's also an interface for brand-bashing. If you've followed some of the Facebook faux pas of late, you'll realize that social media is a two-way street, and sometimes cars come at you on your side of the road!

Like Noah, tween sensation Aria Wallace has pledged to spend 40 days aloft, navigating the seas--only Aria's seas are in cyber space, and instead of two of every sort of animal, she's bringing along her resolve to unplug from her cell phone.

In "Twitterville," Shel Israel figures out how to write a timeless book about a dynamically morphing platform.

Read the book to find out how CEOs, students, nonprofit activists, small business owners and others used Twitter to advance their agendas. Powerful stuff.

There's a new phone in town. Frankly, I'm a little skeptical. You see, I am a pocket-carrying member of the iPhone Lovers Society. Have been for several months. I heart my iPhone so much, I can't remember how I functioned without it. True, I make my living by being hooked up to the e-mail like an IV drip, but that's not the only reason my rubber-sleeved machine is my best friend. This phone allows me to best live the life I've chosen to live--time management-wise. Not to say that my life is the best life out there, but in charting a course towards maximizing economy of time, functionality and information, the iPhone frees me up--as long as I heed some caveats and rules:
1. No texting or email answering while driving
2. Try not to over-tweet when with the family
3. Experience comes first, communicating the experience, second

Although thoroughly convinced that the iPhone cannot be replaced, I'm intrigued by the new Android-based social networking tool: the Cliq. The premise of Motorola's stab at seizing the smart phone dollar is built around the "social skills" angle. It's email, Facebook, Twitter, phone, text and calendars all integrated, with both the touch screen AND a QWERTY keyboard. Despite the intriguing possibilities of this new kid in town, I'm still convinced that you'll have to pry my iPhone out of my cold, dead hands!

I haven't seen my daughter in six weeks. She's living the dream--taking a post-college trek through Europe with her backpack and an open mind. I'm thrilled for her, and yet.

As a mother of three (and stepmother of two), I always keep one eye open and one ear available for the middle-of-the-night phone call. The dreaded emergency. But I delight in the daylight hours, where I've been able to stalk my child via various web-based interfaces.

Charlie Rose in conversation with Marc Andreessen, co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in several startups including Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. Best known as co-author of Mosaic, and founder of Netscape. He is on the Board of Directors of Facebook and eBay.