Half a billion people share their opinions on Facebook every day. With that traffic, profile updates are a new way to monitor the day’s trends and events. Sounds serious, doesn’t it? That is, until you learn — thanks to research from Facebook — that the most popular status update is “HMU,” or “Hit Me Up,” which means call me or text me. Profound. Brand Republic
German children, like youngsters around the world, write and mail letters to Santa. Because Santa is so busy, the postal carriers in Germany lend a hand and help old St. Nick reply to more than 620,000 letters. With all that extra work around the holidays, you’d think Santa and his helpers would turn to e-mail. But nein! According to Der Spiegel, a spokesperson for Deutsche Post said: “Obviously we, as the p
Did you grow up watching after-school specials—specifically, the ones that advocate against drugs, alcohol, and sex? Was that a “yes”? Well, this video is right up your alley. It’s a PSA, shot in the form of an ‘80s-era after-school special, warning of the dangers of social media addiction. Hilarious. —PR Daily
The number of voluntary job departures has risen since August 2009 and the number of people quitting now outnumbers those being laid off. Writer Barbara Safani explains on AOL.com: that the figures come from the Department of Labor’s recent Job Opening and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLT). The most significant quit levels are across the financial services industry. But retail, hospitality, and real estate are also in the mix. What gives, Wally? Safani says people are voluntarily flying the coop because
Hiring within is not always a safe bet and the numbers prove it. More than 50 percent of personnel transitions – including promotions and lateral transfers – fail. That’s according to management consultant Barry Deutsch. He cites poor integration and cultural gaps among the four reasons transitions fail. In a pos
You’d think that after nine days behind bars Julian Assange would accept his invitation to speak on the global state. He has a rapt audience. But he didn’t. After the Wikileaks founder was released on bail last week, the biggest story wasn’t the allegations against him, nor the troubled finances of his controversial website, but Assange’s ability to work the media with his well-prepared and minimalistic statement. “If justice is not always the outcome, at least it is not dead yet,” he said. His stateme
“For many companies, a corporate blog makes a lot of sense even though it may not be as sexy as a Facebook Page or a Twitter account,” writes Sysomos’ Mark Evans. He outlined seven arguments why your organization should be blogging. Here’s one: It can serve as a content generator. — Matthew Royse
Looking to grow your brand’s Facebook following? Freelance copywriter Gloria Rand offers 10 tips on how you can attract more fans. Here’s one for newer or smaller pages: Upload your e-mail contacts. —Matthew Royse, PR Daily
The headline makes for a fairly stale press release: “Medical device registries enhance patient safety, quality of care,” but Kaiser Permanente turned this national study on bilateral hip replacements into an interesting video story with a real patient. In its YouTube video, the healthcare organization featured a Harley Davidson-riding patient who had both his hips replaced. Kaiser Permanente also interviewed the surgeon about how important the national registry of common hip replacement devices is to
Dr. Bryan Vartabedian of 33 Charts says that physicians have limited time to use social media and can’t be everywhere at once. Here is what he says: “When I speak to doctors about social media, I discuss the importance of choosing properties,” Vartabedian says. “Where are you going to live, or where are you going to have that dialog between your practice and your patients or you and your colleagues.” Have you helped your doctors pick their medium? —Dan Dunlop
If your hospital is setting up a Facebook page, it’s important to make the content engaging and interactive. St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee, Minn. uses a variety of approaches to engage with its audience. It shares short videos of how to change a diaper, links to community events, and ideas on how to build a healthier community. Nice work, St. Francis. Want to see your Facebook page up here? Send it to jessical@ragan.com. —Michael Burton
A ringing phone in the theater is no longer acceptable, especially when it’s live theater. And so it shocked Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones when minutes before the conclusion of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — as the rapt audience waited for Martha to answer George’s question, “Are you all right” — “a boppy, perky, electronic tune rang out in
Company retreats often flop because of poor attention to detail and lack of advanced planning. Business and leadership expert Seth Godin recommends 21 tips for a successful retreat. His list includes doing skits, issuing an assignment a week prior to the retreat, and requiring nametags. I like Godins’ mention of
You’ve seen these words; you’ve probably included them in your marketing copy. Guess what. It’s time for them to buy a condo in Naples, Fla. That’s right; they need to retire — or, more accurately, we need to retire them. The list, from InkHouse Media and Marketing’s Beth Monaghan, includes “best-in-breed,” “paradigm shift,” “cost-effective,” and more. Read on.
A week to spare before Christmas Eve, and you still haven’t found the perfect gift for that tall glass of eggnog waiting beneath the mistletoe. That certain someone doesn’t wear jewelry; kitchen appliances are an obvious no; and while you love him/her to absolute candy cane bits ‘n’ pieces, you wouldn’t dare buy clothes for fear of drawing attention to those extra holiday pounds. Good thing Santa Ragan has a one size fits all solution — the
