More Than 90% of Consumers Unsubscribe, Unfan or Unfollow Because of Too Frequent, Irrelevant or Boring Communications

A new study released today by ExactTarget and CoTweet finds more than 90 percent of consumers have “broken up” with at least one brand on Facebook, email or Twitter because of irrelevant, too frequent or boring marketing messages. Featured in The Social Break-Up, the study of more than 1,500 consumers identifies how people are changing their online behaviors and details top motivations for unfanning, unfollowing and unsubscribing from marketing campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and email.

(more…)

AirTran Airways today announced a promotion with Gogo Inflight Internet and the Ford Motor Company that will offer complimentary access to social networking site Facebook to its customers during the month of February.

As the only major airline with Wi-Fi on every flight, AirTran Airways customers will be able to update their pages, check out their friends and do anything else on Facebook that they can do on the ground, including visiting AirTran’s Facebook page for our latest deals and information at www.facebook.com/AirTranAirways.

“Our passengers love knowing that getting on one of our planes, no matter which plane, means being able to stay connected to their favorite places on the Internet,” said Tad Hutcheson, AirTran Airways’ vice president of marketing and sales. “Thanks to this promotion with Gogo and Ford more passengers than ever will be able to enjoy visiting Facebook inflight, free of charge.”

Passengers with any Wi-Fi enabled device will be able to take advantage of this offer during the month of February by selecting the Gogo wireless network inflight, opening a web browser and clicking on the Ford/Facebook banner.

AirTran Airways is a Fortune 1,000 company and has been ranked the number one low cost carrier in the Airline Quality Rating study for the past two years. AirTran is the only major airline with Wi-Fi on every flight and offers coast-to-coast service on North America’s newest all-Boeing fleet. Its low-cost, high-quality product also includes assigned seating, Business Class and complimentary XM Satellite Radio on every flight.

Last week’s news landscape was a tale of two stories—one much-anticipated event in Washington and an unexpected drama unfolding about 6,000 miles away. In the first part of last week, the media focused on President Obama’s January 25 State of the Union speech. In the latter half, Egyptian protests that began to look like a revolution dominated coverage, virtually drowning out the president’s emphasis on re-tooling the U.S. economy. 

(more…)

The fallout from the Arizona shooting spree continued to lead the news agenda last week, though the level of coverage dropped significantly and the media narrative narrowed, according to Mark Jurkowitz from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

From January 17-23, the rampage that killed six and wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others filled 17% of the newshole studied by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. That is down more than two-thirds from the 57% the story generated the previous week when the country was still reeling from the shock of events, according to PEJ’s weekly News Coverage Index.

(more…)

Are you so addicted to Facebook that you check it while you’re doing your business in the bathroom? According to a new study nearly one-third of those surveyed said yes.

As Facebook, social media and mobile usage continues its explosive growth, AIS Media asked people a rather personal question: do you ever use Facebook on your mobile device while you’re in the bathroom? According to the results, nearly one-third (27 percent) of survey respondents say “yes”.

(more…)

The internet is now deeply embedded in group and organizational life in America. A new national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that 75% of all American adults are active in some kind of voluntary group or organization and internet users are more likely than others to be active: 80% of internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-internet users. Moreover, social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users are group participants. 

(more…)

Today The Washington Post announced beginning January 23 it will expand coverage of arts and popular culture in the Sunday newspaper, creating separate Arts and Sunday Style sections, adding new features and columns and delivering feature sections on Saturday to give busy readers more time to enjoy their Sunday paper.

(more…)

 Bank of America: Good Crisis Comm on Friday?

If you’ll recall, JPMorgan Chase was highly criticized for not getting information out to customers when its Web site went down for a full day in September 2010. The company put out statements, but not until long after the social mediasphere became full of anger and frustration.

At around 7 a.m. Friday, Bank of America experienced a partial outage of its online banking service. The bank used Twitter to get the word out right away, but it did not announce the outage anywhere else; impacted customers simply got an error message when trying to access accounts online (including yours truly).

Over Twitter, B of A broadcast this message: “Online Banking Outage: Bank of America is working to restore capability as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Though it reaches more than 7,000 Twitter followers worldwide, that is far less than the number of customers affected.

My question for you: why do you think they only used Twitter? Why would B of A not post a message on the company website (or any another place)? Was this a good strategy or did they miss the mark? Please share your thoughts below!

To help mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, today unveiled the nation’s largest online digitized presidential archive, providing unprecedented global access to the most important papers, records, photographs and recordings of President John F. Kennedy’s thousand days in office. The announcement was made in the Archivist’s Reception Room in the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.

Until now, the national treasure of historical material housed in the Kennedy Presidential Library’s collection has been available only by a physical visit to the library itself. With the launch of the new digital archive at www.jfklibrary.org, students, teachers, researchers and members of the public now just need an internet connection to search, browse and retrieve original documents from the Kennedy Library’s collection, gaining a first-hand look into the life of President Kennedy and the issues that defined his administration. The website is http://www.jfklibrary.org.

(more…)

Research shows that social media users are more demanding:1 in 5 consumers who complain to brands via Twitter or Facebook want a response within the hour.

New research from Lightspeed Research and the IAB revealed that consumers have much higher expectations of social media customer services compared to more traditional channels. The research found that a quarter of people who complain about brands through Twitter or Facebook expect a response within the hour, and around 6% within 10 minutes.

Conversely, 50% of consumers who made complaints via a brand’s own website were happy to receive a response within a day and 27% within 3 days.

(more…)

Research Finds Regional Dialects Are Alive and Well on Twitter: Slang Terms Like Y’all, Yinz, Koo, Coo and Suttin Predict Location of Tweet Authors

Microbloggers may think they’re interacting in one big Twitterverse, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science find that regional slang and dialects are as evident in tweets as they are in everyday conversations. Postings on Twitter reflect some well-known regionalisms, such as Southerners’ “y’all,” and Pittsburghers’ “yinz,” and the usual regional divides in references to soda, pop and Coke. But Jacob Eisenstein, a post-doctoral fellow in CMU’s Machine Learning Department, said the automated method he and his colleagues have developed for analyzing Twitter word use shows that regional dialects appear to be evolving within social media.

(more…)

Google is the dominant leader when it comes to generating views of media videos on the Web, historically followed by Yahoo in second place. But, according to a report on Online Video & The Media Industry released jointly by Tubemogul and Brightcove, Facebook has surpassed Yahoo in the third quarter of 2010 to become the second most popular source of clicks to online videos at media sites. (The study measures video views with a focus on newspaper, magazine, broadcast and online media sites).

(more…)

Online ad spending will grow 13.9% to $25.8 billion in 2010, while advertisers are projected to spend just $22.78 billion on print newspapers

Advertisers will spend more on internet ads in 2010 than newspaper ads for the first time, according to new estimates by eMarketer, which aggregates and analyzes information from more than 4,000 sources worldwide and publishes daily research articles, analyst reports and the most comprehensive database of online marketing statistics.

Online ad spending will grow 13.9% to $25.8 billion for the full year in 2010, while advertisers are expected to spend just $22.78 billion on print newspaper ads this year, down 8.2% from 2009, eMarketer estimates.

(more…)

My Christmas poem for 2010: A Social Media Christmas.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Every creature was on Facebook, clicking their mouse;

The lights on the tree gave such a nice glitter
I took a pic with my iPhone and shared it on Flickr.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds
With music from their iPods filling their heads;

And mamma with her Kindle and I using an app
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap;

When out on the Web there arose such a clatter
I turned on my iPad to see what was the matter;

I opened a new window but the website used Flash
Causing the browser to have a quick crash;

And just when my nerves were starting to jitter,
I looked to see what was happening on Twitter

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?
A Fail Whale – oh dear!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Following the first election since the Supreme Court has struck down limits on election-related advertising, a new poll finds that 9 in 10 voters said that in the 2010 election they encountered information they believed was misleading or false, with 56% saying this occurred frequently. Fifty-four percent said that it had been more frequent than usual, while just three percent said it was less frequent than usual, according to the poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, based at the University of Maryland, and Knowledge Networks.

(more…)

Premiere Green Lifestyle Publication to Feature Experts in Health, Wellness and Environmental Consciousness 

Green Living Arizona magazine is kicking off 2011 with a unique three-part series featuring best-selling authors, mind-body healing pioneers and Chopra Center co-founders, Dr. Deepak Chopra and David Simon. The special series will share with readers their expert wisdom about health, wellness and environmental consciousness. Dr. Deepak will be featured on the January cover of the magazine. Launched earlier this year, Green Living Arizona (GLAZ) is a monthly, eco-conscious lifestyle magazine whose mission is “to educate our readership through a positive lens about simple green solutions and options for our daily lives and our ability to decrease our environmental impact.”

(more…)

Airline Offers Twitter Followers the Chance to win a $1,000 southwestgiftcard During “12 Days of LUV” Contest

As the song goes, for 12 days in December, your “true love” is supposed to give you gifts. Well, this year, Southwest Airlines could be your “true LUV,” except they aren’t giving away Turtle Doves or French Hens. They’re giving away one $1,000 Southwest giftcard each day for 12 days in December with the “12 Days of LUV” contest sponsored by Visa®.

(more…)

A new Pew Research Center Report shows that eight percent of online adults in the U.S. use Twitter and it is particularly popular with young adults, minorities, and those who live in urban areas. 

This is the first-ever survey from Pew that exclusively examines Twitter users. In previous surveys, researchers had asked internet users whether they “used Twitter or another service to share updates about yourself or to see updates about others?”

(more…)

The U.S. State Department has announced that it will host UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from May 1 – May 3 in Washington, D.C. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press.

(more…)

The last thing that more than 70% of British adults do before they go to bed is check social network sites, the Press Association reports. Instead of curling up with a good book before nodding off, some 72% of adults check status updates on Facebook, a study conducted on behalf of Travelodge found.

(more…)

Virgin Digital Publishing has launched the first global iPad-only magazine – PROJECT, created by Virgin Founder Richard Branson, Holly Branson and Anthony Noguera goes on sale today in the Apple App Store.

PROJECT is “the first global magazine app for creative people about creative people.”

PROJECT is a monthly magazine that will change daily, hourly – minute by minute at times – to give its global audience of early adopters a month of entertainment for less than the price of a decent cup of coffee. It will encourage contributions from its readers, bloggers, anyone with anything interesting to say – it is a magazine that truly evolves, stays fresh and gives new undiscovered talent across the world a voice.

(more…)

LivingSocial (www.livingsocial.com), the online source for people to find handpicked experiences at a great value, today reports the impact its Daily Deals program has had on Washington D.C. small businesses. The company first launched its Daily Deals program in its hometown in July 2009, and local business owners have thrived, welcoming hundreds of thousands of LivingSocial subscribers through their doors. More than 400 DC-area merchants have marketed their establishments, experiences and services with LivingSocial’s Daily Deals program, saving shoppers more than $13 million to date.

“As a startup, we value LivingSocial’s inherent support of the small business community here in D.C. and now, around the world in more than 100 markets and five countries,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and Co-founder of LivingSocial. “By having experts on the ground working with small business owners we are better able to craft deals that appeal to the local consumer while delivering both immediate and long-lasting results to the merchant. It’s a win-win for local consumers and merchants.”

(more…)

You’ve undoubetdly heard the famous Christmas song “The 12 Days of Christmas,” but here’s a new version of it I wrote to get into the spirit of the coming holiday season: The 12 Days of a Twitter Christmas.

I would sing it for you via recorded video, but I think Matt Lauer and Al Roker have proven that you shouldn’t record a music video if you can’t sing – regardless of auto-tuning and studio enhancing!

So sing along to the tune of the “12 Days of Christmas”

On the first day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
A Fail Whale on my screen.

On the second day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the third day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Seven swans-a-spamming,
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Eight maids-a-mentioning,
Seven swans-a-spamming,
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Nine ladies DM’ing,
Eight maids-a-mentioning,
Seven swans-a-spamming,
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Ten lords a-listing,
Nine ladies DM’ing,
Eight maids-a-mentioning,
Seven swans-a-spamming,
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Eleven pipers to follow,
Ten lords a-listing,
Nine ladies DM’ing,
Eight maids-a-mentioning,
Seven swans-a-spamming,
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
Twitter gave to me
Twelve re-tweets,
Eleven pipers to follow,
Ten lords-a-listing,
Nine ladies DM’ing,
Eight maids-a-mentioning,
Seven swans-a-spamming,
Six direct messages,
Five trackback pings,
Four follow Fridays,
Three French followers,
Two turtle trends,
And a Fail Whale on my screen!

Diane Sawyer, the award-winning anchor of ABC’s flagship newscast “World News with Diane Sawyer,” is this year’s recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Sawyer will accept the 27th annual award on Nov. 12, 2010 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix (for ticket information, contact Liz Bernreuter at 602.496.9444).

“Walter Cronkite set the gold standard for broadcast journalism,” Sawyer said. “I was lucky enough to have worked with him, learned from him, and was able to see his humane intelligence at work in our lives. I am honored to accept this award in the spirit of Walter’s indelible legacy.”

(more…)

Have you ever posted to Facebook after a few too many at the bar, or typed a drunken post to Twitter? Social media hangovers can be awkward – having to apologize for, or explain those late night posts can be embarrassing.

Well now there’s a app for that (sort of). Introducing The Social Media Sobriety Test, a program where you specify a window of time where you don’t think you’d be on the internet while sober — let’s say 1 AM to 6 AM — and anytime you try to access the internet within that timeframe, you’ll have to prove that you are sober. No, you don’t blow into a device like those things they put in your car after a DUI… you must prove you are sober to your computer with your mouse.

The Social Media Sobriety Test is a browser plugin that will conduct sobriety tests on your computer – like seeing if you can make your cursor follow a moving finger for 30 seconds or trace a straight line. If you fail, the program automatically posts a status for you that says “[Your name here] is too intoxicated to post right now.” Once installed, you can set up a watershed period, during which any access to social media websites will be blocked until you pass… it’s a clever solution from web security company Webroot, who markets the product saying “Nothing good happens online after 1am. And since Webroot believes in protecting you in every aspect of your life, including you…”

My guess is though, that more Facebook posts and Tweets come from mobile devices – so maybe there will be an app for that soon – one that prevents drunken texting as well? Regardless, I know a few friends on Facebook who need The Social Media Sobriety Test. 

Have you ever posted something drunk? Share it in the comments section below – would love to hear some funny ones!

Check out this video for more on the Social Media Sobriety Test.

Today, Leading social discovery network LivingSocial (www.livingsocial.com) announced the launch of 9 new markets in the U.S. and UK including St. Paul, MN; Mesa, AZ; Eugene, OR; West Chicago; Columbia, South Carolina; Liverpool, UK; Brighton, UK; Bristol, UK and Birmingham, UK. LivingSocial is now live in 111 markets in the U.S., Canada, UK and Ireland, with more than 10 million subscribers.

(more…)

On the heels of its logo social media fiasco, The Gap is partnering with Facebook to give away free jeans. Facebook announced today at its mobile event in Palo Alto that The Gap would give away a pair of jeans to the first 10,000 people who “check in” as part of Facebook’s new “deals” program, similar to FourSquare deals. Checking into Facebook via your mobile phone will soon mean getting discounts at many of the shops you’re visiting much like deals and coupons on the popular FourSquare. A specific date for the free jeans launch was not provided, but I’ll keep an eye out and update this post when one is provided.

You’ve seen them. Those political ads on TV. You’ve seen them over…. and over… and over… and over. Perhaps you’ll join me in celebrating that the election is finally here and the torture is over? That’s right; it’s Election Day, so stop reading blogs and go vote if you haven’t done so!

While dedicated citizens head to the polls to decide the fate of political hopefuls, there is already a big winner in the 2010 midterm elections: local television stations… and at a time when most could really use it. Since 2008 revenue for local TV advertising has dramatically slowed, particularly in the lucrative automotive category.

(more…)

52 schools expand energy efficiency efforts, earn “A” grades on  Green Report Card

Facing frugal times, more schools are finding that energy efficiency improvements can cut costs without cutting campus services.  Connecting the dots between sustainability and savings is an accelerating trend revealed in the new College Sustainability Report Card 2011. Released this week at GreenReportCard.org, the publication is the only independent evaluation of sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices. Assessing each institution in nine categories, ranging from Climate Change & Energy to Green Building to Investment Priorities, the Report Card provides detailed school profiles and grades for 322 colleges and universities, representing all 50 U.S. states and eight Canadian provinces.

(more…)

The new Facebook Groups feature provides an excellent way to connect groups of people that you might not be friends with on Facebook (see my previous post on how Groups work for more info on setting them up). I’ve created a group for public relations, communications and marketing professionals in Phoenix who want to share information and ideas, participate in discussions about our industry and network with others in the field. We also welcome students and those who are just starting a career in PR for mentoring and advice.

Local reporters can take advantage of this group when looking for sources!

If you are a reporter or producer working on a tight deadline and you need a source quickly, simply send an email to PhoenixPR@groups.facebook.com. That will post your message to our group’s wall, instantly informing PR people what you are looking for. How easy is that?!? Our group continues to grow every day. If you are a PR or communications professional we invite you to join us!