I’ve noticed this and couldn’t quite work out what was going on, but Twitter has cleared up the issue after it admitted that it is suffering technical problems that causes Twitter users to randomly unfollow people they are following without their knowledge.

The “unfollow bug” has apparently affected thousands of Twitter users many of whom have been tweeting about the issue using the #Twitterbug hashtag. Read More »

Greggs the baker has been taking advantage of Labour Leader Ed Miliband’s canny media managenent after he was photographed outside of one of its stores today as the row over the “pie tax” heated up.

The retailer has been tweeting away and retweeting some of its mentions as the chatter sends Greggs trending on Twitter not once but twice. Read More »

Pinterest has 2.2 million daily and 22 million monthly active users who have the potential to act as word-of-mouth ambassadors for their favourite products.

The site has been steadily increasing its market share since it first rolled out in the American Mid-West two-years ago and now it wants UK advertisers and marketers to get involved. Read More »

The new Facebook Timelines increases engagement per post for brands by a 46%, according to research done by Simply Measured.

Simply measured looked at engagement stats before and after the launch of Timeline of fifteen major early adopters, and  in addition to overall engagement, their research showed that migrating a brands page to Timeline gives a 14% increase in fan engagement. Read More »

I was asked to write this social media guide for journalists for The Journalism Foundation as part of a free online toolkit for anyone who wants to start up their own local news network.

Social media skills for journalists in 2012 are as essential as a notebook and phone. They are basic must-haves that should be part of your journalistic DNA. If you are not using social media you need to have a very good reason, as you can guarantee that your colleagues and your rivals will be. So get going. Read More »

Recent public reports from internet traffic monitors have highlighted why Pinterest is drawing so much attention and it isn’t just a matter of traffic growth. Traffic matters, of course, and for social networks the traffic trajectory is incredibly important.

But what makes Pinterest rather special as a social platform is the degree to which it runs counter to the “island” mentality most social networks create. Bottom line, Facebook and Twitter are happiest when you’re on Facebook and Twitter. And most social experiences are like that. Read More »

As the battle for London mayor heats up Labour’s Ken Livingstone has launched his latest ad advertising campaign across London and is crowd sourcing supporters to decide what his next campaign should be.

Supporters are being asked to vote on their preferred subject for the campaign (be it fares for policing) and suggest their own ad. The campaign says it will take the best one and use it. Read More »

We’ve been here before haven’t we? Not just once but an increasing numbers of times. It doesn’t, however, seem to stop people publishing their dumb and offensive thoughts on Twitter where they can be seen by millions and land them in a lot of trouble.

That’s what has happened to 21-year old student Liam Stacey who has been jailed for 56 days after he posted racist tweets about the Bolton Wanders player Fabrice Muamba after he had a heart attack on the pitch during a Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Mach 17. Read More »

Twitter has formally launched its self-service ad platform for small businesses, which it announced earlier this year as its answer to Google’s AdWords. It massively expands the number of advertisers using Twitter from an estimated 3,000 to tens of thousands.

While Twitter’s ad business is unlikely to match Google’s service in terms of use it is a major step into allowing businesses to harness the power of 140 character ads via Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts. Read More »

The star studded US media consultancy, Altimeter, has just released a report penned my Brian Solis on the Rise of Digital Influence, which has caused quite a stir.

Lets start with what they have managed to get right. Read More »