The criticism of Reddit after the Boston bombs, and an apology by its own editors (since taken down), seem to suggest that social fact checking or news gathering of the sort that took place last week is misguided.  But news reporting has always involved judgment calls about what to publish and when, so why did the activity on Reddit attract such criticism?

Here’s an example of a news report from a very different source,the BBC’s Today Programme on Monday 22 April 2013: “…meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports that the surviving suspect, 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has regained consciousness and has begun to answer questions sporadically using a pen and paper… a week on from the carnage the brothers allegedly wreaked, a minute’s silence will be held in Boston today, at the moment the bombs exploded.”  Read more »

Global PR firm Edelman today publishes its annual Trust Barometer. For over a decade, this research into global attitudes has triggered conversations around trust in business and government. And this year, with a US presidential election around the corner and the EU still trying to plot a way to economic security, trust remains at a premium for businesses and brands.

Having scoured the Barometer findings, one message shines through in this year’s report: trust will depend on far more than platitudes emanating from the corporate press office. People don’t want more Facebook, they want keener responsiveness, more openness, better dialogue, and more frequent communication from companies and brands. Read more »

The big message coming from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg speaking at the LSE on May 26Facebook is that companies that manage to put what they call social design at the heart of their business will beat those that don’t.