Facebook has chosen Morgan Stanley as the lead investment bank on its initial public offering and will file plans with the US Securities and Exchange Commission today. It is being reported that Facebook intends to raise around $5bn although that could rise to $10bn, which will value it at between $75bn and $100bn.

The appointment of Morgan Stanley means a considerably payday for the bank in what will be the biggest and most talked about IPO since Google in 2004. Read More »

A few weeks ago I wrote a story about LinkedIn and their aggressive approach in turning their platform into Temptation Island when it came to moving jobs. My ire was drawn from all the fabulous new ways they’ve conjured up to move jobs. Clever display adverts that put my head under a fancy job title, jobs I might be interested in floating down my newsfeed and a daily digest of jobs I might like on a weekly basis, usually at my weakest on a Monday.

The post had quite a lot of interest from business owners, to recruitment consultants to, would you believe it, LinkedIn themselves. They got in touch and wanted the chance to explain their vision and why my view, though valid, might have different facets unconsidered in the original piece.

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As questions were raised about high street retailer, H&M, last week after a fall in profits for the fifth quarter in a row, UBS analyst Adam Cochrane said investors had started to ask: “Has H&M lost its way? The reality is that retailers like Primark are offering 80% of the fashion at 50% of the price. The cheapest player used to be H&M.”

Retailers like H&M have been fighting for the attention of shoppers with ongoing sales and many have now taken to collaborations with celebrities (yesterday H&M unveiled its David Beckham’s Super Bowl ad – below). Using Meltwater Buzz we have taken a look at the online reaction to H&M’s recent ventures with both Beckham’s celebrity and fashion power brand Versace. The reaction from online audiences gives us a clear view as to which method is most effective at generating online buzz in the celebrity vs. brand competition. Read More »

This presidential election year is going to be the Twitter election, according to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. Well he would say that to a degree wouldn’t he? But there is more to his claim than just a nice ring to the phrase.

It isn’t just the mass of tweets we saw around Obama’s State of the Union address, but as much how certain Republic candidates are using Twitter and social media to compete, which has seen Ron Paul for instance declared the Republican social media candidate. Read More »

We’ve seem some corking examples of social media fails recently with McDonald’s and LA Fitnesss so a timely infographic here looking at why and how companies respond to negative social media.

The funny thing is that so many companies are still not effectively using it and only a small per centage use Twitter as a customer service channel when more than a third of consumers now use it to air their feelings about a company. It is almost a knee jerk reaction for many to vent on Twitter and as we have seen that can spiral quickly. Read More »

Good read in The Times today from the pen of Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton. The sometimes violent and reformed(ish) premiership bad boy writes about his love for Twitter and how it has helped him get his voice across to the world after he became disillusioned with the national media and its portrayal of him.

It’s interesting as highlights how Barton and others have seized the platform that Twitter provides and made it their own. Making it a place where they tell their stories in their own voices. Read More »

Identity is a funny thing. So many things govern who we are as individuals, but outward, visible identity often drives our actions. There are the perceptions others have of us from our outward appearance, how we choose to live, what we choose to say and all the various queues from body language to political affiliation. Read More »

I’m sure you all remember the case of Paul Chambers, the 27-year-old accountant who lost his appeal for jokingly tweeting he would blow Robin Hood airport up. That gave us #IAmSpartacus, which went viral on Twitter and proved to be a social media object lesson.

Not everyone, however, remembers the story and Leigh Van Bryan certainly didn’t as he tweeted about “destroying America” prior to a holiday trip to the US. That was enough to get him the Jack Bauer treatment from the Department of Homeland Security who flagged him as a potential threat. Read More »

PR professionals would like to edit Wikipedia entries on behalf of their brands, but current Wikipedia policies treat them like corporate shills who are not welcome.

Pssssst…raising awareness about breast cancer is back on Facebook, with a new viral campaign that women are sharing. Girlfriends have told me not to let onto the boys what’s going on, and we’ll see if this one reaches the success that we’ve seen from previous campaigns.

Last year, women around the world updated their status on Facebook to reveal what colour bra they were wearing. Red, white, beige, black, and leopard print was showing up all across Facebook, catching the attention of men. The phenomenon captured news headlines, and reports said that no one was sure exactly where it all started. Read More »