Posts Tagged ‘facebook’

Hearing today that a woman is claiming the first she knew about her impending divorce was when her husband updated his Facebook status, saying he was no longer married to her, has shocked me somewhat. I thought it was a bad show if one of my friends dumped their boyfriend of 3 months over the phone, by text was even worse – but now people are ending their marriages over a social network, that can be viewed by anyone (depending on the user’s security settings)? What is the world coming to?

More – Anti-social networking

The Airbus that collided with a flock of birds last week in New York, and ended up (by the amazing precision of the Captain and his co-pilot) safely landing in the Hudson River, is what everyone is talking about. Very rarely do planes, which have to land prematurely due to failed engine(s), have a happy ending in which everyone (155 people) survives with little more than bumps, bruises and shock.

Picture of Airbus floating in the Hudson River

Many saw images of the dramatic incident, along with accompanying explanations, across the world before the newsrooms broadcast anything. Janis Krums, a New Yorker, who happened to be on one of the ferries that was despatched to the stricken plane to start to rescue the passengers, took a birds eye photograph of the Airways Airbus on his mobile phone and posted it straight onto his Twitter profile. At the same time, professional news photographers and cameramen were still trying to locate where on the Hudson the actual plane was!

More – The power of Twitter

An Australian court has agreed with a lawyer’s argument that the only way to serve repossession papers to a young couple was via their Facebook profile. It is the first time that the social network has been used in such a way, but after all traditional methods such as face to face visits, court summons and letters  were exhausted, the lawyer resorted to more innovative means.

More – Nowhere to hide on social networks?

I’m always looking for examples of how social media can support small businesses. I’ve raised the question before using the local builder as an example. Why on earth would the bloke who knocked a hole in my wall have a reason to use any kind of social media tool?

Well I found a partial answer to that in a video from Herefordshire firm, Wiggly Wigglers (amongst other things they sell worms for composting). Founder Heather Gorringe explains how a shift to social media over tradititional media helped cut her advertising costs without cutting her customer base.

More – Where there’s muck – there’s a blog

The Labour Government continues to highlight the need for more safety for children while they use the internet. Therefore, a new ‘UK Council for Child Internet Safety’ is being set up by the DCSF (Ed Balls) and Home Office (Jacqui Smith) to combat cyber-bullying, inappropriate websites and check online marketing/advertising.

More – New Council set to protect childrens interests online