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U.K. to Regulate Social Network Marketing

An interesting challenge for the ASA, trying to manage the seemingly unmanageable internet. There are a lot of questions I have on how exactly this will work, in terms of constantly changing adverts and how far their jurisdiction allows them to regulate.

Facebook has certainly had its fair share of scammy advertising and one would hope this goes some way to stopping it! What I would hope for more is that the ASA see Social Media as not just something to regulate but also to enhance their complaints system.

Are they monitoring social networks to see if there are any complaints on adverts or do they just wait for the letters and emails? A tiny step in the right direction.

Ribbon Hero

Last week we looked at how gameplay and social structures could encourage better behaviour. Microsoft have added a social game to their Office Suite. I think this could be a great way to encourage people to become more efficient and make better looking documents. The interesting thing about Ribbon Hero is that it hooks into your Facebook so you can challenge your friends and compare your scores. Props to Microsoft

A little bit of politics

As the election looms the BBC will start covering how politicians are using the internet to enhance their campaigns. I don’t expect we will see anything of the level of Obama but it will be interesting to see how the major parties use social media and how much of an impact it really can have. Keep your eyes on the BBC tech blog.

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Infographic: Mega Shark

If you have seen the laughable Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus scene in which said shark takes down a commercial airline. You may be very amused and informed by this Mega Shark graphic .

Which Test Won

A neat website for UI people with real world tests on how you can alter your site to get the results you want.

Family see Jesus image in Marmite

The lord works in mysterious ways, some people love that and some people hate that…it’s a bit Marmite you could say. Divine intervention also occurred in our very own office!

Our 5 favourite social media stories from the past week and  5 other random things that may or may not be interesting.

5 of the best

Did you know 4.0?

Statistics can be quite interesting…then again they can also be a bit dry. So seeing interesting statistics and figures in a nicely presented video is always appealing to me . It is certainly something that can wow a skeptic of the digital future.

Ten things businesses should do before starting with social media

When there is a lot of buzz about something lots of businesses will want to jump in feet first. Social Media shouldn’t be something you rush into without really working out why you are doing it first. I would recommend reading this article and taking some of the steps before you go and set up your company’s social media profiles.

Advertising Agencies And Social Media: A Culture Clash

I think a lot of ad agencies have a problem understanding how to bring social media into their services. Trying to shoe horn old school advertising techniques into a medium in which they don’t necessarily fit.

Thomson Holidays – how a blogger can impact your brand reputation

Not all of your customers will ring you up or send you a letter to complain, but that doesn’t mean they are satisfied. Consumers will however use social media to tell their friends and family about a bad experience. Finding those comments and being aware of them can have a huge impact on your brands reputation. You can take a dissatisfied customer and turn them into a happy one and with a little more effort they may even turn into a brand evangelist.

Copyright and Fair Use in Social Media

A blog post by Lily Allen sparked a wider debate about fair use online. She managed to take some text from another blog ad verbatim and put it into one of her posts without credit. Ironically she was making a point about people stealing intellectual property.

Vitaminwater’s new flavour created with Facebook app

An interesting use of social media and crowd sourcing. How could you use the wisdom of a crowd of your customers to help create interesting new products?

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80+ Strange and Fantastic Buildings Architecture

Architecture fascinates me and I always get frustrated when a new building or shopping centre is a b0ring grid of bricks or giant metal shed. However this set of buildings excites me more please!

Courier: First Details of Microsoft’s Secret Tablet

I like exciting concepts, the beauty of seeing a product before it is finished, is that we can imagine a huge range of possibilities. I fear this device will not live up to the exciting ideas in my head and will no doubt cost a pretty penny! However I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar taking off in the future. So make sure you watch the video.

James May and his full-size Lego house nobody wants

A few weeks ago in 5 of the rest we posted about James May’s Lego house. Unfortunately it now looks like the whole thing might be coming down!

Over 1,200 NYC Trash Cubes Sold

This gives me an idea! Anyone interested in a Brighton box o’ rubbish?

Wants for Sale

A cute concept. Buy a painting of what the artist wants and then they can go and get that item. The paintings sell for the cost of the item they want. I would quite like to paint a “financial security” painting of my own!