Holtz Communications + Technology

In episode 278 of For Immediate Release, I reported on a brouhaha erupting over Facebook’s deletion of a user’s account that included a photo of her breast-feeding her child.

A variety of actions followed Facebook’s action (you don’t want to mess with lactivists), including the production of a protest video uploaded to YouTube—where it was banned. Not about to be silenced, The League of Maternal Justice…

Someone wrote recently—I didn’t make a note of who it was—that social media is an inappropriate venue for business because contracts are the language of business and therefore businesses cannot speak with an informal, authentic, human voice. What reactionary bunk. Corporations may be legal entities but they won’t exist without people. But the business world is populated by a lot of like-minded people who…

Dan York points me to a post from Jeff Pulver about what he wants from a PR firm. The underlying message: In most cases, these typically are not the things he actually gets. His post lists the kind of problems he experiences, from interns assigned to his account to account reps taking credit for his work.

Pulver,

founder and chairman…

The latest controversy over deceptive and unethical PR practices doesn’t even involve a public relations agency. No, this time Dan Ackerman Greenberg is in the hot seat after posting the steps he and his company, The Commotion Group (which describes itself as “New Media and Marketing and Consulting”) take to improve the chances a YouTube video will go viral. These include having staff…

Mitch Joel’s item on “ownership” of social media has generated some interesting comments. Joel, of “Six Pixels of Separation” fame, suggests digital marketing agencies should “own” organizations’ social media efforts:

I think it’s Digital Marketing agencies who need to step up and own the Social Media marketing landscape. Agencies who are primed in the interactive marketing space start off with a core understanding of how people connect online, and how…

How’d I miss this? Ford Motor Company has issued a social media release about its 2008 Focus. Ford is one of the largest companies to adopt the format. The release features a fact list, video (on YouTube), photos (on Flickr), and quotes from Ford executives, along with links, a PDF fact sheet, tags, and an RSS feed. As with most social…