Why three screens? One’s for the actual Biblical text he’s speaking on, one’s for a video DJ who searches through Google to find images of what Leonard is speaking about and the third is for the Twitter stream about the message.

Yes, there’s a Twitter stream.

Not that embracing social media has always worked out wonderfuly for churches. Last April Trinity Church in Manhatten decided to Twitter about their Good Friday service. While they gained thousands of followers some of the responses for their Twitters were “Darkness and earthquake,” and “Crucify him!” Ah Social Media. Imagine if Trinity Church had created a YouTube video.

As exciting as it is that churches are embracing and using social media, they need to think about their social media campagin much in the same way businesses do. Where is your audience at, who do you want to reach and how can you effectively find those people? For some churches Twitter might be a good start, other churches may want to steer clear and try Facebook or Myspace instead. Also, because of the higher ethical standards most churches have there will need to be policies to govern who uses the official social media channels and what should be said. The potential for offending existing members of the church is huge. Also, if there’s some sort of community experience (Facebook page, forums, etc) the church will need to have some sort of moderating system in place in case of personal information getting put out. Churches must also be cautious of posting pictures (Flick’r, TwitPic, etc) of children without the consent of their parents.

I’m hoping that more churches see the potential for marketing and stay connected with their members over social media networks and can use the tools at hand wisely. If you’ll excuse me though, I have to go now, my pastor is Twittering something.

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Alice Hoffman, author of the best-selling Practical Magic, did her best Hemingway impression, albeit in 140 characters jabs, when she lashed out on Sunday after receiving a bad review from Boston Globe book critic Roberta Silman. Hoffman went above and beyond the angry author responses that are sometimes found in the New York Times Book Review letters to the editor section, posting the 75-year-old Silman’s personal phone number and email address, encouraging her fans to call and write to heckle the reviewer.

The irony runs thick, however, as Hoffman, in all of her hurried, ill-advised rage, tweeted Silman’s contact information incorrectly. The blogosphere was quick to ignite when followers first saw Hoffman’s series of posts and the story quickly made its way across the Internet, getting coverage from a variety of book blogs and posts on Gawker and Mediabistro. Silman, who spoke with the LA Times book blog Jacket Copy about the incident, was on vacation in the Berkshires, and more or less missed the whole thing, unawares until the next day, when @AliceHof’s account had completely disappeared from twitter (Gawker has preserved the greatest hits, so to speak, here).

Alice Hoffman has issued an apology, but just as she was able to release her anger into the public nearly instantly via twitter, the viral spread of her fit made the review—which was quite even-handed, far from a full-throated slam of the book—and her seemingly lousy personality much more visible. Washington Post fiction editor Ron Charles even got into the fray, tweeting her to stop in the midst of her flurry of tweets. The incident has not endeared her to reviewers or editors.

The immediacy of twitter has proved to be revolutionary, succeeding in getting users out of shady arrests, offering an essential medium of communication for protesters in Iran and generally being a very reliable barometer of the zeitgeist, in real time. But instantaneous communication can and will cause serious backlash if people can’t manage even the most basic self-censorship. Not only writers, but musicians, actors, programmers, journalists, politicians, everyone should remember to think twice before they tweet.

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The Top 50 job seekers represent an incredible talent pool of social media experts who share a passion for wine. (Their video applications can be viewed at www.areallygoodejob.com).

“A Really Goode Job,” which has become an international phenomenon, will pay $10,000 a month for a six-month contract that includes housing in the heart of wine country. Throughout the course of the job the successful applicant will post dispatches about their wine country experiences though social media tools such as Facebook, blogs, internet videos and Twitter as well as traditional media.

The Top 50 are:

Atlanta, Georgia
Edmund Thralls; Hardy Wallace

Austin, Texas
Adam Beaugh

Boston, Massachusetts

Natasha Foy, (Nantucket); Rodney Gagnon; Rocky Slaughter; Ed Wozniak (Jamaica Plain)

Chicago, Illinois
Melissa Angio; Leena Trivedi-Grenier

Denver, Colorado
Rick Bakas (Broomfield); Adam Dyer

Forestville, California
Sue Bonzell

Groveport, Ohio
Amy Shropshire

Los Angeles, California

Daniella Bolzmann (Newport Beach); Casey Boshae, (Sherman Oaks); Frank Gutierrez; Todd Havens; Michael Nielson (Santa Ana); Kamary Phillips; Rachel Reenstra; Carolyn Scott (Glendale)

Mars, Pennsylvania
Dave Nelsen

Franklin, Tennessee
Randy Elrod

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Max Gold

New York, New York

Richard Boehmcke; Melissa Braverman; Amanda Casgar; Alan Chan; Nicholas Pandolfi (Brooklyn); Laura Schooling; Adam Sjoberg; Stefanie Smith (Brooklyn)

Oakland, California
Paul Horne

Paso Robles, California
Sarah Lacamoire

Sacramento, California
Chris Boicelli; Kris Vera-Phillips

Salt Lake City, Utah
Dave Morrissey

San Francisco, California
Craig Given; Tanya Melillo; Stephanie Quan; Derek Rast

San Jose, California
Clay Robeson

Seattle, Washington
Alina Brown (Bellingham); Teri Citterman; Eric Hwang (Edmunds); Annie Lee

Tampa, Florida
Taylor Eason; Jennifer Weber

Vista, California
Anna-Marie Abel

Washington, D.C.
Gabriel Kornblah

Murphy-Goode Winery will announce its Top 10 Finalists on July 7, then bring them to Healdsburg for fun and interviews from July 17-21. The Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent will be announced on July 21 and will begin work on August 15.

Murphy-Goode is a family-owned winery located in the heart of California’s Alexander Valley. The winery motto is: “We take our wines seriously. Ourselves…. not so much.” Visit www.murphygoodewinery.com.

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With unemployment at an all time-high, the BUTTERFINGER FUNternship offers summer job seekers the ultimate relief from the job market heat, especially if the idea of getting suited up (and passed around corporate offices like a ping-pong ball) brings you to tears. If you’ve just learned that your summer job was given to someone else, then apply now to join a dynamic national team of FUNterns who aren’t working for “The Man” but “The Finger.” The new BUTTERFINGER FUNterns will be rewarded for making the most of their summer with friends and fans who love BUTTERFINGER - all while making some extra cash!

“In this economy, it’s time to sweeten the job pool with a social media-centric FUNternship that only BUTTERFINGER could create,” said FUNternship recruiter Tricia Bowles, spokesperson for Nestle Confections & Snacks. “The brand’s success with its BUTTERFINGER Comedy Network on Yahoo! demonstrates the power of humorous online content in reaching our biggest fans. A marketing FUNternship that’s also virtual and viral is a natural way to engage and excite BUTTERFINGER enthusiasts.”

Who is the Perfect BUTTERFINGER FUNtern?

Do you feel equally at home on Facebook as you do out on the town? Do you tweet as much as you talk? Do you shoot mini-videos as fast as you can post your pics? Has the line between your offline and online life started to blur to the point that you’re in two dimensions at once? Most of all, do you love BUTTERFINGER? If so, you may be the perfect candidate for the BUTTERFINGER FUNternship that lets you earn bucks for your bytes.

With flexible hours (only about 15 per week - allowing you to sleep in, play, or even hold another job) and creative freedom (show us something cool we haven’t already seen), the BUTTERFINGER FUNternship is the ultimate paid gig for a girl or guy on the go and in the social media know. Six weeks of summer fun, one thousand bucks, special perks, and a year’s supply of the crispety, crunchety, peanut-buttery candy bars known as BUTTERFINGER, will fuel these four FUNterns as they help the BUTTERFINGER Marketing Team.

Interested BUTTERFINGER FUNtern candidates must be at least 18 years of age, and a legal U.S. citizen who resides in one of four metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles or New York City. Those wishing to be considered may apply online at Yahoo! Hot Jobs. Additionally, an in-person screening of the first 500 applicants will take place on Thursday, June 25, at the Nestle USA headquarters in Glendale, Calif.

All candidates will be asked to submit a traditional resume complete with technical/social media capabilities and social media addresses, in addition to writing a cover letter in the form of a 100-word “tweet-peek,” describing why they are the ultimate fan of BUTTERFINGER and the perfect FUNtern for consideration. Complete details and requirements for the four BUTTERFINGER FUNternship positions can be found at Facebook.com/Butterfinger. For those wishing to apply in person on Thursday, June 25, at the Nestle USA headquarters in Glendale, Calif., those details (including time, parking information) also can be found at Facebook.com/Butterfinger. Wearing Butterfinger orange is a bonus (but not mandatory) - for those wishing to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate their enthusiasm for Butterfinger!

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Here’s the details from their press release:
When: Nationwide’s live behind–the-scenes coverage will begin Tuesday morning, June 16 and stretch through post-event celebrations.
The 2009 CMT Music Awards will air on CMT on Tuesday, June 16 at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Who: The top stars in country music.
Where: Visit nationwide.com/cmtawards to begin following the action from your home computer or mobile device.
Why: Nationwide is a proud sponsor of the CMT Music Awards. Tune into the show to see which up-and-coming artist will win a special Nationwide On Your Side® Award, based on fan voting at CMT.com. Nominated artists will perform on the Nationwide Insurance Performance Stage during the awards.

For more information about the CMT Music Awards, visit the show’s official web site: http://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/

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Source.

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Embracing the social media sphere Granada America launched a blogger contest today to help generate buzz and excitement about “I’m a Celebrity.. Get Me Out of Here” which premiers June 1st, 2009.

Running until June 11th, the competition will consist of three separate challenges for participating bloggers, each consisting of a research or experience assignment that they’ll have to blog (300-500 words) or a video blog (2-3 minutes) about. Topics may range from the finer points of insect eating to the mating rituals of some of the furry little things the celebs will soon be calling their neighbors. The posts will all go up on imabloggergetmeoutofhere.com, where they will be voted on by America. Half of the competitors will be voted off of the blogosphere island after each round, leaving the final three to compete for the grand prize: a trip to Costa Rica to live blog from the set of the reality show “I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here!” from June 17 - 22nd.

Premiering June 1st, “I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of here” is the ultimate Swiss Family Robinson-style competition. Ten celebrities will be dropped into the heart of the jungle to face fun and comedic challenges designed to test their survival skills. America is the puppet master, controlling their favorites by putting them into challenges and tasks to win food, supplies and luxury items. In each episode, friendships will be tested, patience tried and hilarity will certainly ensue. Viewers will decide which celebrities stay or leave. While all participants will be playing for their favorite charities, the last remaining star will be crowned King or Queen of the Jungle, winning the largest share of the prize for donation.

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One thing I don’t like about Facebook (or any other social network for that matter) is being put on the spot – you get friend requests from people you barely know, friends of friends or family of family. While you don’t want these people to know every detail of your life that’s on the Web, you can’t just brush them aside with a denial because it would cause awkwardness when you meet next. Yes, they are a random part of your life, but that does not mean they have to get in on your inner circle. Perhaps this kind of friendship works for those who have hundreds of friends and are not too picky about who the put on their lists, but for the rest of us, it’s an exercise in patience and persistence.

When you’re forced to accept friend requests to avoid social awkwardness (What if your child’s teacher wants to be on your list?), what you need is a filter that allows you to decide which of your friends get to see all of your profile and which of them get to see just the parts that you want them to see. This way, you can avoid hurting people and ensure that your privacy is maintained.

I can see eyebrows being raised at the mention of the word “privacy” here – if you’re so concerned about keeping what’s yours private, why go online with the information? Well, the answer is quite complicated – you do want to remain an introvert, but you also want to stay connected with your friends. And since all of them are on Facebook, it only makes sense to jump on the bandwagon too.

But that’s how much life has changed – we’re using social networks to keep in touch instead of connecting to people in the flesh, we’re using them to form relationships, break off, and tell the world our status. There’s nothing we can do about it though, and that’s why I’ve decided to join the crowd rather than try to beat it!

This post was contributed by Tiffany Davis, who writes about best online college classes She welcomes your feedback at TiffanyMDavis82 at gmail.com

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If you remember your disaster movie rules you’ll know that the worst thing to do is to inform the public that there’s an oncoming disaster. Why?

We’ll incite mass hysteria.

I’ve always been mildly offended by that idea. After all, I’m a logical, rational, smart human being who should know if a giant asteroid is plummeting to earth or if rapid-moving zombies are infecting everyone in my city.

Then I remember Disneyland. I grew up in the shadow of the great mouse, and visited a lot in my high school years. My friends and I finally came to the conclusion that you can take the smartest people in the world, shove them into Disneyland and they will act like morons for the day.

To prove our point we would stand in a line that obviously went no where (ended in a short wall, one of the areas with grass and a fence, or something) and then wait to see how many people we could get to line up behind us. It never failed, we always got people.

The reason? Groups of people start behaving like irrational sheep. Disaster movie powers that be are correct - mass panic ensues.

Then enter the Twisaster of the year: Pig Flu. I refuse to call it by it’s proper name because of all the buzz around it (I am not adding to the noise). Twitter exploded with the news, conjecture, misinformation and general panic over the flu outbreak. For over two weeks the terms were the top trends on Twitter.  The Hamthrax epidemic seemed to be relentless over traditional and social media. And humanity’s response to it only reinforce my idea that there should be some basic ideas that go through you head when something like this happens:

1. What are the facts? Do a little research and really read articles about the twisaster before working yourself and your Twitter list into a state of panic.
2. Where is the information coming from? Before you retweet, relink or share, make sure to stop and think about if the source of the information is reliable. I usually cross check facts with more than one news organization, just to make sure that it’s true.
3. Is spreading information going to be helpful? When the crisis in Mumbai happened, it quickly became apparent that people twittering and taking photos in the area could severely compromise police activity (along with the journalists also taking live video footage). If a Twisaster strikes keep informed about the best courses of action to get information out without harming real efforts to save lives. Great ways to Twitter during a twisaster is to share links for emergency funds, places people can call for more information, and locations of shelters (if it’s a tornado or natural disaster) or (in the case of PigFlu) questions to ask your doctor.

With the ease and speed of communication becoming faster and faster, it’s important that users and consumers of the information make sure to be smart about it. Otherwise you may be standing in one of my Disneyland lines to nowhere refusing to eat a ham sandwhich.

It’s true, I heard it from a guy somewhere who retweeted it from a kid in Ijiministan.

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In comes Staples with their Career Stimulus Program to help job applicants find their dream gig. You have to write the resume of course, but if you visit participating Staples location you can get 20 resumes printed for free from now till June 13, 2009.

Also, you can get 40 free business cards to hand out and hopefully snag someone interested in hiring you for your next career.

News is going out via blogs, Twitter and Facebook - making this a successful strategy. Why? Because 1) people love free stuff. Staples is a store related to careers. Without people working the store will suffer and 2) it’s something that people feel good about sharing on their social media platform., which makes it easy for the buzz to spread about Staples.

Win win all around.

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