Photo by Robert Scoble via Flickr
Best in Social Media This Week:
Google dominates headlines. Whether it’s privacy infringement, self-driven cars, market research, or predicting political campaigns, Google is dominating the zeitgeist at the moment. [um, Google]
Meme Madness has descended upon us all. That’s no error. Basketball fans have been celebrating March Madness in a whole new way: with memes, lots and lots of memes. [Mashable]
Google gives a blind man the keys to test-drive the first ‘self-driven’ car. This is too futuristically awesome to skip over. Google may be getting sued out the wazoo over privacy issues, but that hasn’t stopped the search engine empire from tackling new frontiers—the open road, that is. [CNet]
Facebook seriously invests in Internet search capabilities. It’s been a good week for Google (for the most part). But their good luck streak might soon be up—turns out Facebook’s looking to rival the search engine’s prowess. This public battle will likely mean great innovation for us! [LA Times]
Justice prevails: the Treyvon Martin movement gains serious steam on social media. The harrowing story of Treyvon Martin’s untimely death has illustrated the enormous power of social media to get users to bring serious matters into the public sphere. [Time]
Worst in Social Media This Week:
Google court-ordered to stop auto-completes in Tokyo. An unemployed man cites Google’s auto-complete feature as the reason he hasn’t been able to find work. Tokyo finds merit in his charges. [ABC News]
Banks aren’t really buying this whole ‘social media’ thing. Outdated? Sure. Old-fashioned? Perhaps. But banks just aren’t quick to the uptake when it comes to socializing on the Internet. [The New York Times]
Depressing headline of the week: ‘When Social Media Goes Anti-Social.’ It seems some brands—like Belvedere Vodka and the pretty horrible sexual-innuendo ad they posted on Facebook—miss the mark entirely when it comes to social media ads by alienating their consumers. [The Globe and Mail]
Social media ridicules actress Alicia Silverstone for feeding her baby like a mother bird. In light of a bizarre video showcasing Clueless star Alicia Silverstone’s parenting skills—which included regurgitating her food into her child’s mouth—the social media realm doth protested. [Examiner]