Is local TV news exaggerating social media addiction?

It’s been a pretty standard affair for local news, recently.

Find someone “addicted” to social media—someone who is on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter at work, perhaps utilizing it too much, too, by way of mobile phone. Then, seek an expert. Maybe a psychiatrist who’s work lately has perhaps included folks who are addicted to social media, though none claim to have evidence of an increase in these kinds of people and none specifically recognize of any of these types of patients in their clientele.

So far, NBC10 and 6ABC have covered the topic, overindulging in the mostly evidence-less theory to pandaemonium-like proportion.

And somewhere in the middle of it all—and very prominently placed in both news reports—is Nnamdi Osuagwu, local writer and owner of publishing platform Ice Cream Melts who recently penned a fictional book called Facebook Addiction.

Read more

Two City Council members want to sue Twitter, Facebook over flash mob

Councilman Frank DiCicco

Councilmembers Frank DiCicco and James F. Kenney are seeking the possibility of suing social media sites like Twitter or Facebook if they indeed played a role in Tuesday’s Market East flash mob, as CNET reported this week.

The councilmen requested permission from Mayor Michael Nutter to take legal action to force a mechanism to stop events like the flash mob of this week.

On Tuesday, roughly 150 teens may have used text messaging and social media sites to coordinate a chaotic rampage from the Gallery mall throughout Market Street, pushing, kicking and vandalizing their way toward the Macy’s near City Hall and an inevitable snowball fight.

No serious injuries were reported, though 16 arrests were made, according to the Inquirer.

Read more

TNT: PhindMe gets social with Everywhereigo

PhindMe Mobile has been preaching mobile for years, ever since it entered into Drexel’s Lebow College of Business competition.

First, the company focused on text-based marketing before unrolling Everywhereigo, the company’s mobile CMS. Now, PhindMe is looking to become the premier vendor for social media-focused mobile Web sites. A buzzword packed space that CMO Jon Cooper says is currently unoccupied.

“[Social] follows the evolution of mobile from being a simple utility,” Cooper says.

To stake its claim as the go-to social media experts in the mobile sphere, the company has just released Social Media Hub, a series of features for its mobile CMS that allow users to easily incorporate social media content in their mobile Web site. And, if all goes well, the company will be one of the next great mobile platforms for businesses.

“Social media is the fundamental thing we want to be good at,” Cooper says.

Read more

9 local Facebook names we could have registered

So after my wild and crazy Friday night was drawing to a close, a little alarm on my phone reminded me that it was high time for the Facebook username land rush. In case you were unaware, Facebook had previously given all users URLs that were an indecipherable set of numbers.

So, Saturday at 12:01 a.m., the social network finally made “vanity URLs” publicly available so instead of http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=823408803, you could be facebook.com/awesomeTPreader. Below are some local names that could have been yours at around 12:06 a.m.:

1. /thephiladelphiainquirer

Read more

Friday Tech Roundup: The Bulletin trashes Silicon Valley, Wawa on Facebook and More

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun.

Because that’s what we do best.

• The Bulletin, no seriously, the Bulletin reports on why it would make a lot more sense if the hub of the country’s technology community was Philadelphia, not the Silicon Valley.

Read more

How social media took Asher Roth from Philly suburbs to hip hop stardom

It’s going to be that anthem you hear over and over again this summer, and the artist behind it happens to have grown up in Bucks County, a half hour Regional Rail ride into Center City.

Like a growing collection of young artists, Asher Roth, the artist behind “I Love College,” found his path to a major label album by way of MySpace. But it seems likely he’ll see more than Internet fame.

I helped profile Asher Roth on the cover of today’s Philadelphia Weekly, but during our interview last month, we also spoke about the role social media have had on launching his career.

Read more

Philly cultural institutions among their industry’s social media leaders

Fine arts organizations in Philadelphia are quickly enveloping their marketing campaigns around social media, according to a story I wrote for today’s Inquirer.

“When we post an interview or a video, our fans like the inside track, the details,” says Janine Zappone, a marketing director at the Arden Theatre. “I think Facebook and the rest give you that inside track”

The social media story is admittedly beat. Don’t think I don’t know it, but I believe it is something different for Philadelphia’s cultural institutions, like the Kimmel Center, pictured above, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Ballet and others.

It’s different because, really, these organizations in this city are so often seen in so many ways unlike what social media is supposed to be about: crowd sourcing, democratic thought, details and speed before accuracy.

Read more