Twitter is one of the hottest internet tools on the planet. At the current time, however, it is also one of the most scrutinized. Once viewed as a medium that empowers the right of free speech, some are now questioning whether it has sold out to the governmental powers that be. The matter at hand here is the increasingly controversial issue of censorship on Twitter. Infringing on free speech? Twitter recently announced a policy that gives it the power to block certain tweets from users in certain countries. Apparently its new stance stems from wanting to distance itself from nations where free speech…

Should a professional sports team’s code of conduct extend to their players during the off season? While players have been punished for their online antics during their active seasons, what, if any, control should a team have over their athletes when they aren’t playing? The Jets public relations staff will be mulling this one over for a while. Following weeks of rumors and speculation, the signing of Peyton Manning by the Denver Broncos as their starting quarterback on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, sent the already overheating NFL rumor mill skyrocketing to a whole new level. Tim Tebow, the…

If you’re not paying for a service, then you’re the product. That’s been the reality of social media for some time now and it’s coming out now that Twitter has sold access to your information to two research companies who will release it to clients who pay for the ability to mine the data. There are different packages that Twitter has made available. Datasift Inc. has the “big” package with data going back two years, while Gnip Inc. offers data that goes back 30 days. “Harvesting what someone said a year or more ago is game-changing,” said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the Privacy…

Four Twitter accounts critical of French President Nicolas Sarkozy were suspended yesterday, just a week after the many started his own account to help with his re-election efforts. The accounts, satirical in nature based upon their Tweets, were allegedly reported by Sarkozy or someone acting on his authority according to Kaboul.fr who operated @_nicolassarkozy who contacted Twitter about the incident. There’s only two possibilities here. Either Sarkozy or his team contacted Twitter about the accounts and had them removed for impersonation violations, or someone else contacted Twitter…

As much as it deserves a tirade about professional recruiting, brand positioning, and using human relations as a public relations tool, the video that Twitter released recently as a recruitment tool will do one thing very well. It will work. Forget the fact that it was intentionally, professionally done unprofessionally. Forget the cheesy attempts at satirical humor that may or may not elicit a chuckle depending on the disposition of the viewer. Forget the clear buy-in by CEO Dick Costolo. Instead, let’s consider that it will be the second most-watched video Twitter has put out in nearly a year…

Twitter is used by different people for different things. It’s a communication tool for some, a news aggregator for others, and a way to spread a message for individuals and groups around the world. From the perspective of the US government, it can be a beacon of freedom as well as a source of international intelligence, which is why it makes no sense that Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman is leading the charge to have Twitter block propaganda being spread by Islamic extremists. The Senator cites a portion of the Twitter terms of service that states, “You may use the Services…

Twitter’s latest major chunk of backing comes from the Arab world as Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal invested $300 million into the microblogging site according to Bloomberg. Twitter has not made a statement about the investment other than to confirm that it was made. As the social network attempts to improve their revenue stream and appeal to advertisers, the investment means having a little more time to lose money and perfect their business model. Depending on which numbers you believe, the site has between 100 million and 250 million users worldwide. “They are looking to give themselves…

Most would admit that President Obama did a phenomenal job of working social media during his presidential campaign in 2008. Twitter and Facebook were all a good portion of his campaign even back then when social media was still in its infancy. It’s debatable whether it had an effect or not, but things are different for 2012. Social media will have an effect on next year’s election. Bank on it. How do the current GOP candidates stack up against each other on social media? Twitter can be a good indication of effort and focus as well as sentiment when it comes to political social media. Here, we’ll take…

They made the mistake in the beginning by not slapping a Trademark on the word that has become synonymous with the posting on their site. Now, Twitter will finally have the rights to the word, “Tweet”. James Eliason, CEO of Twittad, announced in an interview that he would transfer the registered trademark of “Tweet” over to Twitter in exchange for them dropping the lawsuit they filed against his company in September. “We’ve arrived at a resolution with Twittad that recognizes consistent use of Tweet while supporting the continued success of Twitter ecosystem partners like Twittad,”…

When Justin Bieber stopped trending on Twitter, fans were up in arms. The #occupywallstreet hashtag has never trended and the protesters are starting to take notice, even loosely starting an #occupytwitter hashtag. Much of the claims stem from investment; JP Morgan Chase, one of the targets of the protest, is an investor in Twitter. “The bottom line is that trends on Twitter are NOT the most popular terms,” said Sean Garrett, head of communications at Twitter. “They are the most ‘breaking’ and reward discussions that are new to Twitter. We are not blocking terms related…