The newest kid on the media block is Medium, somewhere between a social network and a collaborative publishing tool, and given the pedigree of its founders, Twitter co-founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone, it’s well worth attention.

Obvious, Williams and Stone’s post-Twitter startup that was announced at the Aspen Institute festival in July 2011, has already given the world Blogger as well as Twitter, and describes itself as “more of a philosophy than a company or product. We focus our long term view on ideas and technology that can be generally described as 'world positive.' When opportunities resonate with our worldview, we do what makes sense to help them succeed.”

Medium is their “world positive,” lightweight tool for self-expression with text and images. Users — anyone with a Twitter account — can post once or several times a day, and create original collections. Posting is presently open only to those who register.

Medium is a fervent democracy and posts are ranked by ratings rather than chronology. The nascent promise is that everybody should be able to publish without the dual pressures of becoming a full-time blogger and amassing a following.Continue reading...

The latest figures are bullish on social media as a sustainable revenue-producing platform as indicated by Facebook's own performance. Reuters reports revenues reached $1.6bn for the first half of 2011 with net income at $500m, while Goldman Sachs claimed Facebook revenues totaled $1.2bn for the first three quarters of 2010 with net income of $355m.  

The billion-dollar question for brands looking to build their own business model on Facebook: how to attract the right type of Facebook fans? And what are they looking for?

Hitwise estimates that each new Facebook fan generates on average 20 additional visits to a retailer’s website, citing UK retailer John Lewis’ efforts to attract and engage fans on its Facebook page.

One tip for retailers on Facebook: Author Facebook posts on Wednesdays, according to a new report from Buddy Media. If they do, they’ll reap 8% more engagement than from other days, a change from last April when Sunday was the best day.

Short posts apparently perform best, with messages longer than 80 characters (the Twitter effect?) garnering 40% lower engagement, and too many posts also decreasing engagement. Brands posting three or more messages daily had 25% lower like rates and 42% lower comment rates.Continue reading...

Barack Obama participates in first Twitter town hall on Tuesday.

Casey Anthony trial verdict blows up on Twitter, YouTube and the mobile web, garnering reactions from celebrities and presidential candidates.

Google retires Blogger and Picasa brand names in Google+ push.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe admits to alcohol problem.

JPMorgan Chase drops credit card collections in some states.

Justin Bieber fails to sell non-teen magazines.

News International's News of the World tabloid shocks with dead girl's phone hacking, amidst calls by Hugh Grant and others for editor's resignation.

Tiger Woods says he will return to golf in August.Continue reading...

Ann Taylor parent rebrands to Ann Inc.

Google launches NCAA basketball site for March Madness, announces changes to Blogger at SXSW.

Microsoft said to cease Zune production as demand wanes.

Nasdaq bid for NYSE could come this week.

Nelson Mandela charitable arm is launching a clothing line.

US TV networks may punt if NFL football is lost.

Zynga rolls out new virtual currency in lieu of credits.