Social media purists have laid down the law and, so, to participate in social media as a business, you must do things like, “participate in the conversation,” “engage your customers,” and “talk with us not to us.” I’ve got news for you. In the world of business, all that talk will get you exactly nowhere. Conversations do not ring the cash register. Engagement does not sell more product. Talking with people just means you have to take time to listen which prevents you from spending valuable time selling more product. (full article…)

Social Media Explorer | Why Social Media Purists Won’t Last (by Jason Falls)

Ok, here’s my list of the top Twitter people/users/tweeple in Charlotte. Or #TopCLTTweeples. Or something. Sorry if I don’t think that other list was good enough or whatever, you just gotta do some research. So if I forgot you, sorry, make your own fuckin list. I like lists, we need more. Alphabetically order to avoid bias. But this list is very biased. I made it. Oh, and maybe you didn’t make the list because I don’t know who the hell you are. Be more interesting. Tweet more. Just be an awesome motherfucker. (full article…)

When members of the Miami Social Media Community heard that we were bring 50 Social Media Leaders from across the U.S. down to Miami to cruise across the Caribbean for 4 days, they contacted me immediately. They wanted to take the opportunity to meet as many of us in person and send us off properly with a big tweetup. As written in the Miami New Times by Maria De Los Angeles, I worked with the Miami Social Media Community and the Greater Miami Conventions and Visitors Bureau to throw the largest tweetup in Miami history! (full article…)

CruiseSource | 2009 Social Fresh Cruise Bon Voyage Party Recap (by @RichTucker)

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina, a decision that could make the federal government vulnerable to billions of dollars in claims. (full article…)

How to tell if someone just got back from #socruise: Look for sunburn only on the back of their neck & their thumbs. j/k!!

Just like any type of new feature their are good ways and bad ways to leverage it. Here are a few do’s and don’ts that I would recommend considering as you connect your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

1. Don’t post all of your Twitter updates to LinkedIn
2. Don’t post only your tweets about products and your own blog posts to your LinkedIn status
3. Do share some personal information on Linkedin to give your connections a better idea of your personality
4. (full article…)

Social Media B2B | Twitter and LinkedIn Status Integration by @KippBodnar32

In a post on its blog, Twitter notes that the “noisiness of the conversation” has led Trends to be less interesting. So beginning today they’re going to be experimenting with ways to surface more relevant tweets in this area. While they don’t come out and say it, the implication here seems pretty clear: They’ll be in some way curating the topics and the tweets. It’s not clear if this will be algorithmic or manual yet.

TechCrunch.com | Twitter Starts Curating Trending Topic Tweets (by MG Siegler)

Because of an appeal during his special comment on health care, Keith Olbermann has helped raise $1.2 million for free health care clinics, resulting in new health fairs in Little Rock, Kansas City and New Orleans.

“I propose tonight one act with two purposes,” Olbermann said then. “I propose we, all of us, embrace the selfless individuals at the National Association of Free Clinics. You know them, they conducted the mass health care free clinic in Houston that served 1,500 people. I want a mass health care free clinic every week in the principle cities of the states of the six senators key to defeating a filibuster against health care reform in the Senate.” (full article…)

Huffington Post | Keith Olbermann Helps Raise $1.2 Million For Free Health Care Clinics (by Danny Shea)