By now you’ve no doubt heard of the recent case of “air rage” involving a JetBlue flight attendant. (Click here for a recap.) It’s become a larger-than-life story that has elevated Steven Slater to a household name and, for many, to the status of working class hero (despite, mind you, actions warranting felony charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment).

So how has JetBlue responded to the unflattering news coverage? Through a single blog post.

There are two things of interest regarding this approach: first, it’s a complete 180 from 2007, when then-CEO David Neeleman spent an entire 24-hour news cycle apologizing profusely to the nation (via Today Show, Late Show, New York Times, etc.) for an operational fiasco that grounded thousands of JetBlue travelers. Second, it appears to have been quite effective. The blog post, equal parts self-deprecation and legalese, has done more than serve as an artful way of saying “no comment.” According to one study, the tone of the online buzz about JetBlue improved significantly on the day the entry was posted compared to the previous day.

This goes against conventional wisdom when it comes to crisis communications – that is, show action and validate concern. JetBlue took no action and didn’t do much to validate concern, other than to thank their 2,300 inflight crew members for, well, not acting like Steven. Certainly, there’s never a cookie cutter approach to crisis communications. In this case, as FastCompany suggests, perhaps the lesson learned is that “sometimes the best response to a PR disaster is a single blog post and a tight-lipped smile.”

Who’s right, Betty White or the newest AARP Social Media Survey for the baby boomer crowd?  On her recent SNL appearance, White satirically exclaimed that social media tools, like Facebook (the site that helped put her on SNL) are a “huge waste of time.”  But, according to a recent AARP study, one in four Americans 50 years and older stay connected using social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.  Additionally, nearly half of older adults, aged 50 to 64, say they are ”Internet savvy.” In fact, AARP’s study prompted the organization to redesign its own website to increase its focus on social networking and refine its look and feel.  

These findings supersede notions that the baby boomers lack the adeptness and know-how to navigate the social media environment. Looks like it’s not just for kids anymore.

While the boomers are increasingly embracing these technologies in their personal lives, the trend hasn’t been as quick to catch on in the workplace.  Many companies are still reluctant—sometimes completely opposed—to using social media, because of misconceptions that these tools waste employee time, can cause brand damage and a loss of brand control and greaten the risk of lawsuits or disclosure of “corporate secrets.” 

While the social media pool is complex, it is clearly here to stay and continues to generate momentum across generations.  These websites and tools are fruitful opportunities for organizations to consume, create, share and influence information on their own terms.  And you don’t have to be a cannonball to make waves—instead, consider baby steps:

Begin by listening at a safe distance, find your audience, develop a clear strategy and then establish your social media footprint. Done right, organizations can deeply influence effective team building, communication and collaboration.

As the prevalence of social media continues to rise, organizations of all types and sizes are recognizing the ways in which social media can help them better understand, respond to and attract the attention of their target audience. So while Ms. White might call on her Ouija board to make connections, the rest of us should consider ways to start or ramp up our own campaigns and leverage the power of social media.

We’ve all seen it before: that tweet your favorite celebrity sends out over Twitter, that status update your former childhood friend announces on Facebook, or that blog post about the latest political scandal made on the Huffington Post. Social media continues to advance in the technological world and has become rooted in many aspects of our everyday lives. Who could have predicted that social media would become such a powerful tool for the business industry?

Social media has now integrated with the business industry and is currently on the rise for its popularity among a wide variety of users. Marketers use it to generate quality leads and ensure future sales and profits for companies. Business-to-business companies, also known as B2B’s, use social media to get ahead in their industry and become leaders within their own realm of the business world. Even human resource employees use it for purposes of social networking to create more job opportunities. Business men and women have finally come to realize that social media has become one of the leading tools in creating a successful public relations campaign with the most wide-ranging audience.

Ford has recently used social media as the driving force for their “Ford Fiesta” campaign, where they gave 100 individuals their newest car model, the Fiesta, encouraging them to blog, tweet, flickr, Youtube about their experiences and travels for six months. Ford has strategically decided to market the Fiesta entirely through social media, something unprecedented in the car industry but one that they executed with much success. They far-exceeded everyone’s expectations when they reached a high of 50,000 potential customers, 97% of which were never Ford car owners.

Due to the increasingly dynamic needs and concerns of businesses, many predict that 2010 will become the year where social media really takes off and becomes a mainstream device for business purposes. Marketers have learned that social media offers a more efficient way for profiling specific information that consumers actually seek. It is also helping marketers maintain and develop potential leads that consumers are interested but not yet prepared to purchase goods and services. Even the current participants of the entering workforce have taken hold of social media as a means for marketing themselves and attaining business connections. Social media has become a mechanism through which employees can easily encounter more resources of better quality and can improve their ability to share knowledge and information between users.

All in all, the theme here seems to be clear- social media has attained great recognition as a fundamental business device within our society and its influence continues to grow and advance. It is estimated that by 2014 all B2B firms will spend $54 million alone for social media efforts, a whopping $43 million dollar increase since 2009. It appears that as more and more people come to realize the true capabilities of social media and how they or their firm can benefit from these capabilities to become leaders within their an industry, its progression will only continue forward. So tweet away my friends… go ahead post a blog, because social media might just be the key to a prosperous future for our businesses of today.

With over 400 million users, Facebook is the world’s most trafficked social networking site. But recently it’s also become the most controversial. Why? One word, privacy.

The criticism has been rampant around the control, or lack thereof, of user privacy the website has implemented. The privacy controls are not user-friendly or clear for that matter. They have left many unsure of what the public can and cannot see on their pages. With the continuous success of the website, one would think Facebook would adapt more willingly to the wants and needs of their members. Lately, we have seen the opposite.

With the concerns over Facebook privacy festering, on May 25, 2010 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally broke his silence on the issue. In a statement, Zuckerberg acknowledged the problems Facebook is currently having with privacy control, and admitted there were errors that needed to be fixed. He described the need for Facebook privacy settings to be easier to control for users- so they know who can and can’t see their private information. Zuckerberg concluded his statement alluding to the fact that changes will be made in the coming weeks that will better suit what users want to see.

This situation has left Facebook fighting for the credibility and loyalty they have achieved with their faithful following of users. This issue could have big implications. It’s already making some users question their relationship with the site. It’s a huge PR problem that playing out in traditional media and all over the web for the social media giant. It’s ironic that the very medium that made Facebook so powerful could now be its downfall.

We’ll have to follow this online battle closely to see if Facebook can revamp its privacy policy, win back the hearts and minds of its users and ultimately…save face.

How much thought do you put into your tweets? On April 14, the  Library of Congress announced (through its Facebook and Twitter pages) that it will archive all publicly available tweets that have been posted to Twitter since the medium’s inception in 2006. Twitter agreed to donate its archive of public tweets to the library.

This new partnership between Twitter and the Library of Congress is not designed to invade our privacy, but instead to document the way we communicate.

According to the New York Times, “the Library of Congress wants to store tweets to give researchers a better way to revisit discussions of significant events, including the tweets that occurred after President Obama’s election in 2008, during the protests in Iran last year and the earthquakes in Haiti and elsewhere this year.”

The Library’s interest in Tweets highlights the importance of Twitter as a communication tool. The medium is a great way to gauge what is happening in the world, from pop culture to sports to current events. Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) travels through twitter much in the same way that word spreads through a crowd or a high school. Simply glancing at the “trending topics” on Twitter can give you a good sense of the buzz of the day.

Businesses and politicians alike have already jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, realizing the potential it has to reach as mass audience in a short period of time and to capture public opinion. It makes sense that that government would want to keep a public record of reactions to events and issues that help shape our lives.

The Library will have access to tweets beginning six months after they are posted, and will update its database continuously.

So think twice before you tweet—not only because other people will be able to read your status update for years to come, but also because it is making history.