Social Media

NEW YORK — Jada Pinkett Smith may have started as an actress, but these days her list of jobs includes author, singer-songwriter, philanthropist, successful businesswoman — and, of course, wife and mother. With husband Will Smith, she started Overbrook Entertainment, which has produced many of Smith's films, as well as the upcoming remake of "Annie. " But Pinkett Smith's more recent focus has been the documentary "Free Angela Davis and Other Political Prisoners," which marks the 40th...

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government announced Wednesday it has fired an official whose daughter sent inspectors to shut down a restaurant that didn't give her the table she wanted. It's the latest comeuppance for the wealthy and well-connected who have recently caused anger in Mexico with arrogant behavior in public. Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong called a news conference to say the government fired Humberto Benitez Trevino as head of the country's consumer protection...

You've obviously heard about it by now — the social media site that's taking the Internet by storm. Now the question is, what do you do about it? Is there a way to use the Pinterest craze to the advantage of your business? First, for those who aren't familiar with it, here are the basics: Pinterest is a digital pinboard that allows you to collect and share pics of cool things you find on the Internet. If we said everyone's using it, we'd be lying. But Pinterest is growing.

MANAMA, Bahrain — A lawyer says Bahraini courts have sentenced six people to a year in prison on charges of making Twitter posts deemed offensive to the Gulf nation's king. The convictions Wednesday are part of wider crackdowns across Gulf Arab states against perceived dissent expressed on social media, including imposing tougher media laws. Lawyer Shahzalan Khamis says the prosecution claimed the six suspects violated laws with posts critical of Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

When a rare earthquake struck Virginia two weeks ago, 40,000 people tweeted about the shaking within a minute. That totalled about 5,500 tweets per second, beating the speed tweets went out the night Osama bin Laden died. A few days later, during MTV's Video Music Awards, Beyoncéthrew back her jacket to reveal a pregnant belly. The future musically blessed child had people typing faster than the earthquake — people started tweeting about 8,868 times a second . It's not just sudden, surprising news that's...

Dear Carolyn: How do I break the news to my friend that I have been seeing her (recent) ex-boyfriend? I'm prepared to lose the friendship, but I want to minimize how hurt she gets, if possible. I guess I'm thinking specifically of altering the timeline, so there's more distance between when they broke up and when we started dating. Anonymous The first three letters of "timeline"? TMI. Oh, close enough. To be clear, you and he have already taken the action that hurts your friend, so...

A black punching bag hovers alongside the desk in Grant Verstandig's office. A pair of worn sneakers rest on the arm of a white, modular sofa. Overhead, a photo of a hulking Muhammad Ali hangs from the wall. If it weren't for the panoramic view of the Georgetown waterfront, this space could be mistaken for a college dorm room. Perhaps that's fitting for the 22-year-old chief executive of Audax Health , a start-up that blends social media with health care. The company has...

For the vast majority of teens, using social-media sites and texting have become a part of daily life — but they still prefer communicating face to face, according to a survey released Tuesday . Overall, the teens who participated in the study painted a positive picture of the influence of social media on their relationships and self-image. More than half of these "digital natives" — the first generation to have grown up with Facebook — said these technologies...

You've read how Facebook and Twitter fueled the Arab Spring uprising . You are watching the videos coming out of Syria on Facebook. But most likely you have not witnessed the power of social media impacting politics in near real time right here at home in America. Sure, activism groups and politicians have tapped social media to raise money. But to date, no flash mob has ever stopped a bill in its tracks or beaten down in less than 48-hours legislation pushed by some of the most well-funded, well-connected lobbies on K...

During this recession it's more important than ever to get whatever you can for free. At Fluidesign , the design and branding agency that I run, we have recently started offering a service called Online Reputation Management. We become your company's eyes and ears online, monitoring all social media channels for chatter - good or bad - about your brand. We then proactively address issues and give you a bird's eye view of customer sentiment. We also create an online presence for you to use when blasting product announcements and press releases.

MEXICO CITY — A driver who tried to escape arrest by claiming political connections was charged with manslaughter Tuesday after the woman she hit with her Porsche last week in Mexico City died of her injuries. Mexico is experiencing a backlash against the common practice of wealthy or well-connected people trying to browbeat police and businesses, after a series of such incidents were pilloried on social networking sites. On Thursday, suspect Dalia Ortega lost control of the Porsche...

NAIROBI, Kenya — Boniface Mwangi's hands trembled as he typed a Twitter post about his intention to heckle Kenya's top union leader at a rally attended by Kenya's new president. To an Associated Press reporter in the crowd with him, he said: "There is fire in my belly, but my feet are trembling. " He knew that for taking on such powerful forces at an event being broadcast live on national radio and TV, he might be beaten and end up in jail. "My feet can shake all...

NEW YORK — Jada Pinkett Smith may have started as an actress, but these days her list of jobs includes author, singer-songwriter, philanthropist, successful businesswoman — and, of course, wife and mother. With husband Will Smith, she started Overbrook Entertainment, which has produced many of Smith's films, as well as the upcoming remake of "Annie. " But Pinkett Smith's more recent focus has been the documentary "Free Angela Davis and Other Political Prisoners,"...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When Lalo Alcaraz learned this week that Disney was seeking to trademark "Dia de los Muertos," the name of the traditional "Day of the Dead" celebrated by millions in Mexico and the U.S., the cartoonist had an idea. The trademark was for an animated movie by Disney and Pixar Animation Studios Inc. that is inspired by the holiday. The Los Angeles-based humorist created a movie poster that quickly went viral of a skeletal Godzilla-sized...

MEXICO CITY — The arrogant among Mexico's well-heeled got a sharp rebuke Thursday, when two women who crashed in a Porsche and injured a pedestrian were hauled off to jail while threatening police and proclaiming their political connections after what authorities said appeared to be an all-night drinking spree. Federal authorities, meanwhile, suspended four officials in the country's consumer protection agency for allegedly punishing a restaurant that had angered...

By its nature, historical preservation is not a popularity contest. Indeed, the industry prides itself on not bending to the latest architectural trends in deciding which buildings deserve protection. But for properties short on funding for repairs or improvements — and in many cases visitors — drumming up a little support can't hurt, which explains why the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Express Foundation are bringing a $1 million "American Idol"-inspired popularity contest...

Does this scenario sound familiar? You think that picture of you taking shots or stumbling into your car after carousing at a nightclub is so cute or funny that you post it on Facebook.  Or what about the profane or racist comments you may be sharing with friends on Twitter? Well, your actions might cost you a job. In addition to requisite background checks, some employers are now checking social media to see what prospective employees have said or done online, according to a trend piece in The New York Times.

1Social media gives power to the people. More than 5 billion people are connected via mobile phones, 2 billion are on the Internet, and Facebook boasts some 750 million users. With such wide reach, it's easy to assume that communications technologies are great equalizers, increasing the political and economic power of the least well-off. Certainly, there are examples of new technologies helping the less fortunate. Kenyan farmers and Indian fishermen have used phone applications to bypass corrupt middlemen and get...

Maybe they just didn't want the rest of us to feel left out, but guests at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night posted pictures online of seemingly everyone they saw and talked to, The Reliable Source reports: Even for those attending the dinner, much of the focus seemed to be on recording the night — photographing the stars, Facebooking the highlights — rather than, you know,  being there . ("If any of you are...