Journalist has Twitter account suspended (and then reinstated) after insulting the Peacock network

Don't tick off NBC. That's what journalist for The Independent Guy Adams learned over the weekend when he took the network to task for tape delaying the games for prime time.

Said one tweet: "Am I alone in wondering why NBColympics think its [sic] acceptable to pretend this road race is being broadcast live?"

He also went on to mock anchor Matt Lauer as well as tweet the e-mail address of Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics and urged his followers to contact the exec directly.

Soon after, Adams found this message when he logged on to his account: "Your Twitter account has been suspended for posting an individual's private information such as private email address." More details found HERE.

MORE: Olympic Twitter misfires yield lessons on consequences, values

UPDATE: After the maelstrom of controversy that fell upon Twitter and NBC, it looks as though Adams account was unsuspended. Read more HERE.

UPDATE II: Twitter apologizes for Guy Adams controversy. Read more HERE.

What Facebook's New Features Mean for Journalism

What exactly does Facebook's new features mean for Journalism? Adam Ostrow, executive editor and senior vice president of Content at Mashable chats with Vadim Lavrusik, journalist program manager of Facebook at the Mashable Media Summit 2011. (Source: YouTube)

Journalists and Facebook: Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times

How Journalists use Facebook: Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times talks with Facebook's Randi Zuckerberg about his strategy for using the social network for reporting and storytelling.

The journalist also shares some examples of using it for crowdsourcing, such as when he used Facebook to find a story idea while traveling to Haiti. (Source: Facebook)

Watch live streaming video from facebookguests at livestream.com

Journalist Panel: SXSW

Journalists Andy Carvin from NPR, Wall Street Journal's Zach Seward and CNET's Caroline McCarthy discuss how they are using Facebook for news gathering and distribution with Facebook's Malorie Lucich. They also delve into some of the best practices they've learned along the way. (Source: Facebook)

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Fun Stuff: Did Jerry Predict the Need for Facebook?

Tip of the hat here to Blogworld for this one. Could it be that observational comic and sitcom star was on to something in this routine? Could it be the comic predicted Facebook years ahead of it's time?

Journalist Backpedals After Inappropriate Tweet

Lordy... There couldn't be a better working example of a journalist tweeting something more than inappropriate than the above.

Wall Street Journal editorial board member and 'Best of the Web' columnist James Taranto recently tweeted about the three men who were murdered while shielding their girlfriends from the barrage of bullets during "The Dark Knight" movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colo. on July 20.

His tweet: I hope the girls whose boyfriends died to save them were worthy of the sacrifice

When pressed by the Huffington Post, the journo said he wasn't granting interviews and pointed to his column, entitled: 'Heroes of Aurora: A mea culpa for an errant tweet'.

Says the column: "We intended this to be thought-provoking, but to judge by the response, very few people received it that way. The vast majority found it offensive and insulting. This column has often argued that a failure of public communication is the fault of the public communicator, and that's certainly true in this case. What follows is an attempt to answer for this failure with a circumspect accounting of our thoughts. ...

... These three women owe their lives to their men. That debt can never be repaid in kind, because life is for the living and cannot be returned to the dead. The closest they can come to redeeming it is to use the gift of their survival well--to live good, full, happy lives."

When the Huff Post pressed him once again on the column's use of 'we,' Taranto responded,"... the editorial 'we' is a remnant from the very early days when the column was unsigned. I'm sole author of tweets and columns."

2012 London Olympics: Exploding on Social Media

With the advent of tablets and smartphones practically in everyone's pockets, the 2012 Olympics in London will be a game-changer for sports reporting on the worldwide level. George Burns of Hispanic Business theorizes that these games will be "the most tweeted, blogged and reported upon event in history."

Read his fascinating piece about this year's Olympics and how life has drastically changed on the web since the last time we saw these events. Social media and streaming are factoring in tremendously.

Read more HERE.

Should We Be Shocked?

According to digital marketing firm Performics, 40 percent of Americans polled admitted they feel more comfortable interacting online than in person.

The firm polled roughly 2,000 adults who actively visit one social networking site at least once a day.

Which networks were cited? Unsurprisingly, they were Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest.

Read more HERE.

Posting Photos Online: A Blogger's Cautionary Tale

Don't just grab photos from Google Images or other sources:
Choose photos you have the right to use. (Photo credit: Carly Rothman)

Whether you're blogging for The Star-Ledger, on a personal site, or simply sharing images on a social media site like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Tumblr, let Roni Loren's experience be a lesson to you.

Roni did what so many bloggers do: She took photos she found on Google images and used them to illustrate her blog, even crediting the photographer in some cases. She learned the hard way (read: lawsuit) that this is not acceptable. In this detailed blog post, Roni forthrightly shares her experience to help other bloggers learn from her mistakes.

 The bottom line: The ONLY pictures that we as bloggers should be posting are those that we have express permission to use. For Star-Ledger staffers, that means:

 • If you are blogging in a professional capacity, exclusively post photos that you took yourself, images that are in the public domain (more to come in an upcoming post) or that you obtained from our photo department and credited properly.

 • If you're are blogging in a personal capacity, that means photos that you took yourself, photos in the public domain, or for which you received direct permission from the photographer or source -- including The Star-Ledger photo department.

Google Plus Hangouts for Journalists

Love or hate Google Plus, it's a safe bet to admit it's probably not going anywhere. While engagement in their circles may not be as deep as on Facebook or Twitter, but millions have come to love it's ease of use.

And those Google Plus hangouts are pretty cool. Why? Their video chat tool has fueled somewhat of a journalism renaissance by some news organizations. While so far it's mostly television-driven, it's easy to imagine how newspapers can easily hop on board by using the exciting feature.

Sarah Hill (pictured above), a nine-time Emmy award winning reporter and interactive anchor at KOMU-TV 8 in Columbia, MO is leading the charge and has weaved Hangouts into her daily newscast.

Enjoy this video where she explains everything you need to know about the tool.

More Google Plus reading:

• The 10 Commandments of Hangouts

• How Journalists Should Set Up Google+ Profiles

• How News Brands Should Set Up Google+ Pages

• The Basics of Using Google+

Reynolds Journalism Institute Talks Google Plus Hangouts

This presentation to the Reynolds Journalism Institute delves into how television journalists are using Google Plus Hangout On-Air to connect with viewers. They're using it as a free satellite truck and it's redefining traditional TV markets.

* While this is mostly television-centric, there are plenty of nuggets to take from this.

Embrace those Twitter Lurkers

Ted Rubin, a leading social marketing strategist and chief social marketing officer at Collective Bias, urges people to NOT unfollow Tweeps who are inactive -- no matter how long it’s been.

He maintains that "there are many lurkers, searchers and readers who may never tweet, but still have a great deal of value..." Read more of his Mashable op-ed piece HERE.

Scheduling Posts in Facebook

If you manage a Fan Page for your department of the newspaper or are an adminstrator of a page, Facebook recently rolled out a nifty feature that allows you to schedule posts and backdate posts.

The video below, provided by Social Media Minute, explains more:

'Dark Knight' Theater Tragedy Unfolds on Social Media

We've seen in countless situations how social media can be a tool in the field as well as an informative window into tragic events or news.

A prime example of the above is the July 19 shooting when a gunman killed 12 in Colorado theater during a midnight screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises.'

CNN explains how the event unfolded on social media. Click HERE to read.

Social Media Minute: Getting Started on Pinterest

If one thing is certain, Pinterest is a social media force to be reckoned with. But some people may be confused as to the value of pinning 'just a bunch of photos.' The proof is in the pudding: In March 2012, the network snagged 2.3 billion page views (more facts HERE).

Carl Lavin and his stupendous blog, Carl Lavin: The Business of News, posted a wonderful piece detailing seven ways journalists can use Pinterest. Read it HERE.

If you're on board with the fastest-growing social media web site, the video below can help in getting you started.

What NOT to Post in your FB profile

A new web site We Know What You're Doing has collected hordes of status updates that have been posted publicly. Many of them delve into FB users who are hungover and hate their boss.

Site developer Callum Haywood tells CNN: "I created the website to make people aware of the issues that it creates when they post such information on Facebook without any privacy settings enabled. The people featured on the site are most likely not aware that what they post as 'public' can be seen by absolutely anybody, and that Facebook will happily give away this information to other websites via its Graph API."

In short, check your privacy settings and think before you press the 'ol 'POST' button.

Facebook Reminder...

... Despite what a plethora of rogue apps may claim, there is NO WAY to tell who is visiting or has visited your Facebook profile. Read more HERE.