Social Media

It was the stock market event of the year, sure to make millions of dollars for venture capitalists, investment banks and other financiers, and billions for Facebook's founders and earliest backers. It was a cultural benchmark - the day when the phenomenon of "social media," a term many consider synonymous with the company Mark Zuckerberg created, finally cashed in on years of massive and growing buzz. But Thursday's initial public offering for Facebook shares - the most ballyhooed IPO since Google, and successful enough to value Facebook at $104 billion - arrived with some large question marks posted on its wall.

Now that Rick Santorum has suspended his campaign and the race is on between President Obama and Mitt Romney, an unprecedented media war has begun. We've seen big media battles before. But in money, in woman- and man-hours, and in technical and strategic sophistication, this will be the biggest ever. Especially in Pennsylvania and other swing states, you'll see television ads from both camps, and from the semianonymous political action committees that have become the coin of the 2012 realm.

LOCAL TATTOO ARTIST Shane O'Neill is Spike TV's "Ink Master. " O'Neill, 39, won $100,000 and a profile in Inked magazine on the show's finale last night. O'Neill, who operates Infamous Tattoo Co. locations in Willow Grove and in Middletown, Del., told the People's Paper's Lauren McCutcheon that he had a feeling all season that he would win. "I was winning the most challenges. At the very end, I wasn't surprised, but I wasn't expecting it either," O'Neill said.

The black SUV that transported Gov. Christie got a flat tire as he was on his way to catching a train bound for Washington on May 4. Where was Newark Mayor Cory Booker when you needed him? Three weeks earlier, Booker had made headlines for rescuing a woman from a burning building in his hometown. A new Twitter meme sprouted: Booker was so tough he could single-handedly fight fires, intercept North Korean rockets, and end the Greek debt crisis, the joke went. Surely he could fix the governor's flat tire.

Natalie Munroe, the Central Bucks East High School teacher who might lose her job because of her blog posts about her students, is the latest example of a local teacher dealing with the consequences of blogging or social media. She is unlikely to be the last, though, as those in the first generation that grew up using social media are now old enough that some are becoming teachers. Last year, Elizabeth Collins, an English teacher at the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur, a private all-girls school in Villanova, was dismissed after she wrote on her blog about a student's classroom presentation.

Jen Green looks out at the 80-some millennials chatting it up with local designers at the art gallery studio: christensen in Rittenhouse Square. Clad in this spring's must-have brights, the guests look swank. The rhubarb cocktails are flowing. And Green couldn't be more pleased. The April soiree, featuring Germantown-based women's-wear label NIC*FISH and calligrapher/jewelry designer Danny Fox, marks the one-year anniversary of HyLo Boutiques — short for hyper-local — Green's consulting company and design collective that uses a unique-to-our-time business model to promote fashions conceived of and manufactured in Philadelphia.

When Dave Clarke wants to fill a position at AuthenticMatters in Old City, he sifts through the stack of resumes and looks up candidates on Google. He expects a presence online, he says, especially considering the company's work — digital strategy and communications consultancy. "That's your online resume," AuthenticMatters' founder says of tweets, blogs, and status updates. "It's not what you attach to an e-mail. "We're not digging for dirt or hunting for drunken photos or anything," he continues.

Consumers are demanding better service in unprecedented ways. In the last several months, public outrage has helped beat back efforts by Bank of America Corp., Netflix Inc., and Verizon Communications Inc. to raise fees or significantly alter services. The victories come at a time when money is tight all around and consumers are tapping into social media to air their frustrations with like-minded individuals. "In the past, people would be angry, but they'd be all over the country talking to their neighbors," said Kit Yarrow, a professor of consumer psychology at Golden Gate University.

Last week, the principals of Lower Merion's two public high schools explained in a letter to parents that they had learned of a YouTube video showing students engaged in "binge drinking, marijuana use, substance-induced violence and several dangerous situations involving drugs and alcohol in vehicles. " The letter warned of significant consequences for students (e.g., suspension from athletic teams) caught on camera engaging in such activities. The administrators added that this would be the case "even if they haven't had a sip of beer, but are found to have been 'in the room' at a party where alcohol is served.

It was a leaderless movement that waged war via new media. It got big people to back down and mighty corporations to change their ways. Stoked by the blogosphere and social media, the public outcry against talk-show host Rush Limbaugh may have helped spur an exodus of sponsors from his show, both nationally and locally. As of Friday, about 30 sponsors, including AOL, Sears, and Allstate Insurance, said they had pulled out. Locally, Penn Medicine, which had an ad on Limbaugh's show on WPHT (1210 AM)

Women dominate the world, at least on Forbes' latest list of the 100 most powerful celebrities. Teen idol Justin Bieber was the only male to muscle into the top eight, landing at No. 3 behind Jennifer Lopez and Oprah Winfrey, and ahead of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Brittany Spears, newcomer Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry. The list was compiled by crunching rankings not only for income but "media visibility" and "social media power," sizing up a star's reach via everything from TV to Twitter.

NEW YORK — Facebook's stock closed down nearly 11 percent Monday, well below its $38 IPO price, in the social network's second day of trading as a public company. Facebook Inc.'s stock ended at $34.03, down from Friday's closing price of $38.23. The company lost nearly $10 billion of its market value, and is now worth around $96 billion, about $2 billion below Amazon.com Inc. "There must have been some sober second thoughts about this," said Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group who was first to come out with a "Sell" rating on Facebook's stock on Friday.

Why should the drudgery of your day job running New Jersey or its largest city keep you from chasing your dream of being a sketch comedian? That's only one of the questions posed by a recently released video starring Gov. Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Paid for by the state Republican Party, the video was released at a legislative correspondents' banquet last week and successfully promoted through social media. It shows Christie wondering if he could raise his profile (though one wonders how much higher it could get)

MENLO PARK, Calif. - In Silicon Valley, where sudden wealth is hardly something new and CEOs favor hoodies over bespoke blazers, Facebook's IPO on Friday didn't bring everyday life to a halt. Employees weren't popping champagne corks at company headquarters, at least not where anyone outside could see them. And locals had plenty to do -from finding a job to locating the next Facebook. The company's sprawling headquarters along the southern edge of San Francisco Bay was quiet except for security guards walking the parking lots, a dozen TV satellite trucks and an onslaught of reporters who were not allowed inside.

It was the stock market event of the year, sure to make millions of dollars for venture capitalists, investment banks and other financiers, and billions for Facebook's founders and earliest backers. It was a cultural benchmark - the day when the phenomenon of "social media," a term many consider synonymous with the company Mark Zuckerberg created, finally cashed in on years of massive and growing buzz. But Thursday's initial public offering for Facebook shares - the most ballyhooed IPO since Google, and successful enough to value Facebook at $104 billion - arrived with some large question marks posted on its wall.

The black SUV that transported Gov. Christie got a flat tire as he was on his way to catching a train bound for Washington on May 4. Where was Newark Mayor Cory Booker when you needed him? Three weeks earlier, Booker had made headlines for rescuing a woman from a burning building in his hometown. A new Twitter meme sprouted: Booker was so tough he could single-handedly fight fires, intercept North Korean rockets, and end the Greek debt crisis, the joke went. Surely he could fix the governor's flat tire.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — When Facebook goes public — as it's expected to do this week in what is almost certain to be the biggest stock debut for an Internet company — it will be more than a financial milestone. It will also reflect how tightly a company launched eight years ago in a college dorm room has been woven into the fabric of society. In its ability to shape how people around the world communicate, debate, shop, entertain, and inform themselves, Facebook may be the biggest technological advance since broadcast television.

AFTER GOING undrafted, Syracuse safety Phillip Thomas signed with the Eagles. Then people started asking him about signing with the Redskins. Reporters who covered the Eagles were queried by fans who were sure Thomas was signing in Washington. Eagles officials insisted they had signed him. At Eagles rookie camp this weekend, Thomas definitely was on the field, wearing a white No. 45 jersey. It didn't seem likely he also was finding time to participate in Washington workouts.

A JURY has convicted the roommate of slain Middle Tennessee women's basketball player Tina Stewart of second-degree murder. The jury delivered the verdict Monday against 19-year-old Shanterrica Madden after deliberating for about 2 hours. Stewart was fatally stabbed in the chest March 2, 2011, at the off-campus apartment the two shared in Murfreesboro. Madden acknowledged stabbing Stewart but claimed it was self-defense against her larger and more athletic roommate.

Jen Green looks out at the 80-some millennials chatting it up with local designers at the art gallery studio: christensen in Rittenhouse Square. Clad in this spring's must-have brights, the guests look swank. The rhubarb cocktails are flowing. And Green couldn't be more pleased. The April soiree, featuring Germantown-based women's-wear label NIC*FISH and calligrapher/jewelry designer Danny Fox, marks the one-year anniversary of HyLo Boutiques — short for hyper-local — Green's consulting company and design collective that uses a unique-to-our-time business model to promote fashions conceived of and manufactured in Philadelphia.