#openheartsurgery #live

Houston’s Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital celebrated Heart Month by being the first institution to ever live-tweet during an open-heart surgery.

The event made an estimated 125 million impressions on Twitter, Storify and media coverage in the weeks following the operation, capitalizing on its social media efforts.

“We’re always becoming more connected as a society,” says Gary Kerr, CEO of the non-profit Memorial Hermann Healthcare System’s Northwest Hospital. “Information can’t be contained anymore, and that’s the most positive thing about the Internet.”

The event combined the digital and medical environment to educate a large audience, whether or not those audience members have every connected with Memorial Hermann before. Users were able to ask questions and get answers during the two and a half hour procedure.

Keep up the good work, Memorial Hermann!

Twitter can bring out the worst in people...

I would like to think that with advances in technology and research, our beliefs would advance as well. A blissful thought, I know, but it’s depressing to see just how wrong I am.

Take for example, the Hunger Games racism squabble. If you haven’t heard, many Hunger Games fans are complaining about the races depicted of two characters, Rue and Cinna, in the recently debuted movie.

Take a look for yourself:

http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made

If you have read The Hunger Games, I hope you catch the irony in this response. Author Suzanne Collins based the conflicts in the trilogy on the evils of human nature in an attempt to warn society of our potential downfall. And here we are proving her right.

As a media guru, I can’t help but comment on the powerful presence social media can have on issues like these. Perceptions on social issues can multiply and be shared in a stunning new way but as we see in this case, it’s not always in the best light.

Feel free to check out the below links for more information on The Hunger Games racism response.

http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made

http://jezebel.com/5896688/i-see-white-people-hunger-games-and-a-brief-history-of-cultural-whitewashing

Financial institutions wary of social media

It’s undeniable that the world has reshaped its culture around social media. We see it everywhere…except in financial institutions.

William Alden of The New York Times’s DealBook reports that Wall Street firms are “tiptoeing into the fast-paced world of social media.” Firms either tightly monitor communications in regards to security regulations or flat out block employees from using social media sits while at work.

In addition, Michael R. Bloomberg, that mayor of New York, says technology can just add pitfalls to financial endeavors.

“Social media is going to make it even more difficult to make long-term investments,” Bloomberg said

My suspicion is that the financial institutions don’t want any chance of data sharing to put their clients’ money and their own money in jeopardy. Well Facebook and Twitter, you win some, you lose some.

Why I oughta... fight Kony on my phone!

Iconosys recently released an Android app called Kick Kony’s Ass, which allows you to punch and generally beat up a picture of Joseph Kony. Kony has kidnapped children in Uganda and required them to become soldiers for the Lord’s Resistance Army, which has resulted in a largely universal hatred towards him.

“This is a therapeutic way to allow you to get out your frustrations,” Wayne Irving, CEO and Founder of Iconosys told Mashable. “I often go and hit the speed bag or the punching bag, and I feel a 100% better afterwards. This is a novel/virtual way to accomplish some of the same therapeutic practices to deal with this fracas.”

 “Simply tapping on the screen in different areas determines whether you get to provide Kony with a Roundhouse, a 1-2, a left, a right, and finally, a big hand to the face. The more you tap the screen, the more punishment you get to give Kony. Finally, you can share your experience with the game on your Facebook page, directly from the embedded game-over screen.”

Iconsys claims that they “[do] not endorse violence in any way.” …but yet they created this app for you to commit virtual violence towards Kony.

My personal opinion is that this is a hypocritical way to combat Kony’s violence. However, it gets the job done of publicizing the social injustices Kony has committed. Originally, I was concerned it would cause users’s violent tendencies to increase but studies show this is really only a concern for young audiences…and you won’t find 8-year-olds playing this app.

What do you think? Is this a good idea or not?

Facebook welcomes Timeline for Brands

Today I saw what is hopefully the last edition of Facebook Timeline editions on my personal profile. But don’t think Facebook is done just yet. Facebook announced this morning that Timeline is now available for Pages.

Now brands can reap the benefits of a more personal experience with Facebook users. Brands can now display cover photos to reflect logos, products, or personalities. The timeline itself can be used to tell the story of the brand identity.

“The goal is to make Pages more engaging and more social,” said Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s product director for ads.

Administrative changes will also be improved. An admin panel is easily accessible off to the side of the page. The panel allows admins to post notifications on your Page and displays performance data. This feature also allows you to directly respond to inquirerer’s messages without having to switch to another page.

These features will do wonders for a PR consultant by providing an organized storyline of the brand. This will allow us to uncover the evolution of the product and the way the brand interacts with consumers. Oh the places we will go!

Do not fear! Google's new privacy policy is here!

Google implemented a new master private policy last week that now replaces more than 70 different documents over all of Google’s products.

The point of this new document is to condense all the legal jargon into one, easy to understand document that outlines the company’s privacy policies.

Sounds sketchy? It’s not.

“We aren’t collecting any new or additional information about users. We won’t be selling your personal data. And we will continue to employ industry-leading security to keep your information safe,” wrote Google’s Director of Privacy, Product and Engineering Alma Whitten in a blog post.

The video below best describes the new privacy policy. Check it out!