The Top Blogs Of The Internet: 7/23 Mashable!

Not Every Big Brand Got Their Custom Facebook URL
July 22, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Earlier this evening, I caught wind of a promotion Baja Fresh was running via their Facebook Page: a free burrito with the purchase of a soft drink. Since there's a restaurant close to my house, I decided to jump to what I assumed would be Baja Fresh's Facebook Page (facebook.com/bajafresh) and print out the coupon.

Much to my surprise, that URL does not belong to the Mexican casual dining chain, but to one Helen Scott of Miami, Florida. Figuring out the actual URL of Baja Fresh's page was as simple as a Google search, but it did lead me to question how exactly Facebook plans to handle the situation, and similar ones that are likely to emerge in the wake of Facebook rolling out custom URLs to everyone – both Pages and Brands – over the past month or so.

A Facebook spokesperson got back to me, informing me that they "can strip the name from a user if the trademarked entity is requesting it. We would then reassign it to the rightful entity." In other words, even if a trademarked brand failed to pre-register their name prior to the custom URL rollout, they'll still be able to get their name from a user that has beaten them to it, provided they have the proper credentials. This is certainly the right policy for Facebook to be following, though it will surely upset those that were able to secure clever albeit trademarked usernames.

In any event, Helen Scott, your memorable Facebook URL may be living on borrowed time. All Facebook needs is "a representative of Baja Fresh to confirm that they would like this done" and you'll be back to your own name, variation of it, or an alias, just like the rest of us.

Reviews: Facebook, Google

Tags: baja fresh, facebook

Are Media and PR Pros Ready to Embrace the Twitter-Sized Press Release?
July 22, 2009 at 9:32 pm

Muck Rack, a site primarily known for aggregating tweets from journalists in real-time, has just pressed go on a new type of press release — the one line Twitter-style release.

Launched in conjunction with their one-line PR partner PepsiCo, Muck Rack's now monetizing by offering a new service for PR pros to publish one line press releases, up to 130 characters long, that can include links to other media and press kits, at a rate of $1 per character with a $50 minimum.

Muck Rack is hoping to capitalize on the short attention span of journalists and the anxious PR people who want to reach them quickly and in short-form. Should you opt to use their service, just type your tweet-like release, hit submit, pay through PayPal, and voilà: your release gets published to Muck Rack's release page and shared via their Twitter account (which currently has just 3,433 followers).

muck rack

So what's the advantage of using Muck Rack over your own Twitter network or standard distribution channels? At the moment, there's absolutely no advantage if you already have a strong following on Twitter, because you can essentially release news the same way without the fee. Case in point, since their launch 12 hours ago, there's only been two original releases shared via Muck Ruck, one courtesy of their launch partner PepsiCo and the other a rather mundane update from HootSuite, a Twitter web service. Neither appear to be creating much buzz so far.

However, if more and more journalists get hip to the service, and better news get released via Muck Rack, then you could have a potential situation where bloggers, journalists, and reporters have their eyes glued to Muck Rack's Twitter stream and news page. Should that be the case, many a PR pro will gladly pay the $1 per character for that type of exposure. It all comes down to audience, attention span, and clout. It's one of those chicken and egg situations.

I'll follow Muck Rack for the immediate future to see if anything newsworthy pops up, but we're curious to know if you're planning to use the service or follow along. Let us know your thoughts on whether or not you think Muck Rack's one line press release offering will be an industry hit or miss.

Reviews: HootSuite, Twitter

Tags: muck rack, press releases, twitter

LeBron James Dunk Video Proves You Can't Hide From Social Media
July 22, 2009 at 8:13 pm

Lebron James Image You might have heard a lot about basketball superstar LeBron James two weeks ago. It wasn't about anything he did, but what Xavier's Jordan Crawford did to LeBron at a Nike tournament: a two-headed slam right over James' head. It's not ideal to have a 20-year old unknown dunking over you when you're trying to build a basketball legacy, but it sounds like a really minor blip in the grand scheme of things.

And it would have likely have remained a blip, if Nike hadn't confiscated all of the video tapes of the dunk captured by writers. Rumors are that LeBron didn't want it to surface, while others say Nike didn't want the dunk to tarnish the image of one of their biggest endorsers. Regardless, the entire thing blew up, but no video of the event ever surfaced.

But this is the social media age. Almost every phone has a video camera. Did they really think they could keep video of the dunk bottled up?

Not one, but two videos have surfaced. One is from TMZ, while the other is in the possession of eBaum Nation. And today, they both were released.

Here's the lesson: trying to hide things in the social media age backfires. With cameras and camera phones everywhere, what you say or do can easily appear on YouTube the next day. When you try to hide things, they blow out of proportion, and in the end, find their way out anyways. Being straightforward and authentic is almost always a better choice.

Here are the dunk videos, if you're curious:

If you ask me, the dunk really doesn't live up to the hype. But whose fault is it that this dunk became such a big deal, anyway? Exactly.

Reviews: YouTube

Tags: basketball, lebron james

LIVE: President Obama's Press Conference on Healthcare Policy
July 22, 2009 at 8:03 pm

Although Susan Boyle's appearance on this evening's America's Got Talent forced him to move up his press conference by an hour, President Obama is currently talking healthcare policy on three of the major broadcast networks (FOX is airing So You Think You Can Dance). However, if you're not in front of a TV, it's also being broadcast live on the Web, as has been the norm with prior Obama primetime press conferences.

Interestingly, YouTube is live streaming this one too – a bit of a rarity for the world's most popular video sharing site. They've been promoting it this afternoon with a thin static banner atop all pages of the site, directing users to The White House's YouTube channel. As you may know, Hulu has aired all of President's primetime press conferences, and is doing so again this evening. The Hulu feeds and the one from WhiteHouse.gov are embedded below (YouTube's not offering an embed) if you'd like to check them out:

Team Obama has been making heavy use of the social web in its push to pass major new healthcare legislation. In addition to a recent live streaming event on Facebook, the administration has been urging people to declare their support for healthcare reform on the My.BarackObama.com website that was so pivotal to Obama's presidential campaign.

Reviews: Hulu, YouTube

Tags: healthcare, hulu, president obama, video, youtube

Calling All Bloggers: Blippr Launches Blipbacks Network!
July 22, 2009 at 7:02 pm

Blippr, Mashable's new community reviews site, is growing up fast: we're seeing 100% month over month growth! Blippr lets people review web apps, movies, books, games and music in 160 characters or less, and you can submit reviews directly from Mashable by hovering over the "smileys" next to company names.

Today the Blippr team is launching an alpha test of the Blipbacks Network, a new service for bloggers. Using the same WordPress plug-in that powers Mashable's smiley icons, bloggers receive links back to their blogs whenever someone submits a review via the popup widget, very similar to the way Twitter apps get credit whenever someone submits a Tweet from them:

And that's not all. In addition to this, Blippr is also adding a section for related news on every app, book, game, movie, and music page that has relevant related posts. So, for example, if you write a blog post about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the headline of that article and a link back to the full article would appear on Blippr. If you blog about web apps, books, games, movies, or music, you stand to benefit.

Here's an example of Twitter news appearing under the Twitter reviews on Blippr:

But wait, there's more! Blippr links to all your recent blog entries from its new partner pages, meaning every blog post you write earns links back from Blippr. You can see Mashable's partner page for example.

Apply to be a Blipbacks Partner Today!

That's all there is to it: you have a new way to gain links and traffic to your blog, and a new way for your readers to engage with your content. The Blipbacks network has opened to a select number of blog partners today, including Are You Screening, BowlingStone, GAMINGtruth and Life Inside The Box.

To have your blog included in the Blipbacks Network, please apply here.

Reviews: Mashable, Twitter, WordPress, blippr

Tags: blipbacks, blippr, blogging, BLOGS, mashable, twitter

Alice in Wonderland Trailer Hits YouTube, Disney Deletes It
July 22, 2009 at 6:40 pm

Alice in Wonderland Tim Burton Logo It's no secret that the web's been buzzing about Tim Burton's theatrical rendition of Alice in Wonderland, coming out in March 2010. With Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, and the unique directing style of Tim Burton, how could there not be throngs of excited moviegoers?

Today though, the buzz has hit fever pitch. Why? Because a copy of the trailer arrived on the web, first posted by IGN. Tim Burton was supposed to show it tomorrow at San Diego's Comic-Con, so speculation is that the trailer leaked early. But, as you know, when a video hits the web, no matter where or when, it's going to find its way onto YouTube. Dozens of people uploaded the Alice trailer from IGN to YouTube. Then Disney made a bonehead move: they forced YouTube to take them all down.

Thousands of links from Twitter and Facebook are pointing towards the YouTube videos. But instead of being greeted by the trailer, you get this lovely message instead:

Yes, instead of leaving the trailers alone, which are essentially extended commercials for the movie, Disney made YouTube take them all down. Make no mistake about it: Disney's actions are an utterly mindboggling mistake. Why would Disney take away a promotional video for its new movie from millions of people? People want to be excited about Alice and instead of embracing that excitement and fueling the fire, Disney cut off the oxygen. This type of behavior can and does affect ticket sales, reviews, and can create unnecessary backlash.

Good thing IGN hasn't taken it down – yet. Here's the new trailer for your viewing pleasure.

EDIT: Looks like IGN pulled the trailer, too. Here's MSN:

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: Alice in Wonderland, disney, youtube

Here's Why Amazon Bought Zappos
July 22, 2009 at 6:14 pm

The deal is done, and we're still digesting the news: Amazon has acquired Zappos for $850 million. The acquisition, confirmed by both sides, places the popular online apparel and footwear company squarely in the control of Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos.

But Amazon's already the master of online product distribution – they take online orders faster, ship goods cheaper, and trounce their competition. What could Zappos bring to the table that Amazon hasn't already figured out? Like you, we wanted to figure out exactly why Amazon put down close to a billion dollars for Zappos (if you're unfamiliar with Zappos, we suggest reading The New Social Engagement: A Visit to Zappos).

While we're still sifting through all of the details, several interesting tidbits have already emerged. So, here are the facts behind the acquisition and why we think both companies decided to tie the knot:

The Terms of the Deal

Here's the summary of the deal: Amazon will purchase all of the outstanding shares, options, and warrants from Zappos for 10 million shares of Amazon's common stock – currently worth about $807 million. In addition, Amazon will also provide $40 million in cash and restricted stock, specifically for the Zappos employees. Zappos will still operate in Las Vegas, NV and the management team will not be replaced.

The announcement from the Zappos side came from Tony Hsieh, the Zappos CEO, in an open letter to employees. The information is generally the same, although it deals more with why Zappos is excited about the deal and whether Zappos employees will still have a job (the answer: "Your job is just as secure as it was a month ago.") Still, Tony confirms that none of the leadership (Tony Hsieh, Alfred Lin, and Fred Mossler) are leaving.

But if you're curious as to how the deal came to be, these three paragraphs from the Zappos letter are most enlightening:

"Several months ago, they reached out to us and said they wanted to join forces with us so that we could accelerate the growth of our business, our brand, and our culture. When they said they wanted us to continue to build the Zappos brand (as opposed to folding us into Amazon), we decided it was worth exploring what a partnership would look like.

We learned that they truly wanted us to continue to build the Zappos brand and continue to build the Zappos culture in our own unique way. I think "unique" was their way of saying "fun and a little weird."

Over the past several months, as we got to know each other better, both sides became more and more excited about the possibilities for leveraging each other's strengths. We realized that we are both very customer-focused companies — we just focus on different ways of making our customers happy."

Despite the holding-hands rhetoric, the basic summary is this: Amazon reached out to them, and eventually the terms of the deal were too good to turn down.

The deal isn't done yet though, and probably won't close until the fall. The other big takeaway from the letter is the emphasis that Zappos is still a separate brand that will retain its own staff and culture.

Why the Deal Took Place

Now that we know how the deal went down, let's talk about why it happened at all. Here's what Amazon says about it:

The acquisition brings together two companies who share a passion for serving customers and whose customers benefit from cultures of innovation and long term thinking.

"Zappos is a customer focused company," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We see great opportunities for both companies to learn from each other and create even better experiences for our customers."

And while Zappos had a lot more to say about the matter, this section of the CEO letter sums up their thoughts:

We are excited about doing this for 3 main reasons:

1) We think that there is a huge opportunity for us to really accelerate the growth of the Zappos brand and culture, and we believe that Amazon is the best partner to help us get there faster.

2) Amazon supports us in continuing to grow our vision as an independent entity, under the Zappos brand and with our unique culture.

3) We want to align ourselves with a shareholder and partner that thinks really long term (like we do at Zappos), as well as do what's in the best interest of our existing shareholders and investors.

This information is good, but it doesn't dig into the meat of why Amazon really put down $850 million for Zappos. To figure out the real reasons, we have to read between the lines, and more importantly, go to another source. The source I'm referring to is a video that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recorded for Zappos employees that we have embedded above. Here are three quotes that struck us while analyzing his presentation:

1. "Zappos has a customer obsession which is so easy for me to admire. It is the starting point for Zappos. It is the place where Zappos begins and ends. And that is a very key factor for me. I get all weak-kneed when I see a customer-obsessed company, and Zappos certainly is that.

Zappos also has a totally unique culture. I've seen a lot of companies, and I have never seen a company with a culture like Zappos'. And I think that kind of unique culture is a very significant asset."

2. "You're in such great hands with Fred, Alfred, and Tony. That's a really big deal. I've seen a lot of leaders of companies too, and I haven't seen peopel better than those three."

3. "There's a lot of growth ahead of Zappos."

Why did Amazon acquire Zappos? We've thought about this, and narrowed it down to four primary reasons:

1. Zappos has a lot of growth potential

2. Zappos has a one-of-a-kind culture that has bred it's success. It's also one that no company, even Amazon, can easily replicate.

3. Zappos is known for its legendary customer service. Amazon thinks this is an asset in the future.

4. Amazon is buying Zappos for its people – its leadership and its employees.

It's going to be an interesting next few months. While Zappos will remain independent, it's a guarantee that Amazon will find ways to integrate the Zappos product, brand, and culture into their business. There are still many questions that require answers, but for today, both sides are celebrating.

Tags: amazon, Zappos

5 TED Talks on Science That Will Blow Your Mind
July 22, 2009 at 5:44 pm

science image Andrew Maynard is a scientist and emerging technology adviser. He blogs at 2020 Science and tweets as @2020science.

Some of the most entertaining, informative and mind-blowing science videos on the web come from TED – the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference. Challenged to give the "talk of their lives," the world's top scientists and science communicators have been dazzling audiences – many of whom are thought leaders, trend-setters and entertainers – for years now. Most of the best talks are now freely available on the internet, but sifting through hundreds of video clips to find the real gems can be hard going.

To make things easier, here are five of my favorite TED Talks on science. The selection rules were simple:

- Was I engaged within the first few seconds?
- Was I entertained, inspired and challenged?
- Would my kids understand the talk? and
- Together, do they tell a story?

1. Crochet coral and complex math

What on earth do coral, complex mathematics and the craft of crochet have in common? Plenty, according to science writer Margaret Wertheim, who shows how crocheting a "coral reef" can help make sense of some really tricky math, while drawing attention to distressed coral reefs around the world. Stunningly inventive.

2. Beyond Evolution – Engineering Biology

Four billion years of evolution have led to organisms that can reproduce, survive the harshest environments, and convert simple chemicals into complex ones. Tapping into this "natural technology" is an engineer's dream – but is it possible? Genomics pioneer and science maverick Craig Venter says it is. Venter envisions a future where we program biology the way we program computers now.

3. Life On Mars?

Is there life on other planets? If there is, how would we find it? Controversial, eloquent, thoroughly engaging, Penelope Boston talks about the possibility of finding life on Mars and elsewhere in the Solar System.

4. Recreating the Universe's Beginnings

Why are scientists so excited about smashing subatomic particles together at near-light velocities? Physicist and ex rock-star Brian Cox explains why the Large Hadron Collider in Europe – part of the largest physics experiment in history – is far more than an extra in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. Okay so I'm a fellow physicist, but I still found Brian's talk stunning.

5. Is this our last century?

Finally, the big picture. Sir Martin Reese – Astronomer Royal, President of the Royal Society and author of the book Our Final Hour – presents an expansive perspective on humanity's place in the universe, and asks what our future might hold.

These five TED talks on science tell a story about the complexity of the universe and our place in it. And they do it with panache – no boring science lectures here! What's more, there's plenty more where they came from. If you have other favorite TED science talks, please feel free to share them in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, enot-poloskon

Reviews: iStockphoto

Tags: Lists, Science, TED, TED Talks, video

Facebook Gets TwitPic-Like Photo and Video Upload Features
July 22, 2009 at 5:11 pm

If you have iPhone or BlackBerry, you're used to being able to get photos and videos from your phone to Facebook fairly easily through the applications the social network has launched for each mobile platform that integrate nicely with your device's camera.

But now, Facebook is launching a more universal way for you to get your multimedia onto the site: email. Much like TwitPic and other mobile uploading applications for Twitter, the new Facebook mobile feature assigns you a personal email address (you can find yours here) that you can email your photos to. Doing so automatically posts them to your account, using your subject line as the caption.

Other details of the feature, as explained by Facebook on their blog:

"If you're uploading more than one photo or video in the email, the captions will be the same for all of them. You can always edit the captions later by logging into your Facebook account.

You can send as many photos or videos as you want in a single email, within the file size limits of your email provider. After you send an email, the time it takes for an upload to be completed will vary depending on how long it takes for your email to reach us."

In all, a simple but smart move by Facebook, who can now offer multimedia uploading to any of its 250+ million members with email-enabled devices, not just those with high-end PDAs.

Reviews: Facebook, Twitpic, Twitter

Tags: facebook, Mobile 2.0, photo sharing, video sharing

BREAKING: Amazon Acquires Zappos for $850 Million
July 22, 2009 at 4:39 pm

This one's a complete shocker. Amazon has acquired the ecommerce footwear company Zappos – confirmed in an open letter from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

The deal is for $807 million in Amazon stock, plus about $40 million in cash and restricted stock. Here's the gist from the Zappos CEO letter:

This morning, our board approved and we signed what's known as a "definitive agreement", in which all of the existing shareholders and investors of Zappos (there are over 100) will be exchanging their Zappos stock for Amazon stock. Once the exchange is done, Amazon will become the only shareholder of Zappos stock.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos added in a statement that "Zappos is a customer focused company. We see great opportunities for both companies to learn from each other and create even better experiences for our customers." He also created a video discussing the deal that we've included below:

Tags: amazon, Zappos

HOW TO: Create YouTube Videos in 3D
July 22, 2009 at 4:18 pm

YouTube Logo By now, you may have heard the rumors about YouTube in 3D. Yes, they're true: you can watch some videos (like the one below) in three dimensions. And while it's nifty that YouTube has enabled a feature that's recently received a boost from high-profile movies like Pixar's Up and Monsters vs. Aliens, it's essentially useless if nobody actually makes content with the third dimension.

That's why YouTube's making a push for you to create 3D videos. In a blog post, the Google-owned video site highlights the steps necessary to shoot and upload your own 3D video. And because it's YouTube, you know that there's going to be a video tutorial involved.

YouTube's instructions are actually quite simple, although they stress patience if you're going to embark on this experimental adventure. Their instructions are as follows:

- Use two cameras arranged like a pair of eyes.

- Start both cameras recording simultaneously.

- In your video editing program, place the footage for the left and right eyes together in the frame side by side, with the right eye on the left and the left eye on the right.

- Upload your video! Edit your videos tags and add yt3d:enable=true. If video is widescreen, add yt3d:aspect=16:9 too.

While creating a 3D video seems doable, the 3D experiment still has kinks and bugs. The big one: you can't embed 3D videos yet. At least, not correctly. Watch the video below, then compare it to the video on YouTube.com and you'll see the difference.

We're sure they'll find a way to support embedding. I still need to get some 3D glasses, though.

Reviews: Google, YouTube

Tags: 3D, youtube

Letterman on Twitter: "A Waste of Time" [Video]
July 22, 2009 at 3:50 pm

Late night talk shows and Twitter just seem to go well together. Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) has leveraged it to engage with fans and Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien has his entertaining Twitter Tracker segment. But if there's one late night host that hasn't gotten the Twitter craze at all, it's David Letterman.

David actually admitted exactly that when he called Twitter "stupid crap" back on April 24th. But it's been three months, so maybe Dave has started to figure out the raw power of social media? Fat chance, if his interview with Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) is any indication.

Rather than explain exactly what was said in the 4 minute video conversation between Dave and Kevin, we're just going to highlight some of our favorite quotes. They pretty much tell the entire story:

Kevin: Are you on Twitter?
Dave: No, no I don't know. I can't afford it. I don't know anything about the Twitter!
—
Kevin: Now right now Dave what would you like to say to 800,000 people, because you never get that many watching late night. (zing!)
—
Dave: Now you have to do that with your thumbs?
Kevin: You are not only the cheapest man in showbusiness, but you're the laziest man in showbusiness
Dave: But now when I learned to type, it was all ten – all ten digits you would type with. And that's how I type and so I'm gonna Twitter.
—
Dave: You what it reminds me of? I'm thinking of … Oh yeah, a waste of time.

While Dave may not get it yet, Twitter thinks he will. Here's the company's entertaining response:

"Once Dave got past the concept of typing with his thumbs he was able to characterize Twitter as "a waste of time." That's generally how Twitter was characterized in 2007 so Dave's only two years behind—we'll give him a little more time to catch up."

We just hope Dave doesn't have Ashton on his show. It would be a very awkward affair.

Reviews: Twitter

Tags: Dave Letterman, late night, twitter

Google Maps Gets Wise to How We Actually Travel
July 22, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Let's face it, Google Maps is a lifesaver, but it certainly isn't perfect. In fact, we've always found it challenging to not only get directions to our destinations, but to simultaneously search for additional destinations on our drives. It can get especially frustrating if we're trying to plan ahead and find food, coffee, or gas along our route.

Thankfully, today Google released a new Maps feature that lets you keep on searching, all the while saving your directions. It's pretty inconspicuous and easy to miss, but the new feature will make it easy for you to get the directions you need and find the businesses and points of interest you want along your route.

google maps

The continuous search feature works like it sounds. All you need to do is search for directions as you normally would. Then search for anything you want to find along the way, and rinse and repeat. Once you complete the second search, you'll notice that in the bottom left hand corner of the sidebar there's a new blue box. You can click to expand to get a color-coded key for each search included in your Google Map.

It's not huge news, but the update is bound to save you some time and frustration, and we're big fans of things that save us time. Try it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

Reviews: Google, Google Maps

Tags: Google, Google Maps, Search

Want to Delete Your Facebook Account? Be Prepared For a Guilt Trip
July 22, 2009 at 1:12 pm

Now that Facebook has 250 million members, with 50 million of them registering for the social site in past 90 days, we have to wonder what their secret is to retaining members.

Do people stay on Facebook so they can continue to share photos and updates with their friends, connect with their favorite brands, or get clued in to the latest events? Maybe, but we might have found the real secret to why you keep your Facebook — because Facebook guilts you into staying.

A tipster emailed us to let us know that clicking on the Facebook deactivate account link, takes you to a page where Facebook prominently displays photos of five of your friends, and pulls at your heart strings with the message, "Are you sure you want to deactivate your account, [friend name] will miss you."

What a way to play to our emotions! Pretty convincing, right? Of course, we're only kidding about this being the reason why people stay active on Facebook, but you have to admit that this is a brilliant way to visually influence you and prevent you from saying goodbye to Facebook. So, click the link and let us know who would be sad to see you go. Would their photos prevent you from deactivating your account? Tell us in the comments.

[ Thanks to Dustin Coates for the tip ]

Reviews: Facebook

Tags: facebook

20 Film and Television Directors to Follow on Twitter
July 22, 2009 at 12:05 pm

This series is supported by CinemaTweets presented by Funny People. Tweet your movie chatter at CinemaTweets.com.

director image We know that actors and athletes have taken to Twitter to raise their social media profile, connect with fans, and promote their various projects. Another trend we're noticing is that the creative types behind the big name blockbusters, indie flicks, and TV hits, have also begun to find a following on Twitter.

Though their names may be a lot less recognizable, the behind-the-scenes Hollywood workhorses can be the most fun to follow because they can offer unprecedented access to film sets, share movie news, are less afraid to engage directly with fans, and tend to be pretty candid. For this post, we've decided to focus on the directors behind some of our favorite flicks and sitcoms. Each of them tweet in their own style, but the 20 we've hand-selected are not only actively using the medium to share their sometimes NSFW thoughts, but they are hip to the value that tweeting can bring to their personal brands.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and if you're looking to follow more directors you can find them using celebrity directories like Celebrity Tweet and VIP Tweets, or reference this comprehensive list from Slashfilm. Of course, if there's a director or two on your Twitter radar, then we'd love to have you share your favorites in the comments.

@darren_bousman

darren bousman

Name: Darren Lynn Bousman

You may have heard of… a little scary movie called Saw. Bousman directed the second, third, and fourth installments of the disturbing horror series. He's also currently working on Mother's Day, a thriller currently in pre-production, and screening his film Repo! The Genetic Opera at Comic Con in San Diego (which kicks off today).

Follow for: free tickets to the Repo Comic Con screening, honest real-life tweets, and behind-the-scenes takes on the production process. If you're a fan, you'll gladly put up with the occasional promotional tweet to get access to the rest of the good stuff.

@splinterfilm

Toby Wilkins

Name: Toby Wilkins

You may have heard of… Splinter and The Grudge 3. The visual effects specialist also has many a writer, producer, and editor credit to his name.

Follow for: fan engagement. With a Twitter name like splinterfilm, it's not hard to surmise that the multi-talented Wilkins is interested in promoting Splinter, but he's genuinely using Twitter to connect with the Splinter fan community and update fans on his day to day life. He's also supplementing his Twitter stream with a 140 character plus Tumblelog.

@paulfeig

paul feig

Name: Paul Feig

You may have heard of… The Office and Freaks and Geeks. Feig's another one of those omni-talented Hollywood types who finds a way to make his mark on, or an appearance in, more television shows and films than meets the eye. Credits include directing a few episodes of Weeds and Arrested Development, as well as one episode each of Mad Men and 30 Rock. His face has also graced the big screen in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Knocked Up, and even one of the Naked Gun movies.

Follow for: the RT factor. Feig may not be in the habit of responding to replies, but he's certainly adept at tweeting randomly interesting and entertaining tidbits that are retweetable.

@freddurst

fred durst

Name: Fred Durst

You may have heard of… Limp Bizkit, the late 90s, early 2000s popular rock band. Durst, however, has more recently infiltrated Hollywood and has two director credits under his belt: The Education of Charlie Banks and The Longshots.

Follow for: photos from a rock star's point of view. Durst uses Twitter as his lifestream, so his feed is chock full of personal photos and uncensored thoughts from his everyday life. He also announced his recent nuptials on Twitter.

@seanbecker

Name: Sean Becker

You may have heard of… The Guild. Yep, Becker is the director of the hit web series that's paved the way for amassing respect, accolades, and financial backing for this genre of content creation.

Follow for: his proximity to Felicia Day. That should be reason enough, well that and he seems to be a regular guy with pretty interesting tweets.

@Jon_Favreau

Jon Favreau

Name: Jon Favreau

You may have heard of… Iron Man and Elf. The actor/producer/director/writer has played a role in the making of many a cult classic, including starring as the lovable loser in Swingers, and portraying Monica's uber-rich wanna-be Ultimate Fighting Champion boyfriend on Friends. As an actor, he's always the sidekick, as a director he's the leading man behind the box office darling Iron Man and its upcoming sequel.

Follow for: his normalness. Yes he's a big time celeb and working with some powerhouse names, but his tweets don't reek of continual self-promotion, and you get the sense that this guy would be fun to know in real life.

@DAVID_LYNCH

David Lynch

Name: David Lynch

You may have heard of… Mulholland Dr. The seasoned Hollywood veteran has writer, producer, director, actor, editor, cinematographer, and soundtrack credits that date back to the 1960s. He's been taking to his Twitter account of late to promote Fox Bat Strategy, a musical tribute to Dave Jaurequi that was a decade in the making.

Follow for: shameless self-promotion. When you're David Lynch you can get away with amassing a nice Twitter following and updating them on your recent releases and upcoming appearances.

@adammshankman

Adam Shankman

Name: Adam Shankman

You may have heard of… So You Think You Can Dance. The guest judge for the popular reality dance competition is oh so Broadway and inclined towards the musical. His directorial lineup includes Hairspray, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, A Walk to Remember, and The Wedding Planner. He's also slated to direct Hairspray 2.

Follow for: tweets dripping with personality. Shankman is all-a-Twitter in the best ways. He's a replying, retweeting, and question-asking kind of guy, plus he definitely has a very share-worthy life given that he's working on a few movies and frequently making appearances on So You Think You Can Dance.

@robluketic

robert luketic

Name: Robert Luketic

You may have heard of… Legally Blonde. More recently, Luketic has added 21 and the just released The Ugly Truth to his directorial credits. He's currently working on Five Killers, a movie that's set to star the most followed Twitterer in the Twittersphere, Ashton Kutcher.

Follow for: his replies. He may only follow 19 people, but he certainly has his eye on the Twittersphere, and he's not afraid to acknowledge your existence. That's pretty cool.

@jasonmatzner

jason matzner

Name: Jason Matzner

You may have heard of… Dreamland. The independent movie maker worked with John Corbett and Justin Long, and earned himself a Best Director award at the 2006 Method Fest.

Follow for: his low profile. Matzner is pretty under the radar on Twitter, which means his tweets are totally devoid of pretentious Hollywood nonsense. He seems to be in the habit of sharing his movie watching and dining experiences, and tweeting in the third-person a là Facebook status updates circa 2008.

@ThatKevinSmith

Kevin Smith

Name: Kevin Smith

You may have heard of… Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, and the ever-special duo, Jay and Silent Bob. As a writer, director, producer, and actor, Kevin Smith has certainly made his mark on Hollywood. He's currently directing A Couple of Dicks, which is being filmed on location in New York.

Follow for: constant NSFW updates. Hopefully the titles of his most recent movies — the aforementioned Dick, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno — have clued you into his raunchy sense of humor. Smith isn't one to leave anything to the imagination in his movies or on Twitter.

@JRichardKelly

Richard Kelly

Name: Richard Kelly

You may have heard of… Donnie Darko. Kelly's also directed Southland Tales, and is currently producing Dirty Girl and Rogue's Gallery, which are both in post-production.

Follow for: a balanced mix of self-promotion and stream-of-consciousness updates. Kelly's not big on replies or photo sharing, but he tweets while writing, and you can follow him to get a good sense of what it's like to be a writer/producer/director.

@jonhurwitz

jon hurwitz

Name: Jon Hurwitz

You may have heard of… Harold and Kumar. Hurwitz was very involved in all the Harold and Kumar flicks, and even wrote Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, as well as played an uncredited role. Based on his resume, we can assume that Hurwitz is very familiar with college antics, pot smoking, and female rejection.

Follow for: being under the radar. With just about a thousand followers, Hurwitz tweets like no one is watching, which means you'll get more than you bargained for.

@jasonreitman

Jason Reitman

Name: Jason Reitman

You may have heard of… Juno. Reitman's also directed Thank You for Smoking, and episodes of The Office and Saturday Night Live.

Follow for: keeping up with the pain and the pleasure of trying to complete a movie. Reitman's trying to complete work on his film Up in the Air, currently in post-production, and his tweets are a random mix of life experiences and movie making tidbits.

@davidwain

David Wain

Name: David Wain

You may have heard of… Role Models. Wain's also produced several episodes of Childrens' Hospital, written for MADtv, and made miscellaneous acting appearances in Reno 911!, Along Came Polly, and Entourage. He also stars as himself in Wainy Days, a fictionalized web series about his quest to meet women in New York City.

Follow for: his zany humor. Intermixed with some promotional tweets, Wain actually finds time to crack jokes about himself and his celebrity friends.

@6Mman

andrew stanton

Name: Andrew Stanton

You may have heard of… Finding Nemo. Stanton's also worked on WALL-E, A Bug's Life and is currently in pre-production on John Carter of Mars with Willem Dafoe.

Follow for: the quirky perspective of a filmmaker. Despite the rather ambiguous bio and figurine avatar, Stanton does share tidbits from both his personal and professional lives. He also shares links, replies, and RTs just like the rest of us.

@GhostPanther

adam mckay

Name: Adam McKay

You may have heard of… Saturday Night Live. As a multifaceted Hollywood fixture, McKay's directorial credits also include very hilarious comedies with Will Ferrell in a starring capacity. Think Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers.

Follow for: a mix of comedic relief and candid reflections. McKay's another one of those guys that just seems way too down to earth for what he's accomplished.

@leeunkrich

Lee Unkrich

Name: Lee Unkrick

You may have heard of… Toy Story. Unkrick is a Pixar pro and he's directed Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 2, and is currently working on Toy Story 3. He's also been involved in an editorial capacity on a number of other wildly popular Pixar creations.

Follow for: his engagement with his followers. Unkrick replies, retweets, uses hashtags, and generally stays engaged with his Twitter community. In fact, he's currently requesting photo submissions for a contest around bad Toy Story fan art (#badtoystoryfanart).

@rubenfleischer

ruben fleischer

Name: Ruben Fleischer

You may have heard of… Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Fleischer's directed several episodes of the TV show and is currently working on Zombieland, which is in post-production and stars Bill Murray, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin.

Follow for: his lifestream. Fleischer's not just a Twitterer, in fact he actively posts stuff to his Tumblelog. You can expect interesting photos, behind-the-scenes moments while movie-making, and videos that he finds of interest.

@james_gunn

james gunn

Name: James Gunn

You may have heard of… Slither. The director of the horror flick also has actor, writer and producer chops.

Follow for: his filmmaker flair. Gunn certainly isn't the shy and quiet type, and though he's not afraid of a little attention seeking courtesy of Twitter, he keeps it pretty real and tweets to entertain. On top of his Twitter account, he also maintains a website/blog, so you can follow along in more than 140 character form.

Honorable Mention: @wescraven

Name: Wes Craven

You may have heard of… Scream. On top of directing all three Scream movies, as well as a possibly pending Scream 4, Craven's also directed an eerie bunch of movies and television episodes from the 80s and 90s, including A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Follow for: the fun of tweeting with a legendary scary movie writer/director. Craven's certainly a Hollywood type, and the only downside is that he only takes to Twitter occasionally.

Series supported by CinemaTweets presented by Funny People

This series is supported by CinemaTweets presented by Funny People. Tweet your movie chatter at CinemaTweets.com.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, scpist

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: director, Film, Lists, Movies, television, tv, twitter

Susan Boyle's America's Got Talent Appearance Bumps Obama Press Conference
July 22, 2009 at 12:04 pm

susan boyle america's got talent Earlier this year, Susan Boyle rose to worldwide fame after a surprising performance on Britain's Got Talent became one of the most viewed Internet videos of all-time. Now, the singer is coming stateside to appear on the US version of the show – America's Got Talent – which airs tonight on NBC.

The event is apparently such a big deal in the network's eyes that they initially told The White House that they wouldn't air a press conference that President Obama had scheduled for the same time to talk about the marginally more important issue of healthcare reform. In an apparent bowing to the power of Boyle, the administration decided to move the press conference to 8pm, and now, NBC will carry it. FOX, however, is sticking with So You Think You Can Dance.

Boyle appeared on NBC's Today Show this morning, where the network aired the first part of its interview with the singer:

Behold the power of embeddable videos …

Tags: america's got talent, nbc, obama, susan boyle

The New Breed of Record Labels: Helping Bands Help Themselves
July 22, 2009 at 11:42 am

Recently we wrote about several examples of how music artists can circumvent record labels and traditional music business models and make money themselves through the use of social media.

There are several common counter-arguments. First of all, some musicians simply don't want to waste their time doing all of that. Some are unable to do it. Some simply don't resonate with social media that well.

Well, whenever there's a gap, a new business opportunity arises. Radiohead's manager Brian Message, has a new business venture called Polyphonic, which will invest money in upcoming artists, helping them connect with their audience on the Internet. It makes sense: if you can't/won't do it, you can try and find a manager who can.

Now, why might this work? Because the major record labels a) don't know how to do it, b) are more busy suing end users for pirating a couple of songs than developing new business models and c) are generally more interested in the next disposable one hit wonder than in quality artists who can really connect with their audience.

Here's how it works: Polyphonic will invest in bands, who in turn will operate like startups, dealing mostly with contractors to handle various aspects of a band's work, such as merch, tours, publicity, recording etc. They will share profits from their music and tours, but – and this is the really important part – they get to keep copyrights and master recordings. It's about royalties, of course, but it's also about controlling what happens to your own music, something that has troubled many artists, such as Tori Amos, Trent Reznor or Radiohead, when they dealt with major labels.

Polyphonic has raised $20 million in initial capital and plans to approach private investors again if their business model turns out to be a good one. Hopefully, it and other similar companies will bring a fresh breeze to the stale mess that music industry is today.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, chuntise

Reviews: iStockphoto

Tags: music, record labels, social media

Mashable's Weekly Guide to Jobs in Social Media & Web Development
July 22, 2009 at 11:00 am

If you're seeking a job in social media, we'd like to help out. For starters, Mashable's Job Lists section gathers together all our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage Social Media for Career Success and How to Find a Job on Twitter.

But we'd like to help in a more direct way, too. Mashable's job boards are a place for socially-savvy companies to find people like you. This week and every week, Mashable features its coveted job board listings for a variety of positions in the web, social media space, and beyond. Have a look at what's good and new on our job boards: