Boston  As events seem to be coming to some kind of tragic conclusion as I write, the roles of social vs traditional news media are once more under scrutiny. Breaking news through Twitter and Facebook is certainly fast but that speed is acquired by sacrificing context and verification say many. io9 outline some of the ways in which the Twitter activity around the Boston Marathon give us hope that ‘our social media networks may be maturing into trusted news sources’.

Silver Surfers (again) ‘My social friends want me to tweeter and to twit’ says one senior in this clip from NBC News on how a demand for social media training is increasing among an older generation of users. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this kind of connectivity will have on feelings of isolation and loneliness often associated with old age.

Design Award for Gov.uk “It looks like one of those placeholder websites they put on expired domains” says one commenter, but the stripped down functionality of the UK’s gove.uk site has earned it Best Design of the Year by the Design Museum. Plenty of info in there about employment but no mention of resignation by cake.

Who let this guy on television? Like the world needs another opinionated talking head…

See you in seven.

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Enda Guinan is a consultant and trainer offering advice on social media strategy and product delivery for individuals and small businesses. Get in touch to see how you can make the best use of your time and energy as you put together your social media plans.