Weekly Round-Up: Social Media Success, SOPA and Tech predictions of 2012

Loving this Movies from an Alternative Universe poster series

Thanks to everyone who has given us feedback on the blog over the past couple of weeks - if you've got any suggestions for features that would be useful to you, please do let us know.This week we've been enjoying a cold and sunny Bristol (blue monday? Not here), with plenty of meetings and a Bristol Business Networking lunch. We've also been working on promotion for clients, including Prom Dress and occasion wear specialist, Drop Dead Gorgeous  and Bristol Bed and Breakfast provider, Downlands House.



Businesses using social media:

Do you have a strategy for your Business Facebook presence? This article on growing Facebook Fans is worth reading to consider the various ways you could be making more of an impact.

Social Media Examiner is always worth a look in our book, and this week they featured 2 very useful articles: 5 tips for making your brand more social and 3 successful Google+ pages and why they work (if you saw our round-up last week with features on changes  to Google search, this is a very useful follow up).

SOPA

There has been lots of buzz on the web this week about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), with various sites (including Wikipedia and Reddit shutting down on Wednesday in protest). Although this is a US Act, it does have consequences for anyone using the internet, as many big websites will be affected by it (Google, Facebook, You Tube etc) are US-based. If you're not entirely sure what the bill's impact could be, we've collected a few different items focusing on SOPA

• Videos from The Guardian and Fight for the Future (via Swiss Miss)
• Why I want to Bring Down the Internet for a Day - A report from The Independent on the blackouts on Wednesday
• Why SOPA is dangerous via Mashable, who also featured a collection of SOPA memes and a gallery of what the internet would look like after SOPA.

Tech & Design

What will 2012 bring us in mobile marketing tech? Here are some interesting predictions.

Good news for investors in Apps: Tablets are taking over the computer marketplace.

Google search used for art: an amazing algorithmic video created using Google Image search

Bristol

We're loving this video created by Visit Bristol - celebrating everything good about the city we live in!

Now it's your turn!

If you've featured any useful tips, advice or interesting posts on your blog this week, concerning social media, technology or design, please add a link to it in the comments below!