Love in the time of social media
Facebook and Twitter are changing the ways in which we fall in love and handle our relationships, and that provides opportunities for marketers, networks and others, Rick Moss writes. Brands are finding ways to use customer data and in marketing campaigns, and that same sort of data could be used to study and profit from users' love lives, Moss writes. USA Today (2/13)
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Network Update

Facebook delays its Preferred Marketing Developer process
Facebook is temporarily suspending its Preferred Marketing Developer applications process while it works out rules that may involve referrals and a "badge" rating system that emphasizes "expertise in paid as well as earned and owned media strategies," Mark Walsh writes. In an e-mail to developers, Facebook wrote, "Please note that if you do not buy ads or sponsored stories on behalf of your clients, you will need to show us that you have the ability to pitch a Facebook holistic strategy and influence your clients on media spend." MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (2/14), Business Insider (2/12)
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Twitter touts API with new metadata
Twitter says its application programming interface will add metadata for language translation and a streaming-only API mechanism for determining what tweets should be considered "high value," Matthew Panzarino writes. "It's unclear whether Twitter's own apps will begin using the filter metadata to only display tweets of a higher 'filter level', but it seems tailor-made for the Discover tab at least," he writes. Separately, Crashlytics says it's offering enterprise-level features for free to all users following its acquisition by Twitter. TheNextWeb.com (2/14), TheNextWeb.com (2/13)
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Ideas in Action

Dunkin' Donuts "hearts" Valentine's Day with social contest
Dunkin' Donuts is increasing social media efforts surrounding Valentine's Day, after 2011's celebration made the rollout of the heart-shaped doughnut the company's biggest product launch ever. A Twitter-based contest asks fans to tweet about their sweethearts to win JetBlue travel vouchers or other prizes. The brand is encouraging romantic picture postings via Pinterest and Instagram, using the hashtag #DDLove, and encouraging e-gift-card giving via its mobile application. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (2/13)
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Poland Spring is slow to go social despite State of the Union buzz
After Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took an awkwardly timed chug from a bottle of Poland Spring water while delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union address, watchers took to Twitter to crack jokes. Poland Spring, however, waited until the following morning to make a Facebook post acknowledging the episode. "[T]here is growing expectation that if a product is involved in a moment in the public eye, it ought to react immediately in social media," Stuart Elliott writes. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Media Decoder blog (2/13)
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Research and Reports

Brands plan to invest more in real-time data, study finds
More than 60% of brands say they plan to either increase their use of real-time data or to start using real-time analytics during the coming year, according to an Infogroup Targeting Solutions study. Real-time data is particularly valuable for social media campaigns, experts say. "The brands that listen in real time and take advantage of that information ... are the brands that are being successful in social," Salesforce.com's Gordon Evans says. eMarketer (2/13)
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The Takeaway

Why Kaiser Permanente started video blogging
Kaiser Permanente's video-blogging efforts helped the company tell a variety of stories, some of which wouldn't have fit into a traditional advertising format, Andy Sernovitz writes. The company posts customer testimonials and staff profiles to help customers get a feel for the brand, and it shows the videos in its waiting rooms and conference rooms to increase exposure. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (2/14)
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Social Shareable

Want a virtual girlfriend? That'll be $5
Some Facebook users are paying attractive people a few dollars to pose as their virtual paramours. The service is limited to a change in relationship status and comments intended to impress, annoy or confuse users' real friends. "It's mostly guys trying to make someone else jealous ... or to make their profile look like they've got girls all over them," says one girlfriend-for-hire identified only as Sophia. BBC (2/13)
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Editor's Note

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SmartQuote

A wide range of emotion courses through [Facebook], but lust, envy and rancor seem to prevail. Where's the love?" -- Rick Moss, writing in USA Today Share: