Marketers may soon need more than a clever tweet to stand out
Quick-thinking Twitter reactions to events, such as Oreo's moves during the Super Bowl's electrical issues, are getting attention as brilliant marketing, but that may change as more marketers take up the practice, experts say. "From now on, brands are going to have to do a lot more to stand out because the pool of real-time participants is going to get crowded," says Shama Kabani of The Marketing Zen Group. Starbucks' use of a snowstorm to run a promotion -- turning Twitter into a call-to-action -- may be the sort of moves marketers have to make to distinguish themselves on social media, writes Christopher Heine. Adweek (2/18)
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Network Update

Site puts a social spin on prayer requests
The website PlusGrace aims to use social-networking techniques to encourage people to pray and to donate to faith-based causes. The platform, described by co-founder Jamie Coughlin as "a Kickstarter for faith," lets users solicit prayers, pledge to pray for others and donate cash to groups or individuals who request prayers. The site takes a commission of as much as 5% on cash donations, but requesting prayers is free. Bloomberg Businessweek (2/18)
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Ideas in Action

Hackers compromise Burger King's Twitter account
Burger King's official Twitter feed was hacked over the weekend. The compromised account sent out unauthorized and off-color tweets for an hour before it was taken down. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (2/18)
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Instagram becomes a tool for soccer teams
Instagram is emerging as a tool for soccer teams such as the Los Angeles Galaxy, Manchester City and FC Barcelona to engage fans, share behind-the-scenes content or re-share their supporters' snapshots, Laurens Bianchi writes. Teams "can take advantage of Instagram by using these photos to tell a story about their brand and connecting fans to the brand through photography," Bianchi writes. ViralBlog (2/15)
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Research and Reports

Study: Information overload hurts social recommendations
Highway planners know that selectively closing roads can improve the flow of traffic, and researchers at the University of Amsterdam say a similar effect plays out on social networks. Consumers are more likely to attend to and act upon social product recommendations when there are fewer products to choose between, the researchers say. MIT Technology Review online/The Physics arXiv Blog (2/19)
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How to measure your campaign's ROI on Twitter and Vine
Twitter has pretty limited analytic capabilities, and no analytics at all for its Vine video-sharing service, writes Anum Hussain. Third-party analytics packages can help plug the gap when used in conjunction with tracking tokens, Hussain writes. HubSpot.com/Inbound Marketing Blog (2/18)
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How to turn a publisher's audience into your loyal fans
The point of integrating social media into offline advertising campaigns is to use your contact with publishers' audiences to build a loyal and dedicated audience of your own, Ciceron CEO Andrew Eklund writes. "It's a math and economic game. You continue to market to targeted offline audiences in order to earn your own audience from them," Eklund writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/19)
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Social Shareable

Norway's version of a hot TV show
Norway public television showed 12 hours of footage of logs burning in a fireplace on Friday, accompanied by voice-overs on wood-chopping and wood-stacking techniques. "People in Norway have a spiritual relationship with fire. Fire is the reason we're here. If there was no firewood, we couldn't live in Norway; we'd freeze," producer Rune Moeklebust says. Reuters (2/15)
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Editor's Note

Interested in writing for SmartBlogs?
Everyone knows that SmartBrief aggregates the best content from around the Web, but did you know we also feature original blog posts, videos and interviews with thought leaders on our own blog network? Check out the SmartBlogs Network for insights from some of the brightest minds in social media marketing, restaurants, finance, executive leadership and education. Interested in contributing to one of the SmartBlogs? Check out our submissions guidelines or e-mail Jesse Stanchak for details.
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SmartQuote

Somebody needs to tell Burgerking that 'whopper123' isn't a secure password." -- @fibblesan, Twitter user, as quoted by Advertising Age Share: