Weekly Round-Up: February 17, 2012

Twitter condemns fate of Saudi Blogger
This week, Saudi blogger Hamza Kashgari was deported from Malayasia back to Saudi Arabia - per request of the Arabian government. This controversial blogger received backlash from many social media users - including a Facebook group entitled "Saudi people want punishment for Hamza Kashgari -for negative tweets he posted about the prophet Muhammed. His return may result in abuse and possible death punishment for the young 23-year-old. The uproar caused by these tweets certainly sealed the fate of Hamza; it's crazy to think social media could condemn a person to such a fate.

Does your social media presence determine who you are?
Thanks to reports from ComScore, a Mashables article reported this week that in 2011, 16.6 percent of minutes spent on-line were spent on social media websites. The article also highlighted that while 3 out of 4 internet users have a Facebook; sites like Tumblr, Twitter and Google+ are rapidly expanding in monthly visitors. Another interesting article from this weeks news highlights what it means to have a strong social media presence, and just how important it is for you.

Take a note from these guys
This week Voltier Digtial provided insight into the top 5 companies that use social media in the best possible way. Thanks to a neat infographic, we can see just how they did it. From user friendly sharing, to successful hashtagging, many companies (say, McDonalds?) can take a lesson and learn how to better promote their company through the use of social media.


Good news for the luxury market
In business news this week, the luxury market had something to celebrate. After a long slump many luxury goods markets are projected to increase sales for the upcoming year. Claudia d'Arpizio, partner for Bain & Co. in Milan, commented "the surprise was mainly in the US and Europe." She went on to add "Luxury shame is now over."