Why isn’t the Pope tweeting?

Most celebs and world leaders who have joined the Twittersphere have often done so to share important news with their followers. Not the pope however. Early Monday morning Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation yet since then he hasn’t as much tweeted a "Bye bye" from the Twitter account that the Vatican made a great deal about opening a few months ago and which Siren Communications reported on in our weekly social media round up. In December, the pope finally got an account of his own, @Pontifex, and a huge media event was held as he typed his first tweet on an iPad. With ‘Benedict the Strict’ set to stay on until the end of February, we’re hoping to hear more from @Pontifex before he officially leaves. For now, though, we’re not impressed with his Twitter skills. Could it be safe to say that Benedict has not only retired from the Holy See but also from the world’s most popular social network? Only time will tell…

When it comes to the world’s most digitally advanced nation, us Brits cannot claim this title, nor can the Americans. This week it was revealed that it is in fact Norway that’s leading the way. In a study that looks at the consumer adoption of digital media, specifically focusing on IPTV, smartphones and tablets, the UK came in 10th with 23.1% and the U.S. in a surprising 12th place with 19.4%. Norway is well ahead of us with the penetration reaching 38.8% of the population and 65% owning a smartphones.

Some say the death of the high street is nigh, especially if social media has anything to do with it! Just this week American Express has teamed up with Twitter to enable users to pay for products by tweeting a purchase hashtag.

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen a meteoric rise of the latest social media network, Vine. For brands with their finger on the pulse, this presented an opportunity to launch competitions and contests in an attempt to increase brand/consumer engagement. And we’re rather pleased to announce that Mashable have highlighted a member of the hospitality industry as one of the brands to grab Vine by the scruff of the neck and use it well. The Cavendish, London asked followers to create a romantic Vine video and tweet the clip using the hashtag #ValentineVine. With a number of entries from budding Vine enthusiasts, there could be only one winner! Watch the witty ‘Reuniting long lost sole mates’ here. A clever and creative way to utilise the new social network…it’s received a thumbs up from the team at Siren Communications!

Most of us have experienced a holiday romance or two in our time but how long has it lasted? The latest report from Latedeals.co.uk has revealed that the length of holiday romances are fading due to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Even though holidaymakers agree that social media can help keep the love alive for a bit longer, eventually couples discover misdemeanours which inevitably cause the relationship to come to a untimely end. It has also been found that nearly two fifths of holidaymakers are less likely to fall for someone abroad because there is a risk of being ‘Facebook stalked’ when they get back home. However there is hope, because despite the fact that an average holiday fling lasts just two months and five days, it has been found that 10% last over a year and one in a thousand can result marriage. So, if you’re looking to take a walk down the aisle, try and find someone who lives close to you, because one major factor affecting how long a holiday fling lasts, is the distance that the couples live apart.

If you’ve ever wished you could embed Twitter follow buttons directly into a video, now you can. Wistia’s new Follow Lab enables you to add one or more clickable buttons directly into videos. When a viewer clicks on the button their ‘follow’ is automatically added to their Twitter account as the video continues – a subtle way to increase social media engagement and once again reinforcing the importance of video content in the world of online marketing.

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