Favorite Finds

The first day of spring may have been this week, but it sure doesn’t feel like it in Chicago. Social media, however, has been heating up this week with a yoga pants scandal, Pinterest redesign and March Madness brackets. Here are a few of our favorite stories this week.

·         State of the News Media. Pew Research Center released their 2013 State of the News Media Report. The report showed the biggest growth in news consumption was digital but with economic and audience trouble, the news industry is more undermanned and unprepared to uncover stories, dig deep into emerging ones or to question information put into its hands.

·         Pinterest’s new look. Pinterest rolled out a new design. Changes include, larger clickable images, a related pins sidebar as well as the option to visit the website, removal of hashtags and Facebook or Twitter links and a 160 character maximum profile description, to name a few.

·         A yoga pants recall? It’s true! Lululemon recalled a batch of its luon black yoga pants because they’re too sheer, casting blame on their manufacturer. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye. The manufacturer, Eclat Textile Company, said that Lululemon OK’d the shipment of the sheer yoga pants. PR crisis, anyone?

·         March Madness. Tis the season for NCAA brackets. PR agency Schwartz MSL Insights Group has provided the social media power bracket. Their bracket winner is based upon schools’ performance on the social media court. Schwartz MSL Insights Group has predicted that Duke will be crowned the NCAA social media champ.