This comes after The Socialympics, led by communications company, Engine, provided a discussion platform to assess how social media will impact on London 2012.  It was hosted by Synergy’s CE, Tim Crow.

The panel, that consisted of key personnel for the games, concluded that athletes should be encouraged to tweet throughout the games, but Hugh Chambers, Chief Commercial Officer of the British Olympic Association (BOA), warned, “Performance comes first, therefore it’s absolutely crucial that the athletes are not distracted by anything such as social media.”

On the panel:

Hugh Chambers, Chief Commercial Officer of the BOA 

Gordon Lott, Head of London 2012 Partnership and Sponsorship, Lloyds TSB; 

Alex Miller, Chief Executive of digital agency Jam; 

Chris Tomlinson, Olympic Long Jumper

Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter at the Telegraph. 

Pinterest, as you should know, is the simple content sharing site, or online pin board, as it’s more easily described, and it is easily the hottest website of 2012. The site’s amassed over 10 million visitors per month and over 100 brands are already quick enough on the uptake to create an account.

It may be early days but Pinterest is rumoured to be a potential threat to Facebook, the biggest, bestest and baddest of all the social networking sites. It goes without saying that Facebook have been on the ball with almost all of their digital concepts, so it’s unsurprising that Zuckerberg felt it necessary to see what all the fuss is about.

If you haven’t got yourself over to Pinterest yet, then sign up and get Pinning. But a word of warning – don’t make any plans for the rest of your life, ‘cause you won’t be free to do anything else.

The revamped social site claims to have “an average of 40,000 new registrations daily” and puts the  recruit influx down to its new Myspace Music Player that was launched in December, as well as its link up with networking rivals, Facebook and Twitter.  There is now a handy Facebook app allowing users to log in with their existing Facebook details.

With people preferring the clean look of Facebook, MySpace rapidly lost popularity: in March 2011, 10 millions users left the site.  The numbers now stand at 25 million and the people at the top have every confidence that it’s on the up.

“The numbers tell an amazing story of strong momentum and dramatic change for Myspace,” company CEO Tim Vanderhook said.  “And the one million-plus new user accounts we’ve seen in the last 30 days validates our approach.”

Newscorp bought MySpace at its peak for $580 million and sold it to the current owners, Specific Media, in June last year for $35 million.  They plan to continue driving it’s reputation for music, harbouring 42 million songs – as opposed to Spotify’s 15 million – and have announced that they will be working with Panasonic and delivering MySpace content to Panasonic flatscreens.

Do you think MySpace can get back to the forefront?  We’d love to hear what you think!

However, since the digital revolution, things have changed. No longer are fashion shows for privileged eyes only and displayed for us general public six months later for pre-orders in impossible to find sizes. The internet has created a seismic shift in fashion, and we have a lot to thank it for.

Catwalk images, once saved for the glossy pages of magazines, weeks, if not months, after they were taken, are now posted on blogs, websites and shared through Twitter. The digital space has created a deeper connection between the buyers, fans and people who have a real interest, but perhaps not the wealth to do anything about it.

Channels such as Youtube have made fashion weeks accessible to the masses with behind the scenes videos and access to the bits magazines can’t quite show us. Online content has lifted the veil on what was a privileged experience, and in this digital age, broadcast news is accessible to whoever wants it.

Fashion weeks are no longer just trade shows, they are now digital masterpieces.

Designed for Facebook’s new timeline layout, the Foster’s Funny Facebook app is only available to UK users and shows comedic clips, sketches and outtakes.  There’s a back catalogue of over 40 episodes of Foster’s Funny content including Vic and Bob’s Afternoon Delights, and all in time for the second internet series of The Fast Show.

Niall McKee, brand manager for Foster’s at Heineken in the UK, said, “Foster’s is currently developing some of the most premium, online exclusive comedy content, from the new Alan Partridge to ‘The Fast Show’, and the Facebook media app offers our consumers a new and exciting way to watch and share the content through one of their biggest online touch points.”

The app has been created by Lean Mean Fighting Machine and adds the next chapter to Foster’s’ well-known pairing of advertising and humour.

However, with the digital age comes accessibility, and with that comes a relaxed approach from society enabling us to adapt ‘Hallmark Holidays’ to suit.  Brands now recognise that partnering this with novel and interactive ideas – for free -  is beneficial to the development of campaigns.

Here are Grape’s picks of lovely examples:

Marmite Spreads Love with Facebook Cards

Marmite is stepping away from the hate and encouraging a lot of love with its latest campaign, ‘Marmite Loves You’.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Facebook users can spread the love by ‘liking’ its page and choosing from three limited edition, digital e-cards. Fans can then send their own message to their loved one (or a multitude of friends if they’re feeling flirty) via an online app.  There’s also a chance of winning a set of signed prints worth £300.

The cards have been specially designed by artist and Marmite fanatic, Pete Fowler, whose illustrations have been used by The Super Furry Animals, Hot Chip and Gruff Rhys.

He said, “For each card I thought of a scenario and an image and used the Marmite brand colours. I wanted to create something eye catching with the message of love and Marmite.”

Devised by Splendid Communications, the campaign is set to generate more fans on top of its 770,000+ figure.

Dove Valentine’s Twitter Screen

In London’s Victoria Station is Dove’s interactive billboard which, as part of its ongoing Real Beauty standing, invites people to tweet messages about the beautiful women in their lives.

To engage passers-by, the screen will post a different question each day and will stream the tweets in real time. ‘Who is the most beautiful woman in your life? Why?’ was the first question, and on Valentine’s Day they’ll be asking, ‘What do you love about your Valentine?’

Jocelyn Hsieh, senior brand development manager on Dove Global, says: “We hope the engagement and interactive nature of our campaign will bring a smile and a moment of Dove’s warmth to Londoners during their daily commute. We look forward to seeing Londoners’ reflections on beauty and their thoughts on the women in their lives shared on our billboard at Victoria Station.”

The screen will be there for all to see until Sunday, 19^th February.

Heineken Serenades the Public

Heineken have launched a new Facebook app called ‘The Serenade’.  A personalised song can be sent to your chosen one to ask them out on a date.  Multiple options allow the user to state why they fancy their date (‘I like the colour of your aura’ and ‘You have a rich dad’ are our favourites), what they’d like to do on the date (go bowling or show off your stamp collection) and what’s makes the ‘asker’ so appealing (are you funny or do you only date models?).  Et voilà!  A song is instantly generated!

‘The Serenade’ is part of the brand’s ‘Open Your World’ global campaign which celebrates and encourages aspirational behaviours among adult consumers.

Mark Bernath, Executive Creative Director from W+K Amsterdam comments, “In a way, we want people to be in the films we make. The idea of giving Heineken drinkers the band from the spot to help them ask someone out is our way to make that happen for real. Let’s hope we make a load of offers that can’t be refused.”

It may seem like a sorry state of affairs when a youngster admits to spending more time staring at a computer screen than playing outside, but from a marketing point of view the opportunities that this presents are endless.

TV companies are beginning to wise up to this trend of being social online and a number of shows have began to urge people to play along with shows via their websites. The Million Pound Drop is a great example of this, as since its launch people have played the online game over 11 million times.

And it isn’t just the youngsters that are sucked into the realm of social networks. The older generation are getting just as involved, with almost 1/3 of those aged over 55 admitting to logging onto Facebook and Twitter over turning on the television.

So what are you waiting for? Go check your Facebook!

Honda have certainly been busy so far in 2012 and although we’re disappointed in them for getting all of our hopes up, they seem to have their minds in gear. Reports have started to link the company with plans to build a centralised web platform to integrate its customer site with various databases, including logistics, stock management and ordering.

This digital activity isn’t a new venture for Honda, who have been stepping up their online presence for a few years now. In 2011 they launched the first TV ad to use ‘sound-synching’ technology so users could interact with the ad using their iPhones. They also launched their new 2012 Civic model via a series of online films and of course, there’s the sick, sick, Ferris Bueller joke.

They’re clearly working hard to establish a stronger digital presence and by rebuilding their customers’ online journeys they can only succeed. Good luck, Honda!

The service recognises that passengers’ experiences can be greatly influenced by those sitting either side of them, so the Meet & Seat application allows you to choose your seat-mate based on the friend that represents them best- their social media profile.

We discussed its potential release, some time last year, with sarcasm and irony I’m sure, as in theory it is an absolutely preposterous idea. However, in practice we actually think it’s a revolutionary way to change the flight experience for us all, and stop that savage travelling demon in the pit of our bellies from ever getting out again!

In a nutshell, the service lets you link your social media profile to your check-in information and then go on to choose a partner according to what you see and, furthermore, what you like. The service will then ask for confirmation from your requested buddy and if you both agree to participate in the friendship then you’re ready to fly!

Take a look at Next Media Animation’s slightly more blunt explanation in the video below:

After Google, Facebook is the world’s most visited site, ever since that fateful launch in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard University dorm room in 2004.

I’ve been on Facebook for 1,765 days and it stayed with me, like a loyal, albeit distracting, friend throughout my years at university. As the world’s largest social network, millions of people (845 million, to be exact) will reflect on the impact it has had on their lives over the past 8 years, whether they have been there from the beginning or were late starters, part of that reluctant non-conformist “I don’t need Facebook to have friends” group… we all knew one and we all watched as they eventually succumbed to the power of the blue thumbs up.

Facebook is such an integral part of people’s lives that relationships, marriages and divorces are all decided on whether they’re ready to go “Facebook Official” or not, a decision never to be taken lightly. Surnames change, become double barrelled and pictures of offspring, pets and growing families fill up our now nostalgia ridden timelines, and all the while our likes, dislikes and opinions are shared through the simplicity of the click of a ‘like’. Our mums became our friends and our friends became our stalkers. People now log onto Facebook every day, 42% of active users don’t leave bed without checking it and 100 billion friendships have been created in the process!

It now seems almost impossible to imagine life without witty status updates, friend requests, photo tags and relationship statuses. Facebook has transformed our generation into a team of digitally connected sharers who wear our hearts on our sleeves and aren’t afraid to show the world what we think.

Happy Birthday Facebook, and thanks for the memories.