We live in a world that gets more and more casual by the emoticon. The prevalence of popular shorthand has made professional writing in largely personal spaces murky waters. Here are five suggestions curated by the Friday Five team and inspired by Edelman’s own Edit and Proofreading Q-Tips.

Keep it Brief

Even in spaces where speech is not limited to 140 characters or less, there are benefits to keeping your thoughts concise. Studies have shown that entries that are 150 words or less are more likely to generate conversation.

If Twitter is t…

Sharing a meal is one of the single most common social encounters in which individuals take part. So it should be no surprise that a growing group of sites have digitized many parts of the process- from finding a restaurant to sharing experiences or even finding a friend to eat with. This week’s Friday Five is dedicated to the kind of restaurant resources you can access from anywhere.

OpenTable

Boasting 13,000 restaurants worldwide as users, OpenTable fundamentally changed the way diners planned evenings out while also offering value to restaurants …

The beauty of social media is its ability to provide something for everyone. The prevalence of large online communities like Facebook or Yelp has been discussed widely. Today we wanted to focus on five highly specialized sites you may not already be familiar with but are serving niche interests at a pace that’s worth noting.

GDGT

gdgt, created by the founders of Engadget, is a social network for self-identified “tech geeks”. Individual users create personal libraries of the gear they have on hand as well as wishlists for the products they’d like to pur…

PSFK, a global digital trend-spotting site, recently released their Future of Retail report.  The 80+ page document has a lot of great insights, all supporting conjecture that digital tactics (related to retail and beyond) are extending far beyond the online space. Today’s Friday Five highlights three key learnings but we’d strongly urge you to check the full report out for yourself.

Price Shopping from the Checkout Line

A new wave of sophisticated mobile apps put price shopping and product comparisons in the palm of a person’s hand. A quick ba…

In a new media world, staking your claim online goes well beyond reserving a web address or two. Even companies and public figures without firm plans to participate in the social media space should be aware that consumers will still be looking for them and plan accordingly. Today’s Friday Five reflects five tips to help your clients (and yourselves) own your brand online.

Primary Twitter Account

Choose a Twitter handle that clearly reflects the company name and/or division. If you do not plan to activate Twitter immediately, ensure that the profile…

Most of the conferences we attend come down to being about consumption of one kind or another–usually the different ways we consume information. This week I’m in Portland attending the International Association of Culinary Professionals Conference, where we’re talking a lot about consumption from a couple different angles: the food we eat, the places we find it and the ends we go to learn more about it. Social media continues to come up as the game-changer, or in this case, plate-changer. Today’s Friday Five is dedicated to soundbites coming straight from food …