For the first time ever, PBS’s American Experience will be launching a new documentary through the social networking platform Facebook. The move is an innovative attempt to engage a new audience and solicit feedback from viewers in a way that television does not normally allow.

“It’s such a distancing medium that we work in, in television,” said American Experience executive producer Mark Samels. “You put all this work into something, and then it goes into this black hole, the ether.” (more…)

With one week left in the 2010 Olympic Games no one wants to be the last to know what is happening at which event, or when a medal is won. This year Molson Canadian is offering Canadians a chance to stay in touch - even if they can’t sit in front of their TV’s all day. (more…)

Coca Cola Company is tying a recent social media charity promotion to the beverage giants upcoming Super Bowl ads. The program will be a first of its kind and an experiment in capitalizing on major TV events.

Earlier this week during a press event at the Dunlevy Milbank Boys & Girls Club in Harlem, Coca Cola announced plans to donate up to $500,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of America with half of the money coming through a Facebook application. (more…)

Eating healthy just got a little bit cooler with ‘Blink” magazine, an online publication created by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK and Dubit. Blink is part of a campaign to promote healthy living in teens aged 13 to 16. It is being hailed as the first online magazine to exist as a social networking application across Facebook. (more…)

Online fundraising campaigns have the reputation for being successful in the social media world without any of that success actually translating to physical donations. That’s not the case with the current Haiti relief efforts. Read below for a few of the initiatives taking place that harness user-generated sites to raise real money for Haiti. (more…)

This past fall Neutrogena Cosmetics launched a social media campaign that included a user-generated content (UGC) contest through its Facebook fan page inviting makeup mavens to explain why they deserved to flaunt their inner celebrity.

Participants were required to submit an essay that described themselves and why they needed a beauty makeover. The top 10 first prize winners received a Neutrogena Cosmetics prize package worth $250. (more…)

JetBlue Airways is attempting to translate its success on the microblogging site Twitter into a bigger fan base on the world’s largest social network, Facebook with the help of a new sweepstakes campaign called All You Can Jet Fan Sweepstakes. (more…)

Facebook has just made it easier for its over 350 million users to limit and protect who sees their comments, videos, photographs and other personal information by introducing more options for privacy settings this past Wednesday. (more…)

JCPenney has been asserting itself as a leader in the space of user-generated content (UGC) as it follows up with a 2008 Beware of the Doghouse video and makes use of its Facebook fan page to engage fans to participate in everything from customer service, marketing and community efforts. (more…)

Marmite, the dark brown food spread known for its distinctive and powerful flavour is asking consumers to help create a new, extra-strong variant of the brand by forming an online secret society.

The Unilever-owned brand said that the product will be launched exclusively through social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs. The secret society, the Marmarati has invited around 40 consumers who have expressed an affinity for Marmite on social networks to join in helping create the new product. (more…)