Here’s an interesting piece about press releases from TechCrunch . It identifies the different types of press releases: traditional, search engine optimization releases, and social media releases. It also talks about writing a Customer-focused News Release. “The best releases are going to be outward-focused and reflective of the state of the market, how you fit in it, and what’s in it for the potential stakeholders (customers).” The post was written by Brian Solis, and the article has links to a more detailed blog post Social Media Releases – Everything You Ever Wanted To (or Should) Know.

And, I found this video on Google’s Friend Connect to be pretty interesting. Robert Scoble streamed it live on Qik.com from one of Google’s Campfire presentations. It clearly shows how any Web site can add social elements. I’m excited about this, because I have wanted to add some social elements to my Web design class, get beyond the Web 1.0 sites we are developing. But, the coding is a bit too much to expect of intro Web design students in a comm program. This looks pretty simple and straightforward, allows you to add friend, comment, photo capabilities to any Web site. Now, I just have to wait to get the invitation to use it in beta so I can test it out. Learn more about Friend Connect.

And, I have to say that I agree with Scoble that this will compete with Ning. If I have the ability to create my own site and add these social capabilities to it, I won’t really need my Ning site (the one I host for former students, WebPubNet). But, I don’t think it will completely unseat Ning, because the whole reason why blogs and social networks are popular is because the average person, with no Web design or development experience, can get one going.