The Middle East is always a hot media topic across the world but, for the most up-to date news and reliable sources, UAE’s Digital Account Manager, Wissam Akily has this week’s Friday Five. So if you want to know what’s going on in the Middle East, these five portals are your go-to sites.

UAE INTERACT

UAE INTERACT, the official web site of the UAE National Media Council, is one of the broadest sources of information in the country.

The website presents a rich collection of information about the UAE along with over 40,000 archived news stories. English, Arabic, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, Italian and Japanese are just some of the language options available on the site.

The National

As the most recent English-language daily broadsheet to launch in the UAE The National has been a welcome addition to the media scene with its clear-cut reporting and in-depth analysis.

It offers unrivalled news, business, sports and arts coverage from the Middle East and around the world. The website presents its visitors with rich content, an array of services and variety of interactive elements.

TimeOut

TimeOut Abu Dhabi and TimeOut Dubai give residents with an all-encompassing digital handbook for the UAE’S social scene. The websites are expertly compiled and frequently updated by editorial staff with content covering all aspects of daily life in the UAE’s two largest emirates.

These complete city guides also act as a fantastic resource for tourists, featuring arts & culture events’ calendars, restaurant reviews, hotel listings, nightlife and club recommendations along with local guidelines.

MEMRI

The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI explores the Middle East through the region’s media. MEMRI bridges the language gap that exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Persian, Urdu-Pashtu, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.

MEMRI’s blog and RSS has proven to be extremely popular.

AME & zawya

AME info & zawya offer the most comprehensive and reliable guide to Middle East business and industry news and breaking stories. It is an indispensable research tool for all professionals across all industries.

AME info provides continuous business and news updates from across the region along with events coverage, reports and in-depth analysis.

Meanwhile zawya is the Middle East’s fully-encompassing business portal offering business and investment news along with real estate, construction, financial and oil & gas market opportunities.

Image credit: cavalierelatino

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 the intended medium and the author would like a tweet to be passed on, care should be taken to ensure that enough characters are still available for his or her user name to be included in the event of a retweet, without any additional editing necessary.

Link Love

Just as other writing formats require footnotes, social media attribution takes the form of links much of the time. It’s very important to link to original source material. In addition to giving credit where credit is due, links provide meaningful back-up and context for the assertions being made in your writing.

You Are Here

“Here” could refer to anywhere. Perhaps that is why it is so often used as the linked word in sentences designed to provide click-through context. For example: “Click here for a map of the museum”. As Edelman Digital’s Phil Gomes noted, “This draws the eye to the most useless word in the sentence.” A better phrasing might be “Download a map of the museum.” From a search perspective, a linked keyword will mean a lot more to Google visibility than a word like “here” or “this.”

Abbrevi8 Only When Necessary

Professionals should avoid overtly casual abbreviations unless absolutely necessary. Shorthand like “b4” or “l8r” looks trite, even when used without absolute necessity. Acceptable abbreviations when necessary include: b/t (between), and w/ (with).

Disclose Early and Often

If the subject matter you’re writing about references a client or directly addresses your client’s immediate field or industry, disclose that relationship early in your writing and again as separate comments warrant (i.e. Individual tweets count as separate comments). The word client in parentheses after the company name will typically suffice.

With thanks to the following individuals for sharing their insights: APAC: IndoPacific Edelman, Jakarta – James Allan, Hartiasri Ariviani, Prima Harrison, Vida Parady, Bruce Poan, Rudijanto; Europe: London – Jo Sheldon; LatAm: Sao Paulo – Gabriela Bruschi, Tatiana Castro, Andre Larrubia, Osmar Maduro, Michele Vercosa; US: Chicago – Phil Gomes, Matt Groch, Jessi Langsen, Suzanne Marlatt, Dan Santow, Danielle Wiley; NY – Kim Berndt, Esther Buterman, A.J. Desjardins, Amanda Kaufman. Special thanks are in order to this issue’s author, Tracy Waldman.

We have a late-breaking Friday Five today that functions as the best kind of Ask the Experts column. When you need to know the latest and greatest on some of the most prominent social tools in the digerati arsenal, these five sources are the folks to read.

Foursquare

Foursquare’s company blog is updated only a few times a month with information about system upgrades and random musings from founder @dens, to get a more in depth look at the happenings at Foursquare I check out About Foursquare.

Chris Thompson founded About Foursquare in April 2010 and since then he has been updating the site daily with announcements of new Foursquare partners, upcoming geolocation features and interesting apps based on the Foursquare API. The site also offers resources like Foursquare 101, a list of apps for all mobile devices and a Foursquare style guide.

Facebook

Inside Facebook focuses on tracking Facebook news for developers and marketers. The site has great stats about the top Facebook apps of the week, interviews with top industry leaders, up to the minute news and research about the growth of Facebook globally.

I also make sure to read AllFacebook which is associated with the popular social media website SocialTimes. While AllFacebook is very similar to Inside Facebook its strength lies in its in depth stats on the most popular Facebook developers, fastest growing applications and usage of applications site wide.

Twitter

Twitter recently created a group of blogs to educate marketers and media folk about the best uses of Twitter. @CleverAccounts is a Twitter blog (and of course Twitter account) that shares the most creative uses of Twitter from businesses and organizations. @TwitterMedia is another Twitter blog that features tools and knowledge from the media and journalists.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Planet and Augmented Times are my go to sources for all things augmented reality. Both sites provide great insight into developing trends, inspiration for future applications and examples of current applications being developed and used.

Innovation

KillerStartups is a website that reviews between 15-20 startups everyday. The startups range in genre from social media to music to lifestyle. This site has become a necessary resource for finding new social media tools.

If 20 innovative ideas isn’t enough for you, be sure to check out Springwise. Springwise is a network of 8,000 spotters dedicated to finding the next big thing. Like KillerStartups the topics spread across several areas but you’ll be sure to find something on the site everyday to get your creative juices flowing.

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 in the form of table management without devoting extra energy to manning phone lines. As of June 2010, OpenTable has entered into a partnership with the restaurant review site Yelp, integrating review pages with easy-to-book reservations.

iDine

iDine’s entire model is built around viewing diners as shareholders- going so far as to give cash back when diners eat at participating restaurants more than once. Along the way, users earn frequent flyer mileage and can manage account settings or read reviews from other members online.

Tasting Table

Tasting Table’s tagline is “Food Culture Daily” and it lives up to the it with a wide range of food-related content across the board. Highlighting everything from individual restaurants to recipes to “gastronomic experiences,” this is essentially a rich blog offering a taste of everything.

Toptable

Toptable is a UK-based restaurant review site that’s also incorporated elements of the Groupon model-offering a deal to the group on select venues for a limited time.

Guía Oleo is also worth a mention here- it’s specific to Buenos Aires but uses a unique rewards card to encourage members to visit involved restaurants in addition to general restaurant and local reviews.

InnerDinner

Once you’ve selected the restaurant and made the reservation, it’s time to find someone to share your meal- whether at a restaurant you’ve wanted to try or even at home. That’s where InnerDinner comes in. Operating under the assumption that food is the great unifier, users build supper clubs or more date-like experiences based on personal profiles and eating habits.

Last January, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a policy address about Internet freedom at the Newseum in D.C. In the address, Sec. Clinton argued that the rise of the Internet and information networks is creating a “new nervous system for our planet”.

The Internet, social networks and the resulting immediacy and reach of information define 21st century statecraft. Understanding this reality and the revolutionary power of these new tools, the State Department is launching initiatives that promote Internet freedom and use new media to connect people and build civic participation.

Speaking at a breakfast earlier this month, Jared Cohen, a member of the State Department’s policy and planning staff, maintained that social media and the “connection technologies” we now use every day are more revolutionary than radio or television when they were introduced. Why? Because, today, the platform is the intermediary. These new technology platforms are game changers. They empower people by connecting them directly to information, other individuals and resources.

Mobile Technology: Eliminating Communication Boundaries

Whether used by Iranian teenagers trying to find the coolest parties or by terrorists from prison cells, mobile technology is an irrefutable connective force in today’s world. In the United States, people are increasingly opting out of landlines in favor of a mobile-only existence. In Afghanistan, police officers in remote or high-risk areas receive automated text notifications on their cell phones when their paychecks are deposited, allowing for a more transparent payroll process.

Social Media: Unleashing the Power of Personal Networks

Social media has incredible potential for mass organization because it allows information to spread organically to individuals’ personal networks. In Egypt, young people are using Facebook to stand up for their political rights and organize strikes nationwide. In Colombia, an unemployed engineer started a Facebook group that eventually put 12 million people on the streets to protest against the FARC, a 40-year old terrorist organization.

Personal Perspectives: Sharing Ideas with the World

Websites like YouTube and Flickr, as well as personal blogs, help share individual perspectives across the world. A cell phone video of Neda Soltani’s murder during Iran protests in June 2009 was uploaded to YouTube by an amateur videographer. The footage made it in front of heads of state within hours of being posted and their rhetoric about the Iranian protests changed as a result.

Access: Providing Information, Even to the Oppressed

Cohen argued that connective technologies make today’s walls porous. Information shared on social networks or through mobile technologies help break down government-imposed barriers. Even in some of the most oppressive situations, Cohen maintained that the current generation of youth has unprecedented tools of empowerment to spread information, organize and get around censorship.

The Aid Process: Increasing Transparency and Collaboration

Twenty-first century statecraft is also unique because the Internet allows individuals to track aid funding and advocate for other people to get involved with a cause. Today’s digital age permits unparalleled opportunities for networking and collaboration between remote individuals and groups.

A post last month on Twitter’s Media blog began, “Okay, so it’s uncontroversial to say the World Cup is a big deal.” The global event has gripped almost every inhabitable corner of the world, with more than 100 million people worldwide tuning in to each game since the competition began last week. The 2010 World Cup is offering something different than previous years: the unprecedented amount of digital and global media available at our fingertips puts us in a position to immediately share experiences across the world.

One of the great parts about working for a global company like Edelman is that you can bet that there has been a bit of chatter on various channels across our network about the tournament (although, I have noticed that our British colleagues have been a little quiet since last Saturday’s U.S.-England match…). In that spirit, we took a few contributions from Edelman footie fans to provide a global look at the way digital communication has changed the way all of us are watching this year’s World Cup.

140 Character Fans

From Ivo van den Brand (@ivovdB), Edelman, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

If you intend on fanatically following the World Cup 2010 through Twitter, you’ll have a hard time receiving a good combination of up-to-date news Tweets (scorers, injuries, substitutes and highlights) and witty pre- and post-match analyses. @WorldCupBlog effectively sources local know-how from national fan bases, using selected football bloggers from participating countries as their board of ‘Tweditors’. Doing so, @WorldCupBlog continuously provides its followers with sharp, up-to-date news feeds, as well as local insights and invaluable quotes from local pundits (e.g. citing former head coach Jurgen Klinsmann during the Germany match) without having to cope with unwanted spam messages (that are already taking over Twitter.com/worldcup). As a bonus, most of the bloggers engage with their followers, adding a touch of the pub dialogue most of us like best while watching the ‘footy’.

Nothing But Net

From Jessi Langsen (@tokissthecook), Edelman Digital, Chicago, IL

It should come as no surprise that there’s a web destination for every kind of soccer-related curiosity. For those with a heart for numbers, Footbalistic has the stats to satisfy even the most detail-oriented fan. If you’re more interested in the big picture, Infosthetics has each game (and the conversation surrounding it) visualized with a number of compelling graphics. If holistic coverage is the name of the game, Fanhouse’s World Cup coverage is a place to check out. Even Vanity Fair is covering the World Cup from their soccer blog, Fair Play. Fair Play talks about football on and off the pitch, aggregates World Cup news from various sports and news sites and provides cool posts on the history of the World Cup.

Match-ups via Mobile

From Jenni Lopez (@jlo734), Edelman, Silicon Valley, CA

The whole game from the palm of your hand, without a foul in sight. Bon Cherry has a comprehensive list of World Cup app recommendations but a few favorites are listed below:

ESPN FIFA World Cup – Includes news, brackets, updates and for $8 you can upgrade to listen to audio of the games on your iPhone (with ESPN Mobile app, you can watch the games live). I love that I can select my favorite team (Spain) and read only the latest on those players, games and news.

Univision Futbol (BlackBerry is an Edelman client) – For Spanish speaking folks, this application is similar to ESPN’s but in Spanish and a tremendous complement to Univision’s main soccer page.

A Corporate Kick

From Nivene Judeh (@nivjustsmiles), Edelman Digital, Chicago, IL

Due to the international popularity and scope of the event, many recognizable brands have gotten into the game. Any commercial break will give you a preview but many of the most interesting integrations are online. CNN has teamed up with Foursquare to provide two different badges based on World Cup-related check-ins: one for fans at the games in South Africa and one for those watching from closer to home. Other companies have gotten into the viral video game, producing World Cup-themed ads that view more like short films. Nike and Adidas are two to check out. Budweiser has launched BudUnited.com, a YouTube page centered around a World Cup reality show about fans living in a house in South Africa. Consumers can vote for their favorite fan, penalize another fan or check out the Facebook page to paint their profile picture with their country’s team colors.

Watch Anywhere, Anytime

From Dave Levy (@levydr), Edelman Digital Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.

Viewership for the World Cup has traditionally been measured in terms of the global audience tuning in to their nation’s local broadcasting outlet. It’s never been a perfect measurement: soccer is best as a shared experience, and one of the most popular ways to watch is in massive groups at pubs or friends’ homes. That said, the time differences worldwide don’t always make watching from traditional settings possible and for those of us in that position, there are a handful of online outlets offering live feeds of every game. To find one that may work, check this list from Lifehacker. With these added avenues, it may be more challenging to figure out how many more people have turned in to keep up with the tournament, but it’s a great list if you need to keep up on games when you may not otherwise be able to get to a TV.

How are you watching the World Cup?

Image credit: Clive Rose and Axel Bührmann

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 purchase. Like Facebook, users can friend other users to exchange reviews of desired items and usage comparisons.

Dogster

Dogster represents a vast community of dog owners and enthusiasts who connect in forums to share care suggestions, product recommendations and breed information. Dogster also presents the expert advice of regular columnists covering topics like veterinary care and grooming. For those of us with a more feline focus, there is also Catster.

Goodreads

Goodreads is a social network for heavy readers, offering recommendations based on identified favorites. For true bookworms, it also provides an organization platform for your reading list. The site also acts as a springboard for the creation of book clubs.

Bakespace

Bakespace is a community aimed precisely at members of the greater digital kitchen. Offering unique recipe-swap features, constant cooking commentary and the ability to create a virtual pantry based upon what you have on hand, the site brings virtual cooking companions to the table without taxing your counter-space.

MVPSpot

MVPSpot is an online community that provides amateur athletes (age 13 and up) the ability to showcase their talents on the field, court, pitch, rink…you name it. This site provides a forum for sharing highlight reels and encourages learning between the athletes themselves while simultaneously acting as an informal recruiting tool.

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 barcode scan using an app like Stripey Lines or ShopSavvy empowers a consumer to gather reviews and competitive data instantly, a game-changer for bricks and mortar retailers.

Shopping Still Social- Just Not IRL

Friends are still an important part of purchase decisions (by many studies, the most important) but they aren’t weighing in from the other side of a dressing room door anymore. Go Try It On is an online community where users are encouraged to post a picture of their purchase consideration and other users then vote. Blippy keeps track of what your friends are buying and Svpply is a retail bookmarking and recommendation service.

Mobile Couponing Presents Unique Loyalty Programming

Mobile couponing has to be one of the most exciting things to happen for businesses within this digital retail revolution. Getting it right has not been without growing pains but customer response is strong and apps like CellFire are only growing more sophisticated.

Shopping Trips Planned from Parking to Purchase

Directional mobile apps will tell you exactly how to get from Point A to Point B in the shortest amount of time.  In some cases, they may even recommend a pretzel place along the way. Fast Mall and Point Inside both offer turn by turn instructions while Google’s new Places section shows snapshots of a store’s interior.

Increasingly Interactive Service Industry

Salons offering consultations via Skype (Plan B in Boston).  Realtors giving virtual tours to faraway buyers (Take Sunset).  Personal shoppers continually tagging unique recommendations (Trunk Club).  The new shopping cart comes with a tour guide and is less likely to have someone else’s coffee-stained list stuck to the bottom.

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 links to the company website and that the first tweet states that consumers can check back or links to a more active social forum (like a Facebook page).

Referring Twitter Accounts

While this isn’t always the case, some brands have been known to claim multiple twitter names, directing to the singular one in use.  This prevents squatters from taking over an official-looking presence but it’s impossible to claim all possibilities.  The best way to ensure your voice is the one consumers are hearing is to participate in the conversation whenever and wherever possible and appropriate.

Facebook

Similar to Twitter, find a unique URL for your company’s Facebook page that clearly reflects what will be represented there.  If possible, this should match the company’s or program’s Twitter handle for consistency.

LinkedIn

Just as candidates represent themselves on this popular professional networking site, companies should keep their profiles updated as well.  Establishing open positions and keeping up with industry accolades is more than just an effective recruiting tool. This is especially important now that LinkedIn allows users to follow company updates.

Blog Commentary

Commenting on blogs is a sticky process for many large companies and requires the consultation of a company social media policy and the participation of a designated spokesperson.  One of the best ways to continue owning a brand online in this arena is to identify natural brand ambassadors proactively so that in times of trouble, they have the correct information to distribute within their invested community.

When we talk about trends in the Digital space it’s easy, even convenient, to start assigning responsibility for that movement to whoever happens to be leading the charge that minute. What’s worth noting is that a trend never really belongs to a platform, it belongs to the people wielding it. With that in mind, I present five macro trends to watch. In these cases, it’s now brands driving much of the innovation rather than resting until a platform mutates itself.

Geolocation Is Bigger Than Foursquare

While Foursquare recently announced an excess of 40 million check-ins and 15,000 new users per day, what’s really worth noting is that location-based initiatives transcend the platform itself. Large brands such as Pepsi (client) have begun experimenting with geolocation initiatives such as Pepsi Loot. This program is designed to encourage consumers to check-in at locations that serve Pepsi beverages in order to earn points, which can be redeemed for items such as downloadable music from Universal Music Group. In addition, McDonalds has announced a partnership with Facebook, which is working on integrating its own geolocation capabilities into the platform. As location-based programs increase in popularity, “where are you?” is becoming the new “what are you doing?”

Real Time Is Bigger Than Twitter

From Facebook’s news feed (which updates as you view it) to real-time analytics tools (imagine if Twitter and Google Analytics had a baby), the Web is increasingly becoming real-time. The implications of this for brands are the opportunities to not only monitor what your customers are saying about you in real time but, in the case of real-time analytics, to be able to see what they are doing on your own domain digital properties. Responding to information and trends in real-time can prevent a negative Groundswell against your brand and even yield insights about your consumers.

Social CRM Is The New Marketing

Social CRM or “Customer Relationship Management“ is a social-media version of “Customer Relationship Management.”

From Altimeter Group:

Social CRM represents a continuing journey by organizations to deliver the right customer experience at the right time. It’s not just about technologies. It’s NOT just about business processes. It’s fundamentally how to and where to reengage with customers in both social channels and the traditional world.

Early examples include @comcastcares on Twitter and Best Buy’s Twelpforce, which harnesses hundreds of “Blue Shirts” who provide customer service via Twitter. Best Buy also does this through Facebook. While in its infancy, Social CRM and the need to integrate legacy processes with social systems is an important trend to monitor and act upon.

Shopping Is Better With Friends

With Facebook’s recent release of its open graph, nearly any activity can involve your friends. Sale.com is one of the first sites to integrate the “like” feature from Facebook, drawing friends toward favorite deals and e-commerce outposts as endorsements fill their personal dashboards. Online shopping is sure to become a more social experience.

Social Media Infrastructure, Scale & Integration

How to organize around social media is becoming one of the industry’s biggest challenges. The issue is part technology (social content management systems), part process (how to respond to a crisis) and part people (training and compliance). Social CMS platforms such as Awareness and SocialTALK offer early solutions to the problem of managing a brand’s content across several social networks. Edelman offers a “belt system” training program for large organizations, focused on ensuring compliance around basic skills. Google recently announced it is hiring a “head of social.” The broader trend is that large organizations are looking to formalize their efforts around social media.