PR and Social InkLings for the Week of September 19

Facebook's New Profiles, Netflix Flops?, Google+ on Klout, WSJ on Facebook and Augmented Reality

Facebook’s New Profiles: First Impressions

This week, Facebook held its F8 developer conference. After unconventional introduction, the main focus of Mark Zuckerberg’s talk was about the much anticipated profile redesign. The profile changes are a part of a broader launch, including a music and media platform, and are designed to make profiles “stickier,” or encourage users to stay on longer; profiles will also feature a prominent new timeline. Check out Mashable’s first impressions of the updates here. The changes will obviously affect users, but marketers on Facebook are really beginning to feel the pressure to produce more gripping content. Find out why here.

Netflix Flop?

Netflix recently came under fire for splitting its services: DVD and video streaming, causing subscription fees to skyrocket and angry customers to feverishly cancel services. As if that wasn’t enough bad press for a lifetime, Netflix learned another very valuable lesson this week – always do your research. The popular DVD mailing service underwent a rebrand, including a name change to Qwikster. After the official launch, Netflix learned that the Twitter handle Qwikster was already taken – by a foul-mouthed user whose profile picture was a doctored imageof Sesame’s beloved Elmo smoking marijuana. This was a huge misstep for Netflix, as they have been active on social media sites for years now, and should’ve known better. And now, the owner of the Qwikster handle wants to negotiate. Stay tuned for more details as this saga continues. In the meantime, find out what CEO Reed Hastings thinks went wrong.

Klout Now Measures Social Influence On Google+

Google+ is now open to everyone, including influence rater Klout, apparently. Klout has doubled the number of services it offers in just a few months and users can now connect to 11, including other recent Klout adds Blogger, Flickr, Instagram and Tumblr. You’ll notice the Google+ button on your dashboard, right next to Twitter’s and Facebook’s buttons. It will take a few days for Klout to pull in everyone’s data. Learn more here.

Also jumping on the Plus1 button band wagon? Social guru Chris Brogan recently added it to his blog and shares how he’s finding it useful here.

The Wall Street Journal Brings Its Content to Facebook

In support of its “WSJ Everywhere” strategy, the Wall Street Journal has launched a Facebook app that republishes content on Facebook. Known for making readers pay for article access, the WSJ believes this will give that content greater visibility and that by providing content where the customers are (Facebook) without having to click through will attract more viewers. Is this the future and will other print publications be following suit? Let Mashable help you decide.

Augmented Reality: 5 Ways it Can Change Your World

Have you heard of augmented reality? Before reading this blog, I only associated the term with the Gary Busey, Charlie Sheen and Michele Bachmann, but it turns out that augmented reality is also a really cool new technology that is being developed to “heighten” reality. Previously reserved to enhance video games, it is now being used to boost businesses’ productivity. How? Read on here.