Love it or hate it, MTV’s hit reality TV show Jersey Shore is a true pop culture phenomenon. A major part of the show’s success no doubt comes from the cast’s natural knack for self-promotion. Perhaps the best example of personal branding on the show comes from Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino.

Anyone who has seen “The Situation” on TV knows that the young man’s greatest assets are his six-pack abs. He’s proud of them, as well he should be, and he has used them repeatedly to garner endorsement deals and a variety of other lucrative moneymaking ventures.

In his latest video blog, ReputationDefender CEO Michael Fertik explains how doctors, lawyers, and other professionals can learn from “The Situation” and show off their number one asset online as part of a powerful personal brand.

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In today’s Quick Hits, we discuss law enforcement and social media, follow up on the case of the Facebook-addicted juror, and look at a case of stalking on Facebook (and why Facebook isn’t helping to stop it.)

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Cops Don’t Know How To Use Twitter

A new study by the Canadian Association of Police on Social Media reveals that many law enforcement agencies and individual law enforcement officers do not understand the proper way to use social media. According to the report, “21 percent don’t tweet, nine percent tweet personal opinions about crime or criminal justice, and three percent have tweeted in a way that could be interpreted as racist or sexist.” This information demonstrates how vitally important online reputation management is to law enforcement agencies and why they need to adopt and effectively implement intelligent social media policies.

Juror Punished for Facebook Message About Trial

A Michigan woman who was removed from a jury after defense attorneys showed the judge that she had publicly commented on the trial on her Facebook profile has been fined $250 and assigned a five-page essay on the sixth amendment by the trial judge. The woman had written that it was “gonna be fun to tell the defendant they’re GUILTY” on her Facebook page before the trial was fully finished. For her part, the woman recognizes her mistake and her attorney said the outcome was “appropriate.”

Can You Break Up With Your Facebook Friends?

In her “social netiquette” column, Bridget Carey explains why it’s important to occasionally go through your Facebook friends and delete the individuals you don’t know or don’t have any significant contact with. Carey also suggests a way to spare hurt feelings if you’re thinking of deleting someone you know in real life, but don’t interact with often. Using Facebook’s privacy controls, you can move people you don’t talk to, but don’t want to delete, into a separate group set-up to limit the amount of profile information they can see.

Mother of Three Stalked Online, Facebook Won’t Intervene

The Sydney Morning Herald has the story of a mother of three who has been the victim of a vicious Facebook stalker. For the last two weeks, the stalker has harassed the woman and her children with obscene and violent language and pornographic images. The incident began when the stalker hacked into the daughter’s Facebook account and began soliciting information about the family’s home address.

The mother of three says she contacted Facebook about the harassment and they informed her that they would shut down the account. Two hours later however, Facebook said they would be unable to follow through with her request. The woman has since filed a report with the police and an investigation into the harassment is ongoing.

Twitter Announces Plans to Log All Links Clicked by Users

Twitter has announced the roll-out of a singular URL shortening device, “t.co.” This long-expected development will allow Twitter to detect malicious links more effectively and generally improve security on the site. It will also allow Twitter to track and record all links clicked by Twitter users and store that information for future internal data mining. This latter development has made some privacy advocates nervous, but as CNET’s Declan McCullagh points out, there are several simple steps Twitter can take to alleviate these concerns.

Today, ReputationDefender is beyond excited to announce that we have been named a 2011 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. It is a tremendous honor to receive this award and join the ranks of former Tech Pioneers, including Google (2000) and Twitter (2010).

In a blog post announcing the recipients of the Tech Pioneer honor, the World Economic Forum explains that the 31 honorees represent the “most innovative technology start-ups from around the world” as well as the companies that are on the “cutting edge in innovation and are poised to have a critical impact on the future of business, industry and society.”

As a pioneer and global leader of the online reputation management industry, ReputationDefender certainly lives up to the WEF’s high standards and we are proud that the work we are doing to help protect individuals and businesses from online defamation and privacy infringement is being recognized.

To learn more about all of the 2011 Technology Pioneers and to watch video interviews from the CEOs of each company, check out the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers website. Check below for ReputationDefender CEO Michael Fertik’s video for the World Economic Forum.

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In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about “Bieber fever” (and its potentially dangerous side effects) as well as Google’s potential face-off with Facebook over social search technology.

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Cyberbullying, Justin Bieber, and One Ruined Reputation

Cyberbullying is a major problem for kids and teens across the United States. When you throw in the rabidness of Justin Bieber fans, the problem jumps to a whole new level. Meghan Casserly at Forbes details the story of Sydney Dalton, a teen who set the Bieber world on fire when she went on YouTube to say she was “over” the singing sensation and tore up several of his posters. Dalton, who was previously a big-time Bieber fan and well-recognized member of the fan community, immediately began receiving angry comments from Bieber fans across the world calling her a variety of names and threatening violence. The drama has died down somewhat, but the real problem is that Dalton must now face the fact that her name and reputation is attached to a massive fight over a teen singer.

Google Makes Blog Search Improvement

Google is constantly making little improvements to its search engine that don’t get a ton of press, but are still very important. For example, Read Write Web noticed a minor announcement from Google that actually is a major improvement to the company’s blog search. Previously, Google’s blog search hasn’t done the best job of showcasing the best or most authoritative blogs on any given topic. Now, with this improvement, Google is able to sort blogs by topic much more clearly, giving the company another strong tool in its search arsenal.

Facebook Offers Facebook Credit Gift Cards in Target Stores

Facebook has extended its tentacles beyond the confines of the web and into the physical world. In an announcement today, Facebook said that it will begin selling Facebook Credits gift cards in Target stores across the country. Coming in $15, $25, and $50 denominations, the cards allow the customer to purchase a wide variety of virtual goods on Facebook, including popular games such as Farmville. Facebook isn’t the only company that has been reaching outside of the world of social media. Google is also toying with selling credits in the “real world.”

Facebook Holds Potentially Important Search Patent

Google has been focused on making “social search” a reality for some time now, and the company has taken several important steps forward in that regard. With the eventual launch of Google Me, the company’s much-anticipated social networking website, Google could finally put all the pieces together for a true social search experience. Before that can happen, however, they may have to deal with Facebook, or, more specifically, a patent Facebook holds giving the company a unique claim to social search technology.

In today’s Quick Hits, we touch on NCAA social media policies, why the anti-Facebook might not take off, and why 1981 might be a cut-off for privacy expectations.

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University of North Carolina Develops Tough Social Media Policy

The University of North Carolina athletic department has implemented a strict new social media policy to prevent players from ruining their reputations and embarrassing their school online. According to ESPN, the UNC rule stipulates that “each team must identify at least one coach or administrator who is responsible for having access to and regularly monitor the content of team members’ social networking sites and postings.”

Op-Ed: Why Diaspora is Doomed

This op-ed from The Telegraph explains why Diaspora, the so-called anti-Facebook, might be doomed to failure. According to the author, despite Diaspora’s improved focus on privacy, there simply aren’t enough reasons for users to join another social networking site when they are already occupied with Facebook, Twitter, and other online endeavors. Quoting from the article, “There are already too many networks and services fighting for our attention. (Am I really going to log in to yet another social network to upload the photos I don’t want to share on Facebook?) And this fancy new architecture simply doesn’t matter to most people.”

Twitter Begins Using OAuth for Third-Party Authentication

Today, Twitter began using OAuth instead of basic authentication for third-party applications. Twitter’s switch to OAuth will hopefully allow for a more secure user experience and prevent users from getting tripped up by spammy third-party Twitter applications. There is a catch though. With OAuth, third-party applications will not be asking you for your password but that still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise caution about which applications you approve. Always remember that once you approve a third-party app, you give it total control over your Twitter account.

Teens Log Off from Facebook Because of Parents

This article from CBS News touches on the growing trend of parents following their children on Facebook. Rather than framing this as a good thing that could help parents remain involved in their kids lives, the focus of the article is on how college-aged Facebook users are rejecting their parents and, by default, rejecting Facebook because of the perceived “intrusion” into their lives.

Loopt CEO Says Privacy Expectations Change For People Born After 1981

In a recent article for the New York Times, Loopt CEO Sam Altman said that “the magic age…where we see a big change in privacy settings and user acceptance” is people born in 1981. According to Altman, the difference in user acceptance between those born before 1981 and those born after 1981 explains why the location-based social networking services haven’t taken off to the same extent as other social media technologies.