From Ivana Taylor:

If communication strategies can be created based on personality type, why can’t there be marketing strategies based on the same thing? This idea dawned on me as I was making excuses for adding video to my website. No matter how great video...

In interesting but ultimately not very shocking news, Google has signed on as a major sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference, which is more or less what it sounds like. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just a little odd seeing Google, which is becoming increasingly political, listed next to such organizations as the Koch Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the NRA.

But this isn’t the moment Google comes out as a closet Republican. It’s actually quite in keeping with Google’s position of aggressive neutrality.

Google says that it’s there because it’s a great place to promote their election-tracking site, push Google+ as a platform for sharing and collaborating, and because the conference is fairly young and tech-savvy. Hard to accuse them of pandering, or of partisan pandering anyway.

And that’s sort of the point. Google will no doubt be sponsoring similar events on the left side of the political spectrum as well (they say as much, but haven’t announced anything specific). The message is: hey, we just provide a service. No agenda here.

Not that Google is totally apolitical, but their fierce opposition to SOPA was more like a mother bear defending its cubs than a deliberate political decision. On the other hand, they did go out of their way to take an official stance against Proposition 8. By and large, though, they have avoided taking a stance on hot-button issues.

Can Google actually remain neutral? SOPA was the product of bipartisan ignorance and greed, not just left or right, but what if the next bill threatening a Google territory were to be led by one party or the other? Or what if Google refuses to support, say, a communications embargo with a terrorist-harboring country, or such like? The dance they’re doing will become increasingly difficult if they insist on putting their neutrality on a pedestal for much longer.

On the other hand, this may be overthinking it. Why can’t a company spend a little cash to have a ring in the political circus, and not choose sides overtly? No reason. But, as has been observed in other contexts, sometimes the only winning move is not to play.

Today is National Wear Red Day and Klout has teamed up with the American Heart Association to raise awareness for heart disease. Be one of the first to see the Director’s Cut of “Just a Little Heart Attack,” a short film directed by Emmy-nominated Elizabeth Banks. The film is inspired by real-life stories of women affected by heart disease.

The first 5000 influencers to opt-in will receive a free Red Dress lapel pin!

Use your Klout for good and join us in the #GoRed movement today. Visit GoRedForWomen.org to learn more and spread the word!

How do you use your Klout for good?

Today is National Wear Red Day and Klout has teamed up with the American Heart Association to raise awareness for heart disease. Be one of the first to see the Director’s Cut of “Just a Little Heart Attack,” a short film directed by Emmy-nominated Elizabeth Banks. The film is inspired by real-life stories of women affected by heart disease.

The first 5000 influencers to opt-in will receive a free Red Dress lapel pin!

Use your Klout for good and join us in the #GoRed movement today. Visit GoRedForWomen.org to learn more and spread the word!

How do you use your Klout for good?

From Jennifer Gregory:

Facebook has become an integral part of marketing for many realtors. It's a way to spread the word about their services and reach new clients. In many ways, Facebook is the online version of what successful realtors have been doing for years:...

Android malware has been an issue over the past year. Granted, most of the numbers we see out of security software companies are inflated — including malicious apps from third-party sources and ignoring small download figures — but that’s not to say that we can just brush that dirt off our shoulders.

Google knows this, and has for a while. Despite the fact that downloads of malicious apps are down 40 percent between the first and second half of 2011, seeing that 14,000, 30,000, or even 260,000 devices have been affected by this or that malicious app requires action. That said, Google is adding a new security layer to the Android Market: codenamed Bouncer.

Originally, the Android market implemented three different methods for ridding the market of malware: sandboxing, permissions, and malware removal. Sandboxing keeps one app from infiltrating another, with one very important exception: permissions. Google sees its permissions system as a layer of security in and of itself, but permissions can actually be seen as a vulnerability. In some cases, the reasons behind the permissions a developer asks for aren’t immediately obvious to the user, and it can be tough to check everything, especially to the novice user.

Past that, Google’s always been good about removing malware from the market as soon as the company becomes aware of it, and in some cases, has even remotely wiped affected devices of malicious apps. The tool is a useful one to say the least, but it’s not enough.

Bouncer adds another level of security to the platform, automatically scanning new and existing apps for known bits of malicious code. Google has actually been scanning apps whenever new malicious code is discovered, but Bouncer will automate the process, scanning for known spyware and trojans, too. Bouncer runs every new application on Google’s cloud infrastructure and simulates how it’ll run on a device. That way, Google can see straight away whether an app is misbehaving and flag it accordingly.

Another smart feature is that Bouncer isn’t 100 percent automated. Once something is flagged, there’s a manual process for confirming the app is indeed malicious, reducing the risk of false positives.

To be quite honest, the Android platform is way more secure than most people think. I spoke with Android VP of engineering Hiroshi Lockheimer, and he seems to feel the same way. “There’s this impression that Android is a huge target for malware, and I really don’t think that’s the case,” said Lockheimer. Google polices the Market, scans for known malicious code (though most instances of flagging in the past have been from users notifying Google), and is quick to act when an issue pops up. But where the platform has fallen short (in one respect), is the developer registration process.

Becoming an Android developer is as easy as pie. I actually did it myself just to see how easy it is, and it literally takes five minutes and $25. After clicking accept a few times, you’re good to go. In fact, developers can register under pseudonyms if they’d like.

From a certain perspective, this is amazing. It allows young entrepreneurs to offer a product to millions of users for a very low cost, lowering the bar for developers who can’t afford to jump through Apple’s hoops. At the same time, it makes it easy for malware writers to get the ball rolling.

Sophos blogger Vanja Svajcer said it best:

The requirements for becoming an Android developer that can publish apps to the Android Market are far too relaxed. The cost of becoming a developer and being banned by Google is much lower than the money that can be earned by publishing malicious apps. The attacks on the Android Market will continue as long as the developer requirements stay too relaxed.

With Bouncer, Google is recognizing this issue without making things difficult on developers. Devs will still be able to submit an app and see it in search results within minutes — Bouncer’s scanning process only takes seconds — and they’ll still be able to register for $25 and a few clicks on “Accept.”

But… now that Bouncer is in place, previous offenders will have a much more difficult time sneaking back on to the platform by registering under a new name. According to Google’s blog post, the search giant will be “analyzing new developer accounts to help prevent malicious and repeat-offending developers from coming back.”

This is what I believe will make the biggest difference when it comes to the threat of Android malware, and I’m more than thrilled that the company is making it a priority moving forward.

From Alexandra Levit:

Bulbstorm is a marketing startup based in Phoenix with 25 employees that offers a social engagement platform that allows users to create interactive Web experiences. The company’s employees are always looking for creative ways to get people...

Here's what @Giants & @Patriots'll be fighting 4 Sunday: Lombardi trophy, on-set 4 Super Bowl LIVE. #nfltotalaccess twitter.com/nflnetwork/sta…

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 30, 2012

From Jane Applegate:

Embracing social media and garnering celebrity endorsements are two strategies Lion Brand Yarn uses to ensure prosperity in these challenging economic times. “We combine an old-world, traditional product with cutting-edge marketing,”...

This Sunday the New England Patriots will face the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. Whether you’re in it to watch commercials, sweat over Ron Gronkowski’s injury, check out Madonna’s half-time show, or worship Eli Manning’s right arm, the Super Bowl has something for you.

This year could be the most social Super Bowl yet as fans everywhere collectively cry, argue, jeer, rejoice and more on social media using whatever gadgets they have on hand. To help you get the most out of your social bowl experience, we’ve found the people you should be tuning into on Twitter. With that, we present to you the Super Bowl XLVI Influence All-Stars that include NFL analysts, the top influencers on the #Superbowl, and of course, players from the Giants and Patriots teams.

On a more humorous note, Lord Voldemort, the parody of the infamous villain from the Harry Potter series, made an ominous prediction that spread through the Twittersphere like wildfire. The Dark Lord wrote:

Vinny Guadagnino, reality star from the Jersey Shore, made waves simply by expressing some honest New York Giants fan love:

Last but not least, Rob Gronkowski, tight end for the New England Patriots, sent many people ROFLing when he tweeted as his brother Chris Gronkowski, fullback for the Indianapolis Colts.

We’d like to thank our friends at @TweetStarGame for their help putting together the top Super Bowl players. They’ve also made a sweet Super Bowl page that will help you connect with all the players from both teams this weekend. Check it out!

Will you be watching the Super Bowl? What are you looking forward to seeing? Which team are you rooting for?