Do you recall back in 2006 when eco activists hijacked General Motors’ big Chevy Tahoe online marketing blitz, using the campaign to post their grievances with the automaker’s environmental track record prominently on its own web site? We didn’t know it then, but this savvy counter-attack kick-started the social media activist movement. It’s also motivated companies to better communicate their CSR accomplishments with the public. How are they doing? We tell you here.

Overwhelmed with the vast numbers of people tweeting about sustainability and CSR? We’re here to help. We’ve compiled the Green Twitterati – a list of 100 smart and informed sustainability Tweeters. It is all part of of our special report, co-produced with Custom Communication: the Social Media Sustainability Index.

Dell LogoIt’s a question that gets posed regularly within an organization: just how many people within the company should be trained to blog, Tweet or post on behalf of the brand? The answer?

Congratulations, your company has finally invested in a round-the-clock social media monitoring team that succeeds in finding, gulp!, irrefutable evidence that your staff consists of a few boorish, tyrannical creeps capable of ruining your customers’ day. What do you do next? Evidently, if you’re Alaska Airlines you write out a check for $1,000 to the aggrieved party and hope it goes away.

In Japan, Twitter is on the verge of knocking off the incumbent Mixi as the country’s top social networking platform. Meanwhile, Facebook’s popularity there is stagnant at best.

Gillette, much admired for its viral video prowess and digital marketing chops, recently wrapped up in the UK what may go down as the dullest ever social media campaign: a contest to determine the public’s preference between the bearded male or his clean-shaven brethren.

The economic outlook may look bleak, but it’s not likely to dent spending on social media marketing. A new study of small- and mid-sized businesses shows a healthy optimism for a strong return on social media investment, and, accordingly, an increased investment in this area. Their big focus? Yep, Twitter and Facebook.

We ask this question after Twitter revealed to the New York Times its latest growth figures in a profile this weekend of co-founder Evan Williams. Twitter has added an impressive 30 million users in the last two months, putting it at 175 million, far ahead of Facebook at the same point in its life cycle.

Okay, this factoid is a few days old, but it’s still worth noting. ComScore released last week its latest online audience reach numbers for social networks in the U.S. The winner? Yep. Facebook. By a mile.

Reuters’ latest vision of the transformative impact of social media holds lessons for not just big media, but big brands as well. Take a look.