Weekly Comms News Round Up 17/11/2013

Twitter’s stock market debut is the most talked about news of the week. The social media giant opened its shares to the public at 2pm today and the trading price is expected to rise in the coming hours. In other news, a new study has found that nearly all UK journalists are now on Twitter and find it essential to do their work. Here’s my pick of the top comms stories in the past week curated via @CisionUK.

Twitter valued at more than $14bn after IPO share price is fixed at $26 by @dominicru via The Guardian
Twitter will be valued at more than $14bn (£8.7bn) when the social media company starts selling its shares on Thursday. The company said it was pricing its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 70 million shares of its common stock at $26 per share, raising $1.82bn in new money and leaving the company valued at $14.2bn.

The share price has risen as the company’s executives have been making their case to investors on their “roadshow”. Twitter had originally estimated a price range of $17-$20, but on Monday that was upped to $23-$25.

Cision Social Journalism Study 2013: Half of UK journalists can’t live without social media
Nearly all UK journalists use social media for work on a daily basis, and almost half say they would be unable to work without it, according to latest Social Journalism Study 2013 from Cision and Canterbury Christ Church University .

According to the study, the frequency of social media use among UK journalists has increased for the third year running, as has the diversity of tools used. Twitter is the most important social media tool with 92% of respondents using it regularly for work. The number of journalists using LinkedIn to some extent saw the biggest increase over the last two years, going up from 53% to 83%.

Tesco petrol stations use face-scan tech to target ads via The BBC
Tesco is installing face-scanning technology at its petrol stations to target advertisements to individual customers at the till. The technology, made by Lord Sugar’s digital signage company Amscreen, will use a camera to identify a customer’s gender and approximate age.

Michael Kors releases first Instagram advert by @BibbySowray via The Telegraph
US fashion label Michael Kors has become the first brand to advertise on Instagram, and Burberry will follow suit

The post, which debuted on Friday, shows a gold Kors watch set amongst a Parisian-themed still life, which includes macaroons, a Polaroid shapshot and elegant cup and saucer. The photo-sharing social network announced a week ago that adverts would begin to filter into all user’s feeds in the near future from brands like Levi’s, Macy’s and Ben & Jerry’s, but Kors’s is the first to be released. Techno-minded British heritage brand Burberry is set to follow suit in the coming weeks.

Eminem named Artist of the Year at first YouTube awards via The BBC
The first ever YouTube awards have been held in New York, with actor Jason Schwartzman and musician Reggie Watts presiding over a frenetic ceremony.

As YouTube is a video-sharing site, the event featured Eminem, Lady Gaga and M.I.A making live music videos directed by the awards’ creator, Spike Jonze, and others. Eminem won Artist of the Year, while Taylor Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble took the YouTube Phenomenon award. The ceremony was streamed live online.