Kevin Smith was asked to get off a Southwest flight because of his size, and the controversy over Southwest’s Customer of Size policy was re-ignited. I’ve got a lot of feelings on the issue, and I’ve broken them into 3 parts — the policy, the social media/pr response, and my personal feelings on the issue. It’s an epic but meaty tome that I hope everyone can learn something from.

What do all these items have in common? They are just some of the things we’ve given away to fans during Free Stuff Friday. Our Twitter giveaways have been very successful, and I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look into how we do them. At the least, I hope companies can stop using Twitter as just another avenue to push a marketing message.

Disemvoweling is a great tool, but like any great tool, it can be used for the wrong reasons. Hearst told one blogger to stop using it, but it seems to me the problem is with the blogger/moderator, not the tool.

EA had an interactive photo contest at Comic Con. But it’s not that simple. They encouraged patrons to “commit acts of lust” with their “booth babes”. Because apparently sexual harassment is awesome.

Sometimes in user generated content, the users bite back. Food Network found this out the hard way over the weekend.

Does your company have a social media policy, or are you considering one? I’ve taken a look at two corporate policies — Intel and the Wall Street Journal — and the differences are striking. Which one should you look to for guidance? Find out inside.