A guest entry written by CustomScoop’s Sarah Wurrey.

I am a brand new Twitter devotee, thanks in part to Jim Horton’s latest white paper, a brief yet compelling examination of the possible public relations uses for the popular microblogging site. Jim breaks down the benefits and drawbacks of microblogging, and urges tech followers to hold off on calling it a fad—it could just become an important tool in the communicator’s arsenal. Also of note: Doug Haslam’s reaction to the paper.

When it comes to media relationships, is there such a thing as too much information? As social networks like Facebook have shifted into the business realm (particularly for PR), Todd Defren lays some ground rules for “friending� members of the media, recommending that if your page contains any content that may be labeled, to put it politely, “dubious,� you might still add media pros as friends, but give them only limited profile access. This ensures your relationship remains on solid ground without granting too much access to your personal life.

New media is like sex? Yes indeed, according to Chris Abraham at Marketing Conversations. In a somewhat “racy� post, Chris compares operating as a PR pro in 2.0 to seduction, pointing to transparency (the need to “know who you’re dealing with�) as the keystone of social media activities. And if you land in hot water? Deal with it straight up, and make the most of your mistake. Who knows, maybe the publicity you garner from mistakes can be just what you need.

In a post that just plain makes good sense, Susan Getgood examines some of the recent “blogstorms� that have plagued social media, focusing on both the Nikon blog loaner campaign and Debbie Weil’s misstep with the Alli blog. She defends her defense of the Nikon program, pointing out that the blogosphere’s “collective ability to navel gaze� seems to have gotten in the way here, as the program followed all the usual rules of engagement (full disclosure, etc), and that there’s nothing wrong with using existing PR relationships to get a little product promotion.

Since Geoff included a link regarding BarCamp DC last week, this week it’s BarCamp Manchester! CustomScoop was one of the sponsors of the event, held on July 28^th and attracting technology professionals from throughout New England. CustomScoop’s Ian Muir provides a rundown of the festivities here.

Sarah Wurrey is an account manager for CustomScoop, a media intelligence firm providing online news clipping services as well as blog monitoring and analysis. Aside from regular contributions to CustomScoop’s blog, she also serves as editor of PR Blog Jots, a daily rundown of conversations from top public relations and marketing blogs. Sarah shares thoughts on social media and technology at her personal blog, and can also be found on Twitter, Facebook and Pownce.