When PR stands for "Papal Relations"

The was an article recently on The Verge about the Pope using a Sony Tablet S, Sony's answer to the iPad, to light a Christmas display in a city a hundred miles away from the Vatican.

Obviously, this could very well turn into a post about technology adoption by atypical demographics.

However, the more important part of this equation to me is that the significant emphasis on the Sony Tablet's role suggests this was purely a PR move. If that theory holds true, then it's an interesting strategy on Sony's part.

Despite fairly positive reviews of its performance and unique design, the Sony Tablet S hasn't made waves in the increasingly-crowded tablet market, failing to dethrone the iPad.

Some may question the relevance of using a religious figure to promote a tablet, seeing as how the Pope's influence doesn't necessarily extend to a tech-heavy audience and most of the early adopters the tablet appeals to aren't influenced by the Pope.

But because of that overcrowding of the tablet market, the talking points for Sony can't revolve around the device itself. Tech readers have become inundated with specs and require alternative means of grabbing their attention.

That's where PR comes in.

One of the most basic goals of public relations is to generate conversation and get people talking, and there's no denying this story did the trick. They were able to combine an interesting story with the timeliness of the holiday season, without it coming across as a cheap stunt.

Wordless Wednesday: 7 Companies Who Made Major Pivots in Strategy

Facebook "friends" Gowalla to bolster location features

It's no secret that Facebook, despite its social media prowess, has struggled in the location-based social networking. It's Facebook Places feature has been underwhelming to say the least, and is far from a Foursquare-killer.

In what appears to be an effort to possibly grow that location-based service, Facebook announced today that it bought out Gowalla. Facebook has already said that the Gowalla management team will be integrated into Facebook's staff, and the service will be shut down in January.

Seeing as how Gowalla is was the third biggest player in the location-based game, it's safe to say that it is now a two-horse race between Facebook and Foursquare.

However, Gowalla made it clear that Facebook didn't buy any user data, and that existing users will be able to export their information before the shutdown.

It will be interesting to see what direction both companies go now that they are dominating the market, given that the social media buzz hasn't been surrounding location-based marketing for some time now.

YouTube Gets a Makeover

by Ashley Haugen

Things may look a little different next time you log into YouTube. The video website has gone through a major re-design to highlight subscriptions and channels. When you login, you will be greeted with a new homepage that shows recent activity from all of your subscriptions. What I like most though about the new YouTube is their Facebook and Google+ integration.

The re-design sets up YouTube to become a bigger competitor to cable TV. With millions of Youtube channels, the new homepage allows you to better organize and watch the things that interest you the most. "[YouTube] is a container for all the world's video, and it needs to be the best home for that," says Margaret Stewart, director of User Experience at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.

Besides the appealingly simplistic design, it encourages the user to find new content through the the trending, popular, music and entertainment links on your home page. In the left navigation bar, there are also links to Facebook and Google+. Clicking these displays videos that your friends on either network have shared. Having these all in one easy, clean space is very attractive.

Check it out for yourself, or watch this video showcasing the new design.

The newest Facebook change appeals to the novelist in all of us

If Twitter's approach to communication in the digital age is short and sweet, it's safe to say that Facebook is trying to establish itself on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Facebook just announced they are once again increasing the maximum character limit for status updates to over 60,000 characters.

To put the new 63,206 character limit in perspective, it's the equivalent to just over 451 tweets! In fact, I'd be able to post this Daily Axioms blog (title and all) more than 44 times in a single status update!

As I alluded to earlier, this is hardly the first time Facebook has increased how much users can post per status update. Here's a quick timeline of the changes:

• Facebook's launch through March 2009: A Twitter-esque 160 characters.

• March 2009-July 2011: More than doubles to 420 characters.

• July 2011-September 2011: Facebook adds an extra half-tweet's worth to make it an even 500 characters.

• September 2011-November 2011: A huge 1000% increase, allowing for 5,000 character updates.

• Today: This latest spike brings the total to 63,206 characters per update.

Granted, just because people can post over 60,000 characters doesn't mean they will. More importantly, will there be a user backlash from news feeds clogged with posts that are long enough to be printed and bound in a library?

How do you feel about Facebook's latest update?