Monday's quick reads: hospitals, bloggers, and how to deliver bad news to a group

1.) Why some hospitals keep missing the web bandwagon (Suburban Journals) -- Of all the factions that have embraced Twitter and other social media tools, one is largely absent from the mix, even though it relies heavily on making sure resources are available for customers: the hospital.

2.) Technorati releases 2009 State of the Blogosphere Report (PRSA) -- According to the first installment of Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere report, bloggers are generally an affluent and educated group. The report focuses on professional blogging activities, brands in the blogosphere, monetization, micro-blogging and bloggers’ impact on U.S. and international events.

3.) How to deliver bad news to a group (Harvard Business Review) -- Managers get lots of training on how to fire an individual employee but usually are left on their own when they have to deliver bad news to a group. No matter how skillfully you announce bad news, it's likely to cause anxiety, result in at least a temporary drop in productivity, and prompt some of your valued employees to look for work elsewhere.

4.) 5 small businesses using social media effectively (Mashable) -- The five companies profiled in this post show that making a splash using social media isn’t about the size of your budget and that the only limit is your creativity.