Tuesday's quick reads: Apple, Staples, and the 70 most important words for 2010

1.) Is Apple in control of its PR? (A View From Silicon Valley) -- Blogger Tim Dyson explores why almost all the news we read about Apple comes from rumor sites rather than Apple itself.

2.) Staples using social media to leak holiday price cuts (Social Media Business Council) -- Staples became one of the first retailers this holiday season to use Facebook to leak “Black Friday” deals. The office supply company posted several deals on products, varying from flash drives to GPS units to laptops, and price cuts are as high as 50%.

3.) Banks narrowing their social media focus (American Banker) -- Though Twitter's service is designed to communicate with a vast, online audience, some financial companies are now using it to reach specific groups or even individuals, a sharp contrast to some early efforts that were more akin to e-mail spam.

4.) Seventy words of unconventional wisdom for 2010 (Harvard Business Review) -- What better way for business thinkers to celebrate the holiday season than with the gift of great ideas? As the year 2009 draws to a close, Seth Godin, the innovator, writer, and blogger extraordinaire, has persuaded 70 other innovators, writers, and bloggers to participate in a project he calls What Matters Now.

Monday's quick reads

1.) Ignore Twitter? Major bands learn they better respond...and quick (Los Angeles Times) -- Separate incidents involving CNN, Amazon and Domino's Pizza reveal that fluency in the evolving language of digital public relations comes easier to some companies than others.

2.) Tweeting becomes a job opportunity (New York Times) -- Pizza Hut is looking for Summer Twinterns — i.e. a summer intern who uses Twitter — to aid the company in social media outreach.

3.) Americans blame ad agencies, media for economic crisis (Harris Interactive) -- Two-thirds of Americans believe ad agencies have at least some responsibility for the current economic crisis because they caused people to buy things they couldn’t afford, according to a new poll.

4.) How to handle a public relations crisis (Mass High Tech) -- Apple's cease and desist order against a start up highlights how companies can use blogs and social media to influence public opinion.