Social Software and Tagging

Joshua Clark Arrested for Facebook Post: "Hey Madison County Courthouse, Tick, Tick...Boom"

It's never a good idea to post statements online that may look like bomb threats, but with the Boston Marathon tragedy this week, it's especially unwise. Alton, Illinois, resident Joshua Clark, 29, learned that lesson the hard way. The Madison County Sheriff's Office says that an anonymous tipst ... More >>

The Crucial Mistake Most Bands Are Making With Facebook

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

Reports: Rue Lafayette Closes

The Lafayette Square café Rue Lafayette (2026 Lafayette Avenue; 314-772-2233) has closed, according to multiple reports. We first heard the news from the Twitter account of David Craig's Food Talk STL radio show: Something up with @ruelafayette. Facebook post says "to do divorce Rue had to close ( ... More >>

Amy Dunbar: Tardiness-Hating OB/GYN Now Most Reviled St. Louisan on Facebook

Hey, guess what, Chris Higgins? You are no longer the most reviled St. Louisan on Facebook! Your reign was short, though intense, but the torch has now been passed to Dr. Amy Dunbar, an OB/GYN at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur (aka the Baby Factory), who had the sheer, unmitigated ga ... More >>

2013 RFT Web Awards

Photocopier Goof Raised $4,000 for St. Louis Food Outreach

Atomicdust's Face Off Against Hunger Campaign was recently named Best Use of Social Media for a Civic Campaign in Riverfront Times 2013 Web Awards. For a full list of winners click here. A little more than a year ago, a few employees at St. Louis branding and marketing agency Atomicdust were work ... More >>

2013 RFT Web Awards Winners

It's been said that employees engaging in social media while at work cost the U.S. economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity. That's $4,452 per company, and it doesn't even factor in the economic losses from plain, old Web surfing. Throw that into the mix, and good lordy: No wonder the econom ... More >>

STLVegGirl Grows Local Vegetarian Community Through Education, Outreach and Twitter

Caryn Dugan's @STLVegGirl Twitter account was recently named Best Use of Twitter to Promote a Personal Brand in Riverfront Times 2013 Web Awards. For a full list of winners click here. Caryn Dugan adopted a vegan diet in 2008 for health reasons: Ten weeks after losing her father to cancer, Dugan ... More >>

Call It a Gut Check-In: Riverfront Times Partners with Foursquare

You already turn to the Riverfront Times for the latest in food, music, arts and more in St. Louis, and our annual Best of St. Louis is your bible for where to eat and drink and see and be seen. So why not let us help launch your political career as mayor of your favorite burger joint or taqueria, t ... More >>

Andrew's Bayou Ribs Joins St. Louis Food Truck Fleet

A couple of eagle-eyed readers let me know about a new food truck that has joined the St. Louis fleet: Andrew's Bayou Ribs. According to its Facebook page, the truck hit the St. Louis streets at the beginning of November. It was at St. Louis University on Wednesday and downtown today. We've reached ... More >>

Slay's Latest Playoff Wager [UPDATED]

Updated October 23: Were we the only ones who thought this would never happen? But let it be said of our mayor: He is a man who knows how to take his lumps. On the bright side, think of the flacks in the SF City Hall who have to eat t-rav now. Original post after the jump.

Kansas City Chiefs Tell Fan to "Get a Clue"

To quote a newsroom colleague, sometimes it feels like there should be the equivalent of a driver's test in order to qualify for an account on Twitter. Whoever is running the account for the Kansas City Chiefs seriously wrecked himself before he checked himself yesterday after angrily responding to ... More >>

Facebook War: Does Russ Carnahan Know How to Untag Attack Posts from Lacy Clay?

Rep. Lacy Clay's next big difference? "Our social media interns are better than your's."

The Final Guy Fieri Round-Up: Dressel's, Highway 61 Roadhouse and (Maybe) Espinos

Since last week, we've been stalking tracking the visits that Guy Fieri made while in town filming for Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Yesterday, we added The Shaved Duck (2900 Virginia Avenue; 314-776-1407) to a list that already included Anthonino's Taverna (2225 Macklind Avenue; 314-773-4455) and fo ... More >>

Mysterious New Taco Truck for St. Louis? [Updated]

Driving around the city this morning and early afternoon, I spotted a new -- to me, at least -- food truck. Tacomovil was painted across the back of the truck in big letters, so I assume that's the truck's name. Actually, I spotted it twice: first, heading westbound on Market Street; then, half an ... More >>

Win Tickets to Lotus at the Pageant

Lotus continues a recent spate of bands with roots in the jam scene at the Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard, 314-726-6161). The longstanding instrumental band will bring its newest, post-rock influenced vibe to the western-most club in St. Louis city on Saturday -- tickets are $22 (or $25 day-of-show ... More >>

St. Louis Is the Fourth-Most Romantic City

​Just in time for Valentine's Day (ugh, thanks Hallmark), Foursquare has determined that we're the fourth-most romantic city in the country. This information was gleaned by searching more than 1.5 billion check-ins made by couples on the social media system at typically romantic places such as win ... More >>

Point and Clique: The 2012 RFT St. Louis Web Awards

Murphy Lee, 2011 STL Twitter Champ: His Twenty Best Tweets

​ It used to be something that I just did while trapped in my car. Waiting to pick up a friend at the airport? Check Murphy Lee's Twitter account. Sitting in stopped traffic on the highway? Check Murphy Lee's Twitter account. Pull up to the crib and see a creeper hanging outside and need to wa ... More >>

Death Cab For Cutie Will Be Probably Won't Be At Vintage Vinyl At 6 p.m. TODAY! [Update]

GO GO GO​Final Update: Atlantic's web team accidentally posted the announcement to Death Cab's page instead of Marc Broussard's. Read more here. Update #2 (IMPORTANT): The initial post (and its sixty-plus ecstatic comments) has disappeared from Death Cab's Facebook Page and Twitter feed, whic ... More >>

Missouri Teachers Seek Clarity on New Law Prohibiting Them From "Friending" Students

Some teachers are giving the new law a big thumbs down.​Under a new Missouri law, teachers who "friend" a current or former student on Facebook could soon run afoul of state codes. Senate Bill 54 first raised flags back in June when a teacher urged its veto after he used Facebook to help locate st ... More >>

The Red Lion in Maplewood Closed [Updated]

​A reader reached out to us via Twitter to ask about the fate of the Red Lion (7336 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-645-4200). I stopped by just now, after its posted 11 a.m. opening, and found the restaurant closed and apparently empty of any employees about to open it. It looked as if some furni ... More >>

Check out the Newest LGBT Corner of Cyberspace

​With social media like Facebook and Twitter taking over the world, your social life is probably all about your online connections these days. It's that very connectivity, though, that's making traditional blogs lose out. As we reported back in May, the switch to social media as the preferred onli ... More >>

St. Louis Ranked No. 24 in List of Social Media Cities

St. Louis: Average tweety birds.​We're generally pretty skeptical of the endless number of lists ranking U.S. cities on everything from street crime to tipping servers at restaurants. That said, the list out this week from Men's Health seems somewhat scientific. Editors at the magazine compiled th ... More >>

Gut Check Joins Facebook (Poke Us and Die)

​Yes, Gut Check has been dragged kicking and screaming into the Aughts: We now have a Facebook page, which you can "Like." Join us there for all the news, insight and irreverence you've come to expect from this here blog and our Twitter account.Don't worry: We don't play Farmville, and we won't as ... More >>

Mayor Slay Cautiously Optimistic on Democratic Convention; Announcement Expected Any Day

Photo: Egan O'KeefeThe mayor and an attendee at last night's RFT Web Awards.​DailyRFT had a chance catch up with Mayor Francis Slay last night at Riverfront Times' Web Awards. (The mayor, btw, had a great time, according to his tweets.)After discussing social media with Slay -- a nominee for our c ... More >>

The Future of News? Media Trends Suggest Social Media, Partisan Reporting and Brevity

Social Media, Version 1.0​Amy Mitchell, deputy director of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism was in town yesterday to speak at a luncheon for PR professionals. Her topic, "The New News Consumer and the Future of News: Trends for 2011 and Beyond," also drew a fair numbe ... More >>

Chipotle Offers Facebook Users Buy One, Get One Free Deal

...or without eating a few burritos.​Have you seen The Social Network? You should. It's a great movie. One of my favorite parts is a brief moment when Mark Zuckerberg (as played by Jesse Eisenberg) is brainstorming what will become Facebook. On a dry-erase board he's made three columns to compare ... More >>

Digg, Digging, Dugg

If you're a social media person, then you probably know that the popular social bookmarking website Digg recently relaunched. Branded Digg Version 4, this new incarnation unleashed some radical changes on its users. Unfortunately, this transformation was not greeted with open arms. Many of Digg's l ... More >>

Hey, A to Z Finally Has a Facebook Page

Last week, I finally had the spare time to set up a Facebook page for this here blog. Click right here to add A to Z - Riverfront Times Music Blog on the 'book. You'll find links, random musical recommendations and perhaps even some exclusive contests over there.

Learn About the Civil War, Facebook-Style!

Image viaFun fact: What we call "pokes" now were actually cannonballs during the Civil War. ​Remember Barack Obama's Facebook feed? What a humorous, useful and easy way to learn about what our 44th president accomplished in his first 100 days in office!With the Civil War sesquicentennial upon us, ... More >>

Payment of $2,500 at Center of Latest Dana Loesch Pissing Match

Dana Loesch: Tea'd off, again.​There's some interesting bickering underway in the G.O.P. primary race for Missouri's 3rd Congressional District. And contrary to what you might expect, it doesn't involve the candidates hurling insults at each other -- at least not directly.The controversy surrounds ... More >>

Schlafly Beer's New iPhone App: A Gut Check Test Drive

[Editor's note: Schlafly Beer debuted its smart-phone app last month, and we asked two Gut Check bloggers, Robin Wheeler and Andrew Veety, to take it for a spin. Below, their respective reviews.] Robin Wheeler's take: ​Everyone loves a good shiny thing. Press a button and receive yummy tidbi ... More >>

Are You Against Local Control of the St. Louis Police Department? Then "Friend" It!

It's what you do when you're friends.​Is it me? Or does everyone and everything have a Facebook page these days? That said, are you a "friend" yet of this mouthful of a Facebook profile: "Citizens of the State of Missouri Against Local Control of the MPD-STL"?The Facebook page seems to have popped ... More >>

Video: I Blame Emily, "Facebook Friend"

Having a crush in the digital age is even more confusing than it was before we had Twitter, Facebook, text messaging and email. I mean, if someone doesn't respond to your direct message, is he not interested? That flirty Tweet directed to that one girl in California -- does it mean anything? A crypt ... More >>

Not To Be Outdone, St. Louis County Police Launch Twitter, Facebook Profiles

Yesterday we told you how the Chesterfield Police Department recently launched a Twitter account. Now the St. Louis County Police Department has followed suit. Apparently new police chief Tim Fitch (promoted to the position just last week) is more of a techie than predecessor Jerry Lee. In a press r ... More >>

Green Day Stopping by St. Louis on August 11

Hot on the heels of its super-anticipated release, 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day is stopping by St. Louis (oops, was not sent a venue, just assumed. Monday brain fart) on Tuesday, August 11, at least according to its publicist and MySpace page. Hear 90 seconds of new single "Know Your Enemy" at ... More >>

And the First Cardinal on Twitter Is...

None other than Todd Wellemeyer. Congrats Todd. Notice the pitcher is following the Chicago Cubs and conservative commentators Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh. But enough about politics, lets just hope Todalion, as he's known, tweets from the bench. Or the mound? Everyone else wastes time on Twitte ... More >>

Every Tweet Counts: Local Pols on Twitter

The politicians on Twitter -- that trendy micro-blogging service -- get free reign to speak directly to their constituents without being filtered by handlers, all in 140 characters or less. It seems like a deliciously easy tool for policy-makers bred on the sound-bite. However, there are a few head- ... More >>

CDC Goes New-Media Crazy over Salmonella Outbreak

www.cdc.gov Regular Gut Check readers know that the recall of peanut-butter products possibly contaminated by salmonella has dominated the food-news headlines these past few weeks. Now the CDC, FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services are turning to so-called new media to convey the lates ... More >>

7 Shot Screamers Touring with Horrorpops

Feisty Bulldog -- Closing.

Tonight at CBGB: A Faulty Chromosome, Mahtpa and

Ashley Grills Allegedly Admits Role in Megan Meier MySpace Hoax

Things Cancelled Tonight, March 4

Deep Blue Something: Back from the Dead, and the Ocean Blue Leads Me Back to Chris Walla and St. Louis

Thee Fine Lines and the Nevermores -- *Not* at CBGB, But at Red Sea

Pokin Back: St. Charles Journal Defends Withholding of Drew Family's Name in Megan Meier Suicide Story

Press Release of the Day

Don't Fear the Editor

Hey, St. Louis musicians — don't be shy