In an industry marked by heated rivalry and frequent corporate sniping, the top executives at the nation's leading wireless carriers are united in their call for policymakers to free up more spectrum to boost the capacity in their mobile broadband networks.

Several months ago when Twitter introduced its lists feature, social media consultant Allen Mireles checked to see which lists included her. "I wanted to see if the lists I was on were a reflection of how I wanted to be viewed on Twitter," she says. She found two surprises: A porn star had included her on a list and another user listed her under "people I've seen naked"-a surprise, she says, because she had never met the person.

The reputations of organisations are taking a beating in social media, with consumers going so far as to boycott companies based on comments made on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, a new survey has found.