“The Science of Social Media”

Yesterday the IPG interns had a learning session with Chairman of Weber Shandwick, Jack Leslie.  Fellow Jack Morton intern Dylan Young asked the intriguing and essentially rhetorical question of how brands, companies etc. can go about calculating the value of a “like” on Facebook, or a retweet on Twitter. Leslie acquiesced that this question does not yet have a correct or verifiable answer. The Gawker attached article elaborates more on this idea with some scientific analysis, but the answer remains elusive.