If you work in PR and are interested in the latest thinking on the media industry, PR planning, media analysis and social media, these are the must-read stories from the last week.

This week’s top PR and social media picks:

• Once pronounced a failure as a social network, Google+ is reasserting itself with more integrated features and greater ease of use. More significantly (and worryingly for some), Author Rank will now affect search results, which has ramifications for content marketers (and just generally anyone publishing online content).
• Calling all PRs: several leading industry names are compiling the first ever PR annual, which will showcase the 100 “smartest, silliest, most sublime” ideas run between November 2011 and December 2012. You can find more info and a submission form here.
• Is big data in social media the new internet bubble? A New York Times opinion piece excellently examined this question (conclusion: it is too early to tell).
• Twitter is working to refine its search function in order to facilitate real-time news gathering and reporting.
• PR agency Twelve Thirty Eight released an amusing “buzzword report” on the PR jargon and practices most hated by journalists.
• Travel company Expedia released a series of clever ads forming phrases out of luggage tags (and yes, these are all real airport codes).

• National Newspapers of Ireland, which represents many of the country’s national and regional papers, is lobbying to have the act of linking defined as copyright infringement.
• PR agency Jam compiled a list of trends in social to look out for in 2013, including growth in social CRM software, big data analysis and social media measurement. (Click here to find out more about Gorkana‘s own social media offerings.)
• Figures showed that purchases made on phones and tablets increased by 81% from 2011 to 2012. The New York Times announced that “in e-commerce, the mobile revolution is here”.
• Mobile was also the focus of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). “Born mobile” (or “MO-bull”) was the tagline of tech company Qualcomm‘s keynote speech, which managed to incorporate Big Bird, Desmond Tutu, a Rolls Royce and Maroon 5.
• Web design firm Ciplex created a very relatable infographic profiling various types of nightmare clients.
• The Guardian released a tongue-in-cheek ad featuring Hugh Grant to promote its weekend supplements.

Can’t see the video? Click here.

• But will the kids still want them? McDonald’s announced plans to distribute more than 15m books with its Happy Meals by 2015, which would turn the fast-food chain into the UK’s largest book distributor.
• Check out Adobe‘s new campus in Utah (yes, it even has its own indoor basketball court).
• Toy company Bigjigs wrote a brilliant letter to the Department of Transport bidding to run the West Coast Main Line (you might remember last year’s snafu) and received a brilliant response in return.
• Fiat‘s ‘mummy rap’ advert for the new 500L continues to make waves and provoke debate.
• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that since 2009 11 employees have been sacked for breaching the company’s social media policy, with a further 105 disciplined.
• Bizarre news of the week: footballing legend Ronaldo (not Cristiano) will be moving to London to undertake a work placement with marketing group WPP head Sir Martin Sorrell.

Infographic of the week: Rise of the infographic

 Infographic by Top Marketing Schools.