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Fortune 500 companies got into the Twittering act in a big way last year, according to a study released by the Society for New Communications Research. Thirty-five percent of Fortune 500 corporations had an active Twitter account as of last year (i.e., one with a post within the past 30 days), according to the study.

Fortune 500 companies got into the Twittering act in a big way last year, according to a study released by the Society for New Communications Research.

Thirty-five percent of Fortune 500 corporations had an active Twitter account as of last year (i.e., one with a post within the past 30 days), according to the study.

Among the top 100 companies on the roster, 47 percent had a Twitter account. Twenty-two percent of all Fortune 500 companies had a “public-facing corporate blog,” and more than eight in 10 of those linked directly to a corporate Twitter account.

Four of the top five corporations — Walmart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and General Electric — “consistently post on their Twitter accounts,” according to the study, titled “The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies.” (ExxonMobil was the exception.)

In a breakdown by industry, 13 of the Fortune 500 insurance companies had an active Twitter account, making that sector the most likely to tweet. Eleven of the food-related companies used Twitter.

Elsewhere on the new-media front, the study found 19 percent of Fortune 500 corporations using podcasting and 31 percent using video blogging. The rise in podcasting from the previous year was fairly modest (up from 16 percent). But the rise in video blogging was steep (from 21 percent in 2008). The study did not include comparative data from 2008 for companies’ Twitter usage.

The study was conducted by Nora Ganim Barnes, senior fellow and research chair of the Society for New Communications Research (as well as a marketing professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), and Eric Mattson, CEO of Financial Insite, a Seattle-based research firm. —Mark Dolliver, Adweek

There are some days when I wake up and have to remind myself of this very point… it’s not all bad news.

It’s been a really hard year for most of us (if not all of us) and some days it’s hard to pick myself up out of bed every morning and go to work. The company I’m currently working for recently did lay-offs in my office. I was one of the lucky ones who was spared my job but was informed that I will be moving to a new division of the company. I’m currently in music and am moving to the film division… an area that I’m not unfamilar with having worked in music licensing for TV shows and films.

My brother works for General Motors and has been lucky enough in his career to have advanced through the ranks into a management position. He currently is doing the job of 3 people and has the job titles of 3 people to go along with it! With GM declaring bankrupcy my parents (who are both retired) and I are waiting to see what the future has in store for my brother and the entire city of Oshawa.

The good news is that we are all pulling together and understand that this is what we have to do to get by until bigger and better things come our way. We are both in our 30’s which is lucky for my brother and I… being young in times of economic uncertainty does have its advantages.

To cheer myself up I spend a lot of time with family, friends and loved ones. DJing also keeps a nice bright smile on my face. It’s such a great escape to get behind the decks and just throw down an awesome set that everyone on the dance floor enjoyed just as much as me. I also spend a lot of time outdoors (I know it’s hard to believe with how busy my life and my schedule is!). Here are some photos I took on a recent walk with Kenny and Winston.

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