To cap off the week, we’re bringing you a round-up of stories related to the Consumer Electronics show in Vegas, which ends today. What you see on the floor at this show may impact how we digest – and potentially engage with – all forms of media, from Traditional to Social. Some (ahem, The Atlantic) have questioned it’s potential to attract game changing technology, however it’s easy to see the everyday business value in showing here. That, and sometimes it’s not about breaking boundaries but rather evolving and pushing the current envelope ever so slightly to prep consumers for even bigger break throughs. Curious to see some of what you might expect in the coming year? Read on for our favorite stories and trends:

• From a computerized fork that alerts you when you’re eating too fast to the most high-def television EVER, the team at HuffPost Tech reveals the gadgets they found most intriguing here.
• Technology is still (mostly) missing the mark with women, says AdAge panel. Agreed?
• Rad or bad:  Snooki attracts more attention than Bill Clinton. (via Mashable)
• Death to 3D in 2013? Read more at PSFK.

We’re so immersed in our social media worlds on a daily basis that it comes as no surprise that digital habits could impact our mental and physical well-being. Behold, the latest strange (and awesome) news about the intersection of social media and health:

1) Interactive Billboard Makes a Point About Domestic Abuse:

In the category of “Social Media for Good”, we find this gem from the UK: An interactive billboard in a London trainstation allows passersby to stop a man from verbally abusing a woman on a billboard. Viewers watch as a man berates a woman above them in the station, and are encouraged to go to a website where they can “swipe” the man away – who physically gets moved several hundred feet away in the terminal. While it’s an obvious oversimplification of a scary situation, the point is driven home that sometimes, a phone call is all it takes to separate a victim from his or her abuser.

2) Oversharing on Facebook as Satisfying as Sex?

You read that right – in a new study out of none other than Harvard University, 300 participants were asked to disclose opinions and other information about themselves during an fMRI scan. Researchers found that the pleasure centers in the brain were “robustly” activated, as much so as when indulging in a favorite food, getting money, or partaking in… uh, sex. Feel free to drop that little nugget into your next proposal when a client laments, “I just don’t get the appeal of Facebook…”

3) Hospital to Live Tweet Brain Surgery

And finally, under the heading of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”… Houston’s Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital will be live tweeting a brain surgery this Wednesday. Set your alarm – the event starts at 8:30am EST sharp with the first incision expected around 10. The best part? Not only will they be tweeting the event, but the pictures will be up on Pinterest for all to see! This isn’t the first time the hospital has live-tweeted a surgery – their live tweet of an open-heart surgery earlier this spring was viewed an estimated 125 million times. Someone should tell them about the “Overshare” study above…

Remember back when you were a child, backing cookies with mom, or grandma? The aroma in the air, the taste of stolen bites of cookie dough? Chances were, the cookie recipe you were using with Mom was something she had gotten from a close friend, maybe even her own mom, or was recommended by one.

Enter the digital age. The way Americans source recipes, think about food, plan our meals, and learn to cook has drastically changed, according to a new study: Clicks & Cravings: The Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture. In a survey of more than 1,600 US adults, almost half reported learning about food and recipes via social networking sites, and 40% learn about food via websites, apps or blogs. This marks a dramatic shift from the sensory food experience that dominated our learning (relying on smell and taste) to a new, rational one: What’s on the label? What are the ingredients? What does it look like? By relying on digital and social media, we’re inadvertently “crowdsourcing” our food before we decide what to eat, make, or buy.

So what does this mean for food and grocery brands online? Engaging with consumers needs to go beyond a collection of fans and followers and into the realm of meaningful conversations and emotional connections. The payoff to this approach is the creation of brand advocates and a connection that will drive influence. The study groups consumers’ engagement with grocery brands online into three categories:

- Spectators: The largest group, using social media as an extension of family and friends, looking for recipes, information, and good deals.

- Dreamers: Content curators leveraging social networks and looking to increase their influence.

- Doers: The core of food-related social media, creating content that inspires followers.

By keeping these consumer groups in mind, grocery brands can create a variety of content to appeal to each of these consumer segments. Posting recipes, for example, will engage the Spectators, but offering consumers the opportunity to share their own recipes will inspire the Dreamers and Doers.

The bottom line? The shift in consumer behavior has provide a lot of opportunity for grocery brands online. A clear strategy incorporating different consumer values will pay off with emotionally connected advocates and ultimately, brand loyalty.