Social Media

Your Social Media Manager Needs to Know Your Business
June 20, 2013

We all know by now that social media is important for business success. It plays a role in sales, marketing and support. Then there's the idea of social CRM -- on a basic level, the inclusion of social media-generated data in the customer record -- which can help shift the way a business interacts with customers to a more intimate and effective level. That's common knowledge.

Instagram Video Could Be Facebook's Mobile Ace in the Hole
June 18, 2013

Buzz is building over Facebook's rumored plan to launch a mobile video app for Instagram at an event on Thursday. Video functionality in Instagram, the company Facebook purchased for $1 billion in April of last year, would be a direct challenge to Twitter's Vine app. Vine lets users take 6-second videos on iOS or Android devices and share them on Vine's own network, Twitter or Facebook.

Tech Giants Dump Data in Trust-Rebuilding Bid
June 17, 2013

In the wake of recent revelations that the government has been tapping their networks to monitor users, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft in recent days have all published more information about those monitoring requests. Facebook, for example, reported that for the six months ending December 31, 2012, the number of user-data requests it received from U.S. government entities was between 9,000 and 10,000.

Crowdsourcing Entertainment Marketing via Social Media
June 17, 2013

Movie studios and TV networks increasingly are turning to social media for help with generating buzz about their upcoming releases and programming. Communities are building around favorite movie franchises and TV shows. Have movie and show producers really been listening -- and if they have, has anything changed because of what they've heard? Yes -- and maybe.

Foursquare Paves a New Path Down Memory Lane
June 14, 2013

Mobile technologies may tend to focus on life's present and future, but Foursquare this week launched a feature that gives users new insight into the past. Specifically, the location-based social networking service on Thursday introduced the Foursquare Time Machine, a tool that allows users to retrace the steps of their past check-ins through a digital visualization.

Facebook Pushes Public Conversations with New Clickable Hashtags
June 13, 2013

Social media websites including Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr have all adopted the "clickable hashtag" widely popularized by Twitter, and on Wednesday Facebook joined the proverbial club. "To date, there has not been a simple way to see the larger view of what's happening or what people are talking about," explained Greg Lindley, a product manager at Facebook.

Facebook Pares Down Its Menu of Ad Options
June 08, 2013

Facebook will simplify its advertising structure in an effort to make it easier for marketers to determine which products will help them best reach consumers, the company announced this week. Advertisers currently face a choice of 27 different formats on the social network, but the streamlining effort will cut that back to fewer than half that number.

No 'Big Yellow Duck' on Chinese Twitter
June 04, 2013

The anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 has prompted Chinese authorities to expand the list of words and phrases barred from Sina Weibo, the country's Twitter-like platform. This is par for the course in China, where in 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 -- basically every year social media has been huge -- the Net police have exerted extra authority to squelch conversation about the event.

Twitter's Vine Climbs Over to Android
June 04, 2013

Twitter's Vine has sprouted on Android, allowing users to post 6-second videos with tweets. Vine became available for Apple's iOS months ago, but until now, Android users have been left out of the fun. Now they can get into the thick of it as well. "Android owners: Welcome to Vine," said Android engineer Sara Haider. "Starting today, you can begin to shoot, share and watch short looping videos."

Collaborative Online Shopping: The Next Wave in E-Commerce
May 28, 2013

Shopping with friends has been a mainstay of the retail industry since stores were first introduced. Online shopping, on the other hand, has largely remained a solo experience. This is changing. That's because the Internet is becoming a social platform, as seen in the explosive growth and worldwide popularity of social networks like Facebook and Pinterest.

Facebook Scrubs European Launch of Home, HTC First
May 24, 2013

It has been about a month since Facebook unveiled the keys to its mobile problems -- its Facebook Home app and the HTC First, a smartphone designed specifically around Home. To date, though, the progress of these duel initiatives has been less than encouraging. European carriers Orange and EE have delayed the rollout of the First, apparently at Facebook's behest.

Teens Starting to See Facebook as Old and Creepy
May 22, 2013

Facebook may have a budding problem on its hands with its teenagers, suggests a report released Tuesday by Pew Research Center. Teens expressed waning enthusiasm for Facebook in focus groups, according to Pew, saying they disliked the growing number of adults on the site, were annoyed by "inane" status updates, and viewed the drama commonly played out on Facebook as draining.

Pinterest Tacks On Brand-Friendly Features
May 20, 2013

Pinterest on Monday announced new features and relationships with brands that will bring more functionality to its pins. The features, according to the social bookmarking company, will make the pins more "useful." Pinterest introduced its new features in a Monday blog post. Pins now show more information, so users have more than photos to help them determine interest.

Yahoo's 2013 Shopping Spree May Include Tumblr
May 18, 2013

Yahoo is reportedly looking to purchase microblogging platform and social networking website Tumblr for $1 billion. Tumblr is considered one of the coolest companies on the Internet because of its appeal to younger users -- the very demographic that Yahoo, which recently characterized its users as aging, is now attempting to reach.

Google+ Photos Get the Pinterest Touch
May 16, 2013

Continuing its revamp of the Google+ social network that began in March, Google announced on Wednesday the addition of 41 new features and a redesign of the service, which it claims has 190 million active users. The changes focus on three areas -- the Google+ stream, photos, and the Hangouts feature.

Facebook's Road Trip May Include a Stop to Buy Waze
May 10, 2013

Rumors that Facebook is deep into the process of purchasing Waze -- maker of a mobile satellite navigation app that leverages crowdsourced mapping and traffic tips -- are making the rounds. Facebook has apparently signed the terms and is conducting due diligence after six months of negotiations.

YouTube Trends Map Shows What You Like to Watch
May 08, 2013

YouTube viewers curious about what other users are watching across the country can now find out, thanks to a new feature from the streaming video site that displays data about what is being shared and viewed throughout the U.S. The new YouTube Trends Map, which made its debut this week, is an interactive graphic map of the country that displays which videos are the most popular.

Where Your Social Media Accounts Go When You Die
May 08, 2013

One of my childhood friends, who was also a Facebook friend, died in 2009. Yet I still get messages from Facebook encouraging me to connect with his Facebook page. Has that ever happened to you? Or have you ever sent an email to a colleague, only to learn from other sources that the person is deceased? What happens to their digital content?

LinkedIn's Bright Q1 Dimmed by Weaker Forecast
May 03, 2013

Despite revenue gains that beat expectations for LinkedIn's quarterly earnings report Thursday, investors sent the company's stock falling when the company forecast lower-than-expected guidance. LinkedIn reported revenue of $324.7 million for its most recent quarter, a 72 percent jump from the 188.5 million it brought in a year earlier.

Facebook's New Security Feature Puts Friends First
May 03, 2013

Have you forgotten or lost your Facebook password? Relax. You can now turn to friends for help. Facebook on Thursday rolled out Trusted Contacts account recovery, a feature it has tested with a limited number of people as the Trusted Friends capability since 2011. Users can select three to five trusted contacts from their security settings at any time.