Sabtu, 27 Februari 2010

Mashable: Latest 25 News Updates - including “HTML5 Knocks Out Adobe Flash in Reader Vote”

Mashable: Latest 25 News Updates - including “HTML5 Knocks Out Adobe Flash in Reader Vote”

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HTML5 Knocks Out Adobe Flash in Reader Vote

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 07:15 PM PST

A few weeks ago, tensions between Adobe and Apple rose to all-time highs after Apple prominently left Flash off of the iPad. A lashing by Steve Jobs, calling Adobe lazy and Flash buggy didn’t help matters at all.

The problem: Apple believes that Flash shouldn’t be part of the web’s future. Instead, the company believes that HTML5 is what will define the web and would love to see more developers adopt it instead of Flash. Now that big video sites such as YouTube are testing support for HTML5, Steve could be getting his wish.

That’s why we asked you, the readers, to tell us where you stand on the issue. Adobe Flash vs. HTML5: which is better for the future of the web? After over 6000 votes…

HTML5 handily knocked out Adobe Flash. With 3,891 votes, HTML5 garnered 61% of the polls. Adobe Flash was able to muster 1,779 votes (28%), while 660 said it was a tie (10%).

Next week, we’ll do it all over again with another web faceoff. Be sure to tune in and vote!



Faceoff Series: Overall Results


Week 1:
- Mozilla Firefox vs. Google Chrome
- WINNER: Firefox, 4600 votes (Chrome: 3310 votes, Tie: 911 votes)

Week 2:
- Tumblr vs. Posterous
- WINNER: Tumblr, 1809 votes (Posterous: 1496 votes, Tie: 256 votes)

Week 3:
- Pandora vs. Last.fm
- WINNER: Last.fm, 1187 votes (Pandora: 1156 votes, Tie: 122 votes)

Week 4:
- Twitter vs. Facebook
- WINNER: Facebook, 2484 votes (Twitter: 2061 votes, Tie: 588 votes)

Week 5:
- WordPress vs. Typepad
- WINNER: WordPress, 2714 votes (Typepad: 267 votes, Tie: 357 votes)

Week 6:
- Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard
- WINNER: Windows 7, 3632 votes (Snow Leopard: 3278 votes, Tie: 121 votes)

Week 7:
- TweetDeck vs. Seesmic Desktop
- WINNER: TweetDeck, 3294 votes (Seesmic Desktop: 1055 votes, Tie: 260 votes)

Week 8:
- Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs
- WINNER: Microsoft Office, 1365 votes (Google Docs: 994 votes, Tie: 315 votes)

Week 9:
- Apple iPhone vs. Google Android
- WINNER: Google Android, 3323 votes (Apple iPhone: 1494 votes, Tie: 228 votes)

Week 10:
- AT&T vs. Verizon
- WINNER: Verizon, 1161 votes (AT&T: 538 votes, Tie: 118 votes)

Week 11:
- Google vs. Bing
- WINNER: Google, 2180 votes (Bing: 519 votes, Tie: 97 votes)

Week 12:
- iPod Touch/iPhone vs. Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP
- WINNER: iPod Touch/iPhone, 704 votes (Sony PSP: 639 votes, Nintendo DS: 482 votes, Tie: 108 votes)

Week 13:
- Digg vs. Reddit vs. StumbleUpon
- WINNER: Digg, 14,762 votes (Reddit: 11,466 votes, StumbleUpon: 2507 votes, Tie: 1032 votes)

Week 14:
- Old versus new Twitter retweets
- WINNER: Old style retweets, 1625 votes (New style retweets: 699 votes, Tie: 227 votes)

Week 15:
- Gmail vs. Outlook
- WINNER: Gmail, 3684 votes (Outlook: 980 votes, Tie: 590 votes)

Week 16:
- Boxee vs. Hulu
- WINNER: Hulu, 626 votes (Boxee: 591 votes, Tie: 106 votes)

Week 17:
- Nexus One vs. iPhone 3GS
- WINNER: Nexus One, 6743 votes (iPhone 3GS: 2818 votes, Tie: 592 votes)

Week 18:
- Foursquare vs. Yelp vs. Gowalla
- WINNER: Foursquare, 1182 votes, (Yelp: 661 votes, Gowalla: 509 votes, Tie: 143 votes)

Week 19:
- AIM vs. GTalk vs. FbChat
- WINNER: GTalk, 2189 votes, (AIM: 1257 votes, FbChat: 511 votes, Tie: 203 votes)

Week 20:
- Music Ownership vs. Music Subscription
- WINNER: Ownership, 533 votes (Subscription: 299 votes, Tie: 237)

Week 21:
- Match.com vs. PlentyofFish
- WINNER: Plenty of Fish, 430 votes (Match.com: 334 votes, Tie: 187 votes)

Week 21:
- Google Buzz vs. Facebook Vs. Twitter
- WINNER: Facebook, 3353 votes (Twitter: 1828 votes, Google Buzz: 1298 votes, Tie: 651 votes)

[HTML5 image courtesy of justinsomnia on Flickr]


Reviews: Bing, Boxee, Chrome, Digg, Facebook, Firefox, Flickr, Foursquare, Gmail, Google, Google Buzz, Google Docs, Gowalla, Gtalk, Hulu, Pandora, Posterous, Seesmic Desktop, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, TweetDeck, Twitter, TypePad, Windows, WordPress, Yelp, YouTube, aim

Tags: adobe, adobe flash, Flash, HTML5, poll, web faceoff


New U.S. Military Policy Opens Up Social Media to the Troops

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 06:27 PM PST

A new policy released today by the Pentagon has reversed multiple bans on social media websites and tools, effective immediately. This policy includes YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Google Apps, and other social tools.

Certain branches of the military, such as the U.S. Marines, ban the use of social media because they are a “proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure.” Today’s decision, handed down by the Office of Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn, will reverse that ban and others, such as the one the U.S. Army has had on YouTube since 2007.

The new policy is far reaching, but as NYT’s At War Blog points out, it isn’t without caveats. The change only affects the military’s non-classified Internet network, known as NIPRNET. It also gives commanders at all levels leeway in temporarily banning specific social tools. In other words, you can expect some commanders to reinstate some of these bans for security reasons.

Regardless, we believe that today’s decision is a great step towards bringing families and friends closer to their loved ones overseas. More and more communication takes places over these channels — especially Facebook — and gives parents a chance to see what their son or daughter is up to and vice versa.

We look forward to learning more about the new policy in the coming months. If you are interested in reading the new policy, you can check out the PDF here


Reviews: Facebook, YouTube

Tags: Army, marines, military, social media, U.S., U.S. Military


FastMall Is Foursquare for Malls

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 05:37 PM PST

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: FastMall

Quick Pitch: Think Foursquare-meets-Yelp for shopping malls.

Genius Idea: FastMall is a website and an iPhone app that acts as both a mall directory/map/guide and a tool offering you local deals at stores, reviews of shops and eateries and fast access to information such as parking and restroom locations.

Like many other red-blooded Americans who grew up in the suburbs of a major city, I love my malls. In fact, I’ve had the layout of Atlanta’s major malls memorized since… well, let’s just say I’ve always know my way around Lenox, Phipp’s Plaza and Perimeter.

That isn’t to say that I don’t sometimes forget what mall has my favorite store or food court stand, or that when I travel to other places, I know the malls in those locales. That’s where FastMall comes in: it is designed to be your guide to a mall — complete with maps, a place to store parking info, a store directory with phone numbers and the ability to read and submit reviews and turn-by-turn directions.

There’s also a social element involved that lets you “check-in” a la Foursquare to a store or mall and find deals at the shops near you.

The FastMall website has the information for the detailed mall maps (which include some big malls like the Beverly Center and the Mall of America), but the iPhone apps includes store listings even for malls that don’t yet have a fully-featured interactive map.

The idea behind FastMall is to create a platform that can eventually extend to amusement parks and other types of venues. We think that’s really smart and that the app (and the site) is really onto something. FastMall isn’t a competitor to Foursquare and the like; it’s a niche-focused app that will help you find out what you need when at a venue or location with lots of shops.

Do you have any favorite mobile apps for finding your way around the mall? Let us know!


Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark


BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines)."


Reviews: Foursquare, PHP, Yelp

Tags: apple, fastmall.com, foursquare, iphone, iphone apps


Facebook to Say Goodbye to App Notifications on March 1st

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 05:09 PM PST

Facebook LogoLast month, we reported that Facebook was transitioning from application notifications to e-mail notices. Today, the Facebook Developer blog has added further information about this new method and announced that as of March 1, 2010, app notifications will be discontinued.

For users who hate being bombarded by app notifications in Facebook, this is good news — just don’t expect notifications to disappear altogether.

Instead of using universal notifications, developers can now choose from a number of methods to communicate changes or updates to users. Facebook recommends using either counters, dashboard news notices or sending users e-mail messages (assuming they have agreed to e-mail opt-ins).

Counters, for all intents and purposes, will be just like notifications as they currently exist, except they will be specific to each individual app. If your app is bookmarked in your Facebook page, a counter indicating the number of notices you have from an app.

Facebook has also created a page of best practices for developers communicating with users.

What do you think about the deprecation of app notifications? Let us know in the comments!


Reviews: Facebook

Tags: app notifications, developers, facebook, trending, web apps


People Searching for Footage of SeaWorld Tragedy Hit with Viruses, Rickroll [VIDEO]

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 04:30 PM PST

If you’re one of the many searching for footage of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau (who was killed by Tilikum the whale during a show), be warned: You could be vulnerable to viral attack, or, at the very least, a Rickroll.

Ever since the tragic incident at SeaWorld on Thursday, the top Google search term has invariably been “killer whale kills trainer footage” — meaning that many Internet surfers have been keen on getting a morbid glimpse of Brancheau’s death. Hackers have lunged at this surge in attention, in much the same way that they did following Nodar Kumaritashvili's fatal luge accident at the Winter Olympics.

According to IT security and control firm Sophos, hackers are creating webpages that seem to contain imagery of the gruesome death, but, in actuality, merely infest a user’s computer with malware. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, told Info Zine:

“It’s hard to believe that anyone would want to watch video footage of this horrible death, but it’s currently one of the very hottest search terms on the internet.. These poisoned pages can appear on the very first page of your search engine’s results, and if you visit the links you may see pop-up warnings telling you about security issues with your computer. These warnings are fake and designed to trick you into downloading dangerous software or handing over your credit card details.”

At least one prankster has taken a less wantonly cruel approach to the heightened interest in the tragedy. Currently, one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube (with 179,449 views), the below vid purports to be tourist footage of the accident, when, in reality, it’s a Rickroll. The video begins with a speech bubble reading “Hey you morbid person!” The whole thing would have been interesting commentary on our rubber-necking society, if the video didn’t go on to pump some unknown band.


Reviews: Google, YouTube

Tags: hackers, News, viral video


Yelp CEO Denies Extortion Scheme

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 03:58 PM PST

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppleman has just released a passionate statement denying all wrongdoing on Yelp’s part, addressing a class action lawsuit filed on Tuesday that purports that Yelp is running an “extortion scheme.”

In the statement, Stoppleman begins by addressing “the long history of people accusing Yelp of monkeying around with reviews,” and then follows with strong assertions that the company “would never do anything to jeopardize” their trust with users. He then concludes that Yelp will fight the lawsuit “vigorously, and we are confident we will prevail.”

The core of Stoppleman’s argument hinges around Yelp’s never-ceasing efforts to maintain the legitimacy of the site and its prized user reviews. To that effect, Stoppleman writes:

“The reason 29 million people used Yelp last month to find a great local business is because of the trust they place in the reviews on our site. The entire value of the Yelp community to consumers and businesses hinges upon that trust — and we would never do anything to jeopardize it. Simply put, Yelp does not remove or hide negative reviews in exchange for money and Yelp salespeople do not offer to do so. Additionally, Yelp treats review content equally for advertisers and non-advertisers alike. Advertisers pay for advertising and enhanced listings, and nothing more; and businesses are not penalized for declining to advertise.”

The lawsuit in question attacks Yelp’s business tactics and suggests that the company tries to stronghold businesses into becoming advertisers in exchange for the removal of negative reviews. The Yelp Class Action Website put out the following statement:

“Yelp runs an extortion scheme in which the company's employees call businesses demanding monthly payments, in the guise of "advertising contracts," in exchange for removing or modifying negative reviews appearing on the website. The plaintiff, a veterinary hospital in Long Beach, California, asked that Yelp remove a false and defamatory review from the website. In response, as set forth in the lawsuit, Yelp refused to take down the review. Instead, the company's sales representatives repeatedly contacted the hospital and demanded a roughly $300 per-month payment in exchange for hiding or removing the negative review.”

As Stoppleman points out this is not the not the first time the company has been questioned for unscrupulous behaviors alleged in lawsuits. He asserts that despite the bad press however, the company continues to forge ahead.

[img credit: Barbary Coast Ranger]


Reviews: Yelp

Tags: Jeremy Stoppleman, lawsuit, user reviews, yelp


Friday Poll: Do Location Check-In Services Freak You Out?

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 03:37 PM PST

poll-imageYes, it’s that time once again, folks — time for the Friday Poll! This week we want to get a sense of how Mashable readers are reacting to all the services and features coming online that allow us to share our location information, from Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt to geolocation features in services like Twitter and Google Buzz.

With sites like Please Rob Me springing up to remind us all of the potential perils that might befall us as we start broadcasting our locations publicly and semi-publicly, it’s a good time to take stock of where Mashable readers fall on the spectrum. Are you worried about how location check-in services could impact your privacy and safety? Or do you think there’s enough utility to offset some potential concern?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!


Mashable Answers


Adam Ostrow: They do a bit — while we haven’t yet seen many stories of check-ins leading to trouble (stalking, robberies of your empty home, etc.), you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think it eventually will be an issue. Ultimately, I think you need to either be selective of who you share your location with, or only share your location when it makes sense to do so and you’re comfortable with who’s aware of it. In the long-run, broadcasting your whereabouts to the public at-large all the time could make you a target. However, I do use Foursquare and think there’s plenty of value in some aspects of it, like being able to see who’s at the same events as you.

Ben Parr: Nope: You have control over where you check in and who your friends are.

Sharon Feder: Absolutely. I think they’re wonderful but pose a safety risk for those who broadcast their check-ins publicly. For that reason, I only friend people I know in real life and don’t syndicate my check-ins to sites like Twitter where my updates are public.

Jennifer Van Grove: Absolutely not. I only share my location publicly when I’m OK with being found, plus I limit my Foursquare friends to people I trust.

Christina Warren: It would only freak me out if I didn’t have control over how it was published and who was notified. In other words, Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, no. But if Facebook tried to do it, yeah, I’d be freaked, because you know they’d default broadcast it to everyone under the sun and probably feed the results to Google.

Brenna Ehrlich: Not really. I mean, I don’t really use Foursquare that often, and when I do it’s for my blog. In that case, my co-blogger and I just check in when we’re hanging out together in a public place like a bar or a performance venue. I don’t think I would check in to the same coffee shop every day or anything, but then anyone who knows me well knows I’ll be there every day at the same time, anyway.

Matt Silverman: I don’t currently use any location-based social networks, but I know there are enough features and settings on most of them for a smart user to protect him/herself. As with all social networks, you should always be aware and in control of who can see what you’re posting. If you’re concerned, do that extra bit of homework!

Barb Dybwad: It’s definitely logical to be concerned and mindful about these services as more and more come online, and especially as we add complex interconnections between our various broadcast services. Overall I’m probably less freaked out about the “someone might rob me” aspect because me checking in somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean no one’s home — I’m more concerned about the “Big Brother” effect of what happens when a company like Google for example that already knows so much about me can potentially add positional data about me too via Buzz Mobile.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography


Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Gowalla, Mashable, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: check-ins, foursquare, google buzz, gowalla, location, loopt, lunchtime poll, poll, polls, twitter


Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 03:36 PM PST

Thanks to this week's advertisers and partners for enabling us to bring you the latest social media news and resources. Mashable’s sponsors are as social media savvy as our readers!

Advertise with us and get noticed.


Help us to help you. Mashable is seeking out site sponsors for our large, diverse audience — social media users, venture capitalists, early adopters, developers, bloggers, and many more. You’ll receive hundreds of thousands of views a day in addition to weekly recognition to thank you as our premium sponsors. Are you interested? Contact us for more information and to receive our media kit and rate card.

This week, our valued sponsors are the NY Knicks, Syncapse, Elon University, phpFox, Yield Software, Monica Rich Kosann, Clickatell, Influxis, Microsoft BizSpark, MailChimp, Sun Startup Essentials, MaxCDN, and Eventbrite.


Want to be part of the first ever Knicks Tweetup presented by @DiscountTire? Our exclusive pregame digital panel includes @jack, @DigitalRoyalty, @Peter_R_Casey and @JDelorenzo, ask a question via hashtag #NYKTweetup and it could be answered on Saturday between 4:30-6:00pm EST.


SocialTALK is developed by Syncapse Corp., a global leader in the practice areas of community building, technology solutions, and digital measurement. Founded by entrepreneur Michael Scissons in 2007, Syncapse Corp. has offices in Toronto, New York and London. Syncapse works with Fortune 500 companies and global media agencies to reinvent how organizations use social media to their competitive advantage. To learn more visit www.syncapse.com


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clickatell

Clickatell offers mobile social networks the opportunity to measure their return on investment: Not only does Clickatell offer an Interactive Campaign Manager tool that allows you to monitor and intervene in your customer campaigns in real time, it also generates and manages database integration and comes with additional marketing tools. Track the delivery status of your text messages and the responses; take the guesswork out of campaigning. Your valuable messages will always be delivered as our products allow for message escalation to alternative delivery gateways. Social networks are also, through the account management package, given control over network channels and connectivity options. All necessary tasks have been automated and our central interface allows you to manage multiple connections and projects at the same time.

Which leading social networking companies have chosen Clickatell as a mobile messaging partner? Read our success stories here.


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bizspark

BizSpark is a program which offers new software businesses and entrepreneurs access to Microsoft design, development, and production tools with no upfront costs for up to three years. Members can also connect with a nationwide community of Network Partners – investors, incubators, service providers, and entrepreneurial organizations – who are keen to help.

For more information, or to connect with a Microsoft BizSpark advisor, please visit MicrosoftStartupZone.com/BizSpark.


mailchimp

MailChimp is a powerful, easy-to-use email marketing service. You design, me deliver.


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Eventbrite is an online events marketplace where tens of thousands of individuals, businesses and organizations of all sizes manage, promote and sell tickets to their events. Make your event a success on Eventbrite.


Additionally, thanks to the following partners for making Mashable happen:

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Thanks to ConVerdge for implementing our My Mashable social network and W3 EDGE for the development and maintenance of Mashable.com


Mashable would also like to thank AttentionPR for their PR support. AttentionPR proves that PR today is measurable, transparent, and yes, social. Learn more about AttentionPR.


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Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Mashable, iStockphoto


New Seesmic for BlackBerry App First to Support Ping.fm

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 03:23 PM PST

In January Twitter application maker Seesmic acquired Ping.fm. Today the updated Seesmic for BlackBerry application is the first to integrate the Ping.fm service into the fold, which means Twitter users can now use the BlackBerry app to simultaneously update 50 different social sites.

The fresh-faced BlackBerry app also includes multi-account support for Twitter, integration with Twitter photo-sharing service TweetPhoto, and three different size options for photo uploads.

Twitter users with multiple accounts will no doubt appreciate that they can now configure the application to tweet from all of their accounts individually or simultaneously on a tweet-by-tweet basis. The feature addition makes the mobile app more than capable for those — especially business users — with a penchant to maintain all of their accounts regardless of their location.

On the photo side of things, Seesmic for BlackBerry users can share photos via TweetPhoto thanks to a new partnership between the two companies. The integration includes a progress bar so users can track the status of their photo upload, and the ability to choose to post a small, medium or large photo depending on user preferences. The idea behind the later feature is that choosing a smaller photo size should dramatically decrease the time it takes to upload your Twitter photos.

On the whole, the new application offers a feature-rich Twitter experience for the über-connected type.

Now that both the BlackBerry and web app have been drastically enhanced, we can only hope that Seesmic has plans to release its long-awaited iPhone app in the near future.

We’ve included a few photos of the new applicationm and you can also watch Loic Le Meur demo and discuss the application’s new features in the video below.



Reviews: Seesmic, TweetPhoto, Twitter, iPhone

Tags: blackberry, blackberry application, Mobile 2.0, seesmic


myYearbook Revenue at $20 Million Annually and Growing

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 02:32 PM PST

Somewhat quietly, myYearbook remains one of the most popular social networking sites, with 20 million members and a place in the top 30 most trafficked websites in the U.S. Now, the site is publicly disclosing some of its financials.

According to CEO Geoff Cook, the company ended 2009 with an annual revenue run rate of $20 million (meaning its revenue for the most recent 12 months) — up 70% from 2008. Most of that comes from virtual currency within games that the company has built, with titles like Blind Date, Owned and Quiz.

Unlike Facebook or MySpace, who offer a fairly open platform where anyone can launch games (though Facebook now plans to take a cut), myYearbook has operated a closed ecosystem of games built in-house. That's soon changing, though, as the company plans to open up to a select group of partners (presumably, companies like Zynga and SGN) to introduce new games.

Leading that effort is the company's newly appointed SVP of Business Development Scott Levine, who joins the company after leading Corporate Development at Sony Music Entertainment. Levine, who I met along with Cook earlier today in New York, will also be working to ramp up revenue through brand advertisers and content deals.

Also in the works for the New Hope, PA-based company is deeper Facebook Connect integration, as well as mobile applications that extend some of the site's social networking and gaming aspects to iPhone and Android, though Cook and Levine acknowledge its users aren’t as smartphone connected as those of some of their competitors. In all, it's a strategy that seems to revolve around continued monetization while adding stickiness to keep notoriously fickle teen users — myYearbook’s sweet spot — on the site.

Zeroing in on social gaming — where money continues to flow in droves — while bringing in games that have proven successful elsewhere seems like a logical way to keep the momentum going.


Reviews: Android, Facebook, MySpace, iPhone

Tags: MyYearbook, social games, social gaming


TigerText Makes the Poor Decision Texts Go Away

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 01:48 PM PST

Do you frequently make bad-decision texts — the kind of texts that likely show up on Texts From Last Night? Well, then, you should probably download TigerText, a new iPhone app that will let you delete those digital mistakes from another person’s phone.

TigerText [iTunes link], which was released yesterday, could be a boon for cheating politicians and foolishly sexting teens alike, according to founder Jeffrey Evans, who claims that he named the app before the Tiger Woods scandal. “People text like they talk,” Evans told Time. “And some of the things they say, taken out of context, can come back to haunt them.”

In order to avoid said haunting, you may download this app and, upon texting your mistress/NSA buddy/boss (accidentally) the recipient will receive a prompt to install TigerText. After doing so, your mistress/NSA buddy/boss can read the text, but he/she/it won’t be able to store it. The text will then disappear from your phone and all servers. You can also set the text so that it will delete 60 seconds after being read — you know, like in Mission Impossible.

The service, which is a couple of steps up from iTrust, is rather cool, but its existence begs several questions: 1). If your spouse suspects you of cheating, wouldn’t the fact that you have TigerText in your app library be a dead giveaway? 2). If you’re so prone to sending questionable texts, should you really be allowed access to a phone?

Right now, TigerText is only available for iPhone (you can try it out for free at the website), but it should be coming to BlackBerry and Android soon — which is good news if your secret sig other rocks a Droid.


Reviews: Android

Tags: apple, humor, iphone, iphone app, Mobile 2.0, tiger woods, tigertext


Social Media Analysis: The 2010 Winter Olympics

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 01:08 PM PST

Teresa Basich is the Content Marketing Manager at Radian6, the social media monitoring and engagement platform. She blogs at Writing On Purpose and is @TransitionalTee on Twitter.

The Olympics. They've been talked about, reported on, blogged about, tweeted, YouTubed, Facebooked, Flickred, and then some. A sporting event of this magnitude is prime fodder for discussion in all senses of the word, so, of course, the committees involved in pulling the 2010 Winter Olympics together did their duty to integrate online conversation into their big media picture.

But, did the Olympic brand do a good job? Unless we've got a list of all the goals that were set, and proof that they were or weren't achieved, all we can really do is take a cursory look at the effort made and guess at how it all turned out, right? Right. So, let's do that.


The Big Four on Facebook and Twitter


For the U.S., the four major organizations involved in all things Olympics are the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC), the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and NBC.

Each organization crafted their own social media strategy and created multiple Facebook pages and Twitter feeds independent of each other. Both the IOC's and VANOC's main Facebook pages have snagged over 1 million fans to date, and have garnered a fair amount of fan chatter despite distinct differences in approach (the IOC has leaned heavily on athlete connectivity, while the VANOC has been focusing more on photos and news). The USOC and NBC, on the other hand, have attracted comparatively modest followings to their Facebook pages. The USOC is the only one among the group, however, that seems to have a flow of Facebook Wall comments coming directly from fans and not the moderating organization.

As far as Twitter goes, almost all the Olympic Twitter feeds are push oriented, offering very little engagement. Graeme Menzies, director of online communications, publications, and editorial services for the VANOC, told the folks at PBS' Mediashift that he views Twitter as an ideal channel for pushing ticketing and location-oriented information out to followers, and stays away from interaction. Menzies says the same of the VANOC's Facebook page – the organization stays out of fans' ways, letting them talk with and comment to each other. The reason? The plan was to have the main hub of the VANOC's online activity be its website.

Still, in spite of not using their accounts for much engagement with fans, all four groups have succeeded in attracting at least somewhat sizable followings on the two major mainstream social media hubs.


The Extras


All four organizations, again, followed their own paths to flesh out some interactive extras, including podcasts, YouTube channels, mobile apps, video games, and small fan communities.

The big winner in the Extras category, though, is the VANOC's Cultural Olympiad Canada CODE digital art installation. For the year leading up to the Olympics, the VANOC requested photos and stories from Canadian residents and visitors that they felt represented the country and culture of Canada.

Those who wanted to get more heavily involved in the project were able to collaborate with each other to "remix" the text and photos to be used in the final installation. This digital scrapbook of sorts has been showing on big screens around Vancouver for the duration of the games.


3 Things the Olympics Could Have Done Differently


Though the follower numbers were there for some of these initiatives, as far as jaw-dropping social media programs go, the efforts put forth by the IOC, VANOC, USOC, and NBC didn’t quite make the mark. Did they receive the attention the organizations hoped they would? Possibly. On a global level, promotion for the Olympics felt sparse, though, so it’s not surprising people seemed fairly unaware of these organizations’ social media activities. What could they have done differently to improve? A few things:

1. Engage. After a little bit of listening and monitoring we found that approximately half the online conversations surrounding the Olympics have been happening on sites like Twitter. That’s a major word-of-mouth opportunity missed. If the Olympic committees had used Twitter as a channel to connect versus a channel to push content, the interactivity and conversations that stemmed from that two-way relationship might have spread outside the confines of the Internet, increasing overall attention and interest.

2. Collaborate. Yes, all four organizations have individual messaging and brands that should receive recognition during the Olympics. But, the Olympic brand in its entirety is a brand that speaks directly to collaboration. It would have been nice to see a unified microsite built around the collective social media efforts of these organizations, in addition to the individual efforts we saw.

The most prolific information about the games actually came from media outlets like The New York Times and Yahoo! Sports, not from the committees themselves. A single microsite may have acted as a central hub for that sort of information, putting more eyes and attention on both the collaborative and individual initiatives of the Olympic organizations.

3. Build community. Social media is at its best when it’s used to foster connection between people and brands through passions. The Olympics are steeped in athletic competition and global unity – two passion points poised for some serious community building. A collaborative online community centered around the games could have been (and still be) used to inspire community member and Olympic fan connectivity between events, act as a listening channel to help shape the activities supporting the upcoming games, and keep people interested year-round in the work and pursuits of the Olympic committees.

We look forward to keeping a close watch on the growing Olympics presence in social media, and hopefully seeing stronger conversation and engagement strategies at the next games, London 2012.

How do you think the social media strategies of the main Olympic entities played out this year? Were you able to engage with other fans on social media? Do you think things could have been better? Let us know in the comments.

[img credit: Miss Barabanov]


Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: analysis, facebook, ioc, nbc, olympics, social media, sports, twitter, vanoc


EU Tells Google to Delete Street View Pics After 6 Months

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 12:12 PM PST

The European Union’s Data Protection Working Party has given an express order to Google: Ditch Street View images taken in the UK after six months.

Computerworld reports that the working party found Google’s current 12-month retention time for the images to be a “disproportionate” length of time.

The party reported being “concerned that Street View continues to give rise to data-protection issues,” despite Google’s compliance with the initially laid-out requirements. It also ordered Google to give UK citizens more information and lead time surrounding when its Street View cars would be in particular areas to take photographs.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said of the decision, “Google needs to raise much more awareness of Street View cars going though people’s streets as there is an option to opt out of appearing in them but no one knows about it.”

As Nokia’s Henry Tirri recently told us, the EU is known for being more outspoken about privacy issues than other regions, particularly where Street View is concerned.

For its part, Google is defending its stance on keeping the images for the year-long period. A lawyer for the company, Peter Fleischer, responded, “The need to retain the unblurred images is legitimate and justified — to ensure the quality and accuracy of our maps, to improve our ability to rectify mistakes in blurring, as well as to use the data we have collected to build better maps products for our users. We have publicly committed to a retention period of 12 months from the date on which images are published on Street View, and this is the period which we will continue to meet globally.”

In other words, we’re not quite sure yet how this one will turn out. We’ll keep an eye on this space, which we’re tempted to refer to as “Google Street Fight.” Do you think the EU is making a reasonable request in the service of data protection and privacy, or should Google continue to hold its ground?


Reviews: Google

Tags: eu, Google, google street view, privacy, street view, uk


Which Olympic Gold Medalists Are Winning the Most Online Buzz? [STATS]

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 12:11 PM PST

The Nielsen Company measured online buzz around Olympic athletes and found that skiers Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) and Alexandre Bilodeau (Canada) are the most buzzed-about gold medal athletes for their respective countries.

The analytics company compared online buzz surrounding gold medal winners in both Canada and the United States. The data comes from the company’s database, which continually looks at consumer-created online content in the form of blog posts, blog comments, board/forum discussions and threads, group activity, selected Twitter feeds, citations/links to YouTube videos and news stories.

For those following the Olympic Winter Games this year, it might come as a bit of a surprise that Lindsey Vonn — who has commanded 36.22% of total U.S. Olympian gold medal buzz — dominates another fan favorite (snowboarder Shaun White) by more than a 10% margin, especially given the buzz about his Double McTwist trick.

As for Canada, the Olympics homebase this year, ice dancing gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are receiving nearly equal amounts of online buzz with 16.88% and 16.21% of total gold medal winner buzz respectively. The dominate athlete, however, is skier Alexandre Bilodeau how accounts for 23.33%, or nearly a quarter, of all buzz among Canadian gold medalists.

[img credit: tkellyphoto]


Reviews: Twitter, YouTube

Tags: celebrities, olympics, social media, sports, winter olympics


10 Tips for Successful Twitter Fundraising

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 11:56 AM PST

Twitter fundraising has steadily been on the rise in the last two years. Twitter has been used to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities and charitable causes, and has been used to spread awareness about social issues.

But it takes more than posting multiple tweets a day to get the job done. We talked to a few Twitter fundraising pros about what they’ve found to be the best practices.

Have you organized or taking part in any Twitter fundraising efforts? If you have any other fundraising tips for Twitter or other social media tools, please share them in the comments.


1. Cultivate a Strong Community First


First and foremost, always keep in mind that the power of Twitter is merely a reflection of the power of community. Twitter is not a fundraising machine; people are.

We all know that asking people for money can be daunting. For this reason, it's important to build a community of people interested in your content and cause before asking for anything.

The 12for12k challenge, founded by business consultant Danny Brown, leverages social media to connect charities with larger audiences. Brown says keeping communities as up beat as possible is key. "When someone's tweeting about your charity or one you support, you need to involve them completely, make people laugh and want to take part. It's important to offer updates and pushes for that next milestone, and show public thanks for people’s donations."


2. State Your Purpose and Your Request Clearly


When disseminating information, be sure to state your purpose clearly and concisely. Let people know why they should care about your cause, and be specific about how their contributions will benefit others. It seems like common sense, but there are times when we forget to highlight the "why" and "how" when making a statement or releasing a call to action.

The fundraising initiative Twestival is a primary example of an ecosystem effectively harnessing the power of Twitter to raise money at both global and local levels. Last February, over 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors raised $753,000. Two hundred sixty-four thousand of that sum went to Charity Water, while the remaining funds were split among 135 local charities.

Twestival creator Amanda Rose attributes the movement's success to the practice of putting an open call out to people to use their unique skills and talents. Rose says, "Twestival does well because it gives people a way to get involved in something they normally wouldn't do. No contribution is too small, it's just a matter of how you use it."

When launching the Twitter fundraiser Tweetsgiving, Epic Change CEO Stacey Monk and her team asked people to express their gratitude for anything and everything and donate money during a 48-hour time frame. In November 2009, Tweetsiving raised over $11,000.

Monk says being concise is imperative in the digital age. "People are used to parsing 140 characters in a millisecond," she surmised. "Your campaign has to give them the opportunity to digest your message and get involved quickly and easily."

Disclosure: Mashable is a past media partner of Twestival Global.


3. Create Buzz and Excitement


Generating hype around your cause and event is imperative, which means it's important to be singular and set your charity apart from the rest. Catchy taglines or hashtags and unique avatar ribbons are simple features that can be incorporated to brand your initiative.

Brown says branding his campaign early on was one of the best things he could have done. "Registering our #12for12k hashtag early on, and coming up with a dedicated and easily recognizable 12for12k avatar really helped us," said Brown.

Holding contests is another resourceful method to invoke interest in people. Brown held a Twitter trash-talk contest that led to a large amount of donations being made during the Super Bowl playoffs when the Vikings and the Cowboys played in support of Haiti relief efforts.

Reaching out to small businesses and artists in local communities is another way to create excitement. And more often than not, when asked, people who want to make a difference will think of innovative ways to draw attention to your charity.

"We had local musicians, who didn't have money to give themselves, play concerts and receive donations," said Rose. "That got the word out to people in town who weren't active on Twitter."


4. Have a Strong Set Up Behind the Scenes


Twitter is a great a many things. It's a tool for communication. It's a platform for spreading your message. It's an information source, and it's a community builder. However, using Twitter and creating hype around your cause doesn't guarantee any cold hard cash.

Rose says she's run into some misconceptions about the best way to use Twitter for fundraising. "Raising money takes a lot more than getting Ashton Kutcher or someone with a lot of followers to tweet about your charity," said Rose. "That's not Twitter fundraising; that's creating buzz and awareness. Twitter fundraising is getting people involved with your mission on a real grass-roots level."

Rose uses Twitter primarily for crowdsourcing and linking relevant content. She asserts, "Ultimately, you need to have something strong set up behind the scenes of your Twitter stream."


5. Have a Powerful Offline Component


While we can enjoy and value the exchanges we have via Twitter, at the end of the day, we're humans and we feed the most off of human interaction. Whether it's a tweetup, a festival, a rally, or a concert, having an offline component tied into your fundraising practice is vital.

Brown says combining offline and online gives a fuller experience. "I'd like to see charities start to use apps like Foursquare to tie in geo-tagged fundraising initiatives, or Social Scavenger for charity challenges," shared Brown. "A user online could be following instructions on a web feed, and directing the user on the ground to where a challenge is for donation dollars or items."

Twestival exemplifies an initiative rooted in offline events. In addition to the festival itself being a physical place where volunteers and donors can celebrate, Twestival encourages people to initiate their own offline meetups so they can get to know their communities in real life. While online interest is used to instigate offline interaction, offline meetings can drive online appeal to an even greater audience.

Rose says that having a strong offline component is what makes people want to donate their time and energy to Twestival. "Twitter is all about communities," said Rose. "Twestival brings communities offline and creates a whole new level of engagement. In Nashville, North Carolina, some supporters made a video and rallied people together a week before the event. They set out bottles on a table in the center of the city to accept donations."


6. Plan, Prepare, Execute, then Get Out of the Way


Like with any entity branded by social media, it's important to remember that because Twitter is an integral part of your fundraising campaign, you do not have control over how your message is going to be spread. In many ways, social media fundraising is unpredictable and must develop on its own. After cultivating communities, stating your purpose, and building buzz, a great deal of what occurs next must happen on its own.

When asked what her biggest mistake was when producing Tweetsgiving, Monk replied, "over-asking and over-planning."

To plan to the last detail removes any chance for an unanticipated miracle to happen. This doesn't mean you should leave everything to fate. It does however mean that the spirit of giving, synergy, creativity, and community cannot be forced. In other words, you can expect the unexpected, but you can't manifest it.

"To be honest, there’s more than a bit of magic required for any meme or trend to really take hold," Monk surmised. "Your plan has to be just incomplete enough to leave room for serendipity to sneak in."


7. Recognize Volunteers and Donors


Recognizing individuals for their contributions goes far, especially in the Twitterverse. Whether it's a mention on a blog, a photo on a website, a thank you tweet, or a goody bag, your contributors should be acknowledged for their time and energy. Honors can be issued at offline events and make the entire fundraising experience that much more celebratory.

You can get creative with what you're rewarding people for too. Fundraising isn't just about who raised or donated the most money. It's about vision, teamwork and follow-through. And all parties involved with any of those details deserve to hear about the impact they had.


8. Keep Contributors Up-to-Date on Progress and Needs


The relationships among supporters and those in need that come about as a result of Twitter fundraising can and should continue to grow after a charity event. People like to see where their money is going and whom it's affecting. This gives them incentive to come back next year and continue to give.

Monk likes to connect the Tweetsgiving community directly to the people the campaign is impacting. "I think it's critical for them to have direct communication," she said. "With online tools, there's no reason they all can't be kept abreast. The Twitterkids of Tanzania and their participation with their parents and teachers in TweetsGiving are just one example of how that’s possible."

Through the power of Twitter, supporters can talk directly to the children being educated through philanthropy and the work of Epic Change.


9. Keep Track of Developing Relationships


Seeing money come in is merely one of the many rewards bestowed upon non-profits, volunteers and donors. In addition to raising funds for important causes, a certain alchemy transpires when people come together to create social good, and from there more change-making can occur. Once again, the cornerstone is community.

Rose say she consistently takes note of different groups that form as a result of Twestival. She says, "what's happened with Twestival is it's created these communities where people continue to work with local charities that they're supporting."

And that's the whole point, isn't it?


10. Look for Ways to Improve for Next Time


Whether you meet your fundraising goals or you come up short, there is always room for improvement. Communicate with your supporters about what tactics worked with blazing colors and what actions bombed miserably. Be open to criticism and suggestions about ways the process could run more smoothly and effectively. Keep your humor and your wits about you.

Have brainstorming sessions. Research what other groups are doing to raise money using Twitter, but don't try to replicate their campaigns. If you do so, your audience will see right through you.

Keep dreaming. Keep believing. Keep tweeting. And give yourself a pat on the back for doing your part for social good.


More social good resources from Mashable:


- The Future of the Non-Profit Internet
- 5 Real Challenges For Non-Profit Texting Campaigns
- Why We're In the Age of the Citizen Philanthropist
- How Social Media Creates Offline Social Good
- How Non-Profits and Activists Can Leverage Location Based Services

[img credit: Productive Dreams]


Reviews: Foursquare, Mashable, Twitter

Tags: fundraising, List, Lists, social good, tweetsgiving, twestival, twitter


Mashable Giveaway: Win a Sony bloggie MP4 Camera

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 11:45 AM PST

Coming to the MashBash party in Austin next month? Every week until the event, we’ll be giving away 2 Sony bloggie MP4 Cameras to attendees.

Winners will receive their cameras upon arrival in Austin, and you’re invited to capture video clips of your time there — your videos will be shown on the big screen during our MashBash party.

What’s more, you’ll receive VIP access to the MashBash!

To win one of 4 Sony bloggie MP4 Cameras, enter the contest on our Facebook page.


About MashBash 2010


More than 5,000 people have RSVPed for MashBash 2010 in Austin, taking place on Sunday, March 14, at Buffalo Billiards in Austin, Texas.

Join Mashable’s Pete Cashmore, Adam Ostrow, Josh Catone, Barb Dybwad, Jennifer Van Grove, Brett Petersel and myself, along with our sponsors Cliqset and Sony Electronics and 1,600+ attendees for a night of networking and music from DJ Chicken George. In addition, there will be a two-hour open bar, strong Wi-Fi, a game room and plenty of surprises!


MashBash RSVP Details


Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010
Time: 10:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m
Location: Buffalo Billiards, 201 6th Street, Austin, TX
Admission: Open to SXSWi attendees
RSVP for Chance to Win VIP Access to MashBash 2010: sxswi.eventbrite.com
Socialize: Facebook


Many thanks to our sponsors:


“Sony Electronics has created high-quality, innovative and stylish products for over 40 years. Thanks to Mashable, Sony's new MP4 bloggie™ camera will make its SXSWi debut. Capturing everyday moments in 1080p HD MP4 video and 5-megapixel photos, the compact device has advanced features like Face Detection and SteadyShot™, a large LCD screen, a built-in USB for uploading and charging, integrated software for easy Web sharing, and allows for expandable storage with Memory Stick PRO Duo™ or SD media cards. The bloggie camera is one of many products just launched under Sony's new global brand message – make.believe. Believe that anything you can imagine, you can make real. For more information go to www.sony.com/bloggie.”

“Cliqset makes it easy for people to share, discover, and discuss content from everywhere on the Web. Cliqset helps you filter through the activity, like status updates, reviews, blog posts, videos, articles, music and pretty much everything that's online, and consume the social stream the way you want to. To connect with Cliqset, visit us at www.cliqset.com.”


Reviews: Facebook, Mashable

Tags: contest, giveaway, MashBash, sxsw, sxswi


NBC to Live Stream U.S. vs. Finland Olympic Hockey Semifinal

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 11:29 AM PST

While NBCOlympics.com has a really cool Twitter Tracker, much of its online strategy for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver has left much to be desired.

In addition to not airing events live to people on the West Coast, the network has made some downright bizarre decisions about what events to stream online at NBCOlympics.com. Fortunately, the Men’s Hockey Semifinals between the USA and Finland will be streaming live today at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PST.

NBC’s embrace of live event-streaming has been less than wholehearted. NewTeeVee put it best back in January:

“Despite touting more than 835 hours of live video from the Winter Games, less than half of that will be actually be streamed live online.”

Instead, networks like CNBC and MSNBC air some of the daytime events, a strategy that strikes us as just off-base. Think about it, how many of the daytime viewers for CNBC and MSNBC will want to watch the Winter Olympic Games? Wouldn’t it be better to take advantage of people who, I don’t know, might want to watch from work?

Add to that NBC’s attempt to limit the streams to users who pay for cable (though it seems unclear that it can actually verify if you do actually subscribe or not) and you have lots of angry fans.

What do you think about how NBC has handled the Winter Olympics this year? Let us know!


Reviews: add

Tags: livestreaming, nbc olympics, NBCOlympics, olympics, olympics 2010, sports, television


Baidu Gets $50 Million to Bring New Video Site to China

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 10:48 AM PST

China’s 400 million or so Internet users will soon be able to enjoy a new online video service. Baidu, the country’s top search provider, has announced plans to create a new video-on-demand website.

With the domain name Qiyi.com registered, Providence Equity Partners (a global private equity investment firm that put $100 million into the Hulu pot) will invest $50 million to develop the advertising-supported online video business — with Baidu retaining majority ownership.

Rather than user-generated content, Qiyi.com will provide “premium licensed content” OK’d by regulators for the “lawful distribution of professionally produced media and entertainment content on the Internet,” according to the announcement.

Baidu has previously offered video search, as well as the Baidu Internet TV Channel, where Internet users can download movies and TV programs. It is also said to have some strategic investment in PPLive, a Chinese P2P site.

According to Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, “The online video market has great potential for growth in China.” So these plans will be watched with interest, especially with the Hulu investment link.


Reviews: Hulu

Tags: Baidu


Remarkable Stats on the State of the Internet [VIDEO]

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 10:07 AM PST

Individual stats like Facebook passing the 400 million user mark, Twitter hitting 50 million tweets per day, and YouTube viewers watching 1 billion videos per day are impressive on their own, but what if we looked at Internet-related stats collectively? Jesse Thomas did just that in his video State of the Internet.

The video — created and animated by Thomas with data from multiple sources — highlights some remarkable figures and visually depicts the Internet as we know it today. It’s a must-watch video for anyone trying to wrap their minds around just how immersed web technologies have become in our everyday lives.

You can watch the video below, but we’ve also included some of the most intriguing figures shared in the video:

- There are 1.73 billion Internet users worldwide as of September 2009.

- There are 1.4 billion e-mail users worldwide, and on average we collectively send 247 billion e-mails per day. Unfortunately 200 billion of those are spam e-mails.

- As of December 2009, there are 234 million websites.

- Facebook gets 260 billion pageviews per month, which equals 6 million page views per minute and 37.4 trillion pageviews in a year.


Reviews: Facebook

Tags: stats, trending, video


Twitter Phished? It’s an Easy Mistake to Make

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 09:46 AM PST

cnnopinionTwitter phishing attacks caught some users off-guard this week, and some expressed surprise that such attacks remain effective.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised: Not only do we tend to trust direct messages sent by friends, but the rise of short URLs and a trend towards federated login systems (Facebook Connect et al) may further confuse new users.

That’s the topic of my CNN column this week.

Check out the column at CNN.com >>

Tags: cashmore, cnn, mashable, pete cashmore, tech


Google Adds New Location-Based Options to Search

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 09:45 AM PST

Google has just added a new “Nearby” tool to the Search Options panel that lets users refine results for a custom search experience centered around location.

The new location-based search option is now available to English users of Google.com. To access it, simply conduct your search as normal, select “Show Options” -> “Nearby.” From there you can switch between your default location and a custom (manually entered) location. Results can also be filtered by city, state or region for broader or narrower results.

The addition of Nearby to web results is yet another way Google is highlighting its location savvy and pimping out its Place Pages service.

As you may recall, Google recently released Near Me Now for location-based mobile queries, and Google Buzz for mobile offers a check-in based social experience. In the future we expect all of Google’s location services to complement each other more and create a complete picture for an entire location-aware Google experience.


Reviews: Google, Google Buzz

Tags: Google, Google Nearby, location, Search


Details: Twitter’s Impending Ad Platform

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 09:32 AM PST

The guessing game surrounding Twitter's imminent launch of an ad platform just got a little bit more focused. The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog reports that Twitter's ad plan is tied to Twitter search (and third-parties that use the API), uses Twitter's 140 character limit, and includes a self-serve platform akin to Google AdWords. Succinctly, it describes the plan as “Copy Google.”

As Twitter's been implying all along, the idea here is to be as non-invasive as possible. As opposed to inserting ads into your stream, Twitter is only going to place ads in search. On the other hand, if third-party apps like TweetDeck or Seesmic jump on board (and WSJ says a revenue share will incentivize them to do so), the searches you run and set up inside the program would conceivably include ads.

Rumor has it that Twitter will reveal some of its advertising strategy when CEO Evan Williams keynotes at SXSW in two weeks, but All Things Digital isn't so sure, writing only that a launch within "the first half of this year is a very safe bet."

My initial thought is that while this sounds like a win for users (no annoying ads in stream), it might not be the huge windfall you'd expect for Twitter. When you search Twitter, you're typically looking for comments and conversation about a topic — not necessarily products or services to buy that relate to it. While the 140 character twist sounds interesting, I'd expect the payout to be a lot more like AdSense (contextual ads) than AdWords (search ads).

Nonetheless, if The Wall Street Journal has the broad strategy correct, Twitter will be able to both advertise on-site and in the third-party clients that have become such a popular means for accessing the service. With Twitter now seeing upwards of 1.5 billion tweets per month, the opportunity is still likely substantial, though we don't know what Twitter's total search volume looks like.

It does appear, however, that we'll at long last soon have some answers surrounding the omnipresent (if not slightly tired at this point) question of how Twitter plans to make money.


Reviews: Seesmic, TweetDeck, Twitter

Tags: advertising, MARKETING, trending, twitter


Google Buzz: 5 Opportunities for Small Businesses

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 08:30 AM PST

google buzz logoThis post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Just when you thought you had social media figured out, Google has shaken things up with a new entrant into the market: Google Buzz. It's integrated into Gmail, which means right out of the gate it potentially has an audience of tens of millions of people. As such, it could eventually prove as important to your business as the other services we've seen prosper in the past few years.

If you've spent much time on social media sites, many of the features will look familiar, as Buzz combines elements of Twitter, Facebook, and the quickly rising Foursquare. But there are some subtleties that make Buzz unique, and in turn create opportunities that you should familiarize yourself with –- if not start to take advantage of –- as soon as possible.


1. Gathering Customer Feedback

Like Twitter, Buzz lets you post a message to a group of "followers" that subscribe to your updates. However, there are a few differences, namely that messages can be longer than 140 characters (and include supporting images and links) and that replies are all grouped under the original message. This makes conversations easier to track and follow up on. There are also built-in features to reply in a one-on-one way, via either e-mail or Google Talk.


2. Engaging With Others

If you use Gmail, there's a good chance you already have a built-in network on Google Buzz. The service helps you get started by letting you connect with those you e-mail or chat with frequently. Once you're following some people, clicking the "Buzz" link from Gmail's main navigation will let you see their most recent updates. You can comment on them, "like" them, or follow up personally with an e-mail or chat message.


3. Collaboration

Buzz can be used both for broadcasting a message to all of your followers and to select groups of them. If you've already set up Groups in Gmail, they're already available in Buzz. If not, you can create new ones on-the-fly. Posting a private message on Buzz works exactly the same as posting a public one – you just select the Group you want to be able to see it, and then only those people will be able to view and comment on it. It's instant, private collaboration.


4. Marketing

It's too soon to tell whether Buzz will have the type of impact for brick-and-mortar businesses that services like Yelp and increasingly Foursquare have had, but it has a very similar feature set. Users can "check in" at business locations, in turn notifying their followers of their whereabouts. Thus, encouraging your customers to check in on Buzz (and other location-based services) can be a way to drive free word-of-mouth marketing for your business.


5. Sharing Content

collaboration imageJust like Twitter and Facebook, Buzz has the potential to be a powerful medium for sharing content. You can use it to share blog posts, special deals, or interesting links related to your niche. Just like other social media services, you shouldn't overdo it though – you want to mix promotional messages with a balance of other useful information and conversation for your followers.

So is it time to jump head first into Buzz? At this point, the right answer is probably "not so fast." While Buzz clearly has some promising use cases, it's also not yet ideally designed for businesses. There are no business accounts, no multi-user support, and a host of privacy issues that nearly derailed the service in its first couple weeks (though Google has been quick to address them).

Buzz will likely become more viable for businesses when a Google Apps version is offered, as well as a standalone service that can be accessed by anyone outside of Gmail – both of which are reportedly in the works. Nonetheless, familiarizing yourself with Buzz's features and opportunities now could be immensely valuable in the future, while at the present, it can provide some useful additional functionality for Gmail users and their contacts.


More business resources from Mashable:

- 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online
- 4 Elements of a Successful Business Web Presence
- HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy
- HOW TO: Choose a News Reader for Keeping Tabs on Your Industry
- HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI
- HOW TO: Use Social Media to Connect with Other Entrepreneurs

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, endopack


Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Gmail, Google, Google Buzz, Twitter, Yelp, iStockphoto

Tags: business, buzz, google buzz, List, Lists, MARKETING, small business


Reebok Ups the Sexual Ante With Nude Workout Video of Chuck Liddell

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 07:58 AM PST

Reebok is once again looking to stir up the Internet with a racy viral video, this time around featuring Chuck Liddell – of UFC fame — and girlfriend Heidi Northcott working out in the nude. The video, which appears to have been first leaked to TMZ, has the look and feel of being shot without Liddell or Northcott's knowledge.

However, it's now being confirmed by a variety of outlets that the stars are in on it and are actually wearing Reebok ZigTech shoes as part of an ad campaign. Liddell has already appeared in other YouTube videos promoting the launch – including this one with some stars from Jersey Shore.

The video follows a series of viral videos launched late last year for Reebok's EasyTone line, featuring provocative shots and dialogue involving female anatomy. Those ads racked up hundreds of thousands of views, but drew their fair share of criticism along the way. Here’s one of them for your reference:

We have no doubt that the Liddell video will follow a similar trajectory, with the ad already getting buzz both on the web and on television, being featured on Jimmy Kimmell's show last night (as you can see in the clip here, which, needless to say, may be NSFW).

There's no question Reebok's found a formula for generating buzz – but is it the right kind? Let us know what you think of the Liddell ad, and what appears to be a broader strategy for Reebok, in the comments.


Reviews: YouTube

Tags: chuck liddell, MARKETING, Reebok, sports, ufc, viral video


“Badges Like Us” Is Foursquare’s First Rap Anthem [VIDEO]

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 07:42 AM PST

For some reason, every time an Internet phenom gets big, someone feels the need to pen a rap about it. Well, with location-based services of the verifiable rise, it was only a matter of time before Foursquare got the autotune treatment. Allow me to present: “Badges Like Us.”

First there was K-Mac’s “Twitter Ruff,” then there was JDirty’s People of Walmart rap, now “Newby” and “Mr. Silva” bring you “Badges Like Us.”

The two rappers (or, more accurately, dudes who attempt to talk really fast) look about how you would expect them to look, given that they’re singing about Foursquare (suits, ties, sunglasses). The song itself — which is a spin on Jay-Z’s and T.I.’s “Swagger Like Us” and includes the M.I.A. hook from “Paper Planes” — takes pot shots at everyone from AT&T to Gowalla, and talks a lot of jive about being mayor and clubbin’.

It’s amusing, if you’re down with Foursquare and get all the references, although a bit out-dated in terms of its pop culture edge. Case in point: “Trying to get that crunk badge, drinking like P. Diddy.” Gentlemen, if my sources among the “youth” are correct, I believe that Ke$ha has currently cornered the market on “crunk,” as well as silly names.

Enjoy, or rather, just watch. Oh, and look out for the Mashable cameo:

[via The Inquisitr]


Reviews: Foursquare, Gowalla, Mashable

Tags: foursquare, gowalla, humor, Mobile 2.0, music, twitter


First Glimpse of Nokia’s Symbian 4 Operating System [VIDEO]

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 06:52 AM PST

Besides being the most awkwardly named mobile operating system ever, Symbian^4 (that’s the official name) is also a very important step for Nokia, who (although Symbian still dominates the worldwide smartphone market) has been struggling to make Symbian competitive with touch-friendly Android and iPhone OS.

Now, Fierce Wireless has managed to briefly try out the upcoming iteration of Symbian, as well as a couple of videos and yes, it really does look like Android and iPhone OS UI. Two short videos (embedded below) show some Android-style widgets, sliding screens, a scrolling photo app – in a nutshell, it’s nothing that’ll make your heart skip a beat. But in terms of Symbian catching up with its younger competitors, it seems good enough.

Bear in mind that Symbian 4 is expected to be released in the second half of 2010, with actual devices shipping in 2011, so we can probably expect many changes before the final version comes out.


Reviews: Android

Tags: Nokia, Symbian, video


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