Mashable: Latest 12 News Updates - including “Inside the 2011 Ford Explorer Facebook Reveal” |  |
- Inside the 2011 Ford Explorer Facebook Reveal
- iPad Launch May Be Delayed For Some Countries
- 10 Cool Crowdsourced Music Video Projects
- WikiLeaks Releases Afghan War Reports in Unprecedented Leak
- 10 Best Apple iPad Stands
- 10 Best “Worst” Infomercials on YouTube [VIDEOS]
- Antisocial Social Media: The British Monarchy Joins Flickr
- Top 20 Sites to Improve Your Twitter Experience
- U.S. Enacts Law to Quell Sale of “Conflict Minerals” to Electronics Companies
- 5 Awesome Apple iPad Mods [VIDEOS]
- “Jane Austen’s Fight Club” Fake Trailer Goes Viral [VIDEO]
- Groupon Used to Premiere Indie Documentary Film
- 31 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed
| Inside the 2011 Ford Explorer Facebook Reveal Posted: 26 Jul 2010 04:41 AM PDT      In just a few minutes the 2011 Ford Explorer will be unveiled to the world. The reveal is coming six months prior to the car appearing on lots nationwide, and taking a much different form than any of the car reveals that came before it. That’s because, for the first time ever, Ford is bucking with tradition and turning to the web — with Facebook as the platform — to reveal its latest vehicle. Ford has been using the Ford Explorer Facebook Page to drum up excitement in anticipation of the all-day Facebook event. They’ve already far surpassed their goal of 30,000 fans prior to the reveal, which means the car maker will be giving away an Explorer to one random fan. Now, all that remains is a web-wide media blitz, the likes of which is designed to make a big enough splash to reach more than 50 million people. The reveal being atypical in nature, especially with social media at its core, we went to Scott Kelly and Scott Monty, the digital marketing minds behind the campaign, for the full story. An Auto Show Like No OtherKelly and Monty assert that the 2011 Ford Explorer has been 100% reinvented. As such, the team felt the reveal needed to be completely reinvented in order to match the nature of the car’s enhanced form and style. The automaker took the lessons they learned around the Ford Fiesta movement and decided to make the reveal an online play with Facebook as the primary platform. They also decided to make interactive online media buys to drive people to the Ford Explorer page to supplement the social media side of the campaign. Ford’s Facebook-heavy scheme marks the first time a major car company will forgo an auto show for a new car reveal. Instead Ford will bring the auto show to Facebook, where everyone can simultaneously experience the unveiling. In fact, Ford has a series of videos and events planned throughout the day to not only replicate the auto show experience but also introduce consumers to executives and allow for conversations around the new vehicle. At 12:01 a.m. ET Ford flipped on the “Reveal” tab on their Facebook page and put up a pre-reveal video featuring celebrity spokesperson Mike Row and CEO Alan Mulally. Then at 7:40 a.m. ET, Ford will release a video that finally reveals the 2011 Explorer in auto-show-style on Facebook. The rest of day will include a detailed tour of the new car, a gallery of photos, more Mike Rowe, a live wall Q&A with Mulally and Facebook chats with featured Ford employees.  The Paid and Earned Media BlitzWhile Facebook will serve as the core of the web campaign, the digital marketing team has made a number of strategic ad buys to drive people to the Facebook Page and get them engaged in the day’s activities. “We will reach more than 50 million people on Monday on sites like AOL, Yahoo, Washington Post, Facebook and hundreds of other websites,” Kelly said.  The advertisements in question are anything but ordinary. Ford has used Facebook’s Open Graph to implement “Like” buttons into the ads themselves. This means that should Ford succeed in garnering “likes” from ad viewers, they’ll essentially be gaining a Facebook fan for life. Ad viewers can also click to learn more about the new car on Facebook or FordVehicles.com, where Facebook has been heavily integrated into the site experience. If Ford can reach Facebook users and web denizens with their creative, the company hopes to keep them engaged with the day’s activities as described above. It’s a one-two punch of paid and earned media that the company believes will help make the 2011 Facebook Explorer a part of online and offline conversations. “We want to be blanketed with coverage of the new Ford Explorer. We don’t want anyone to miss the reveal,” said Kelly when describing Ford’s ultimate goal around the campaign. Success Through Social Media?Both Kelly and Monty seem very confident in the company’s alternative auto show strategy. The two point to the continued social media savvy of Ford, even suggesting that Ford’s second-quarter net income of $2.6 billion is proof that the company is on the right track. In some ways, Ford’s Facebook strategy is risky. For one, it’s never been done before. There’s also potential for this to be a big flop, especially given that we’re still six months out from when consumer’s can actually purchase the hyped-up vehicle. To that end, Kelly and Monty hope for the six-month lead time to spawn online conversations that will propel interest in the new vehicle and translate in to sales. More About: 2011 ford explorer, facebook, ford, MARKETING For more Business coverage:
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| iPad Launch May Be Delayed For Some Countries Posted: 26 Jul 2010 01:26 AM PDT   Here’s some bad news for those countries still in line for an iPad launch: LG, one of the largest supplier of displays for Apple’s iPad, says it cannot meet the enormous demand for the device. “Demand (from Apple) keeps growing and we can’t meet it all. Apple may have to delay launches of the iPad for some countries due to tight component supplies and strong demand,” LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo told reporters. Recently, the iPad became available in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore. However, Apple was careful not to promise a launch date for the rest of the world, merely stating that “iPad will roll out to many more countries later this year and Apple will announce availability and local pricing for these additional countries at a later date.” It seems now that this date could be further away than we thought. [via Engadget]
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| 10 Cool Crowdsourced Music Video Projects Posted: 25 Jul 2010 08:01 PM PDT   What better way for an artist to engage with his or her fans than by collaborating with them? Although just 10 years ago this would have been an arduous undertaking, collaborative music video projects are now possible thanks to social media and the wonders of the web. From asking fans to record themselves singing along to a song, to getting fans to draw frames of film, there have been some really interesting crowdsourcing ideas emerging of late. Here we bring you 10 examples of such musical projects, both completed and ongoing. Have a read and, if you’re feeling social, why not jump in and get involved? 1. One Frame of FameC-Mon & Kypski have turned to the web to help make the music video for their song “More is Less.” At the time of writing, 19,618 people have already collaborated on the project, with the video updated every hour over on the One Frame Of Fame site. The final result looks like it will be nothing short of fabulous. 2. Shawn Madden’s “Lighten Up”Shawn Madden invited his friends and fans via YouTube to send in footage of themselves having fun. In return, he’s made them stars of his new video. Here is the split-screen result. We’d wager it boasts longer cast credits than most music vids. 3. The Johnny Cash Project Described as a unique, global, communal work of art, the Johnny Cash Project is an amazing tribute to the man in black. It’s painstakingly creating a frame-by-frame music video for Cash’s “Ain’t No Grave” in fan still drawings. You still have time to participate in the project, or you can just head over to the site to see how the video looks so far — pretty good, in our humble opinion. 4. ChartJackers“I’ve Got Nothing” is the result of a project from the BBC and YouTube to try and create a crowdsourced single to raise money for charity. Although not hugely successful (it sold less than was hoped for), it does show how much can be achieved via online collaboration. Here’s a synopsis from one of the guys behind the project: “The lyrics of the song are made up of YouTube comments, compiled into a song by another YouTuber. The lyrics were released and then YouTubers wrote a melody for the lyrics, and we picked our favorite. We held YouTube auditions via video response to pick the band, found the producer of the song through YouTube, and the music video is made up of literal interpretations of the lyrics, clapping and singing along, by YouTubers! It’s a bit YouTubey.” 5. Eric Whitacre’s Virtual ChoirEric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir first made headlines with "Lux Arumque,” and has continued the collaboration with “Sleep.” Whitacre (and partner Scott Haines) recruited singers using his blog, Facebook and YouTube, surely making this the most social choir in the world. 6. The Eternal Moonwalk
The Eternal Moonwalk site may no longer be accepting submissions, but it’s still available online. There, you can see all the clips people submitted to create an “eternal” moonwalk in tribute to MJ. 7. Bjork’s Dull Flame of DesireBjork has already crowdsourced videos for her song “Innocence.” She takes the collaboration a little further with this video, made by three directors from her “Innocence” submissions. Bjork and Antony Hegarty (of “and the Johnsons” fame) shot themselves on a green screen and then sent sections of the shoot to the three directors (in Spain, Germany and Japan, incidentally), resulting in a video that boasts three very different, distinct chapters, but somehow comes together very well. 8. Dell’s AmplichoirThis example shows how companies can successfully get in on the crowdsourced music video act. MTV and Dell amassed the “Amplichoir” from entrants who responded to a social campaign with webcam footage of themselves singing the chorus of The Chordettes’ classic “Lollipop,” (as heard in Dell’s TV commercials). 9. Sour’s “Hibi no Neiro”The cast of Japanese artist Sour’s amazing video for “Hibi no Neiro” is made up entirely of his fanbase from around the world. The resulting video starts slowly, before blossoming into a webcam kaleidoscope of wonder. It has won awards for its creativity. 10. Genero Genero is like a match-making service for musicians and creative types. For bands, it’s a new way to connect with fans and get cool music videos made. For video creators, it’s a way of getting exposure for their work with the chance to win prizes. Big names who have recently submitted their music include Moby, whose song “Wait for Me” saw over 400 fan-made video creations. You can browse the site to see the submissions. The many different interpretations of one song make for fascinating viewing. More music resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Facebook, One Frame Of Fame, YouTube More About: bbc, bjork, crowdsourcing, genero, johnny cash, List, Lists, michael jackson, moby, music, music videos, video, videos, web video, webcams, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| WikiLeaks Releases Afghan War Reports in Unprecedented Leak Posted: 25 Jul 2010 06:51 PM PDT   A website called WikiLeaks just published secret documents related to the United States’ war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The documents detail deals, armed conflicts, strategies, politics, intelligence operations and some casualties from 2004 and 2010, painting the most complete publicly available picture of the Afghan War yet. The event is in some ways comparable to the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a set of documents that provided a behind-the-scenes look at the American war in Vietnam. Those papers reached the public in 1971. At more than to 90,000 reports, WikiLeaks’ Afghan War Diary is even more substantial. By some measures it is the biggest intelligence leak to date. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assage told the UK newspaper The Guardian that the size of the leak is only one dimension of its significance:
Two months ago, we put WikiLeaks first in a list of innovative websites that could reshape the news. The site accepts submissions of confidential political or corporate documents, reviews them to make sure they’re accurate, then publishes them on the web for anyone to see. WikiLeaks has previously leaked e-mails from Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and a video of U.S. soldiers killing civilians. Assage was careful to point out that the Afghan War Diary is comprised of old reports, not future military plans, so its usefulness to NATO’s enemies in the battlefield should be limited. The people able to make the most informed decisions about whether or not the release of information can endanger American interests or lives are those working inside the Pentagon, but those are the very people WikiLeaks is trying to keep accountable. The controversy of values is clear. WikiLeaks is able to solicit submissions from all over the world while avoiding jurisdiction by operating in several countries at once — or none at all, depending on your interpretation of the situation. This wasn’t possible before the web. Now it is, and the implications for society are significant. How the Leak HappenedThe Afghan War Diary was simultaneously given to reporters from The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel several weeks in advance so those reporters could study the documents and provide context with their public release. It was also given to those three publications so that no one national government could censor it. WikiLeaks removed data that could implicate its sources, but the U.S. military already has an alleged WikiLeaks source in custody: 22-year old intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, who The Guardian says is suspected as the source of the video that depicted U.S. soldiers killing civilians. So far we’ve seen no evidence for or against any connection between the Afghan War Diary and Manning. Politico reports that The White House released a critical statement in response to the leak, saying the U.S. “strongly condemns” the disclosure. The statement criticized WikiLeaks for not approaching the White House for comment or verification, and claimed that the bleak logs record events that took place before the Obama administration’s change in strategy. What the Leak IncludesThe three publications given early access to the reports have made a few similar observations about what they say. Foremost is the general narrative that the situation in Afghanistan is bleaker than any of the governments involved would have you believe, particularly when it comes to collaboration between the United States and Pakistan. Several reports either directly or indirectly implicate the ISI, a Pakistani intelligence agency, in aiding Taliban fighters. There are some suggestions in the reports that current or former members of the ISI have actually met with Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders to collaboratively organize attacks on American troops. However, the New York Times notes that some of the reports on that subject come from Afghanistan intelligence, which has a negative relationship with Pakistan and a potential interest in damaging its reputation. Other reports detail NATO-ordered civilian killings, specifics as to why NATO progress has been slow at best, and other bleak pictures of the activities in the war. Apart from the WikiLeaks website, you can find report specifics in an interactive map The Guardian produced to highlight 300 critical reports found in the leak. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, rubenhi Reviews: Internet, iStockphoto More About: afghan war, afghan war diary, afghanistan, julian assage, media, News, Pakistan, politics, war, wikileaks For more Social Media coverage:
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| Posted: 25 Jul 2010 05:32 PM PDT   While you don’t have to worry about how to hold your iPad, there will be times when you want to go hands-free. We’ve scoured the Internet for the best iPad stands known to man, and have pulled together a top 10 list of products we’d be happy to see holding our devices in place. So, if you’re in the market for an iPad stand or holder, have a look at our choices below and let us know your favorites in the comments.
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| 10 Best “Worst” Infomercials on YouTube [VIDEOS] Posted: 25 Jul 2010 03:57 PM PDT   But wait, there’s more! The infomercial is an art form best appreciated after 2 a.m. — and perhaps after a few beers. The classic examples use over-acting and cliched characters to whip the viewer up into a purchasing frenzy by adding ever-increasing "value" to the product with “free” add-ons. We've taken a long, hard look at a bunch of infomercials in order to bring you 10 of the best examples that can be found on YouTube. So get watching and let us know your faves in the comments. 1. Ginsu KnivesAs the seminal infomercial, Ginsu brought the format to the world in the late 70s. It established the technique of asking the consumer how much they would be prepared to pay for a product, before bundling in so many extras the viewer would be crazy not to reach for the phone! 2. Great Looking HairThis classic 90s effort uses the old testimonials-from-average-folk ploy to cover up for the fact its product is a laughing stock. Hair in a can is frankly never going to be a solution for baldness, regardless of how many men claim it's changed their lives. 3. Slap ChopThe popularity of this infomercial can partially be explained by the fact that Vince utters the memorable line "you're gonna love my nuts" at around 55 seconds in. It's been remixed a few times too. 4. Tiddy BearThis infomercial offers some especially fine examples of attractive people staring convincingly into the camera, blathering on about how amazing the product is (which let's face it, is nothing short of ridiculous). 5. BumpitsIf you want to look like an extra from Coneheads then go right head and order yourself a Bumpit. All the women in the video that did look really happy with their new odd-shaped heads. 6. Nad'sDear lord, it's a bearded lady! Nad's adds some freak show fun to the infomercial with some fake facial hair stuck to an Aussie actress's chin, which -- you guessed it -- Nad's got rid of in a jiffy. 7. Hawaii ChairThe Hawaii Chair made it onto The Ellen DeGeneres Show off the back of this strange infomercial that depicts people carrying out ordinary office tasks whilst gyrating from the waist down like a crazed hula dancer - all because they are too lazy to stand up to exercise. Bizarre. 8. Gazelle FreestyleA montage from Infomercial-Hell.com gives you a two-for-one on Tony Little's sales pitch for his Gazelle exercise contraption. A great example of the larger-than-life host, this one borders on "adult movie" at times. Having sat through this a few times (for research purposes, of course), we can safely say we never want to hear Little screech "butt-ocks" ever again. 9. AsprayThis product should just be called Ass-Spray, as that's one of the "odor zones" it's recommended for use on. Hey, instead of spraying your bits with a $15 potion, why not try washing? 10. Wearable TowelThe world does not need a "towel with arm openings" no matter how convincingly hard-to-handle the actors make an ordinary towel look. This infomercial made us laugh out loud at the toga-style for men, and we nearly fell off our chairs when the voice-over lady claims, "It's perfect to wear with family and friends." BONUS: Billy Mays TributeDescribed as "the ultimate pitch-man," infomercial super star Billy Mays could have his own top 10, but we're going with this tribute instead that celebrates the big man's career. More Web Video Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: YouTube More About: advertising, adverts, billy mays, commercials, infomercials, List, Lists, MARKETING, videos, viral videos, web video, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| Antisocial Social Media: The British Monarchy Joins Flickr Posted: 25 Jul 2010 02:20 PM PDT   For such a classical institution, the British Monarchy has tried surprisingly hard to be tech and social media savvy in recent years, but it has failed to embrace the “social” side of the term. The latest example of that is the royal family’s Flickr account, which just launched with hundreds of photos. The Monarchy’s profile hosts images new and old, ranging from a wedding photo featuring Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to more recent photos from the Queen’s visits to New York City and Canada. There are even photos of the Queen as a baby. Each member of the family has his or her own set of photos, and there are a few more general sets such as “Latest News” and “Royal Events.” The categories match those found at the family’s website. Buckingham Palace already maintains a Twitter profile, and it launched a YouTube account a couple of years ago. The Twitter account has a little bit more than 50,000 followers. It’s not used conversationally, of course; it’s merely a publishing platform for links to news stories and updates on the website. The YouTube channel is a bit more interesting (though no more engaging) because it features interviews, speeches and documentary coverage of the activities and travels of the royal family. The videos are all promotional or informative in nature, and comments are disabled. According to the AP, officials have said that bloggers are welcome to embed and share the photos from Flickr, however the images are watermarked “© Press Association” and no Creative Commons leeway is given. As is also the case with YouTube, you can’t comment at the royals’ Flickr account. It’s interesting to see an institution so immersed in tradition embracing new and social media, but unsurprisingly, that embrace is a measured one. With no comments permitted, the propriety of distance is maintained even in the digital realm. Are they missing the point? Reviews: Flickr, Twitter, YouTube More About: buckingham palace, flickr, monarchy, Photos, queen, queen elizabeth, royal family, social media For more Social Media coverage:
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| Top 20 Sites to Improve Your Twitter Experience Posted: 25 Jul 2010 12:12 PM PDT   “140-character status updates to a network of followers.” That makes Twitter sound simple. But in fact, the social information platform has grown to be much more complex than its 140 character-limit suggests. The site not only connects people, but has also become an intricate information resource for everything from news to shopping deals. Yet in many ways, the site’s actual functionality hasn’t exactly kept up with user interactions. Twitter’s interface has remained simple, which is why a lot of tweets take place through third-party sites and applications that make the experience more useful. We’ve compiled a list of the top 20 third-party websites for making your Twitter experience more useful and easier to manage. Although this does not include the many desktop or mobile applications that are available for Twitter, we hope that it will make your browsing experience more enjoyable as you dive into the Twittersphere. Also, as a one-stop shop for Twitter apps, check out OneForty. We’d love to hear what’s missing from this list, including sites that you find useful in the comments. Web Applications: HootSuite and BrizzlyWith its recent update and HTML5 support, social media dashboard HootSuite has become one of the most useful Twitter web applications not only for individual users, but teams managing several accounts. In some ways, HootSuite has the look and feel of TweetDeck with the big differentiator of it being a web-based application, not requiring any downloads. HootSuite enables you to update to multiple accounts at once, and supports Twitter, Facebook profiles and pages, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, WordPress, MySpace and Foursquare. Similar to TweetDeck, these features make the application useful for maintaining your overall social presence. Moreover, you can allow other users to jointly update an account, integrate Google Analytics for your stats and schedule tweets and updates ahead of time. The HTML5 interface enables you to easily include an image or file with your update by simply dragging it from the desktop into the message box, which will automatically upload the file with an “Ow.ly” shortener for sharing. The fast loading of the dashboard is perhaps one of the most notable improvements, making the site more usable for users who manage dozens of accounts. If you don’t like Hootsuite, you should also check out Seesmic, which has a lot of similar features, but a different interface.
Brizzly has a different functionality from Hootsuite, but may be more appealing because of its simple interface. Brizzly is specifically focused on Twitter and no other networks, which makes the experience somewhat less distracting. It also includes subtle, but worthy features like automatically expanded URLs, which shows you exactly where you are going if you click, and displays replies and direct messages in a threaded form, making it easier to follow the conversation. Filtering Through the Noise: TwitterTimes and Paper.liAfter you log in with your Twitter username, The Twitter Tim.es creates a page that displays stories by filtering through what the people you follow have tweeted the most in a more presentable stream that is updated regularly. Though the design of the interface isn’t the best, The Twitter Times is effective in showing you who has tweeted the story along with the story headline and blurb to give you an idea of what it’s about. In some cases, the site shows you the full text of the post. It also gives you options to view popular stories on Twitter from media sources and Twitter Lists. The site helps you filter through the noise and keep up with what is trending among the people you follow. If you’ve been off the grid for a couple hours, you can get a sense of what people are sharing and the news that is important among your Twitter community at any given moment. Paper.li has similar functions but a different presentation. Users can create their own "newspaper" based on who they follow. Users can also create newspapers based on a Twitter hash tag or a Twitter list. Instead of a stream, Paper.li presents content by creating a custom homepage that separates content based on popularity and topics. The site does a great job of making the content visually appealing by including thumbnails, YouTube videos and blurbs.
Trends: TweetMeme and TrendisticTweetMeme is best recognized for its bright green buttons on websites (like this one), enabling users to easily tweet the article they’re reading. All of the information is collected at TweetMeme from across the web, giving a good sense as to what is trending on Twitter. The site enables you to filter by categories and topics (entertainment, gaming, etc.) and to showcase the most retweeted links. You also get a brief blurb from the link being shared and are able to filter by news articles, images and videos. Trendistic also works well, but specifically for bigger Twitter trends and how they have performed over time. The site gives you an idea of current trends and presents them in a graphic format, showing you the percentage that the trends account for at any give time. For example, on July 8, "heat" accounted for 1.8% of all tweets at 9 p.m. during LeBron James’ big announcement that he would be joining the Miami Heat. You can also sort the trend based on timeframe, and get a code to embed the chart on your site.
Twitter Lists: Tlists and PubliTweetTlists is a Twitter Lists directory where you can search by list topic, view popular lists, and create your own lists. Users can also apply to join a list, and the creator is then notified and can approve them to join the list depending on whether they are a good fit. Lists are a great curating tool in rounding up like-minded tweeters in one place. It functions not only as a directory, but also as a stream of useful information around a specific subject. But after you have that list, how can you make it more presentable? PubliTweet takes your Twitter Lists and makes them a lot more useful. It does this by providing a nice embed code that presents the lists in a handy stream that includes the text of the tweet, headline, thumbnail and blurb of the article they are sharing. You can take the code and plant the list anywhere on your site. Not only does PubliTweet make your Twitter Lists more useful visually, the tweets are also more shareable through convenient Twitter, Facebook and e-mail share buttons.
Hashtag Stats: TwapperKeeperTwapperKeeper and Trendistic are great tools for getting some basic stats on how much a specific hashtag on Twitter is performing. Though there are several other sites that give you more options (often for a price), these two sites are simple to use in getting a general overview. TwapperKeeper lets you create an archive for tracking a specific hashtag, keyword, or username and collects the data and the number of mentions. If you’re interested in getting a sense for how many times a specific hashtag was tweeted, it gives you a total number, along with the ability to search precisely through the archive that you created, listing the recent tweets that have been tracked. The beautiful part is that you can also export the data and analyze it to your liking.
Embedding Tweets: QuoteURLThough Twitter released a script that allows interactive tweet embedding, the code has had some issues and isn’t always ideal. QuoteURL seems to be the best option for creating embedable tweets. The app enables you to add multiple tweet URLs and embed them into a post. You can also embed an individual one, but if you want to get a stream of tweets to embed, this is the tool to use. The application gives you a nice, clean embed such that users can see the text of the tweet, but it also preserves the interactivity of being able to reply, click on the username, or any links within the tweet. Essentially, it mirrors the experience a user has engaging with individual tweets on Twitter. This makes your tweets a bit more useful than just a screenshot, however, many sites and blogs have yet to adopt it because the embed doesn’t show up in blogger’s RSS feeds.
Location: MapMash.in and MonitterThough Twitter has launched its own location feature with Twitter Places, which will likely be expanded in the future, there are several other sites that showcase location-based tweets. Local Twitter Trends displays trends in major cities and allows you to click on the keywords to see what people are talking about. It’s very simple and to the point, giving you an easy way to track the conversation in a specific place.
However, if you want to track news on specific topics, monitter might be the better choice. This site allows you to not only search for a specific location, it also lets you track three specific searches within that area — in real time — and displays the results in an easy-to-view, three-column format. You can also adjust the radius of the area that you’re searching. Discovery: WeFollow and TwellowWeFollow is a Twitter directory from Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, that emphasizes topics that users associate themselves with. Anyone can easily add themselves to the directory by simply tweeting out the hashtags that will make their usernames searchable in the directory. The site is great for discovering new users that you might share common interests with. It also enables you to view the top users in each category.
Twellow’s tagline is the "Twitter Yellow Pages," and aims to be the directory to search for Twitter users based on industries and topics like biotechnology, food, home and garden, etc. In a lot of ways it is the ultimate directory for Twitter, also enabling you to search for users based on area. It also offers a very useful search engine. Influence: Klout and TwitterCounterType a username into Klout and you can get a sense for how influential that user is on Twitter and their behavior. Klout gives you a score out of 100 based on reach, amplification and network after being compiled from numbers like the total retweets, message reach, unique mentions, retweeters, and more. The cool feature is the influence matrix, which defines the user and gives you a brief description of their behavior on Twitter. Klout also tells you who the user influences and is influenced by, as well as a topic summary of their tweets.
TwitterCounter tracks the top accounts and lists on Twitter based on how many followers they have and gives you some more basic numbers of influence based on growth and rank of the user’s account. The site provides some basic graphs tracking the number of the follower, following, and tweet growth over time, even setting a predicting number for where you will be in the future based on your average growth. It also enables you to easily compare several accounts at once, and build a handy widget for your site that tracks and displays recent Twitter visitors to your site. Photos and Videos: TwitPic and yfrogAmong the first sites to make sharing photos on Twitter easy and popular, Twitpic is still one of the best. It’s also useful to browse through the public timeline of photos uploaded, and now you can even tie location to the photos you upload. It also lets you group photos into events, which is great for organization. Yfrog lets you not only upload photos, but videos as well. The site is also extremely useful and easy to navigate. One simple Yfrog feature that Twitpic fails to include is a site search. Yfrog allows you to sort videos and pictures based on popularity, and showcases top search trends on the site. You can also easily share the photos across platforms and get an embed code for the image. Here’s an example of Glee star Mark Salling’s Yfrog post about a recent big catch:
Polls: PollDaddy and TwtPollPollDaddy has an easy integration for creating a quick poll that can be easily distributed on Twitter. The setup is easy. You create a poll question, select the answers (multiple choice, etc.) and the order you want them to appear, enter your username and post it to Twitter. The site sends a nice clean tweet with a link to the poll where users can vote. After setting the poll up, it is also quite easy to embed the poll into a post. It’s also worth mentioning PollDaddy has a great WordPress plugin that enables you to easily create polls within the content management system.
TwtPoll is similar to PollDaddy but has a different interface and allows users to answer questions through different formats, such as text, images or videos, Twitter handles or addresses. More Twitter resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Pablo631 Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Foursquare, Google Analytics, HootSuite, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ping, Seesmic, TweetDeck, Tweetmeme, Twitpic, Twitter, WeFollow, WordPress, YouTube, iStockphoto, paper.li More About: brizzly, hootsuite, klout, mapmash.in, monitter, paperli, polldaddy, publitweet, quoteurl, seesmic, tlists, trending, trendistic, twapperkeeper, tweetmeme, twello, twitpic, twitter, twittercounter, twittertimes, twtpoll, wefollow, yfrog For more Social Media coverage:
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| U.S. Enacts Law to Quell Sale of “Conflict Minerals” to Electronics Companies Posted: 25 Jul 2010 10:33 AM PDT   Back in June, Steve Jobs asserted in an e-mail statement that Apple requires its suppliers to certify in writing that they use conflict mineral-free materials. Now, the U.S. government has gotten into the game full-tilt, enacting a new law that requires companies to state whether or not their goods contain minerals from the mines of the war-torn Congo and surrounding areas. Although experts disagree as to why fighting in the Congo continues to rage on — some blame the mines and the minerals that come from them, others land rights and other factors — the law hopes to quell violence in the area by divesting rebels of the money the mineral business generates. The government hopes that without cash, the rebels will be weakened enough to stop fighting — according to the AP, these mines “fund rebel groups, homegrown militias and rogue elements of the Congolese army.” Some companies, like HP, have already come out in support of the new law. Michael J. Holston, executive vice president and general counsel, said today in a statement: “We believe this provision will help provide much-needed transparency in companies' supply chains, reduce the purchase and use of conflict minerals known to fund the ongoing armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and thus help reduce some of the factors that have contributed to the civil war there.” Basically, the law — which is a part of President Obama’s Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act — would require companies to report each year whether or not their products contain any conflict minerals: tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. If a company finds that it has used one of the minerals, it must then have an audit done to determine which mine said mineral came from. If a company finds that it has managed to avoid using conflict minerals, it may then label its products conflict mineral-free. Still, a lot of experts aren’t too thrilled with the law — poor Congolese people could be hit hard by the effects of the legislation, which could deprive them of their income. Also, some think that companies will avoid buying goods from the region wholesale — even if they are conflict-free — instead taking their business elsewhere. What do you think of this new law? Do you think it will make an impact, or do more harm than good? More About: apple, conflict-minerals, congo, Hardware, money, Political For more Business coverage:
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| 5 Awesome Apple iPad Mods [VIDEOS] Posted: 25 Jul 2010 08:45 AM PDT There seems to be something about Apple’s iPad that brings out a user’s inventive side. In its short life it has already seen some amazing uses. Here we bring you five more cool iPad creations that take the tablet device and mod it into something bigger, better or just more fun. Enjoy! 1. My Kitchen iPadWhile hacking a great big hole in your expensive kitchen cabinetry is not something we'd normally recommend, in this instance it's more than justified. This cupboard of awesome has been transformed into a media center while offering a really handy way to access cooking apps. 2. Apple iPad MacintoshWe just love the mix of retro and modern tech in this genius idea that takes a Macintosh Classic and brings it right up to date with the addition of a shiny new iPad. 3. iBook - iPad ModificationMore classic Mac action here as an old clamshell iBook (kids - this is what we had before MacBooks were invented) gets modified to fit the iPad into its display. We have to say it works really well, although we were always more partial to the "tangerine" model. 4. iPad Walking RobotUtterly pointless but incredibly sweet, the iPad walking robot was the inevitable follow-up to the iPhone walking robot -- and don't they just make the cutest pair! 5. Hammerhead Axepad iPad GuitarA combo of hardware add-ons and apps turns the humble iPad into the -- drumroll please -- Hammerhead Axepad! Created by VJFranzK, who appears to be quite a character, this is the "glow edition" - just in case you were worried you might not make enough of an impression with the device strapped to your chest. BONUS: Fishman's iPad InstalliPad car installs are ten a penny, but while most are decidedly dull and involve Velcro or plastic mounts, this effort brings the wow factor with some smooth motorized action and shiny chrome. More iPad Resources from Mashable:
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| “Jane Austen’s Fight Club” Fake Trailer Goes Viral [VIDEO] Posted: 25 Jul 2010 07:44 AM PDT A brief, though extremely well-produced, faux trailer has been making the viral rounds these past few days, depicting what would happen if they had fight club during the days of Jane Austen. We imagine a whole lot more boys would have been OK with reading Pride and Prejudice had Lizzy busted out with a roundhouse once in a while. The humor in the video seems to reflect a recent trend we’ve been seeing in literature, whereby classic books are injected with dark, incongruous humor — see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (you can check about the book trailer for the prequel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, on YouTube) and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. This little vid has been spreading across the web pretty steadily over the last few days, racking up more than 37,000 views and scoring mentions on blogs like Jezebel and video-sharing sites like PopScreen. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments: Would you watch this film? [via The Daily What] Reviews: YouTube More About: Film, humor, pop culture, web video For more Web Video coverage:
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| Groupon Used to Premiere Indie Documentary Film Posted: 25 Jul 2010 06:28 AM PDT   An independent documentary film called Ready, Set, Bag! has made innovative use of social media to promote itself in the challenging local theater market, and its strategy culminates with a Groupon that could change the way small films are distributed. It’s hard for independent filmmakers to find distribution for their films beyond the Internet, but Executive Producer Oren Jacob (also CTO at Pixar) and Directors Alex D. da Silva and Justine Jacob have changed the game through their use of social media, web video and social good. NewTeeVee reports that the filmmakers have contacted individual theaters asking to be shown while offering an extra suggestion: $1 of each ticket sold will go to food banks near the theater to help feed the community. So far, 100% of the theaters that have agreed to carry the film have agreed to that plan. The team also used Twitter to promote the movie, tweeting replies to users who mentioned it to ask where they lived, then calling those fans’ local theaters personally to pitch the film. Charity and marketing are also combined in the film’s online video campaign. The team uses a Blip.tv channel to host the trailer or other videos, and all the ad revenues from the Blip.tv content goes to support the charity Feeding America. The Groupon EffectWe’re most impressed by the possibilities inherent in the Groupon strategy, though. The first Groupon for Ready, Set, Bag! went live in Seattle today, offering locals the opportunity to mass-purchase tickets to see the film at local theaters. It lets the filmmakers do something that would have been impossible in another era: guarantee theaters a minimum level of attendance and box office success. We can see this as a viable strategy for future independent films with a few extra tweaks. For example, you could make a deal with a local theater that if the film doesn’t meet the minimum number of Groupon sales, it simply won’t run, alleviating any concerns the theater might have about risk as compared to running a film that might be a safer bet otherwise. It’s also beneficial because the filmmakers don’t have to pay for the local exposure that they get through the Groupon. To instill good will, they’re building the $1 food bank donation into each ticket sold through Groupon, and sending each buyer a complimentary cotton grocery bag. Ready, Set, Bag!Ready, Set, Bag! is a slice of Americana, tracking contestants in a national grocery bagging competition, celebrating the American working class and inspiring conversation about grocery stores — a regular part of most of our lives that doesn’t get discussed a whole lot. Here’s the trailer from the aforementioned Blip.tv channel. Reviews: BLIP, Internet, Twitter More About: charity, Doc, documentary, feeding america, Film, Food, group buying, groupon, independent, indie, Movies, ready set bag, social buying For more Social Media coverage:
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| 31 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed Posted: 25 Jul 2010 06:19 AM PDT   Ahoy, social sailors! Hop aboard for another round of Internet catch up, courtesy of the good ship Mashable. The resource buffet is open 24/7 for your perusing pleasure. This week, we have a look at how far social media’s come over the last five years, a slew of juicy factoids about Facebook and Microsoft, some sweet iPad games we dare you not to drool over, and some great biz lessons from the most successful tech startups of our day. Heading further out into open web waters? Don’t forget that this resource mondo-guide bubbles up every weekend — a real life preserver, if we do say so ourselves. Social Media
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For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Reviews: App Store, BLIP, Facebook, Internet, Mashable, Tumblr, Twitter, WordPress More About: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, small business, social media, tech, trending, twitter, youtube For more Social Media coverage:
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