Twitter was never meant to be a social network. In fact Twitter started life as an internal messaging service for a podcasting company just over seven years ago.



But how things have changed.

On the social web we live on a diet of fast change and rapid media evolution. Twitter’s slow burning maturation often flies below the radar and Facebook changes such as the new timeline and graph search attract numerous blog articles, comments on Facebook and mass media attention.

Twitter has become a multi-media social network without anyone really noticing.

Are you just tweeting text?

Many of us are just using it for tweeting text and links and forget that you can increase engagement by including video, images and even Slideshare presentations that can be viewed within the Twitter platform. Twitter is hoping that we will use the network to share multi-media in new ways.They are even punting on changing the world of video marketing and communication by integrating their new 6 second video service called Vine into the Twitter ecosystem.

Twitter’s aim is to make video an acceptable marketing medium that is short, snappy and sharp, that cuts through the clutter just like they have done with the humble 140 character text.

Effective marketing is multi-channel and multi-media

The question is often asked “what social network should you be using?“. The answer is, “As many as you can manage and that time and resources allow where your target audience is hanging out”

Multi-channel marketing should be your goal.

Coca Cola knows this well and Wendy Clark the  senior VP-integrated marketing communications and capabilities at Coca Cola had this to say about effective marketing strategies in a digital world.

“None of our plans are simply social, or TV, or mobile or experiential. On the contrary, it’s the combination of owned, earned, shared and paid media connections“.

She went on to say

“No single medium is as strong as the combination of media”

To highlight this point she mentioned that for their Olympic campaign in 2012, Coca Cola used 60 different types of media!

In other words multi-channel  and multi-media combined are vital to create marketing synergies that have the potential to become viral.

Did you know this about Twitter?

Twitter has released some internal research that shows how multi-media rich its platform has become and also its increasing role as an effective buzz and engagement tool that can used by journalists, news organisations and  users to increase their Twitter followers and retweets.

#1. Tweeting more gets you more followers

For journalists who post a concentrated number of Tweets in a short time span, follower growth is 50% more than expected.

 

#2. You can send tweets with a text message

Twitter was born with mobile in its DNA and that is obvious from its 140 character limit that was designed around the texting constraints of  mobile SMS. When Twitter became embedded within Apple’s mobile operating system it reached a tipping point that has continued to cement its place as the the web’s go to channel for breaking news and quick bytes of information.

Twitter can be set up to integrate with your texting.



Not only can you send tweets with a text message but you can receive text messages when someone new follows you, your tweet is retweeted and even when your tweet is marked as a favourite.

Below is the screen you see when setting up your mobile for texts and Twitter. To make sure that you aren’t receiving texts all the time from someone new following you or retweets it may be best to turn most of these off.



#3. Tweets with media receive on average 3 to 4 times more engagement

Twitter started as mono-media but has evolved into a multi-media social network. Media can include videos, photos and even Slideshare that can be viewed within Twitter. Tweets with multi-media receive 300-400% more engagement than tweets without media included.



#4. Using more @mentions increases your follower growth faster

Twitter research of its Twitter stream shows news organizations that tweet 20% fewer URLs and 100% more @mentions grow followers 17% more than expected.



#5. Hashtags can increase engagement by almost 100%

According to research from Twitter, journalists using hashtags increased engagement by 100% and the increase was 50%  for news organizations.



#6. Retweeting more gets you more followers

Sharing more but letting them know via a retweet can get you more followers.

So use the retweet button.

Twitter found that journalists with above expected follower growth send 200% more retweets (3X) compared to journalists with below expected follower growth.









































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Sony announced the PlayStation 4 with a lot of fanfare and in-your-face visuals. The two-hour presentation inundated the media and gaming industry with a lot of pretty lights and sounds, but left more questions that needed answering.

While we're not expecting to see the PlayStation 4 on store shelves until late in the year, there's a lot we hope to learn before then. Even Sony doesn't have all the answers right now — the company admitted that many things are still being ironed out. With so many gaming options on the marketplace for 2013, including Microsoft's rumored next-generation Xbox, gamers have a lot of choice, so here are the biggest things we'd like to see answered soon.

1. How Much Will This Cost?

This figure could be all over the place. Sony had the most expensive console by far at the last cycle; a PS3 was $600 at launch, a number plenty of people balked at. This was in 2006, too, a time before powerful tablets and cellphones took our gaming mobile, or Android-based consoles were on the horizon. While these might not have the processing power of the PlayStation 4, the market's diversity proves gamers can find content in a lot of places, and Sony will have to consider that in the price.

Along with the system cost, there are the potential extra monthly costs of playing. While the PlayStation Network has been free for years, with the exception of the premium PlayStation Plus membership, Sony might take another look at pricing. Its presentation confirmed free-to-try games in the store, a powerful social service that allowed players to share game video, and games served to other devices.

In a roundtable with journalists Thursday, Sony's worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida said the company was investigating a lot of different pricing structures dependent on what consumers want. He couldn't confirm if any part of the online experience would remain free, or if Sony would offer it all to gamers without charging them.


2. Will the PlayStation 4 Play Used Games?

After Sony patents were uncovered last month that discussed technology that would associate a game disc's identifier with an account, there was speculation if the upcoming console would refuse to play used games.

Sony didn't exactly put this rumor to rest. Yoshida says that "PlayStation 4 discs will work on any of the consoles." But then he added that publishers could decide to lock their titles, similar to what EA has already begun doing on recent games like Dead Space 3, which requires a code from the box if players want to play online.

When a reporter in the room pointed out the console maker was also a game publisher, Yoshida admitted Sony had not yet decided how to handle used games that it publishes. How Sony's first party games will be handled will likely set a precedent for others publishing on its console.

3. What Does The Console Look Like?

Sony doesn't even know that yet, Yoshida confirmed. We'll probably see something closer to E3 in June.

We originally wondered if Sony would do something bold like ditch the optical drive, but Yoshida's other comments about used games dissuaded that idea.

4. What About Old Games?

The PlayStation 4 is not backwards compatible, Yoshida said. Neither game discs nor old games bought on the PlayStation Network will work on the system. But Sony talked about the power of Gaikai's streaming services harnessed with PlayStation Cloud, and said that older generations of PlayStation games would eventually be accessible. While this is exciting news, it leaves us with two questions: can we re-download games we already own for free? It would be total gouging to have to pay full price for games twice. And when will these older libraries come to the PS4?

5. What Does the Touchpad Do?



The PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller's touch pad can't be ignored. It's prominently placed in the center of the controller's face, and changes its whole look. While Sony was happy to brag about this addition, there is little idea of what it does.

A Killzone Shadow Fall developer said on Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel that the touch pad was useful for navigating between menus, but that's a lot of real estate to devote to that function. Will we see more games moving from mobile to the PlayStation Store that feature touch controls? Was this influenced by the OUYA design? We have yet to see this demonstrated with any of the game technology.

6. How Will the PS4 Support Indie Developers?

The PlayStation 4 presentation focused on how great the console is for developers, and included a video talking to those working at studios large and small on how great the new features are. 2012 was also a big year for indie games in the PSN Store, with such massive successes like Journey and Sound Shapes. With a bigger store potentially coming to the PlayStation 4 ecosystem, how will Sony attract indies to provide quality content for the system?

Yoshida said he already respected the iTunes model, and hoped Sony could do something similar with the next-gen PlayStation Store, but of course couldn't announce any specific plans. With so many indies focusing on mobile because of the ease of publishing, can Sony attract them with a self-publishing model that resemble's Apple or the upcoming Android home consoles?



7. What Games Will Be Out at Launch?

Launch lineups are ridiculously hard to set up, with games often taking longer to develop than anticipated. At the same time, launching with an anemic list of games doesn't help a console's chances. While lots of publishers and developers partnering with Sony spoke at the presentation, not all were even showing games; Square Enix, Quantic Dream and Media Molecule only showed concepts.

A couple of those titles have been confirmed for launch: first-party Killzone Shadow Fall and Ubisoft's highly anticipated Watch Dogs. While there are still many months for games to pop up between now and launch, Sony is also still promoting huge games for the current-gen PlayStation 3, including Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and Quantic Dreams' Beyond. Let's hope they fill out the lineup much more before launch.

8. When Will We See the Console?

Holiday 2013 is the best answer we could get for that, which is reasonable. We don't expect to get a clear answer on this until June at the earliest, though it's worth noting that Nintendo announced its Wii U launch date only 80 days before it was to arrive in stores.

What questions do you have about the PlayStation 4? Let us know what you're curious about in the comments.

Controller and game images courtesy Sony Computer Entertainment America. Used games image courtesy wlodi.






















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1. Heavy Traffic

Craigslist receives more than 50 billion page monthly pageviews. More than 60 million people from the U.S. alone visit the site each month
Image courtesy of Flickr, epSos.de


2. Millions of Listings
Craigslist users post more than 100 million classified ads each month. Of those listings, more than 2 million are job ads.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Tax Credits


3. How Craigslist Makes Money
While some listings are free, Craigslist makes money by charging for job postings in 28 metro areas, brokered apartments in New York City and therapeutic services in the U.S.
Image courtesy of Flickr, epSos.de


4. Started in San Francisco
Craigslist started as an email list of events in San Francisco by Craig Newmark, a computer programmer.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Alex E. Primos


5. Why Craigslist Is a .ORG
Though Craigslist is incorporated as a for-profit, it uses a .org rather than a .com to signify the relatively non-commercial nature of the platform. It claims its mission is public service over spinning a profit.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, porcorex


6. Craigslist Is All Over the World
There are more than 700 local Craigslist sites in 70 countries around the globe.
Image courtesy of Flickr, shaire productions


7. A Small Team of Employees
Craigslist has 30-something employees in its San Francisco headquarters
Image courtesy of Flickr, Editor B


8. Craigslist Speaks 13 Languages
Craigslist supports Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portugese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.
Image courtesy of Flickr, borkur.net


9. What Craig Is Up to Now
In March 2011, Newmark launched Craigconnects, a multi-issue non-profit working to "connect the world for the common good."
Image courtesy of Flickr, quinn.anya


10. EBay Has Partial Ownership
In August 2004, eBay acquired roughly 25% of Craigslist.
Image courtesy of Flickr, brianc


When you think of Craigslist, you probably imagine the sparsely designed Internet agora of job listings, apartment rentals and just about everything else in between. But what do you really know about the community-driven e-commerce hub?

We dug into Craigslist's About page to learn some lesser-known facts.

How many people actually post to Craigslist each month? Why is it craigslist.org rather than craigslist.com? And who is Craig, anyways? Take a look through the gallery above to become a Craigslist expert.

Are you a frequent Craigslist user? Let us know in the comments if any of these facts surprise you.

Homepage image courtesy of Flickr, Editor B

































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Facebook is still the largest social network with over 1.06 billion people logging in every month. Remember that is not registered users who have created an account but people who do go and check their Facebook profile every 30 days.

Facebook has reached a saturation point in most developed and English speaking countries. This is because they have run out of people to connect to their network who are not already users.

This becomes more obvious when you look at the fact that 82% of their monthly active users come from outside the USA and Canada.

Growth for Facebook in the future will come from developing and non English speaking countries.

Facebook is a mobile company

The growth of smart phones has had a significant impact on Facebook. This led to Facebook making the acquisition of the mobile app company Instagram for a breathtaking $1 billion.

This came from the realisation that they needed mobile traction and fast.

The following statement from Mark Zuckerberg which precedes the latest announcement of Facebook’s fourth quarter and full financial year results, shows how important they consider mobile in their future.

“In 2012, we connected over a billion people and became a mobile company,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.”

It also led to the focus on development and launchof Facebook for Android 2.0, completely rebuilt to deliver improved stability and faster performance and opened Facebook Messenger to anyone with a telephone number.

What is also significant is that these latest figures show that mobile advertising is now 23% of advertising revenue which is up from 14% a year ago.

Facebook is making progress on mobile.

Significant moment

The web is driven by two major factors and they both start with an “S”

• Search
• Social

Facebook launched Graph Search Beta (a significant moment), a structured search tool that enables users for the first time to find people, places, photos and other content that has been shared on Facebook. This recent announcement is important because it puts Facebook on a collision course with Google.

Google with its Google+ platform launch is trying to become more social. Facebook with its launch of “Graph search” is  wanting to make search more relevant for its social network users.

Both of these events will have significant impact on the evolution of the social web.

The Facts and Figures

1. Monthly active users were 1.06 billion as of December 31, 2012, (an increase of 25% from last year)
2. Daily active users were 618 million on average for December 2012, (an increase of 28% since 2011)
3. Mobile monthly active users were 680 million as of December 31, 2012, (increase of 57% year-over-year)
4. Mobile daily active users exceeded web users for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2012
5. Mobile revenue represented approximately 23% of advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012, up from approximately 14% of advertising revenue in the third quarter of 2012
6. Revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $1.585 billion, an increase of 40%, compared with $1.13 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.
7. Revenue from advertising was $1.33 billion, representing 84% of total revenue and a 41% increase from the same quarter last year.
8. Payments and other fees revenue for the fourth quarter was $256 million.
9. The music trivia game SongPop was the crowd favorite during 2012 (thankfully not Farmville), with social mobile games Dragon City and Bike Race coming in at second and third.
10. The number of Facebook employees stood at 4,619 as of December 31, 2012

Source: Facebook

What About You?

Do any of these facts surprise you? What are other facts you would like to find out about Facebook?

Where do you think Facebook is heading and will it challenge Google in the future?

Look forward to your comments and feedback.






































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Rumors of an upcoming iPhone 5 release have been running rampant in the blogosphere. Apple will reportedly debut the new iPhone, alongside the iPad mini and the new iPod nano, at a special event on Sept. 12, according to the blog iMore.

U.K.-based newspaper The Guardian also reported a release date of “mid-September.”

Further boosting buzz, Apple has previously referred to a mysterious “fall event.”

Recently, leaked photos of the alleged iPhone 5 popped up all over the Internet, tantalizing Apple fanboys. Check out the gallery below for the most complete pics yet, shot by Lab Factory, a repair shop that may have access to early prototypes of the new iPhone. Pics of components purported to be part of the phone, as well as a fully assembled case, have also surfaced online.

Apple’s last iPhone release was the iPhone 4S on Oct. 4, 2011.

Take a look at the video above for more details on the rumors.

Is This the Next iPhone?

Photo courtesy Lab Factory









































































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Olympics fans like sports. But what do they Like? Facebook — who else? — holds many interesting insights there.

Social media advertising company Compass Labs recently analyzed Facebook fans of the official Olympic Games and U.S. Olympic Team pages to compile some revealing profiles of how the two groups match up. And don’t worry about a small sample size — combined, the two pages have about 5.7 million fans.

Compass Labs cross-referenced Likers’ other favorited Facebook pages to find which sports, movies, brands and TV shows rate highest with each group.

Overall, the two pages corral similar demographics. Both the U.S. team and the Olympics at large have fan bases that are about 55% female, and each count the 18-25 age group as their biggest bloc. After that, though, things get pretty different.

U.S. fans list track and field as their top sport, but it’s just eighth among overall Olympics aficionados. Fans of the Games in general go for, in order: ice hockey, badminton, archery, rowing, field hockey and gymnastics. None of those crack the top 10 sports for U.S. fans. Among individual athletes, however, swimmer Michael Phelps rules with both groups.

When it comes to brand loyalty, fans of The Olympic Games tend to be a bit more worldly with their biggest favorites than fans of the U.S. Olympic Team do. National Geographic, Gucci and Air Canada take three of the top four brand spots among fans of the Games.

US Olympic Team fans’ most-like brand, according to Compass Labs? Dow Chemical Company. We’re not quite sure what to make of that either.

Check out the full Compass Labs report below. Does any of this data surprise you? Let us know in the comments.


Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, cmannphoto





































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