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40 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

July 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment


Coming at you with the weekly roundup of features you may have missed on Mashable. Can you handle our collection of Google+ tips, mobile how-to’s, and general geekery? We thought so.

We especially hope you love the editors’ picks this week because we have a hunch they’re exactly what you need. Read on for the latest in tech resources, gathered together for your convenience in this handy one-stop guide.

Editors’ Picks

Social Media

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business & Marketing

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

 

Image courtesy of Flickr, webtreats.

More About: business, List, Lists, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, social media, tech, technology

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Filed Under: Facebook, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pixable Sorts Videos Your Friends Post on Facebook

July 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment


Pixable’s apps help users sort through the deluge of photos that result from multiple photo-sharing services and constant access to smartphone cameras. Now, it’s applying the same concept to video.

The startup is launching two new feeds on Wednesday that show users videos that have been recently posted to Facebook or uploaded to Facebook by their friends.

Both video feeds now appear in the “category” section of Pixable’s browser app and will be added to the iPhone, iPad apps at the end of the summer. One of the feeds is useful for scrolling through the YouTube humor that friends post. The other keeps you up to date on personal videos your friends have created.

Pixable’s photo-sorting categories like “best of the week” or “family photos” operate in a similar manner. All comments, likes and other functions of a regular Facebook video are maintained. Browsing them just becomes a more streamlined process.

More About: facebook, Photos, photosharing, Pixable

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Filed Under: Facebook, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

46 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

July 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment


Get ready for Mashable‘s weekly roundup! This week, we’ve performed original Google+ analysis, prepared you for the Mac OS X Lion release, and pointed you toward the best fictional Twitter accounts. We’ve celebrated startups and mourned space shuttle finales.

So review the list of important resources you may have missed over the past week. Tune in for more great stories and tools coming at you sooner than you can say “Spotify.”

Editors’ Picks

Social Media

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

For more tech news and resources, follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business & Marketing

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

 

Image courtesy of Flickr, webtreats.

More About: business, List, Lists, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, social media, tech, technology

For more Social Media coverage:

Filed Under: Facebook, Google, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ashton Kutcher To Edit Online-Only Bonus Issue of Details Magazine [REPORT]

July 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment


In addition to acting, investing in various apps and heading up a philanthropic foundation, Ashton Kutcher is also reportedly getting into magazine publishing. The actor will be gracing the cover of the September issue of Details magazine, as well as creating an online-only bonus edition.

Industry sources inform us that the magazine’s September issue will include an online-only companion that can be accessed via Facebook and Flipboard (which Kutcher invested in). The issue is free, and will include content curated by Ashton Kutcher — apps, entertainment, styling products and so on.

Although the social issue seems an intriguing idea, Details has yet to launch a magazine iPad app, which seems a more natural venue for such an edition. The first iPad issue is slated to be released this fall.

More About: ashton kutcher, details, facebook, Flipboard, magazines

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Filed Under: Facebook, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

40 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

July 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment


Whew! This week was awash with news. So, we transformed that news into advice, tips and how-to’s that you can reference for years to come.

Take Facebook’s video chat launch — we’ll guide you in setting it up. Or the space shuttle launch — we provide the Twitter accounts for dozens of astronauts and space experts. And Google+ has been on the minds of millions — we present its pros and cons. Mashable not only releases breaking news, we help you learn how to apply it to your business, your interests and your personal life.

If spare time for reading didn’t exactly factor into your busy week, here’s a roundup of resources that appeared on Mashable.

Editors’ Picks

Social Media

Filed Under: Facebook, Google, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

42 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

July 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment


No doubt your summer celebrations this weekend will leave you little time to catch up on reading. To help you out, we’ve compiled a handy roundup of this week’s most helpful, informative and inspiring stories.

We’ve celebrated iPhone’s birthday, we’ve pondered celebrity impact on social good, and we’ve laughed over geeky gadgets. This week Mashable overflowed with engaging content. Find out what you missed!

Editors’ Picks

Social Media

Filed Under: Facebook, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

44 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

June 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment


Wow, we have a ton of resources this week. And we’re perfecting one of the most engaging ways to view news: the infographic. Our team loves them and we know you will too. Enjoy the infographic posts below.

We’ve also generated helpful How-Tos, gathered tons of apps and presented cutting-edge technology for your business. For a rich roundup of resources, search no further. We’ve got your back.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Editors’ Picks

Social Media

Filed Under: Facebook, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Will Facebook Launch a Music Service in August?

June 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment


The music/tech rumor mill has been grinding away — not yet sated by the release of cloud-based music services from Google and Apple. The most recent grist? Facebook.

In May, Forbes reported that Facebook was working with music subscription service Spotify on an integrated platform that would allow users to listen to tunes via Facebook.

Both companies declined to confirm the rumor. In fact, at the eG8 forum in Paris, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also implied that there’s no such deal, stating: “We don’t have the DNA to be a music company or a movie company.”

Now, however, GigaOM is reporting that Facebook has been reaching out to several online music services — not just Spotify — and that the next f8 developer conference (which will likely take place in August) will center on music.

Here’s how GigaOM outlines a possible music service:

  • A new tab titled “Music” will appear on the left-hand column of Facebook for those who listen to music via one of Facebook’s partners.
  • Clicking on that tab will open a “Music Dashboad,” which will feature music notifications (if your friends listen to songs recommended by you or featured on your profile), recommended songs (which you can listen to in-Facebook), top songs from friends, top albums from friends (with art), what your friends are listening to and a “happening now” ticker.
  • “The Persistent Playback/Pause Button” will show up where your chat icon is located. This is basically your music controller and will show you what music you’re listening to via any music services you may be logged into via Facebook Connect.
  • You’ll also have a page that shows all the songs you’ve recently listened to, as well as top tracks and play counts.

Again, these are all rumors right now. GigaOM doesn’t name any of its sources or the specific services that Facebook is allegedly in talks with. As we know from rumor magnets like Google Music Beta, many things can change from the whisper stage to actual conception.

Still, if these rumors turn out to be fact, this could be just the final push the social network needs to become the new location for band promotion and music discovery.

More About: facebook, music, social media, spotify

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iPhone App Turns People You Meet in Person Into Facebook Friends

June 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment


A new mobile app startup hopes to help you connect with people nearby on Facebook — by cutting down on the friction of the friend request.

The startup, Friendthem, has just released its free iPhone app [iTunes Link] that is designed to let people see the Facebook users around them and then send a friend request immediately, or file the request away for later.

In other words, it’s easy to friend someone at a meeting or a party — or to pretend that you’ll do so later.

We spoke with Friendthem founder Richard Passer about the app and why he believes that the friend request deserves to be “elevated to its proper status as the gateway to all social networking connections.”

Whether you meet someone at a bar, in the park or at a conference, friending that person on Facebook or following them on Twitter or Foursquare is now a common social norm. But the process of actually finding and sending a friend request can be complicated, thanks to the sheer number of people on Facebook. Searching for a common name like “Jason Smith” can yield dozens of results. If a users hasn’t shared their photos with non-friends, or updated their location recently, tracking that person down can be difficult.

So people who want to connect on Facebook can use Friendthem as kind of a hybrid meeting place. You get to control what information about yourself is shared with others. You choose whether your name or photo is displayed. You can decide to show off your hometown, or not.

Other users that have Friendthem installed and are close by can then see you in the app, and choose to initiate a friend request now or later.

This video shows the app in action:

The app doesn’t require any sign-up — simply login using Facebook and then choose what information you want to make visible. For users that don’t want to be listed in certain areas — like at the office or on vacation — Friendthem lets users create geo-fences, or areas where they will be hidden from the app.

Friendthem is different from apps like Hashable or Bump because the focus is on building relationships within Facebook. If you share any mutual friends with someone nearby, Friendthem will let you know.

Still, will users download and install yet another social app? Passer was optimistic on this point. He believes that the utility of Friendthem will outweigh the hassle of another download. We’re not convinced that’s true, but the fact that three users were found within our city block while testing the app — which has had zero publicity so far — could prove him right.

The app is out for iPhone now and an Android version will be released in the next few weeks. A Windows Phone app is also in the works.

In the future, Passer will also look at developing apps that connect users to other Twitter or Foursquare followers. For now, however, his focus is on Facebook.

In an ideal world, Facebook would open up its mobile API in such a way that users could opt to use Friendthem from a standard Facebook app, and then just by having Facebook for iPhone or Android installed, Friendthem users could send requests.

For now, however, it’s an idea with promise. The “Friendthem Later” feature is particularly nice because it tags the location where the person was located with the request — great for those nights when you can’t remember who you met or where.

Sending a friend request in the app takes place using the standard Facebook mobile API. Users still have to send a message and confirm the request, so accidentally sending friend requests shouldn’t be a problem.

If Friendthem can gain a critical mass of users, we could see this being an app we would use every day.

What do you think about using location-aware technology to help aid in friend requests? Let us know in the comments.

More About: facebook, friend request, friendthem, iphone apps

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4 Rules of Engagement for Mobile Marketing

June 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

mobile image

Carla Paschke is Director of Mobile Innovation at Engauge where she is responsible for providing best-in-class mobile strategies for clients, including Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A. Follow her on Twitter @carlapaschke.

Smartphones, the most powerful data-collection tools ever created, don’t just tell brands what consumers want but where consumers are. Sometimes they even tell brands what consumers are doing at different times of the day.

Location, activity and time are a powerful combination, however, many companies, in a rush to seize a toehold in the exploding mobile market, mistakenly focus on the technology instead of the people using it.

Their messages lack relevancy and consumers filter them out the mobile equivalent of telemarketing. To be relevant to consumers, and to slip past the filter, companies must shift their approach to mobile marketing.

Consumers no longer passively participate in campaigns. Instead, they respond in real time, influencing both the scope and direction of promotions. It’s a two-way conversation. It’s not enough to release a sparkly new mobile app. Innovative applications are important, of course, but brands have to do more.

Brands have to motivate people to act by designing campaigns as dynamic and flexible as the mobile market, which now includes search, social, video, music, gaming, payments, retail transactions, location-based services and augmented reality.

Brands need a deep understanding of how mobile apps can drive views, downloads and checkins, and how to schedule specific calls-to-action around release dates, product trials and related campaigns, both on and offline.

Brands need real-time information monitoring from mobile apps and social media to get a broad perspective. They also need to zoom down to ground level, tailoring the user experience on an individual level.

Further, brands must build these new mobile capabilities atop a solid strategic foundation. Rather than developing a series of one-offs, brands should consider how their mobile applications integrate with the mobile web.

With all this in mind, here are four cardinal rules to consider.

1. Send Useful Signals, Not Meaningless Static

According to Gartner, the mobile advertising market is expected to double to $3.3 billion in 2011 and swell to $20.6 billion by 2015. Yet many of these mobile ads will never be seen. Bombarded by emails, Facebook status updates and tweets, consumers are overwhelmed by noise.

This dynamic isn’t going to change. A wise brand strategy, then, swims within the current instead of against it, presenting itself as a useful component of the filtering process.

Mobile isn’t a channel for disruption. For example, if you’re a brand targeting dieters or health-conscious consumers, develop an app to filter the latest research on super foods or the latest cancer discoveries.

2. Create Two-Way Conversations to Build Brand Value

From a messaging standpoint, the great novelty and power of a mobile device is context: A mobile phone is the only consumer appliance that knows where it is at all times.

Companies can unlock that power by sending hyper-targeted messages based on narrow windows of opportunity or location. But the process shouldn’t end there. Brands and their agency partners need to know how to get consumers to talk back, to register their preferences in low-key, frictionless ways.

Multi-billion-dollar companies have been built atop algorithms tied to small clickable buttons — think about the “Like” button on Facebook, or the “Was this review helpful to you?” button on Amazon. For Amazon, simply adding that question to each product page brought in $2.7 billion of additional yearly revenue. When people see that their input actually does have some effect, they appreciate it and come back. The more they register their preferences, the more trust brands will build.

3. Socialize the Content & Campaign With Conversation

As social networks have become seamlessly integrated into the rituals of daily life, it’s not surprising to see that the social network market has become saturated.

Overall growth is slowing. In 2010, 134.6 million people used social networks across any technology platform each month, and in 2011, that number will rise by a little more than 3%, according to eMarketer. But consider that social networking is now the fastest-growing mobile activity.

Brands need to take this shift into account as consumers get in the habit of checking Facebook on the run and ignoring brands that don’t respect the coin of the Facebook realm: direct interaction.

Facebook is a tool for conversations. Ad campaigns are conversations too. This is a nice coincidence and a useful one to any brand that knows how to effectively integrate the sometimes chaotic feedback that comes streaming in from this new class of smartphone-liberated consumers, jabbing at their phones in stores, schools, trains and homes.

4. Understand and Apply Usage Data

By combining three types of mobile data — location, activity and time — it’s now possible for marketers to assemble a subtle and detailed picture of consumer behavior, one that also takes into account the shifting personas of consumers. A mom, for instance, is a different person at 7 a.m. when she’s getting the kids ready for school, than she is at 9:00 a.m. when she gets to the office.

Can a savvy marketer shift her message to stay relevant to that mom within a few hours? Relevancy is both the challenge and the opportunity of the revolutionary data-collection capabilities of smartphones.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, fotosipsak, and Flickr, mag3737

More About: business, engagement, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, smartphone

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Filed Under: Facebook, search engine optimization, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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