Tag: twitter
35 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.28, 2010, under Gadgets, Trends, What's Happening?
Chances are you’ve been waiting in line all week for the iPhone 4, which means you haven’t been keeping up on your social media resources. Tsk-tsk.
Put said device to good use, and scroll on down for your weeklycavalcade of hints, tips, insights and analysis.
This week’s list includes some great Google
facts, web design inspiration, and a few ways to improve your social business model.
Go on, gorge yourself.
Social Media
- 15 Fab Flash Mob Videos on YouTube
We’ve rounded up the very best flash mob events caught on camera, from big brands and ordinary bands of people. - Why Feedback and Filters are Necessary in Social Media
Social media noise can be combated in two ways: By sending feedback to the noise generators, and by effectively filtering social streams. Here’s a look at both. - HOW TO: Crowdsource Funds for Causes, Creativity and Startups
These resources can help you raise money for your charity, latest project, or business venture. - How Salespeople Are Using Social Media for Real Results
The days of door-to-door salespeople might be over, but social media has opened new opportunities. - 9 Universal Principles of Viral Media Sites
Want your site to get a billion page views by going viral online? Want to enter the rankings as Internet
meme? There’s no set formula, but there are a few tried-and-true principals to adhere to. - The Top 10 Most Watched Web Series, May 2010
If you’re looking for some video entertainment to watch on your lunch break, this chart is a great place to start. - 10 Best UFO Hoax Videos on YouTube
We’ve trawled YouTube for UFO clips, and pulled together a list of the ten very best hoaxes, unexplained footage, fakes, and mysterious home movies. - 3 Things Facebook Does Very Well
Despite the passionate criticism Facebook has received lately, the network is a social giant and web mainstay for a reason. Here’s what it’s doing right. - Why Food Bloggers Are Here to Stay
Food blogs have taken off, but some food bloggers still struggle to have the same legitimacy as their print-publication counter-parts. - Are You a Comments Troll?
When a story’s subject/author/factual errors/typeface sends one into a fit of rage, it can be hard to hold back one’s ire. - HOW TO: Help New Users Stay Engaged on Twitter
Twitter is growing, but new users are often overwhelmed, and many don’t stick around. We’ve outlined some ways you can help prevent them from becoming part of the Twitter quitter trend. - How Social Media is Helping Veterans Connect
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are utilizing social media for more than just staying in touch with family while deployed. Online communities have become important support systems.
For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitterand become a fan on Facebook.
Tech & Mobile
- iRig Turns Your iPhone Into an Awesome Guitar Stompbox [REVIEW]
We went hands-on with the AmpliTube iRig, an interface for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that lets you plug in a guitar and use your device as a stompbox. - 10 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Google
Google is not your average company and it’s fitting that they have a history chock full of quirk. Here are 10 facts you may not have known about Google. - Tech Tourism: 10 Great Geek Destinations
From the birth of Silicon Valley to the inception of Twitter, we’ve pinpointed ten places on the map for those with a passion for tech and social media. - 14 Sites Changing the Way We Shop
We’ve been shopping online since the mid 90s and the web has become a playground for smart and savvy shoppers. Here are 14 sites changing the way we shop. - Free Music Monday: 10 Free Downloads Compiled for You
10 free tracks in honor of the #musicmonday tradition on Twitter. - How iOS 4 and iTunes Work Together [VIDEO]
Check out this video demo of the new mobile OS and your favorite music app in action together. - 10 Best Multimedia and Entertainment Android Apps
Turn your Android device into a multimedia hub for music, video, books, news, and more with these 10 great apps. - HOW TO: Get Up-to-Date on WordPress 3.0
WordPress 3.0 brings a refined backend interface, a new default theme, a new custom menu structure, and improved support for custom post types and taxonomies. - Top 10 Resources for Design Inspiration
A list of the best visual resources where web designers and creatives can turn for inspiration and to jump start their creative thinking. - iPhone 4 vs. Droid X Feature Comparison [INFOGRAPHIC]
How does the new Droid X stack up against the new iPhone 4? Check the chart. - HOW TO: Use iMovie for iPhone
iMovie for iPhone is the official Apple application that lets iPhone users record and edit high-definition video to publish directly to YouTube or send via MMS and e-mail. - 10 iPhone Apps for a Better Night’s Sleep
Sleep is one of the best things for your body. No matter how many hours of rest you get, these 10 apps can help you make the most of your sleep at night. - iPad Magazines: Don’t Believe the Hype
Much has been said about the iPad’s ability to reinvigorate the publishing industry, but the first generation of magazine apps on the iPad falls short. - 5 Free Ways To Find Local Concerts on Your Smartphone
If you want to find local concerts while you’re on the go, these 5 apps will keep you in the know. - The History of the iPhone [INFOGRAPHIC]
It’s been an auspicious week for Apple and its much-touted wonder device. Take a stroll down memory lane with this infographic. - 5 Cool Non-Profit Uses of Location-Based Tech
We’ve seen brands use location-based services for marketing, but non-profit organizations have jumped on board to spread awareness and make connections. Here are some interesting examples.
For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan onFacebook.
Business
- 5 Useful iPhone Apps for Business Networking
Five useful iPhone apps that will help you become a better business networker. - Newspapers Are Still Dying, But the News Is Not Going Anywhere
Newspapers need to desperately seek new ways to find revenue with experimental tactics in order to stay alive. - HOW TO: Use QR Codes for Small Business Marketing
If you’re unfamiliar with the business potential of QR codes, use this post as a crash course in how to get started. - HOW TO: Use Social Media for Lead Generation
Being that social media is a great place to attract new customers, we put together a quick guide on how to use social media for lead generation. - HOW TO: Improve B2B Sales Productivity with Social Media
Social media offers unprecedented ways to investigate and make connections with business customers that will save you time chasing worthless leads. - Why Your Next Business Card May Be Virtual
Virtual business cards offer many advantages over paper cards: They’re cheaper, take up less room, automatically update, and can instantly hook into your social graph. - HOW TO: Evaluate Your Social Media Plan
If you are frustrated because your business hasn’t seen results from social media marketing, maybe it’s time to rethink your plan. Here are some tips to help.
The Most Social Music Game Yet: “Def Jam Rapstar”
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.28, 2010, under Latest Web Technologies, Trends
The new game Def Jam Rapstar from Konami and 4mm Games isn’t just a hip hop karaoke game or a challenging performance simulator like Rock Band 3. It’s a social media platform for building connections, promoting yourself, speaking your mind and maybe (just maybe) becoming an actual rap star.
We were given a behind-close-doors tour of the game by representatives from Konami, 4mm Games and Def Jam Enterprises, and we learned most of the details about the core music game play and the social media “metagame” that’s attached.
The Music Game
The game itself is similar to other karaoke games; you pick up a microphone and rap along with the track you’ve selected, and the game grades you on lyrical accuracy, timing and other musical factors.
Songs are presented with their music videos, profanity-free, though you’re free to use the harsh language from the original recordings if you want — it won’t affect your score.
You can even play in Duet mode, bringing your friends in to perform different parts in a song with multiple performers. Konami will offer new songs for download weekly, starting on day one.
There are several other modes, but the most unique and exciting is the Freestyle mode. We’ll talk about that alongside the game’s social media features.
The Ambitious Social Features
The social features of the game are tied primarily to the Freestyle mode, which you can use to rap on top of original beats and samples provided by Konami. As you lay down your audio track, the game uses your game console’s camera (the PlayStation Eye, the Xbox Live Vision Camera, and probably Microsoft Kinect) to record your performance on video.
You can edit the video afterwards, throwing in special effects and graphics, then post it to Def Jam Rapstar’s online community.
Links to videos and other updates are sharable on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, but it’s not just about socializing. A whole game is built around a system of rap “battles” between users who upload video challenges to one another. Winners of battles (and MCs who accomplish other objectives) gain badges similar to the Xbox 360’s achievements.
All the profiles, news feeds and videos from Rapstar’s community are viewable by anyone on the web whether they have a game console or a copy of the game or not.
You can join crews, find followers and fans, or even strike up rivalries — either by challenging someone to battles frequently, or by getting kicked out of your crew. That last one will make you a rival to everyone in the old crew.
There are even roles for people who don’t rap. Promoters have their own metagame; they gain badges for using social media to spread the word about their favorite artists.
Becoming a Real Rap Star
Konami, 4mm and Def Jam Enterprises see the game as a breeding ground for new talent, and they’ve designed the Freestyle mode and the online tools with artists’ self-promotion and expression in mind.
They’ll cherry pick the finest talent — rappers who stir up vast armies of fans with superior lyricism, timing and pitch — and put them in professional production studios to create featured content for the network.
That would seem to fit with the hip hop ethos of coming from nowhere to conquer the whole world.
The game will launch on the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 with at least 40 songs and videos from artists like Dr. Dre, 2 Pac, 50 Cent, Ice Cube and more this October 5 in North America and November 2 in Europe.
What Twitter Places Means for the Future of Location
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.28, 2010, under Latest Web Technologies, What's Happening?
Despite the bungled launch and short hiatus, Twitter Places is back in action. The feature has huge implications for the geo-location space and the location-sharing movement.
Places is a big improvement on Twitter’s previous geo-location offering, which was never widely adopted or embraced by the majority of users. Whereas before users had to adjust their settings and agree to posting every single tweet with their geo-coordinates, now Twitterers are presented with an elegant way to attach a place to their tweet, one tweet at a time.
Right now Places is a Twitter web and mobile experience only, but soon developers will integrate the Places API into their applications and services. Only then will we see Twitter Places reach its full potential. If Twitter can fix the issues crippling the service, then Places has the power to turn location-sharing into a mainstream behavior and significantly boost interest in applications likeFoursquare — not to mention the monetization potential of location-based ads.
1. Location-Sharing to Become Mainstream
As trendy and hip as Foursquare may be, it’s still only reaching a small subset of the online population. WhileFacebook — due to its size and reach — is the most mainstream of the social networks, Twitter might have the best chance at making location-sharing a common behavior.
Twitter is still the primary purveyor of real-time information and news, and location needs real-time visibility to thrive. Location-sharing amongst friends is certainly well suited for Facebook’s purposes, but the value of location supersedes knowing where your friends are.
Just two years ago, Twitter and its 140 character updates seemed silly, if not absurd. Now everyone from all walks of life including athletes, politicians, celebrities and media are tweeting. Location-sharing — via applications that use geo-location to tie locations to places for the purpose of letting users broadcast where they are — is prime for a breakout moment. Twitter can help take it there.
The tweet has proved to be a powerful and revolutionary way to communicate and spread information. Add location, in the form of places, to these messages and we could see a surge of interest.
Places add context to tweets, which means that breaking news — whether it be related to a natural disaster, event, conference or other situation unfolding in real-time — flowing out in the form of tweets can be localized for further value. It’s this context that will finally help location-sharing holdouts understand why location matters and how they could benefit.
2. Boost Interest in Geo-location Apps
As it stands, Twitter is not a threat to location-based social games like Foursquare and Gowalla. In fact, it’s a complimentary service that will positively impact user uptake.
Given that Places integrates with both services, users of Foursquare and Gowalla have double the incentive to continue updating their friends on their whereabouts. Checkins from either service are tied to places on Twitter, which means those updates get sucked into the Twitter Place feeds/streams.
Checkins will also have broader reach on Twitter via the Twitter Place page, which means more exposure for Foursquare and Gowalla. More exposure will translate into more users who checkin more often, and so on, and so forth.
Plus, as location-sharing becomes more accepted, users will begin to appreciate the added values that Gowalla and Foursquare bring to the table. Saving money — whether that be at Starbucks, Domino’s or Sports Authority — is something that never gets old.
3. Promoted Places
With Places, Twitter has an opportunity to serve up highly targeted advertisements in the form of Promoted Tweets.
Ads could appear atop the Places tweet stream — a.k.a. search results for tweets at a particular place — and engage Twitter users with specific messages about a locale. Obviously this a feature that brands like Starbucks — an early Promoted Tweets user and Foursquare early adopter — could use for store-specific promotions or messages. Perhaps there’s even a “Promoted Places” product brewing that will function similarly to the new Promoted Trends feature.
“Promoted Places” may just be a projection at this point, but we are quite certain that Twitter’s current fixation on advertising revenue will extend to Places.
There’s No iPhone 4 Recall, No Matter What Twitter Says
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.28, 2010, under Latest Web Technologies, What's Happening?
The Daily Mail reported this morning than an iPhone 4 recall is underway, but don’t believe it; the UK publication’s source was atweet from a fake Steve Jobs Twitter account. Apple hasn’t announced any plans to recall its new phone.
The Twitter account @ceoSteveJobs is a parody account — it says so in the profile bio, and even if you don’t read the bio, it should be obvious from the tweets, which include lines like “Be careful not to leave your #iPhone4 at the Genius Bar on the way out of the store. Gizmodo might pick it up,” and “I heard the CEO of AT&T got married recently. The service was great but the reception was terrible.”
The Daily Mail has pulled the original story, which began with a claim that a recall was coming and a quote from the fake Twitter account, and then continued to explain the issues users have had with signal loss when the iPhone 4 is held a certain way.
It’s hard to imagine that Apple didn’t know about the signal issue. The engineers at the company probably decided it was a worthwhile trade-off for otherwise improved reception, so don’t expect a recall for that reason.
Though you might be surprised that The Daily Mail ran a story based on a tweet from an account that is so obviously fake, it’s not the first time something like this has happened. That’s why Twitter implemented a system for verifying the accounts of important people and publications.
