| SOCIAL MEDIA TOP STORIES | | | | | | | ALL STORIES SOCIAL MEDIA | | |
| Ten Athlete Gaffes Aided by Social Media | |  News that the Orlando Magic's CEO reportedly drunk-dialed NBA star Dwight Howard at 1 a.m begging him not to leave the team broke this week. It was a story many could relate to in the age of cellphones and immediate communication, as well as one that quickly spread on Twitter and provided another example of the sports and technology worlds colliding. Usually, though, it's the athletes themselves whose gaffes are aided, abetted and magnified by tech and social media. While social media can be a powerful tool for athletes, it can also work against them. Here are ten of the Mashable staff's best examples. Can you think of any others? Let us know in the comments. |
| Facebook Timeline: The Complete Guide | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 7:55 PM | Christine Erickson |
|  Facebook Timeline has been on the back burner for months now, after it was first announced at the company's f8 conference in September. Despite much delay, it is finally rolling out to the public, starting with New Zealand. That means it's only a matter of days before it comes to you, so brace your News Feed, because the fans and protestors are coming in full-force. In the meantime, here's everything you need to know about Facebook Timeline. New Features The new features are significantly different than any other upgrade to Facebook before. Timeline presents a way to digitally document your entire life, from birth to present, via wall posts, photos, announcements and events. Consider it a neatly organized social scrapbook with a visually pleasing interface. If you haven't already received an invite to Timeline, and don't want to wait any longer, you can enable it now in eight simple steps. Timeline was supposed to be released to the public in September. October. November. The feature was set back, possibly after a copyright infringement lawsuit was filed against Facebook by Timelines.com. Later, Facebook admitted it was taking its time to roll out Timeline to users, relying on more technically adept people to experience the features first. Mashable's Lance Ulanoff explains, "Facebook is trying to educate the media on the fundamentals and benefits of Timeline." What to Do With Your New Timeline So, if or when your Facebook Timeline is activated, what exactly should you do with it? That's up to you, and how much you want to reveal to your friends and followers. But there are a lot of new features that have the potential to create a captive, visual biography. Regardless of how much information you choose to fill out, there are a few different methods and privacy-related points to consider. What does all of this mean for Facebook's more than 800 million users? That depends on your stance about the new features. Facebook Timeline is a way to document your entire life, from birth to present, but because the company began in 2004 for college students, it might take some time and effort to manually fill out. Creative Inspiration Some have already jumped into Timeline and are getting creative with their profile presentation, most specifically cover photos, which is a new feature that includes a personalized image at the top of the page. SEE ALSO: Facebook Timeline: 5 Sites for Customizing Your Cover Photo When Timeline entered beta in September, we gathered some stunning and mind-blowing takes on the new layout. What About Privacy? Some have clamed, in criticism of Facebook Timeline, that by encouraging users to fill their profile, the company is seeking to capture more user data to further appeal to advertisers. Others have expressed concern that it is now easier to discover information about a person that was previously difficult to access. Further more, some believe these additional features regarding users' personal information may encourage identity theft. SEE ALSO: The New Facebook: How to Take Control of Your Privacy As guest contributor Soren Gordhamer explains with regard to Facebook and information overload, "Possibly at no other time has the question, 'Just what is the purpose of social media?' been more relevant." Your Thoughts We asked our readers if they would fill in their Facebook Timeline gap when the new features were first announced in September, and we received a mix of responses. "I think for people, this is less important, but for businesses, it could be huge. I would love to be able to see how often a business has posted and changed throughout their history, rather than simply looking at a static website, of what they choose to put as their History. This could be really neat. As for me, there's no way I'd bother going back and adding things. What a waste!" - Chris Gregoire "Google+ is looking more and more attractive." - Graham Giblin "I'm really enjoying the new profile layout. It really gives users a lot more character to their profiles without going down the road of MySpace. Although, I feel like Facebook has overlooked the importance of profile pictures as they have been relegated to a 180×180 box. Additionally cover pics can't be clicked and it takes 3 steps to actually like or comment on them. Too bad" - Randolph Burlton "I have tried Timeline on my own profile and I would have to say that it is an absolute masterpiece of social & personal news consumption.I only wish I had posted more on it. It also encourages oneself to be a bit more open because you're literally creating your life's history on the web - in a format that no others have. Bravo." - Bob Orchard "I actually find it rather arrogant to think that my friends would be even the slightest bit interested in what I got for my seventh birthday. My Timeline shall remain pretty blank." - Aaron Martin-Colby |
| Alec Baldwin Leaves Twitter: 8 Other Celebrity Social Media Meltdowns | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 4:54 PM | Todd Wasserman |
|  Within a day of getting booted from an American Airlines flight, Alec Baldwin has booted himself off of Twitter. The star shut down his Twitter account, which had more than 600,000 followers, on Wednesday. The previous night, Baldwin had tweeted to his fans, "Let's play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM, NY time, unfollow me." That request resulted in more Twitter followers. Baldwin's plea came after a strange episode in which he got ejected from a plane at Los Angeles International Airport. The reason is unclear, but Baldwin's tweet referred to Words With Friends, the popular word game from Zynga. "Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt," he wrote. Meanwhile, American Airlines presented its own take on the incident via its Facebook Page: "Since an extremely vocal customer has publicly identified himself as being removed from an American Airlines flight on Tuesday, Dec. 6, we have elected to provide the actual facts of the matter as well as the FAA regulations which American, and all airlines, must enforce. Cell phones and electronic devices are allowed to be used while the aircraft is at the gate and the door is open for boarding. When the door is closed for departure and the seat belt light is turned on, all cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off for taxi-out and take-off. This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so at the appropriate time." The post continues: "The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seat belt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane's lavatory. He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked. They immediately contacted the cabin crew to check on the situation. The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding." Baldwin is just the latest in a bulging list of celebs who have had a very public meltdown on Twitter. Below is a list of other well-known names who have kicked up controversy on the microblogging network. Know any others? Sound off in the comments. Photo credit: Alec Baldwin at the premiere of "Evelyn" at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Ca. Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2002. Photo by Kevin Winter/ImageDirect. |
| Klout Launches Sashes and 'Add a Topic' Button | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 2:48 PM | Brian Anthony Hernandez |
|  Klout just unwrapped sashes, a visual update to its Topics feature, which rolled out in September and lets you gain insights on top influencers and +K recipients for specific content areas. The sash concept is simple. A blue sash goes to Klout users with the most +Ks for any topic, while a gold sash is given to top influencers based on Klout's analysis. People who fall into both categories receive a blue-and-gold sash. The visual distinctions are aimed at providing a more accurate representation of a user's influence. "Klout is about more than a number," Klout's marketing manager Megan Berry told Mashable on Wednesday. "It's as important to understand what you are influential in as it is to understand how influential you are." Facebook employee David Swain, for example, has a score "of only 27 (still above average), but is a top influencer in the Facebook topic," Berry says. Klout also just launched the "Add a Topic" button. "Sometimes there's a topic that our system doesn't pick up," Berry says. "For instance, maybe your friends rely on you for restaurant recommendation but they do so offline. You may want to add 'Food' to your influential topics." Klout has integrated 12 social networks to users' dashboards. The service so far factors in Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Foursquare. Klout is still building scoring models for YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Blogger, Wordpress.com, Last.fm and Flickr. Additionally, Klout plans to add Quora, Yelp, Posterous, Livefyre, Disqus, bit.ly and other services. SEE ALSO: The Remarkable Story of How Klout Got Started/a> To populate a user's Topic Pages (see screenshots below), Klout analyzes your public content. |
| We're Mapping the Rollout of Facebook Timeline (And We Need Your Help!) | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 2:38 PM | Alex Fitzpatrick |
|  At approximately 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, Facebook Timeline began rolling out to the public in New Zealand. Since then, we've received reports of users gaining access in Canada, Germany, Holland and India as well. We'd like to track the rollout of Timeline geographically, but we need Mashable readers to help us. Have you received Facebook Timeline yet? If so, where in the world are you, and did you ever install the Developer version in the past? Let us know in the comments thread below. SEE ALSO: How to Fill In Your Timeline | Facebook Timeline: 10 Simple Tips & Tricks Here's our map of the rollout. We'll be live-updating this throughout the day with your feedback, so keep checking back to see if Facebook Timeline has been made available in your country yet. View Facebook Timeline Rollout in a larger map Map last updated: 11 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Dec. 7 2011 |
| 9 Social Media Uprisings That Sought to Change the World in 2011 | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 1:50 PM | Zoe Fox |
|  Social media has not only been at the core of major protest stories, but drove some of 2011's biggest news, from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring. Digital tools such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have defined this year's social movements by giving rise to a new generation of activism. In 2008, Barack Obama's campaign was touted for its social media prowess. 2011's stories of online mobilization share a common thread, differentiating them from the U.S. President's election effort: grassroots organization by average individuals. SEE ALSO: Why 2011 Will Be Defined by Social Media Democracy As more of the world becomes connected online, revolutionaries across the globe are being empowered like never before. We took a look at some of the biggest stories of activism and uprising that were organized using social media this year. Take a look through the gallery below to relive some of the year's most memorable moments and examine their digital roots. Image courtesy of Flickr, Al Jazeera |
| Only 10 Days Left to Vote in the Mashable Awards | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 11:53 AM | Keith Kaplan |
| 
On Nov. 21, our editors announced the Mashable Awards top finalists in all 28 categories. You can check out all the nominees in these four verticals: Entertainment, Tech, Business, and Social Media. Now, with a little over one week left to vote, the finalists are in the home stretch to come out on top. This year marks the Fifth Annual Mashable Awards and is the biggest one yet. The awards are held each year to recognize individuals, businesses, and gadgets for the innovation and creativity they bring to the digital space. This is not only a way of recognizing the current digital community, but also a way to discover new tools and brands. Remember, you are able to vote once a day up until Friday, Dec. 16 when the voting period ends. Then on Monday, Dec. 19, we will announce the final winners in all categories. The best part is the winners get to join the Mashable team at MashBash 2012 at CES in January. They will be honored with their Mashable Awards and have the chance to hang out with some of the biggest tech brands in the business. So, it is up to you, Mashable readers, to choose who the final winners will be. Go vote now before it is too late. The 2011 Mashable Awards Are Presented by Buddy Media Buddy Media is the social enterprise software of choice for eight of the world's top ten global advertisers, empowering them to build and maintain relationships with their consumers in a connections-based world. The Buddy Media social marketing suite helps brands build powerful connections globally with its scalable, secure architecture and data-driven customer insights from initial point of contact through point of purchase. |
| Facebook to Launch Subscribe Button for Websites | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 11:13 AM | Todd Wasserman |
|  In its latest move to colonize areas of the web currently outside its orbit, Facebook is planning to roll out a "Subscribe" button for websites. Joanna Shields, vp and managing director for Facebook Europe, Middle East and Africa announced the program at Le Web in Paris on Wednesday, according to TechCrunch. The plugin will let visitors to a web site click on the button to begin following all of the news from a journalist, celebrity, public figure, politician, celebrity they want to follow on Facebook. The feature will only work for users who have already enabled Subscribe on Facebook. Facebook began offering the option to subscribe to public figures and journalists, among others, in September. Meanwhile, users who are interested in getting updates from organizations, like for instance The New York Times, can do so by "Liking" it. In practice, the Subscribe button will act very much like Twitter's Follow button does for websites. It's not currently known which organizations will use the button or when it will launch. Facebook offered the following statement about the move: "We will soon launch the Subscribe plugin, an extension of the Subscribe button, that publishers and other developers can add to their web sites to make it easy for people to connect to reporters and public figures in one click. We have no further details to share at this time."?? |
| Facebook Timeline Is Here: Are You In? | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 10:00 AM | Lance Ulanoff |
|  This is it. This is what your invite to Facebook Timeline will look like. In New Zealand, and possibly other parts of the world, Facebook members are waking up to this new reality: Timeline is officially transitioning from beta to all-out feature. Eventually, Facebook Timeline may be the default view for all Facebook users. As you can see, the invite is relatively small and the explanation -- at least on your Facebook homepage -- is succinct. "Timeline is a collection of the photos, posts and experiences that help you tell your story." It's a little sentence, though packed with meaning. While photos and posts are fairly well-defined entities, "experiences" is much looser, and it's really the magic of Timeline. As skeletal as your Facebook Timeline may appear when you first see it, it is intended to be a linear biography, a map of your life. You can fill it up and you can let others do so as well. When Facebook announced Timeline in September, I was somewhat ambivalent. Timeline is not simply a hand-built diary of social activity. Between Facebook's existing algorithms, the new Open Graph and frictionless sharing, a whole world of activity could naturally flow to the chronological stream. Facebook will even decide what's important enough to show. It's a lot of power for something that lives solely on a computer screen. Mashable showed us all how to build our Timelines early, ahead of Facebook's broader rollout schedule. As a result, I, and millions of others, have had the opportunity to build and play with our Timelines. The fact that we could do so is, I believe, no accident on Facebook's part. Last month, Facebook executives told me they wanted to seed savvier users with the feature to help guide newbies. Essentially, to prepare them for this day when average people would be confronted with this simple choice. Once they opt into Timeline, their profile page will never be the same, and they will look to those who have been using Timeline for more than two months for help. My time in Timeline has guided me to a better place. I actually like these profile pages and am endlessly fascinated about what I can discover as I dig back to my first year on Facebook: 2007. I realize that this is how people think and how they walk back through their memories. It's not random -- jumping from one decade to another. Instead, it's a series of connections that lead them back through time. They remember one friend and that leads them back to another, and then a party they all attended in 2005, and that further connects them to someone they hung out with in 2003 but have all but forgotten about in 2011. I have not spent much time building up "Life Events" like the births of my two children or my marriage more than 20 years ago, but when I have time, I might add them. I suspect that there are certain kinds of Facebook users who will treat Timeline as a highly organized and extensible digital scrapbook. They'll scan old, analog photos. Some of the less savvy users may not want to go through the trouble of scanning. Actually, during a recent meeting with Facebook, it was suggested that you simply photograph the photographs with your digital camera or phone. Five years ago I would've said that's a terrible idea, but now, with many camera phones sporting 8-megapixel resolutions, this could work out quite nicely. Questions of security and privacy will likely continue to dog Facebook, but I suspect that the average user Facebook's targeting with Timeline will be more enchanted with Timeline's possibilities than worried about what people might or might not see. But perhaps that's just me. So, my friends, the train has finally left the station. Facebook Timeline is now trundling across the globe and heading to a computer near you. The only question you have to answer is: Are you getting on board? Let us know in the comments. Bonus: Stunning Facebook Timeline Designs |
| Facebook's Secret to High Emotional Engagement? Faces [STUDY] | | Wednesday, December 07, 2011 9:00 AM | Todd Wasserman |
|  If you're trying to understand why Facebook elicits such an emotional response, look no further than the name. A study commissioned by Facebook examined how consumers' brains responded to the site as well as to Yahoo's and The New York Times's homepages. NeuroFocus, the Berkeley, Calif., firm that executed the study, found that of the three, Facebook scored highest on attention, emotional engagement and memory retention. A.K. Pradeep, the CEO of NeuroFocus, says the presence of faces on Facebook are a major reason why. "As you can see, one of the dominant features of Facebook is the human face," he says. "The face is a window to the emotions." Pradeep says that since childhood we are trained to read people's faces to discern emotion, and that such information is key to survival: Thus the stimulation we experience when scanning our newsfeeds. In the study 84 adults, split evenly between men and women, were wired with EEG sensors, which measured their brainwave patterns as they visited the sites. All three sites scored better than average on the three areas. However, The New York Times did slightly better than the others on memory retention and Facebook was notably higher when it came to emotional engagement. Pradeep says that faces explain much of the emotional appeal of Facebook. He says if Yahoo or The New York Times have recognizable faces in their articles, the emotional levels even out more. Even though faces on those pages are likely to be public figures rather than friends of yours, they still spur an emotional response. (Facebook's launch of Subscriptions in September ensures that more users will see both in their news feeds.) Facebook commissioned the study to display its emotional connection with consumers to advertisers. Though the report didn't look at how an ad might work in one or the other platforms, an earlier NeuroFocus study compared a Visa ad on Facebook to one that ran on TV. That study found that the Facebook ad scored higher for emotional engagement than the TV spot. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ozgurdonmaz |
| |  |  | | | TOP STORIES TODAY TOP TOPICS | |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home