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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
SOCIAL MEDIA TOP STORIES Bit.ly Rolls Out Confusing Redesign, iPhone App Follow the Texas Primary on Social Media The Censorship Game: Chinese Twitter Will Score User Behavior ALL STORIES SOCIAL MEDIA Tim Cook: Apple Will 'Look at' Killing Ping 12:46:45 AM Emily Price Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged Tuesday that Apple's social network Ping might have not been the best idea. "We tried Ping and I think the customer voted and said this isn't something I want to put a lot of energy into," said Cook in an interview at the yearly All Things Digital D Conference in southern California Tuesday evening. When asked if Apple will kill the service, Cook responded by saying simply, "I don't know. We'll look at that." The conversation was the first time Apple has recognized that Ping, unlike its other products, may in fact not be a success. Apple introduced Ping along with iTunes 10 in September of 2010. The music-centric social network was built into iTunes and allows you to follow your friends just as you might on other social networks and check out what tunes they're listening to. You can also follow bands on the service to keep track of new music, and check out album charts, concert listings, and news. Ping surpassed over 1 million users during its first few days on the market, but the excitement for the social network quickly fizzled out afterwards. Before answering the question Tuesday evening, Cook mentioned that he had been avoiding the topic of Ping, something that Apple itself appears to have been doing almost since Ping's launch. What do you think about Ping? Have you ever used the service? Would you be upset if Apple decided to give it the boot? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Thumbnail image courtesy of Tibneo, DeviantArt. Women Are Bigger Fans of Social Media than Men, Survey Says Tuesday, May 29, 2012 11:21 PM Kate Freeman If social media sites ceased to exist, you would miss them -- unless you're a man living in the U.K., according to a recent survey by British Telecom. More than 2,000 Brits were questioned for a survey commissioned by BT about the social media habits of men and women. The results showed that more than half of the women surveyed (54%) use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, compared to 34% of men. And of those social media users, more women than men reported they would miss those sites if the Internet ceased to exist. SEE ALSO: How Pinterest's Female Audience is Changing Social Marketing The survey also debunked a common misconception about Internet usage. Turns out, slightly more women than men reported playing online games, according to this survey. It's no secret that women tend to use Pinterest more than men. Women are also more likely to have a blog than men. And the usage of social media by women influences advertisers and shapes web content. Do you think this survey got it right? Is it applicable beyond the UK? Tell us your thoughts in the comments. ?Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Yuri_Arcurs? The Beginner's Guide to Instagram Tuesday, May 29, 2012 11:00 PM Stephanie Buck Even if you don't use Instagram, we're guessing you've encountered an Instagram image somewhere on the web -- even if you didn't realize it. Instagram's calling card is the photo filter, a digital layer that, when added to a standard photo, gives it the appearance of professional editing. Some filters enhance the colors in a photo, while other dull the light to a soft glow for an aged, vintage appearance. But while Instagram's filters revolutionized mobile photo editing, they're only a portion of the appeal. The mobile app boasts over 50 million users, despite only living in iOS and Android devices. Instagram launched on Android just this year -- it quickly earned 5 million downloads in six days. Its success caught the eye of the most valuable social network in the world. Facebook acquired Instagram in April for $1 billion. Although we've only just begun to witness Facebook's plans for the photo sharing app, the social giant recently launched its own filter-friendly photo app, dubbed Facebook Camera. Instagram has surely come a long way, business-wise, since co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger introduced the app in 2010. But on the whole, the app has remained simple, straightforward and social since its inception. We're here to share the Instagram basics, whether you're new to the network or need some additional tips. Better hurry, though -- Instagram has undergone such changes in the past few months, who knows what else is in store. We'd love to learn about your Instagram experiences. How do you use the app? Can you share any helpful advice or anecdotes for new users? Any predictions for the future of Instagram? Please share in the comments below. 1. Register / Setup Instagram has always been an almost exclusively mobile platform. Therefore, you must download the iPhone or Android app to your device in order to register an Instagram account. Instagram accounts are public by default, but you may elect to create a private account. In that case, only users who you approve may follow you and view your photos. Head to your profile tab and scroll down to "Privacy." There, you may select to make photos private. Once registered, change your profile picture and edit your profile information, which includes a brief 150-character bio and a website. You may also edit profile information here. 2. Notifications Since Instagram doesn't have a web-hosted feed of photos, you'll be doing most of your browsing on mobile. For that reason, you may choose to enrich your mobile experience by setting up push notifications. Depending on your level of comfort, enable the following push notifications: When a user likes or comments on one of your photos. When a user @mentions you in a comment. When your photo is posted to the Popular page. To control the notifications on your iOS device, exit the Instagram app and access the Settings location. From there, find Instagram in the Notification Center and configure your app preferences. Android Instagram users must change notification settings from the app itself. Head to Settings > Edit Profile > Push Notifications. If you choose not to enable external notifications, Instagram will still keep you apprised of your account activity in-app. New user and comment notifications appear in the News section of the app (see above-left), which you can access via the navigation panel -- the icon looks like a speech bubble with a heart in it. 3. Connect to Social Again, because Instagram is a relatively isolated social app that lives inherently on mobile, it's important to connect social accounts to get the most out of the experience. You may choose to link Instagram to your Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, Flickr, Mixi and Weibo accounts (the last two apply only to iPhone users in Japan and China, respectively). To connect social accounts, head to the Profile Tab > Edit Sharing Settings, then choose the network you wish to connect. Each time you upload a photo to Instagram, you'll have the option to share to each of the social networks you've enabled, or to none. If you choose to share to no social networks, the photo will post only to Instagram, viewable only by those users who follow you on the app. (More on social sharing later.) Here are some examples of how Instagram has affected, and in some cases, revolutionized social media: Facebook Releases Instagram Clone Meet @TextInstagram - Instagram Without Photos 4. Add a Photo The bread and butter of Instagram is, obviously, sharing photos. Before you explore much else, I suggest you test it out. Click the blue camera button in the center of your Instagram navigation panel. By default, Instagram activates your device's camera, so you may either choose to snap a picture then and there, or choose a picture already saved to your phone. If you choose the latter, click the double-square button on the lower-left of the screen. If you choose a photo from your camera roll, keep in mind that Instagram sizes photos to perfect squares. Therefore, if you select a photo that was originally taken horizontally (landscape), you'll have to crop some portions of the image -- either that, or live with the default black border. 5. Filters / Borders Once you've either taken or selected a photo, a set of tree icons appears beneath the image. These are the 17 famous Instagram filters which add different pre-determined layers to your photos, and give the effect that you've altered or professionally edited them. Many filters add "vintage" effects, which have certainly pleased many a hipster. Scroll through the filters and experiment with the best one for that particular image. You'll soon find that certain filters work well with specific types of photos, whether outdoor panoramas, personal portraits, odd perspectives, intense colors, etc. Each filter also has its own associated border. For instance, the Earlybird filter adds rounded edges to your photo, and Kelvin adds a rough, sandpapery frame. You may, however, choose to forego borders altogether by tapping the square "frame" on the upper-left of the edit screen. Check out these photos, which all take full advantage of Instagram filters: 6. Tilt-Shift Another celebrated editing option on Instagram, tilt-shift allows you to selectively focus certain planes of the photo, almost as if you were using a special DSLR lens. Tilt-shift gives the appearance of an altered depth of field, which can make smartphone snaps look stunning when used wisely. Experiment with the tilt-shift feature by tapping the button above the photo that looks like a water droplet. From there, choose either the horizontal bar or the circle. The bar adds a thin field of focus across your image, which you may tap and move up and down, or two-finger tap and swivel to rotate. Or move the circle tilt-shift across your photo for a more focused effect. You'll find that tilt-shift elevates many photos to a professional (and sometimes artistic) standard. But other times, tilt-shift can seem out of place. Use your best judgment and artistic know-how to determine the effect you're looking for. Here's why Android users got excited: Instagram Adds Popular Tilt-Shift Feature to Android App 7. Other Options Before saving your photo, test a few other edit options. Tap the sun icon on the lower-left of the edit screen to apply the Lux effect -- essentially, an auto-enhance button that enriches the colors in your image. Additionally, the curved arrow to the right of the frame option rotates your image, and the next camera icon flips your camera front-facing so you can take a picture of yourself. 8. Share Once your photo is ready to go, click the green checkmark. This brings you to the social sharing screen. If you wish, add a caption explaining what you've photographed, an anecdote, or really anything your social networks would enjoy. Feel free to add category hashtags and @mention people, especially if you plan to share via Twitter. The caption will be the text of the tweet, and the app will file hashtags and @mentions accordingly. If you've enabled location services, you even have the option to tag where you took the photo. Then, depending on what networks you've linked to Instagram, toggle the accounts to share across those platforms. The way your photo appears when posted depends on the style of the social network to which you post. For instance, if you share to Twitter (see left), Instagram tweets a link to your photo, along with the text you choose as the caption. Instagram photos appear natively on Twitter.com, which means you don't even have to click the link to view someone's photo -- you may simply expand the tweet to view directly. When sharing to Facebook, your Instagram photo will appear in the news feed with the attached caption. You may also choose to retroactively share the Instagram photos you've already posted. Head to your profile, then select a photo. To share, click the icon on the lower-right of the screen -- it has three dots. Choose the "Share post" option and select one of your networks. Or choose "copy URL" to share manually. At this time, you may only share another user's photo if A) you use iOS 5.0, and B) you tweet the photo. Android users do not have this feature. Follow the steps to enable this capability here. Browse some great Instagram photos here: Facebook HQ on IPO Day, As Seen on Instagram/a> 21 Ridiculously Cute Dog and Cat Instagram Pics 9. Follow Users Now you're ready to find users to follow. Chances are many of your social media friends are already using Instagram, and on top of that, a bunch of celebrities are, too. Head to your profile tab and select "Find Friends." You may search for friends who have connected their Facebook and Twitter accounts to Instagram, or you may input your phone's contact list to generate further connections. Or search by name, username or tag (e.g. "#skydiving"). Finally, Instagram does a great job curating suggested users and trending photos. Head to the Popular page (see right), denoted by the star on your navigation panel, and peruse photos that strike your fancy. Once you've followed some users, you'll begin to see their photos appear in your news feed, accessed by tapping the icon that looks like a house on the left side of the navigation panel. Alongside user photos, you'll see people who have liked or commented on the photo. Add your own two cents! Learn more about interesting Instagramers to follow here: 25 Most-Followed Users on Instagram/a> 12 Extravagant Instagram Pics by the Rich and Famous 10. Getting Around the Web Barrier As you've probably surmised by now, Instagram's web presence is quite prohibitive. It relies on social integration for navigation, sharing and discovery, however clunky the process may be. In its Help Center, Instagram admits, "While we're still developing our web presence at instagram.com, we encourage you to check out third-party sites that have been created using the official Instagram API." It highlights sites like Webstagram, Flipboard and Prinstagram for viewing photos on the web and printing photos off the web, among others. Many users wish they could access their Instagram news feeds on the web, similar to Facebook. It stands that we'll likely see a bit more web integration now that Facebook owns Instagram, but for now, Facebook's focus is primarily mobile. Instagram may have to wait. Until then, enjoy the app and get filtering! In addition to Instgram's suggested third-party apps, give these a go: Pinstagram! How Two Friends Merged Pinterest and Instagram in Two Days Pixlr Aims to Fill the Hole Between Photoshop and Instagram Snapstagram Wants to Print Your Instagram Photos/a> Browse Your Instagram Feed On Your iPad's Retina Display With InstaPad Pro 'Visual Novel' Channels the Web, Social Media, Arab Spring Tuesday, May 29, 2012 8:36 PM Joann Pan Could this be the craziest novel you'll ever read in print? The unconventional layout of Kapow!, from author Adam Thirlwell, features upside-down and spinning text. That's intentional. It's supposed to reflect the noisy confusion of stories from the Arab Spring, as they emerged online. The novel Kapow! tells the story of Arab Spring in 2011. London-based writer Adam Thirlwell and the design team at publisher Visual Editions dreamed up the concept. Thirlwell manages "to bring to paper how most of us digest on screen," according to Visual Editions co-founder Anna Gerber. The unusually formatted novel features large typography, pull-out pages and wordplay. The aim of these visual digressions: to represent what it's like to follow the protests and demonstrations in the Middle East and northern Africa via links, tweets and YouTube. "I thought it was the perfect form to describe the way you were able to find out about these things through various social media," Thirlwell tells Mashable. Though the book is based on real events, it's a work of fiction. The setting is clearly Cairo, Egypt, but the city's epicenter Tahrir Square is never mentioned. Thirlwell's unnamed protagonist is semi-autobiographical. The narrator is also a London-based writer learning about the revolution in 2011. The story takes off when the narrator meets a taxi driver named Faryaq whose family lives in Egypt during the revolution. He comes to learn about a "marriage that's hijacked by public events." The project took six months of planning, three months of writing and three months of editing to complete. "I found it fascinating to mimic the way one's attention is constantly being distracted or changed by what you're looking at," Thirlwell says. SEE ALSO: Can Augmented Reality Save the Printed Page? Thirlwell spent months looking at blogs featuring day-to-day updates from revolutions. He focused primarily on blogs and YouTube. "Within the revolution they were using Facebook, Twitter and everything," he says. "YouTube, I think, is in a way the most interesting because if you suddenly upload a video, it has an instant impact in a way that any article about that doesn't." He wrote the story as the Arab Spring movement was unfolding last winter. Videos, images and blogs posts were available almost immediately after events happened. is working to mobilize a huge amount of people very fast," he says. "To the bystander, like the American or British person observing the revolution, it becomes a way of actually seeing what you otherwise wouldn't be able to see." Of course, Mideast revolution is still being documented online. Last week, news of Syria's #HoulaMassacre spread widely across Twitter before news organizations were reporting about the incident. The U.N. reports 49 to 100+ residents of Houla were killed. This Thursday, news from Egypt about the country's presidential elections is expected to light up Twitter and other social networks. Check out some images from Kapow! on Amazon. And let us know in the comments: would you read this? Does it do a good job of representing the cacophony of the Internet? Images courtesy of Visual Editions Follow the Texas Primary on Social Media Tuesday, May 29, 2012 7:21 PM Alex Fitzpatrick Mitt Romney may very well mathematically seal the deal on the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday evening. The state offers him enough delegates to breach the threshold of 1,144, considered the "magic number" needed to firm up the nomination. With all of his rivals either out of the race or not campaigning in the state, it looks as if Romney will indeed pass that mark in Texas. However, Texas Representative Ron Paul remains on the ballot and has a strong following in his home state, potentially creating a minor roadblock for Romney's eventual nomination. Meanwhile, a separate contest will determine the Republican candidate for an upcoming Senate race. The two major contenders are David Dewhurst, Texas' lieutenant governor and Ted Cruz, former solicitor general. If no candidate wins Tuesday's primary with a majority, it will go to a runoff election between the pair with the most votes. President Obama is also facing a primary challenge from multiple candidates, including a Tennessee lawyer who got 42% of the vote in the Arkansas primary -- but it's not likely he'll beat Obama in the Lone Star state. Throughout the night, politicians, journalists and voters will use social media to rally support, tell the story of the Texas primary and discuss the night's events. Follow along as Mashable collects the best examples of social media use throughout primary night in Texas: [View the story "Follow the Texas Primary on Social Media" on Storify] Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, Henrick5000 10 Must-Follow Instagram Accounts for Stylish Women Tuesday, May 29, 2012 6:52 PM Christine Erickson Pinterest may be known for its primarily female audience, and women may be more engaged on social media than men, but do these patterns apply to sites like Instagram? The photo-sharing app is obviously great fun for anyone, but like Pinterest, Instagram can be a valuable resource for inspiration -- especially when it comes to health, beauty and fashion. Stylists, fashion bloggers and makeup artists utilize the platform to share their favorite looks and products. Media companies and major brands use it to share glimpses behind the scenes for events like fashion shows and fitness demonstrations. SEE ALSO: 12 Extravagant Instagram Pics by the Rich and Famous We've gathered 10 female-friendly accounts to get you started. Some provide hair and makeup ideas; others share fun fashion inspiration -- and all of these accounts post dynamic images that are just plain enjoyable. What lady-centric Instagram accounts do you follow? Share your favorite in the comments. Image courtesy of Kate Spade Bit.ly Rolls Out Confusing Redesign, iPhone App Tuesday, May 29, 2012 5:49 PM Samantha Murphy Link shortening and tracking service bit.ly got a major makeover on Tuesday. It offers a slew of new features to help make link sharing more dynamic -- from bookmarks and profiles, to its first-ever iPhone app. Although the new tools will surely add more depth to the service, the layout has left many of its most dedicated users confused about how to shorten a link -- which most of us would consider to be bit.ly's raison d'etre. Bit.ly -- which has more than 25 billion links saved since 2008 and gets about 300 million link-clicks each day -- launched a redesign to not only expand its presence but give users more curation power. Among the most notable of the new tools is a profile page and what the company is calling "bitmarks," which are similar to bookmarks. "Bitmarks are the interesting links you collect across the web -- a hard to find recipe, an article, an awesomely hysterical video," the company wrote on its blog. "It's anything that you find and want to save and maybe even want to easily share. You can organize them into bundles based on a theme or share them with your friends via Facebook, Twitter and email. You decide whether each bitmark gets published to your public profile or saved privately, so that only you can see it." SEE ALSO: The Best and Worst Times to Share on Facebook, Twitter When searching for bitmarks, you can see instant results based on the URL, title and notes as you type in keywords. Bitmarks can be added to a personal profile and can be made private or public. You can also save and share from its new Chrome extension, bitmarklet or via its iPhone app. The free iPhone app allows you to (finally) share and shorten links easily while on the go. The app also provides access to your bitmarks and saved pages to view in offline mode. The move is also part of an effort to see what others are sharing across various social networks such as Twitter and Facebook in one place. Bit.ly has already integrated those sites into the service; you have long been able to log in to bit.ly by using your Facebook or Twitter account. Bit.ly bundles is also not a new feature -- it was first introduced in 2010 as a way to curate topical or related collections of links -- but now you can collaborate and edit along with friends. Although the service's new features will make the site more dynamic, it's no longer intuitive to shorten a URL. Some people took to Twitter to discuss their frustration with the new layout. I literally do not know how to shorten a link on the new bit.ly, nice job guys!— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) May 29, 2012 To convert a link, click on the "add a bitmark" link on the top right corner of the homepage and then click "save" (or "save and share," if you wish to share). Then click on the "i" icon under your bitmarks section to copy and paste the shortened URL. What do you think of the new site features? Are you confused by the layout? Let us know your opinion in the comments. The Censorship Game: Chinese Twitter Will Score User Behavior Tuesday, May 29, 2012 3:59 PM Alex Fitzpatrick China's top microblogging site, Sino Weibo, has introduced a points-based system for its Twitter-style service -- one that penalizes users for posting controversial content. It's part of a continuing effort to keep anti-government sentiment on the platform to a minimum. Users will initially be granted 80 points. Their score will waver depending on their activity and the type of content they post, according to The Next Web. Points are gained by taking part in community-based activities, while users lose points for various breaches of conduct, including "harming the unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity of the nation." A low score can be revived by avoiding violations for two months. Should a user lose all of his or her points, his or her account will be banned. The full list of point-costing violations, as translated by a team of volunteers: Article 13) Users have the right to publish information, but may not publish any information that: 1. Opposes the basic principles established by the constitution 2. Harms the unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of the nation 3. Reveals national secrets, endangers national security, or threatens the the honor or interests of the nation 4. Incites ethnic hatred or ethnic discrimination, undermines ethnic unity, or harms ethnic traditions and customs 5. Promotes evil teachings and superstitions 6. Spreads rumors, disrupts social order and destroys societal stability 7. Promotes illicit activity, gambling, violence or calls for the committing of crimes 8. Calls for disruption of social order through illegal gatherings, formation of organizations, protests, demonstrations, mass gatherings and assemblies 9. Has other content which is forbidden by laws, administrative regulations and national regulations Article 14) Users may not publish untrue information. For information about what untrue information is, please see "Sina Weibo Community Management Regulations (Trial Phase)." To enforce the new user contract, content will be moderated by a "community committee" made up of average Weibo users as well as "expert members," tasked with weeding out "untrue information" -- an ambiguous phrase in a country well known for censoring unwelcome content on the web. SEE ALSO: China Cracks Down on Online Code Words for Blind Human Rights Activist Weibo, which has more than 300 million registered users, has previously complied with the Chinese government's censorship demands. Last month, messages about blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng were censored on the service, likely due to the work of state censors. Why do you think the Chinese government finds it so important to keep a close eye on social media and Internet discussion in the country? Share with us your opinion in the comments below. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, visual7 5 Fascinating Things We Learned From Reddit This Week Tuesday, May 29, 2012 2:08 PM Christine Erickson With its 35 million monthly unique visitors, it's no surprise that Reddit users stumble upon some of the most fascinating articles on the web. The content sometimes leads to careful scrutiny, educated debate or additional information others may not have known. This week, Reddit had a lot to say about nature, which led to some interesting discussions: the biomass of ants on Earth and koala bear fingerprints, among others. SEE ALSO: Reddit Users Surprise Terminally Ill Man With Random Acts of Kindness Here are five facts you may or may not have already known, sparked from discussions on Reddit. If that wasn't enough for you, check out last week's factoid roundup. 'What Not to Wear' Season Premiere Gets Social TV Spin Tuesday, May 29, 2012 1:15 PM Samantha Murphy Style makeover show What Not to Wear returns to TLC on Tuesday night with an episode that incorporates the opinions and suggestions from its Facebook fans to determine the outcome of the show. What Not to Wear -- a series hosted by Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, who give women fashion makeovers and style tips -- enlisted the help of the Facebook community to kick off its ninth season, airing on May 29 at 10:00/9:00 p.m. CT. Filmed before a live studio audience in March for the first time, the show enlisted the real-time opinions of WNTW fans by asking which items the episode's contestant Anna should throw out and which new items Stacy and Clinton should select for her. SEE ALSO: Watch What Happens Live: Behind the Scenes of Bravo's Most Social Show "What Not to Wear fans are incredibly passionate about the show and the overall theme of personal transformation, as can be seen by the year-round engagement on the show's Facebook page," Stephanie Eno, senior director of production at TLC, told Mashable. "Knowing this, we wanted to give our viewers a special role in our season premiere and our contributor's makeover." Before the taping, WNTW posted a message on its Facebook page encouraging fans to return to the site to play along later that day. It then posted pictures of Anna's clothing collection, asking fans if she shouldkeep or toss items, and uploaded photos of potential outfits for Anna's makeover. Fans voted on which items would best suit Anna's body type and style. User engagement on its Facebook page skyrocketed, with thousands of fans leaving comments and reactions. WNTW's page also crossed one million fans during the taping. "The level of post engagement as we filmed was unprecedented for the show, and we can't wait to share the outcome of Stacy & Clinton's makeover with the fans who helped make it happen," Eno added. The move of incorporating fan interaction into TV episodes is becoming a part of a larger trend. In fact, shows such as The Voice, Watch What Happens Live and Oprah's Lifeclass are leading the pack as innovators in the social TV space, incorporating tweets and Facebook interaction into episodes.		TOP STORIES TODAY Tim Cook: Apple Will 'Look at' Killing Ping Women Are Bigger Fans of Social Media than Men, Survey Says The Beginner's Guide to Instagram 10 Must-Follow Instagram Accounts for Stylish Women 'Visual Novel' Channels the Web, Social Media, Arab Spring TOP TOPICS Trending 6,389 followers Social Media 70,406 followers Entertainment 3,412 followers Business 36,216 followers Gadgets 7,925 followers Apps And Software 999 followers Mobile 4,847 followers US 896 followers World 680 followers Marketing 9,211 followers
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