Imperial Leisure Blog

How SOPA, #Occupy, Arab Spring and.... LOLCats reshaped the public sphere - Part 2

stefano — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:00:32 +0000

Note: This is the second of a two-part post. Part one can be found here.

What do Occupy, Arab Spring & Stop SOPA have in common? – The blackouts

All three movements (SOPA, Arab Spring and Occupy) gained significant momentum and widespread media coverage following alleged/actual widespread censorship of content on social media tools and networks.

Tunisia censored all of YouTube, Dailymotion, Flickr, Vimeo etc. when they couldn’t remove videos depicting police brutality. The censoring of entire websites lead to questions of why these websites that are used everyday by many are no longer reachable. This eventually lead to protests across the rest of the country (now referred to as Arab Spring).

The Occupy movement received widespread mainstream media coverage when social networks began to buzz with theories of a media blackout of the movement and alleged police brutality.

SOPA also enjoyed widespread media coverage on the 18th January, when a number of sites voluntarily blacked out their entire sites to protest against the bill.

In the case of SOPA, Google Trends offers interesting insight (on the right) about how successful the blackouts were in raising awareness: search queries containing “SOPA” reach an all-time peak on the day of SOPA blackouts. This suggests that more people wanted to know what SOPA is because of the blackouts.

An analysis of the frequency of conversations on the blogosphere (on the right) indicates that the conversations peaked on the day of the blackouts. The blackouts, by their very nature, are designed to stop information from spreading. Why did they have the opposite effect when it came to social media?

LOLCats and rebirth of the ‘Public Sphere’

Ethan Zuckerman has developed a theory called ‘The Cute Cat Theory of Digital Activism’. He argues that the web was invented so physicists could share research papers while Web 2.0 was invented so we can share cute pictures of our cats – a metaphor for sharing rich media (a wordplay originating from the the very popular LOLcats site).

Zuckerman argues, “With Web 2.0, we’ve embraced the idea that people are going to share pictures of their cats, and now we build sophisticated tools to make that easier to do... There are twin revolutions going on – the ease of creating content and the ease of sharing it with local and global audiences.”

Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr etc. have transformed the traditional boundaries of the public sphere from a physical to a digital space. Zuckerman continues “This is a good thing if you’re an activist. Most [users] don’t identify as activists and might not be engaged with politics. But... they’re interested in seeing cute cats being adorable online.

When the government blocks DailyMotion, it impacts a much wider swath of [users] than those who are politically active. Cute cats are collateral damage when governments block sites. And even those who could care less about [political] shenanigans are made aware that their government fears online speech so much that they’re willing to censor the millions of banal videos on DailyMotion to block a few political ones.”

This is what happened in Tunisia right before the Arab Spring: the government blocked a number of sites including YouTube and DailyMotion, which featured videos of police brutality. The removal of these platforms really grabbed the attention of the majority of the population. After all why on earth would a government want to block a site which shows videos of cute cats?

Similarly claims of a reporting blackout of the Occupy movement in the media and a voluntary blackout by the Stop SOPA movement really helped grab the attention of the entire world.

What was the role of social media in these revolutions?

Could these revolutions have taken place without social media? They probably could have, after all, so many others have taken place before computers existed.

But based on what we do know, we can say that social media helped these revolutions by reshaping the public sphere – it has revolutionised the way we share/create content and participate in conversations. It has become so intertwined with our daily lives that when access to these tools is turned off, we sit up and really take notice. An activist's best chances therefore, in countries such as Tunisia or Egypt, are to use these social networks as a tool for activism. Governments often have no way to silence individuals other than by switching off the network for the entire country. The Google Trends and blog mentions relating to SOPA certainly support this thought.

Despite the success of Stop SOPA, just days after the bill was stopped, Twitter announced that it had implemented measures which allow individual tweets to be blocked across countries.

Perhaps now it's time to move the conversation on, what have governments learned from these events and how are they planning to deal with alleged dissent in the future? Perhaps even more importantly, how are social networks policing their platforms and who is holding them accountable?... After all social media has become such an integral part of how we communicate – at the end of the day, who can resist a cute cat?

London2012 to break the net, Facebook ads reach mobile, Super Bowl breaks Twitter record, UK's tweeting snow & Samsung's Super Bowl Apple attack

stefano — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:25:07 +0000

2012 Olympics to break the internet

According to an official government PDF titled 'Preparing Your Business For the Games' on the official London 2012 website, we should be prepared to accept slow internet speeds and patchy mobile coverage. It warns that "in very severe cases, there may be drop outs due to an increased number of people accessing the internet."

The document also states that ISPs could add data caps at peak times to maintain operations.

Facebook to roll-out mobile ads

The world's largest social network will slowly begin to display ads to mobile users this March. This will come in the form of 'featured stories' in the news feed, much like the web version of Facebook.

Facebook recently launched a $5 billion IPO and continues to grow at an incredible rate.

Super Bowl sees crazy Twitter numbers

In the final three minutes of the Super Bowl, there was an average of 10,000 tweets per second (600,000 in a minute and 1.8 million in three minutes), according to Twitter. Madonna's half-time show saw 8,000 tweets per second for five minutes. Tweets came from around the world, and last night's numbers beat the previous record of 9,000 tweets for when Beyonce announced her pregnancy at the MTV Video Awards last year.

Twitter used by councils and BAA for snow updates

After two years of disaster in Britain's airports and streets following a bit of snow, the BAA and many councils focused on Twitter to update travellers and residents. The BAA contacted flyers much earlier than last year about anticipated cancellations, delays or poor weather conditions. Each airport had its own channel to interact with enquiries and to post constant updates about flights and their runaways.

Councils, instead, used Twitter to relay gritting schedules and updates to their local residents. Some councils received positive responses to their coordination and clear communications.

Samsung targets Apple (again) in Super Bowl ad

The Super Bowl is the US' biggest event, both for sport and for advertising. It often involves the biggest brands advertising to over 100 million viewers. Samsung took this opportunity to do what it does best in recent months - slagging Apple off. The latest ad features the once-famous British band The Darkness, and continuous mockery of iPhone fans and their infamous launch queues, stereotyped personalities and limited features.

The ad was directed by Bobby Farrelly, famous for There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber. You can view the ad here.

How SOPA, #Occupy, Arab Spring and.... LOLCats reshaped the public sphere - Part 1

stefano — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:29:14 +0000

Note: This is the first of a two-part post.

It has been a year of remarkable protests. Beginning with the Arab Spring in 2011, then the Occupy movement across the world and now the protests against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), we have seen the masses revolting against and protesting to the ruling elite in order to achieve change.

All of these movements have enjoyed some success – how much credit does social media deserve for enabling social change?

Background

In January 2011, two of the Arab world’s long standing dictators — Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia for 24 years, and Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt for 30 years — were toppled from power within weeks of each other.

The departure of both leaders was triggered by initially small-scale civil protests which grew and spread to other parts of the country. Civil protests are not a new phenomenon in either country — both dictators are well versed in quashing civil unrest through brute force and media blackouts — so why were these protests successful in triggering the departures of dictators of both countries where so many failed before?

On the other hand, Occupy Wall Street was started by the Canadian publication Adbusters, in an attempt to challenge Wall Street, vowing to end the “financial corruption of democracy”. They coined the term ‘The 99%’, representing the majority of the population who are suffering as a result of the financial irresponsibility of the elite 1% of the population. The movement has subsequently spread to many cities. Why was the Occupy movement so successful in spreading to other parts of the world?

A few weeks ago – on the 18th January 2012 – Wikipedia, reddit, the hugely popular cheezeburger network (famous for lolcats) and a number of other popular websites “blacked out” their websites in protest against the bill. So many people have now shown their opposition to the bill that it has been dropped from Congress. The bill was originally introduced in October 2011 and since then very influential figures and companies have spoken out against it – why was it only recently that the bill’s been dropped?

Role of social media

There are arguments opposing and proposing the notion that social media instigated and even accelerated the process of achieving social change.

Proponents argue that during the Arab Spring, social media “tools did speed up the process by helping to organize the revolutionaries, transmit their message to the world and galvanize international support.” “This revolution started on Facebook,” claimed Wael Ghonim, author of one of the first Facebook pages in favour of the Egyptian revolution, in a broadcast an interview on CNN, overlooking the fact that the Arab Spring revolution started in Tunisia.

Opponents such as Malcolm Gladwell argue that social media cannot and will not instigate social change because the “platforms of social media are built around weak ties” and that those who take part in high-risk activities, such as revolutions, do so because they are compelled by a close friend or a family member – not just anyone from Facebook.

Fundamentally however neither side can prove their claims, there is simply no data available to indicate how much action has been generated a result of activists organising themselves on social networks? Although hopefully we will have some solid data/insight relating to SOPA.

But there is one aspect of these protests that has been overlooked by many....

To be continued.

Facebook gets Angry Birds, tech giants form Justice League, advertisers: "Tweet my ad during Superbowl!" & Lego astronaut nears 2m views

stefano — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:00:41 +0000

Angry Birds to hit Facebook on Valentines day

Prepare for your date with Facebook this Valentines day, as you'll likely be one of the 800 million Facebook users playing Angry Birds. Founder Peter Vesterbacka announced that the widely successful franchise is coming to the world's largest social network. The game will include a full-screen mode, leaderboards, special power-ups (starting at 99¢) and new birds.

The game will launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, as it is the Facebook capital of the world.

Tech giants team up to fight email spam and phishing

Tech giants, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo!, have joined forces to create the 'Domain-based Message Authetication, Reporting and Conformance' (DMARC) technical specification, to eliminate email spam and phishing attacks on users. The initiative will change the way each company authenticates email services, and is expected to be submitted as an official Internet standard shortly.

Advertisers want viewers to tweet about ads during Super Bowl breaks

A 30-second slot will cost around $3.5m, so why wouldn't you want viewers to be tweeting about your ad? Forecasts expect 60% of the 100 million viewers to be tied to a second screen, such as a smartphone or tablet, often interacting with others about the game. So advertisers this year have been focusing on creating ads that encourage users to participate through social media.

A notable example is Coca Cola's CGI bears that will be watching the game and reacting in real-time to the game through Facebook. The company hopes to get people talking about the bears during the match breaks.

Canadian Lego man in space reaches 1.9m views in 4 days

There are plenty of 'faster' viral videos than this, but credit has to be given to the two Torontonian teenagers that sent a Canadian flag-bearing Lego man to space. The video hit 1m views in just two days, and is now closing in on 2m views during the writing of this post.

The video has featured on many websites, and a making-of is planned for release shortly. The two teens spent $500 on a GPS tracker, four cameras and a mobile phone, proving that huge budgets aren't needed for going viral. You can watch the astronaut here.

Tumblr's 15bn pageviews, Vevo: from YouTube to Facebook, SOPA's 3.9m tweets, most tweeted brand at CES & Obama's social campaign

stefano — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:40:55 +0000

Tumblr hits 15 billion pageviews and 120 million users a month

The micro-blogging site's CEO, David Karp, announced that Tumblr now has 120 million users. Its pages are viewed by more than 560 million people, with the US leading with 249 million views, followed by Brasil with 49 million and the UK with 34 million.

Karp stated that now that the company has a stable userbase, it will begin to focus on innovative revenue streams. Tumblr currently makes money from submitted pay-themes for users to customise their blogs.

Music service Vevo to move from YouTube to Facebook?

If you've ever searched for a music video on YouTube, chances are it'll be provided by Vevo. A report by CNET found that talks are underway between Facebook and Vevo to move the music video provider to the world's largest social network. Vevo's contract with YouTube ends in a year's time, so a move is imminent, especially with Facebook's new 'listen with..' and Spotify integration.

3.9 million tweets for SOPA

Last week, Twitter released some interesting statistics about SOPA's mentions on the 18th January, the day of the SOPA internet blackout. There were around 3.9 million SOPA-related tweets, with the top 5 terms being SOPA, Stop SOPA, PIPA, Tell Congress and #FactsWithoutWikipedia. The last term highlights the impact Wikipedia's blackout had on the internet, leading to the creation of a hashtag.

Motorola, Microsoft and Samsung the most tweeted brands at CES

The International Consumer Electronics Show, usually known as CES, is an annual consumer tech tradeshow in Las Vegas. This year's edition saw Motorola, Microsoft and Samsung dominate. The first two for their mobile offerings and the latter for its new Smart TVs.
Microsoft had the most tweets in a short period of time, largely due to the anticipated farewell speech by CEO Steve Ballmer. You can find all the stats here.

White House rallies Americans through social media for Obama's State of the Union address

The White House's social media team has been hard at work this week, preparing for President Obama's annual report to Congress on Tuesday. The speech will be streamed on www.whitehouse.gov, followed by a Q&A from Twitter, Google+, Facebook and a live audience. Administration officials will also participate in an online discussion for everyone to see.

Obama's team have always emphasised the importance of social media, which is shown by the strong 12 million Twitter followers, 24.6 million Facebook fans and 274,000 G+ followers.

Stop SOPA!, 'Listen with' Facebook, Bald Barbie gets big & BT's social goals

stefano — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:26:36 +0000

Internet blackout planned for the 18th January against SOPA

If one of your favourite websites is down this Wednesday, chances are it's down in protest against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Sites like Reddit, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Zynga have all shown their disappointment towards this act, which is consequently an 'internet death penalty'. It will allow the US attorney general to seek court orders against websites they believe to be infringing intellectual property, forcing internet providers to shut them down.

Co-Creation - How social media changes everything

stefano — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:55 +0000

After reading several 'top trends for 2012' lists, we can't help but notice the amount of times crowdsourcing, co-creation or 'social content creation' came up; MSNBC, TrendWatching and Huffington Post, to name a few. This is a clear indication of how social media is increasingly determining how brand experience has reached a deeper level of interaction by reaching us in our personal spaces, consequently emphasizing the reliance on us for value-creation.

By looking at the many available examples, this area has clearly transformed from initially minor aesthetic competitions to important identity-changing campaigns, bringing to life futurist Avlin Toffler's 'prosumer'; the blurring of consumption and production through the mass production of highly customised products or services. In other words, giving consumers the opportunity to contribute and ultimately 'co-create'. A few simple examples are German football club VfL Wolfsburg asking fans to choose their 11/12 home kit or Walkers 'Do us a flavour' campaign.

How does social media change things?

Today, brands are directly connected to their audience in real-time. Facebook, Twitter, you name it, are massive places that allow people to talk about brands - a YouGov study found that 61% (out of 4080 people) of consumers prefer social media over 'traditional' methods when talking to or about brands. The conversations, at times, are unhelpful, but with such a diverse range of people and large volume of discussion, there will always be valuable information lying around.

Over the years we've seen the gradual evolution of co-creation, from a simple Q&A or poll into a lasting experience. Notable examples include Sweden handing control of its Twitter account to citizens to give viewers a deeper insight into Swedish life, the Simpsons asking fans to create a character for an episode and Pepsi, Doritos and Chevrolet asking fans to create Super Bowl ads, adding significant value to the relationship between a brand and its fans.

This has become more evident thanks to the boom in 'spinoff' social sharing networks, notably Instagram, YouTube, Lightroom and Foursquare, that heavily rely on the larger networks (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) to maintain visibility. But what's interesting is how brands have begun using these apps, which are essentially networks within larger networks, to reach out to fans. A recent example is Levi's using Instagram to find a new face for its 2012 campaign. To the consumer, this shows a genuine and innovative attempt to democratise the way they are involved in the decision making process. To Levi's, recruitment and R&D costs are likely to be cut, its image will benefit and its consumers are willingly handing over all their ideas and desires.

How should(n't) you do it?

Let's not forget the cases where significant damage has been made to the relationship between a brand and its audience. As Forbes.com writer Simon Graj stated, social media is "giving brands a real-life identity... and a larger than life accountability as well."

Italian notebook maker Moleskine ran a competition back in October, asking fans to design a new logo for its blog. With a huge creative industry following, fans were outraged at the fact that the copyright to each entry was kept and that they were basically working for free. Angry comments were posted on Facebook and Twitter, and Moleskine responded with "If you don't like it, don't enter", then deleted angry comments.
Gap debuted a new logo in an attempt to "look more contemporary". This lead to over 2,000 angry comments on its Facebook page in a short time, with fans questioning the design and decision to move away from the much loved traditional logo. The company quickly reverted to its old logo, then ran a new logo contest, but the damage was already done.
Although innovative and often successful, the Swedish Twitter campaign has had some strange results, including "I'm taking over this goddamned account for a week! Expect bad sex and slapstick" (You can read more here). Too much autonomy to users and little to no control meant potentially damaging Sweden's image.

One thing that's common among the above fail moments is the lack of understanding each brand showed. Getting involved through social media requires commitment, clear goals and research, or you risk devaluing the brand. Brands that "do not embrase co-creation principles are likely to see an erosion of value" (Gouillart & Ramaswamy). An interesting piece, by Janet Meiners Thaeler on the American Express Open Forum, rightly states that one of the biggest mistakes is getting "involved in social media without actually getting involved.... like getting a phone but ignoring every call". This is often down to being impersonal, not devoting enough resources to social media or ignoring feedback (here's another helpful piece by The Drum). In many instances (like Moleskine), brands don't take advantage over their offline followers, or leave out their core audience when entering social media.

When brands like Levi's and Ford are seen using new channels like Instagram, their success is largely due to their strong communities on the established social networks. They have strong tie-ins with their offline activities, they know their audience and know they'll get a return. Another success story is Starbucks, often portrayed as evil, who embraced social media and offline feedback to change everything from its supply chain to food menus.

Will co-creation benefit my brand?

By opening your brand up to your core audience on the right platform using the right collaboration tools, can and will increase the value of your brand. "Brand meaning and value emerge from stakeholder engagement" (Ind & Bjerk in Branding Governance), and according to Prahalad & Ramaswamy (The Future of Competition, 2004), only if the following four building blocks are present: dialogue, access, risk assessment and transparency. Brands must "stop thinking of individuals as passive recipiants" that they deliver to and see them as "active co-creators in defining and delivering value"(Gouillart & Ramaswamy).

Netflix UK launch criticised, brands face 'social' test, Jay-Z & Beyonce's baby's Twitter handle, O2's giant free Wi-Fi and Levi's uses Instagram

stefano — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:31:33 +0000

Miscomunication scars Netflix UK launch

Netflix, the film and TV streaming service, has just launched in the UK at £5.99 per month. What caught headlines was the criticism it received through Twitter and Facebook, slamming the company's decision to link Facebook to the registration for a free-trial. People were against the idea of sharing their film/TV interests on Facebook, much like Spotify songs.

However, users don't actually have to link Facebook at all, which wasn't made clear on the registration form. Netflix had to clarify this through its Twitter feed; "To clarify, signing up to @NetflixUK using Facebook is NOT compulsory".

Brands face tough social media tests
A study by the Altimeter Group found that many global brands are finding it hard to coordinate their social media activity, especially when it comes to presenting a unified message on their channels.

It found that 'enterprise-class corporations' with over 1,000 staff have an average of 178 social media accounts each, which may disrupt the company's main message and tone. Companies that don't control these accounts are "at risk of having abandoned accounts, lack of consistent experience, or untrained employees creating a crisis".

Companies should establish a coordinated approach to handling all social media, including a set of guidelines. An example of successful management is Cisco, who shutdown over 200 rouge accounts and pages, keeping it to one per department or country, and provided training for employee's personal accounts.

Jay-Z and Beyonce's baby to get her own Twitter handle?

Blue Ivy Carter, the newborn daughter of popstars Jay-Z and Beyonce, could be getting a new Twitter handle following the success of @BeyonceJayFetus, which ranked 73rd in Paste Magazine's top 100 Twitter accounts. The account had over 10,700 followers, but following the birth of Blue on the weekend, a new account might be created accomodate the newborn's name and gender.

O2 starts rolling out Europe's largest free WiFi network in London this month

O2 will shortly roll out what it claims to be 'Europe's largest free WiFi network' in London this month. It aims to have its network running prior to the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The network will cover Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea.

Levi's uses Instagram for global casting call

American denim specialists Levi's will soon launch a global casting call for its 2012 brand campaign through Instagram. The iPhone app has 15 million users, including Barack Obama, and is expected to launch on Android early this year. Levi's has asked men and women to upload images of themselves with the tag '#IamLevis'.

Instagram is increasingly being used by brands, including Ford with its Fiestagram campaign last year. Once it's released on Android, you can expect its userbase to grow rapidly.

Is #NewNewTwitter just a pretty face?

stefano — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:56:13 +0000

Just over a year ago, Twitter had launched #NewTwitter, a major redesign of the Twitter interface and logo. Major features included the introduction of the new two-panelled look and image, audio and video embedding. The company had also acquired Mac and iPhone client Tweetie, an acclaimed Twitter client, renaming it to Twitter for iPhone/iPod/iPad.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Twitter launched #NewNewTwitter, a total revamp of its interface across all platforms. It's gone as far as completely changing the way the platform is used, with the aim of appealing to the masses.... and marketers, according to Head of Twitter UK Tony Wang - "How many people are there in the world?.... seven billion, so that's how big Twitter's growth can be."

The original tabs consisting of 'Timeline', '@Mentions' and 'Retweets' have been renamed, with the biggest shock being the removal of the 'Messages' tab. Now users will see 'Home' '@Connect' and '#Discover' on both the web and mobile versions of Twitter. Apparently less is better, and a pretty design is enough for many; "There are plenty of people happy with the new Twitter, myself included. I love the birdhouse icon. What can I say? I'm a sucker for witty design choices", said CBS's Chenda Ngak.

The interface is shaped to suit the current trend of sharing memorable and personal moments (don't miss our post on this) in a minimal interface, like Facebook Timeline and Path. Of course, this also means staying close to the brands you care about, as company pages are now more distinct and allow customisable landing pages. This is all backed by nice little touches, like how the intro URL is fly.twitter.com, embeddable tweets and how the Home icon is now a birdhouse. It's also important to note how much faster the website now loads, which is refreshing (sorry, no pun intended).

So why the hate?

Twitter now has an attractive and consistent interface across all platforms, which is great. "At the very core there are fewer places you have to click and less you have to learn," said Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. It's also pleasing to see the company's ambition to be as accessible as possible, especially since it's helped turn people into 'citizen journalists', notably in the Arab Spring protests this year.

But is the new look a hit with some of its most influential and active users? Not so much, for now. The attempt to simplify the menus means sticking 'everything else' into unfamiliar locations. The biggest victim of this is the Messages section. You can no longer access your private messages with a single click/tap as it now requires two clicks/taps, doubling the effort and length of a previously quick process. "If you frequently use direct messages.... I don't see how you can view this... as anything but a step back" (Daring Fireball). TechCrunch EU Editor Mike Butcher was also quick to tweet "The new Twitter site design is a total UI fail. Can't click on a profile in DMs. And the rest..."

Mobile users with multiple accounts face even more UI obstacles, such as the number of sub-menus you have to navigate through, and the fact that the button is now located on the bottom right instead of the conventional top left, like in most (if not all?) Twitter apps. It's also a little annoying that tabs can't be customised, the #Discover tab is here to stay, even if we might not ever use it. Some small things such as the delete button on mobile apps initially brought up a graphical glitch (this has since been fixed), and missing are the gestures to retweet and copy and pasting on the Android version, but these can be fixed through updates.

What's to come?

The new look makes Twitter look friendlier, prettier and sleeker, but this means re-adapting, which has inevitably annoyed many long-time users. For example the positioning of certain functions on the apps occasionally break conventional layouts, making navigation a pain for 'fast' users and reminding us of how simple the last client (aka Tweetie) was - "If anything, Tweetie offered a better, more clearly-defined presentation of Twitter than even the Twitter.com website itself."

Many of the small features, such as the gestures, can easily be changed on the mobile apps through future updates, but the biggest additions are here to stay. On the previous interface, the 'Who to follow' tab wasn't essential for daily use, especially compared to direct messages, so it will be interesting to see how its usage will change. 'Stories' are arguably glorified trending topics that are a nice addition, but how many times will we use it until we go back to simply watching hashtags?

The company's new focus is very clear: social discovery. It's about keeping up-to-date, sharing and finding new people and conversations. Twitter wants to change the way we use it, so criticism is going to always come early on and in time, we will probably look back and laugh at the time when Twitter didn't have a #Stories tab.

---

Feel free to leave a comment below! We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Facebook Timeline hits mobile, Twitter's $300m prince, LinkedIn ego, social media to boost SmartTV & Chromebooks for libraries

stefano — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:11:35 +0000

Facebook Timeline hits iPhone and Android

After launching Facebook Timeline to everyone last Thursday, Facebook has updated its mobile apps to now display the life-focused Timeline. The iPad version is still in the works, but the newly released mobile versions incorporate the new photo-focused layout.

Saudi prince buys $300m stake in Twitter

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has a net worth of just under $20 billion, has just bought a 3.75% stake in Twitter. He said that Twitter was a "promising, high-growth business with a global impact." Alwaleed is the second largest investor in Murdoch's News Corporation.

'Creative' - The most used LinkedIn self-description

According to a study by LinkedIn on 135 million of its users, the word 'creative' came up the most in profile descriptions, especially from people living in Australia, Canada, the US, Germany, Netherlands and the UK. The word was found to be almost mandatory for people working within the creative industry.

The other most used terms include 'organisational', 'effective', 'extensive experience', 'motivated', 'innovative', 'communication skills' and 'dynamic'.

YouGov expects social media to drive SmartTV boom in 2012

Around 15% of UK consumers will have a SmartTV in the next 12 months, according to YouGov. The device is believed to become a key entertainment streaming hub that will combine games consoles, television, film rentals and social media.

Sales are expected to speed up around the European Football championship and Olympics during the summer, but a main driver is expected to be social offerings, in other words being able to comment and share media through Facebook and Twitter. Virtual living rooms where friends and family can watch the same content will be a selling point for many.

US libraries begin lending out Chromebooks

Google has been working with libraries to allow people to 'loan out' Chromebooks for up to a week. Several libraries have adopted short-term hourly loans, where users can check-out a Chromebook for several hours. The initiative was launched to help boost awareness of Google's Chromebooks.