Satwire

The Internet Is Ruining Your Brain [INFOGRAPHIC]

2012-04-10T21:38:00.001+01:00

Admit it: As you’re reading this, you have tunnel vision — that feeling that the world is closing in on you after surfing the Internet for eight straight hours. Web dead head (yes, I made that up) is a growing concern for today’s connected generation, which collectively spends 35 billion hours on the Internet every month.

But we’re not just talking one online shopping experience at a time. Often, we have four tabs open, cycling between emails and shopping, tweeting and word processing. Such multi-tasking actually raises stress levels and lowers creative thinking overall, according to the research compiled by ForensicPsychology.net.

SEE ALSO: Your Desk Job Makes You Fat, Sick and Dead [INFOGRAPHIC]

Turns out, multi-tasking online doesn’t positively exercise our brains or mental state. Heavy Internet users are 2.5 times more likely to be depressed. And web addiction reduces the white matter in our brains, basically the transmitters responsible for our memory and sensory abilities.

Scared? Tell us about it.

Yes, Secretary Clinton Submitted Her Own ‘Text From Hillary’

2012-04-10T21:34:00.001+01:00

Texts From Hillary, a hot new Tumblr featuring a sunglasses-clad, all business Hillary Clinton checking her cellphone on a military plane, got a guest submission from an unexpected source on Monday: Secretary of State Clinton herself.

“sup adam. nice selfie Stace :-)” reads Madam Secretary’s post. “ROFL @ ur Tumblr! g2g — scrunchie time. ttyl?”

Stacy Lambe, one of the site’s co-creators, confirmed that the post was indeed from the Secretary herself.

“Her staff reached out to us with the submission yesterday,” says Lambe. “And we just met with her this afternoon. She was very delightful and thought kindly of us. I can tell you, her staff just thought the whole thing was great.”

Need more proof that’s actually from Clinton? Here you go. And there’s this, too — the post signed by the Secretary, thanking the team for the “LOLZ.”

What was Clinton’s favorite TextFromHillary so far?

“She mentioned being a fan of the Ryan Gosling post,” says Lambe. (And who can blame her? He saves strangers from oncoming traffic, after all.)

Texts From Hillary is built around photos of Clinton checking messages on her cellphone aboard a military C-17 aircraft. The blog features Clinton responding to texts from politicians and celebrities in various awesome and hilarious ways.

The site was the brainchild of Adam Smith and Stacy Lambe. It has been spreading across the web like wildfire. No wonder Clinton’s team would want to get involved — doing so creates a boatload of positive press as rumors of a possible Hillary 2016 presidential bid continue to float around the political sphere.

The original photos were taken by Reuters‘ Kevin Lamarque and Time’s Diana Walker.

What’s your favorite Text From Hillary? Let us know in the comments below.

Ever Lost Your Keys or Phone? There’s a Song for That [VIDEO]

2012-04-10T21:31:00.002+01:00

“Have you ever been in the situation where you lost your keys and your mobile?”

It’s a frustrating problem we all can relate to — misplacing your keys or your cellphone. Now, thanks toBritain’s Got Talent rapper Zipparah “Mr. Zip” Tafari, there’s a song to perfectly fit this annoying situation.

Mr. Zip’s rap caused major social buzz in the United Kingdom after he appeared on the televised talent search over the weekend. The song’s hashtag #WhereMeKeys trended on Twitter in the UK and sparked tweets from those who could relate.

This Talkboy Commercial Is Probably Not How You Remember It [VIDEO]

2012-04-10T21:25:00.002+01:00

Tiger Electronics’ Talkboy was the height of tech pranks in 1993. After figuring prominently in the plot of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, every kid required one in his ceaseless quest to punk parents and siblings.

The portable tape player let you slow down or speed up recordings and play them back instantly with hilariousresults. Tiger made the fun palpable with its TV commercials, but YouTube user kassemG created a shot-for-shot extended version that gets a little, shall we say, out of hand.

For comparison, here’s the original:

Comedian Joel McHale ‘Goes Viral’ in Nintendo Commercial [VIDEO]

2012-04-10T21:23:00.000+01:00

Joel McHale, star of TV comedy Community, takes jabs at the often mocked “viral video industry” in Nintendo’s latest commercial for 3DS, its glasses-free 3D gaming console.

McHale touts inane characteristics of memorable viral clips (sneezing panda, anyone?) and discusses the organic nature of the web’s most-viewed comedic videos. McHale then kicks an intern in the groin, surrounds himself with bikini-clad women and slyly rattles off Nintendo 3DS features.

“It’s hard to make a commercial that people don’t realize is a commercial until it’s too late,” McHale says in the ad. “I mean, that’s like trying to convey the 3D image of the Nintendo 3DS within a lousy 2D video.”

Did we mention Mario and Luigi make cameos? Oh yeah, they do.

The 3DS rolled out in March 2011, and besides gaming, allows users to snap 3D pictures and shoot 3D videos. Less than six months later, sluggish sales forced Nintendo to slash the portable device’s price from $249 to $169. The company eventually reported major losses for the nine-month period ending Dec. 31, 2011, with 11.4 million units of the 3DS sold worldwide. The 3DS fared better than other Nintendo products.

Last month, Nintendo said it had sold 4.5 million 3DS devices in the U.S. within a year, selling faster than the gadget’s predecessor, the DS

How Oprah is Revolutionizing Social TV in Real-Time

2012-04-07T12:10:00.004+01:00

Oprah may have retired from her daytime talk show nearly a year ago, but she’s hardly out of sight from her fan base. In fact, her latest series airing on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is perhaps one of the most advanced shows in the social space right now, as she connects with her home and live audience in almost unprecedented ways.

Oprah’s Lifeclass — which is currently in its second season, airing on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT — features various motivational speakers and guests who aim to help viewers overcome challenges. Last season recapped lessons, revelations and aha moments over the past 25 years on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

But this isn’t your typical Oprah show. She is incorporating social media and interactivity into every episode across various platforms, from Facebook and Twitter to Skype and Instagram. For example, Oprah encourages viewers at home and in the audience to live tweet responses to the topics mentioned on the show and then discusses them in real-time with her guests.

“We have a team backstage that monitors the tweets that come in, and we push out some for Oprah to see and discuss live on the show,” a spokesperson for the OWN Network told Mashable backstage at a live taping. “We tell the audience and everyone at home to use their phones and interact with the show as it airs, and people couldn’t be more excited to do so.”

During most episodes, Oprah is positioned in front of several TV screens that display the tweets. Backstage is a room dedicated to what the show calls “Skypeville,” where fans can be Skyped in to the live show and interact with Oprah.

During last week’s episode — which was filmed live at Radio City Music Hall in New York City as part of a multi-city tour — several viewers were Skyped in from Australia and London to parts of the U.S. to discuss some of their biggest fears.

“It allows Oprah to truly interact with her audience in new ways, and makes her feel that much closer to her audience — and they feel the same way,” says the spokesperson. “It creates for a much deeper on-air discussion, too.”

Oprah’s Lifeclass also incorporates Facebook polls into the show and offers real-time results. Those viewerstuning in online are awarded with a behind-the-scenes look at what happens during commercial breaks. In essence, the camera never stops rolling, and only those watching online are privy to that footage. Fans can also post comments on the site and interact with others watching the show.

To make the experience even more personal, Oprah snail-mailed journals to her fans so that they could take notes during episodes.

Apart from the show, Oprah is extremely active on social media, especially Twitter. “Every tweet she sends is hers — the marketing team isn’t allowed to go anywhere near her Twitter account,” says the spokesperson.

Although Oprah’s Lifeclass doesn’t have too much formal marketing, it relies mostly on word-of-mouth marketing. It invites a traveling blogger corp. to its live shows to tweet during each episode and feature behind-the-scenes commentary.

As OWN aims to boost viewership of the show and its network, its buzz on social networking sites is thriving. The Oprah team says in the last week alone there were 414,780 mentions on Facebook and 3,026 answers posted to the Lifeclass wall on Oprah.com, along with over 29,000 views to the wall. Meanwhile, the web cast brought in nearly 2.6 million viewer minutes from 149 countries.

What do you think of Oprah’s use of social media to interact with viewers in real-time? Should other shows be taking a similar approach? Let us know in the comments.

110 Trending Topics in 5 Hours: How WWE Wrestlemania Body-Slammed Social Media

2012-04-07T10:52:00.004+01:00

Behind strong pushes on Twitter and YouTube, WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII laid the smack down on social media last weekend, teaching a digital engagement lesson to the sports entertainment world.

The five-hour pay-per-view broadcast at one point had seven of the top nine worldwide trending topics on Twitter. It generated 110 worldwide trends over the show and pre-show’s five hour period, according to Jason Hoch, WWE’s senior vice president of digital.

“We thought the week was a blast, and it was really special to hear from fans over and over just how awesome it was,” Hoch says. “It was really special for us to see fans connecting with our brand in a unique way.”

WWE reps shared a number of other Wrestlemania social stats, exclusive to Mashable:

A partnership with YouTube to deliver Wrestlemania content gained a total of more than 3.9 million views for the week surrounding the event.
Despite being a pay-per-view broadcast, Wrestlemania was TV’s most socially engaged program on April 1, according to Trendrr.
The hashtag #Wrestlemania was mentioned more than 610,000 times on April 1.
The high level of social engagement delivered record traffic to WWE.com, and a 30% increase over traffic during Wrestlemania the year before.

WWE streamed a kick-off press conference a few days before the event on YouTube and WWE.com, as personalities answered questions submitted by fans via Twitter. Stars including The Rock, John Cena and Triple H also posted original webisodes to the YouTube homepage during the week. The Rock and Cena complemented their in-ring bout with a “Twitter Face-off”, in which they got fans to battle for tweet supremacy using the hashtags #Cenation and #TeamBringIt. Mike Tyson served as Wrestlemania’s “social media ambassador,” delivering fans behind-the-scenes access through social networks.

“This isn’t a one-off for us,” Hoch says. “This is just continuing to build on the foundation we’ve created.”

WWE ranks among the sports world’s digital leaders. Its Facebook page boasts more than 8 million fans, which Hoch says trails only the NBA on that network. The @WWE Twitter account has more than 1 million followers, and stars such as Cena and The Rock have become huge online as well.

Hoch believes Wrestlemania’s social success this year will have a ripple effect on other organizations.

“To me, it raises the bar for a lot of other players out there,” he says. “We’ve learned a lot from things like theSuper Bowl and Grammys, and I think our holistic approach this year really raised the bar for a lot of organizations. But it’s just the start for us.”

Hipster Games’ Contestants Fight for PBR, Brunch [VIDEO]

2012-04-07T00:28:00.003+01:00

Behold The Hipster Games where the saying goes, “May the trends be ever in your favor.”

This nearly three-minute clip shows what the hit movie, “The Hunger Games” might be like for hipsters. One woman and one “woman-ish man” from five districts — Portland, Austin, Brooklyn, Oakland, and Silverlake — must fight to the death.

The video was directed by Los Angeles resident Christopher Guerrero, president of Wyoma Films. The film short was written by Brett Salinas and Camille Campbell. Guerrero said it was filmed in Silver Lakes and Los Feliz — both areas in Southern California — about two weekends ago.

“Well, a feature length version wasn’t originally planned but that would be really fun to do,” Guerrero said, adding that idea of creating a feature film is growing increasingly appealing.

He said he enjoyed “The Hunger Games,” adding that he loved a suggestion in a Washington Post article thathis team should take-over director Gary Ross’s position due to the fact Ross reportedly said he would not direct future films in the series.

What do you think of this parody? Tell us in the comments.

Horses Get the ‘Pimp My Ride’ Treatment [VIDEO]

2012-04-07T00:26:00.003+01:00

If equestrians were ever wondering when Xzibit would pimp their ride, the wait is now over. YouTube user freddiew — or “F Dubs,” as he’s called in the video — created this parody of Pimp my Ride. He hooks a horse up with some stunner shades, chrome spinners and a mini fridge.

Jon Stewart Calls Out Obama on Social Media Overload [VIDEO]

2012-04-07T00:24:00.004+01:00

The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart is fed up with President Barack Obama’s constant tweeting, checking in and, most of all, his emails asking for donations.

“Seriously, there are exiled Nigerian princes getting Obama campaign emails going, ‘Ease up on the money thing, fella,’” Stewart said jokingly.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Obama’s campaign revolutionized digital’s and social media’s use in presidential campaigns during his 2008 bid. As his re-election campaign begins to build up steam, it’s turning to supporters for donations — often sending emails with friendly subject lines such as “hey” or “dinner?” to entice people into opening them. Unfailingly, these emails end with a call to action to donate to the president’s campaign — much to Stewart’s dismay.

What are your thoughts on donation-soliciting emails from political campaigns? Sound off in the comments below.

What’s at Stake When Employers Ask for Social Media Passwords? [INFOGRAPHIC]

2012-04-06T11:49:00.001+01:00

Following reports that some employers around the U.S. have solicited social media access and/or passwords from potential hires, both Facebook and government officials have protested.

Not only is sharing social media passwords against many of the major networks’ terms of service, the practice has also been viewed as an invasion of privacy by the ACLU.

Furthermore, the companies, government agencies or colleges that have gained access to the social media accounts of potential employees or students may become liable for

any content posted therein. For instance, if a job candidate has posted an admission of guilt for a crime, his or her employer may find itself legally vulnerable.

SEE ALSO: Debate Over Giving Employers Your Facebook Password Continues

The folks at BackgroundCheck.org have created the following infographic in response to the social media privacy debate. The graphic features the “Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights,” a petition drafted by concerned social media users after the 2010 Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference. You can access the “bill” here.

‘Texts From Hillary’ is Your New Favorite Clinton-Themed Tumblr

2012-04-06T11:45:00.001+01:00

Texts From Hillary” is the latest Tumblr blog making waves on the political web, and for good reason — it’s downright hilarious.

The meme blog is built around two photos of a sunglasses-clad Secretary of State Clinton checking her cellphone on a military C-17 aircraft from last October. The original photos were taken by Reuters’ Kevin Lamarque and Time’s Diana Walker.

Those photos are used to portray Clinton as a rough-and-rumble, all-business Secretary of State.

“Hey Hill, whatchu doing?” asks President Obama in one example — to which Clinton cooly replies, “running the world.”

And when a worried woman texts her that it’s 3 a.m. and “something’s happening,” Clinton calms her nerves with an assertive “cool it” — a reference to this ad the Clinton presidential campaign ran against then-Senator Obama during the 2008 primary season:

Texts From Hillary was the idea of Adam Smith and Stacy Lambe, both communications professions living in the Washington, D.C. area. The pair were talking about the photos of Clinton that were spreading around the web, and they quickly turned it into a meme.

“Mind you, this all happened at the bar after a few drinks,” says Lambe. “But when you hang out with Tumblr friends — these are the kind of things you discuss.”

Lambe’s got a few influential followers on his regular blog, and they helped him take the new satirical Clinton site viral. Lambe says while they never expected it to go crazy, they’re thrilled that it did.

“Of course, I’m waiting for Hillary to text me,” he added.

The new meme suits Clinton, who has recently enjoyed coverage portraying her as an excellent choice for heading up the State Department. And, who knows, if she decides to run for president in 2016, a whole bunch of free, positive publicity certainly couldn’t hurt.

Do you love the Texts From Hillary blog? Post your ideas for Texts From Hillary memes in the comments below!

YouTube Lets Viewers Watch in 3D ... But Will They?

2012-04-06T11:42:00.000+01:00

A new 3D-viewing option on YouTube‘s video player ensures classic movies like The Lion King and Titanic won’t be the only videos getting retroactive 3D treatment.

The option allows viewers to watch short-form videos uploaded to YouTube in 1080p while wearing 3D glasses.

YouTube’s enhancement, which rolled out across the site on Thursday, is the latest iteration of a beta feature the site launched last September that gave video uploaders a one-click method for converting their 2D videos to 3D. YouTube said in a blog post that users have since

applied the option to “hundreds of thousands” of their videos.

In its most recent incarnation, the feature works a bit differently. Instead of allowing uploaders a choice to convert their videos to 3D as the original version did, YouTube now automatically converts them. Viewers can choose to watch 1080p videos with Red/Cyan, Green/Magenta, Blue/Yellow or interleaved 3D glasses through a new 3D button next to the gear option on the video player.

YouTube is, of course, not producing 3D effects on par with video originally filmed in 3D. True 3D video requires two versions of the same scene filmed from two perspectives.

Here’s a simplified explanation of YouTube’s version works: YouTube estimates a depth map for each frame of a video using color, spatial layout, motion and other characteristics. It improves this generated map by applying what it has learned from actual 3D videos uploaded to its platform. This pair — the original video and the generated depth map — make up the left-right video combination that a stereo display system needs to display a video as 3D.

The next thing YouTube will figure out is whether its users actually want to watch web video in 3D.

Although sales of 3D TVs are rising, it’s unclear whether consumers are purchasing them for their 3D capabilities or because it’s becoming harder to find a set without those capabilities. Surveys have shown they’re not pumped about wearing 3D glasses at home or hindering their ability to multitask.

Is watching Bed Intruder in three dimensions any more compelling?

Test out the effects in this example video (3D options can be accessed through the “+3D” icon next to the gear), and let us know if you’ll be keeping a pair of 3D glasses next to your computer.

Dog With Hypnotic Eyes + South Park ‘Cash For Gold’ Song = Viral Hit [VIDEO]

2012-04-06T11:40:00.000+01:00

Videos like this make fools of those who try to break virality down to a formula.

This is a nearly two-minute shot of a dog (breed uncertain) with hypnotic blue eyes staring at the camera while the “Cash for Gold” song from South Park plays in the background. That’s it. Common reaction: “What the hell did I just watch?” Maybe some credit should go to the tune: As a recent Reddit thread confirmed, “South Park’s Cash for Gold song instantly improves any video.”

KONY 2012 Sequel Released [VIDEO]

2012-04-06T11:36:00.003+01:00

Invisible Children on Thursday released the sequel to what has become the most-viral video of all time, KONY 2012.

“KONY 2012: Part II

– Beyond Famous” is shorter than the original — 20 minutes vs. the original 30 – and lacks the unique child’s-eye perspective of KONY 2012. Also missing is Jason Russell, the director of the first video, who was detained in San Diego in March a few weeks after KONY 2012 achieved global fame.

The video also addresses criticism of KONY 2012, including those who charged that the Ugandan warlord featured in the video — Joseph Kony — was a spent force. In fact, since the original video was released, Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has abducted 57 more people.

Like the original, the video makes a plea for “Cover The Night,” a New York City-based protest scheduled for April 20. The group’s goal is for viewers to put pressure on leaders in the U.S. and Africa to stop the LRA.

What do you think of this latest video? Sound off in the comments.

Google: Here’s What Our Sci-Fi Glasses Look Like

2012-04-05T13:08:00.001+01:00

We’re more than a quarter of the way through 2012, and as you may have noticed, we have failed to acquire silver jumpsuits or jetpacks. In fact, aside from that headset in your ear, smartphone in your pocket and tablet in your purse, everything is looking quite boringly un-futuristic.

But if Google has its way, we will start wearing some very science fiction-like glasses by year’s end.

The search giant’s research arm launched a Google+ page Wednesday for Project Glass, its augmented reality glasses project. The page revealed that Google researchers have started testing the glasses, with an Android-run heads-up display, that the New York Times suggested Google will start to sell this year for roughly the cost of a regular smartphone.

[Update: a Google spokesperson has indicated to Mashable that the company selling the glasses this year would be "extremely unlikely."]

The page also contains one of those “here’s what the future will look like” videos, to explain the concept better than words can. Check it out:

Cleverly, the video’s first-person point of view dodges one of the main problems with the glasses — that you may look kind of dumb wearing them. The pictures shared on the page all show largely glass-free frames with what appears to be a projector on one side.

Think of a kind of monocular Geordi LaForge, and you’re almost there.

Skype Slams Facebook and Twitter in New Ads

2012-04-05T12:33:00.000+01:00

Technology is changing the way people think and operate, but is it also degrading humanity?

That’s the premise behind Skype’s new $12 million marketing campaign, which slams both Facebook and Twitter as it promotes its own more-intimate form of keeping in touch.

The campaign, “It’s time for Skype,” makes virtual enemies out of Facebook and Twitter with targeted ads that suggest the social networking sites are “degrading humanity.” If Twitter is known for its 140-character limit and Facebook for its wall posts, Skype’s authority is that its video conferencing — and the real emotions that it can express — bring people back to a (more) real world.

The ads, released in the U.K. on April 2 and expected to hit the U.S. in the coming months, include the following catchphrases:

“When did LOL replace the sound of laughter?”
“When did it become okay to text mum happy birthday?”
“Humans were made to look, listen and feel.”
“140 characters doesn’t equal staying in touch.”
“Your one-way ticket back to humanity.”
“Upgrade from a wall post to a first class conversation.”
“No delays on human conversation.”

The ads have a bold look as well, with “It’s time for Skype,” featured below the slogan:

To be sure, the frustration — and divide — between the digital world and the real world is becoming increasingly important, with many people experimenting quitting Facebook and others challenging themselves to abstain from social media altogether. Even fake Twitter accounts have popped up poking fun at what it means to be connected versus disconnected in today’s world.

In that respect, Skype’s new campaign could be an abrasive wake-up call to connected users everywhere to get offline and go out into the real world more — that is, if the campaign, and Skype’s usability itself, weren’t fleshed with irony. At the same time Skype targets Facebook and Twitter with these ads, it’s using both social networking sites to promote its own use.

Skype has an integration feature that allows Facebook users to utilize the world’s largest social networking site to make video calls. Meanwhile, as part of the “It’s Time for Skype” social media campaign — which most companies have realized is a important facet of marketing these days — the hashtag #timeforskype will be used on Twitter to promote Skype and its products.

We also can’t forget the obvious: While video conferencing does allow for face-to-face interaction, it doesn’t take place in the physical world. Skype, like both Facebook and Twitter, is a virtual platform.

What do you think of Skype’s new marketing campaign? Is it really bringing people back to humanity, or is it just bullying Facebook and Twitter? Sound off in the comments.

President Obama and Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols Give Vulcan Salute [PHOTO]

2012-04-05T00:31:00.002+01:00

Is President Obama the first Geek-in-Chief?

Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols was in Washington, D.C., late last month for a visit to NASA’s Goddard Center. She also took a quick stroll by the White House to meet President Obama. Nichols confirmed Obama is “definitely a Trekker,” and the pair gave the Vulcan salute to prove it:

Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura in the original 1960s television series, also said that Obama admitted he had a crush on her when he was younger. She also called the president “handsome” and “charming.”

The Most Amazing Hole In One Ever [VIDEO]

2012-04-05T00:28:00.002+01:00

At the Monday practice round at Augusta National, Martin Kaymer — a German golfer ranked No. 6 in the World Golf Rankings — skipped his ball across the water and into the 16th hole at Augusta. He is the second golfer to tee off in this video.

Naturally, the crowd goes completely crazy at his hole in one.

While this shot may not help his ranking or gain him any points, it absolutely help his Internet cred.

5 Best Practices for Creating Viral Branded Videos

2012-04-05T00:27:00.000+01:00

5 Best Practices for Creating Viral Branded Videos

Chris Schreiber is vice president of marketing atSharethrough. Chris has managed communications for key social media initiatives at Google and helped drive content strategy for major entertainment brands like Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

There has never been more opportunity for marketers to generate creative video campaigns that go viral. YouTube recently noted that more than 500 years worth of YouTube videos are watched on Facebook every day, and 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute.

And yet, going viral still remains an elusive outcome for the vast majority of brand campaigns. What’s missing?

While many people have an opinion about what causes videos to go viral, there is now a growing body of knowledge based on publisher data analysis, YouTube trends and academic research that can help marketers understand what viral marketing is really about. Here are a few great insights to consider when creating a brand video that will thrive on the social web.

1. Look Beyond Influencers

The majority of marketers target influencers who they think can massively jumpstart the momentum behind a viral campaign. This approach is driven by high-profile, anecdotal examples rather than data. In fact, in a recent TED Talk about Why Videos Go Viral, YouTube’s trends manager, Kevin Alloca, asserted that tastemakers are one of the three key ingredients for viral. He cited Jimmy Kimmel’s tweet about the Double Rainbow video, which helped launch it from obscurity to viral stardom.

But while celebrities or influential online voices can obviously help a campaign drive initial awareness, recent data shows that true virality comes from large numbers of people sharing to small groups. StumbleUpon andBuzzFeed recently collaborated on a study that made this point. BuzzFeed noted that the median ratio of Facebook views to shares was 9-to-1 for the 50 stories that generated the most Facebook traffic. This means that for every Facebook share, only nine people visited the story.

In a recent Ad Age article, experts from BuzzFeed and StumbleUpon noted that, “Content goes viral when it spreads beyond a particular sphere of influence and spreads across the social web, via ordinary people sharing with their friends.” Duncan Watts, principal research scientist at Yahoo, has also upheld this conclusion with research he has been doing for years.

2. Make a Cinematic Social Object

A “social object” is the reason that two people are interacting with each other, instead of with someone else. A viral video is a social object, a vehicle for conversation and shared entertainment. Hugh Macleod, the master of viral cartoons, notes, “The hard currency of the Internet is ‘social objects’…Social networks are built around social objects, not vice versa.”

To create a social object from video, you have to tell a story. A person may like or even love your brand, but he doesn’t want to be sold to. Nobody does. Brand videos that go viral transcend the feeling of an ad intended to sell. Instead, they establish the brand as a storyteller.

Google is a good example of a company that has consistently created cinematic social objects by using emotional storytelling to promote its products and technologies. Google’s Dear Sophie video is a great example of a social object that provides a vehicle for conversation.

3. Pulse Your Brand

The presence of a brand’s logo in a viral video is a regularly debated subject among creative teams and brand managers. The big concern is branding too much, and with good reason. Harvard research shows that the more prominent or intrusive a logo, the more likely viewers are to stop watching. There are also genuine concerns about too little or no branding, as it begs the very worthwhile question, “Why are we even doing this?”

Researchers at Harvard recommend brand pulsing. That essentially means weaving a brand’s logo throughout a video so it is integrated into the content. Harvard’s experiments have shown that this can increase viewership by as much as 20%.

British newspaper The Guardian recently struck viral gold with the above video, which promoted its open journalism format. It wove in the business logo throughout this mockumentary, making it feel like a natural part of the story.

4. Go Long

When it comes to video the rule is to keep it short, but when it comes to viral brand videos, this conventional wisdom does not necessarily hold true.

StumbleUpon data shows that videos viewed between two to three minutes generate a spike in social sharing, while videos viewed beyond four minutes see direct shares increase by five times. Length can be an asset, as this allows for an immersive story to unfold.

A good example is Honda’s Super Bowl ad, Matthew’s Day Off. Honda created one of the most buzzed-about Super Bowl videos this year with an extended cut of its ad, a 2:25-minute short film done in the style of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

5. Buy Native

The goal of a viral campaign is to be a vehicle for organic sharing and conversation, and some forms of paid media can help drive this mission. Social websites are increasingly developing native ad placements tailored for brand content.

Native ad placements are different than traditional placements in that they blend into the look and feel of a site. Additionally, native ads are sold on engagement-based pricing (cost per view, or CPV), rather than on traditional impression-based pricing (CPM). This ensures that people are engaging with the ad. Examples are Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, YouTube TrueView and StumbleUpon’s Paid Discovery.

86-Year-Old Gymnast Is Better Than You’ll Ever Be [VIDEO]

2012-04-05T00:19:00.002+01:00

As the famous quote by Leroy “Satchel” Paige states: “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

Proving that quote true beyond any measure of a doubt, 86-year old Johanna Quaas is wowing the Internet with her demonstration on the parallel bars at a tournament called “Turnier Der Meister,” or Tournament of Masters, at the 2012 Cottbus World Cup in Germany.

Talk about not taking old age lying down.

Instagram for Android Downloaded More Than 1 Million Times in 24 Hours

2012-04-04T14:56:00.003+01:00

As expected, the long-awaited Instagram for Android has proved to be a big hit, netting more than 1 million downloads before the app had been out for 24 hours.

Stats from Google Play peg the number of downloads between 1 million and 5 million, a wide target. By the time the app went live on Tuesday, some 430,000 people had preregistered for the app via a signup page that Instagram had created on March 25.

There had been a huge pent-up demand for the Android version of Instagram. Though Android now has more than 50% market share of the smartphone market in the U.S., Instagram had only been available to iOS since October 2010.

Since that time, Instagram has topped more than 25 million users according to estimates, making it the largest mobile-based social network in the world.

Despite the enthusiasm for the Android version, we found some notable differences between it and the iPhone iteration. For instance, the app lacks some of the iPhone version’s image editing features — most importantly tilt shift, which allows you to focus on one area of the photo while distorting the rest of the image.

SEE ALSO: Instagram for Android: Advanced Camera, But No Tilt Shift [HANDS ON]
However, the Android version does have one feature its iPhone counterpart lacks: “Advanced Camera.” When you turn this on, it will automatically resize your photo, so you don’t have to recrop the image in Instagram’s interface. In the iPhone version, you can only resize or crop if you select a photo from your photo library

What do you think? Have you downloaded the Android version yet? Is it all you hoped for? Sound off in the comments.

Home View

The home view shows a stream of photos your Instagram friends have taken.

Instagram for Android - Hands On

Previous1 of 10Next

New Meme Alert: ‘Ridiculously Photogenic Guy’

2012-04-04T14:53:00.002+01:00

Attention ladies: This handsome fellow is apparently edging out Scumbag Steve and Futurama‘s Philip J. Fry as the meme du jour.

“Ridiculously Photogenic Guy” as he’s known, began popping up on Reddit Tuesday as far as we could tell. By Wednesday morning, he was the subject of no less than three memes on that network’s homepage. The joke is that RPG is welcome anywhere and benefits from society’s outsized rewards for the fabulously good-looking.

What do you think of RPG? Are you similarly welcoming or would do you prefer your memes on the ugly side? Sound off in the comments.

Image courtesy

500 Paramount Films Coming to YouTube

2012-04-04T14:52:00.000+01:00

You’ll soon be able to rent nearly 500 Paramount Pictures films via YouTube and Google Play, thanks to a newly signed licensing agreement between the two companies.

Many of those films, including The Godfather trilogy, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Hugo, are now available to Internet users in the U.S. and Canada. Others will be rolled out over the next few months, says Google.

Forty-eight hour rentals cost between $2.99 and $3.99 for the standard-definition version, and a dollar more for the HD (720p) edition. You have 30 days from the time of purchase to begin watching a movie, and 48 hours from the time you begin to finish watching it.

Viacom-owned Paramount was one of the last big “gets” for the tech giant’s movie rental service: five of the six major film studios, along with ten independent studios, have now agreed to rent films through YouTube and Google Play, bringing the total rental catalog to 9,000. The last holdout? 20th Century Fox, which is owned by News Corp. All six studios — Paramount, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Comcast Universal and 20th Century Fox — sell films through Apple’s iTunes service.

There’s still no word about whether Google will begin selling as well as renting films, as Apple does. Rumors indicate that studios are pressuring Google to begin selling films to help make up for declines in DVD sales.

StarCast: Digital Auditions Changing How Aspiring Actors Get Noticed

2012-04-04T14:50:00.004+01:00

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: StarCast Auditions

Quick Pitch: Actors can be noticed by top producers without leaving their house.

Genius Idea: Submit online auditions and top casting directors will evaluate and give feedback on actors’ performance. In addition, the best performances will be promoted on StarCast’s website so Hollywood can easily discover new, young talent.

Gary Beer wants to help undiscovered performers be recognized just like he did when he had a hand in creating the Sundance Film Festival in 1985, revolutionizing the independent film industry.

The former founding CEO of Robert Redford’s Sundance Group has started a new venture he believes will help young talent land jobs and gain feedback from the industry’s top professionals. In late 2011, Beer joined forces with Showtime and Viacom founder Jules Haimovitz and former Polygram TV COO David Hope to launch StarCast Auditions, an online platform that helps up-and-coming actors show off their talent and network with industry professionals.

The trio was inspired to start the site after discussing the difficulties of discovering legitimate talent. Talent agents don’t have time to search YouTube for the next greatest actor, so that’s where StarCast comes in. Reviewers who have cast and worked with household names such as George Clooney, Orlando Bloom and Anne Hathaway weed through the online talent and select the best.

“Basically there was nothing other than standing in line for an open call that would give people the opportunity to be seen,” Beer said. “We set out to build a new kind of platform with the idea that professional casting directors could look at.”

Scripts are posted on StarCast every two weeks. Aspiring actors choose a script, then self-record and upload a video of themselves performing. Top casting directors watch all of the videos and give each person an evaluation.

Reviewers pick the best performances based on the entries submitted. Then, the best performers are featured on StarCast’s website, giving the winners exposure to casting directors, talent agents, mangers and producers. So far, no one has landed a big movie or TV role, but StarCast executives believe it’s only a matter of time before someone does.

Beer said the site doesn’t have any direct competition — all of the other acting sites provide listing services, but no online evaluation.

“We are helping provide fresh faces,” Beer said. “StarCast may eliminate the need for open-call auditions for minor roles, but it will more likely be supplemental to the casting call rather than a replacement.”

More than 3,200 users have signed up to post auditions to StarCast since it launched in December. StarCast has a large following on social media as well, withmore than 20,000 Likes on Facebook and nearly 20,000Twitter followers. StarCast is free to users while it’s still in beta. Once it is out of beta, users will pay $10 to $15 to submit a video.

Check out some of the talent that has been recognized for best performances on StarCast.