Tag: Social Media

Facebook Creeps Up the Charts as 178 Million Americans Watch Online Video

comScore released its Video Metrix data for July today. According to this, 178 million people in the U.S. watched online video content during the month, watching an average of 14.7 hours per user.

During the month, Facebook moved up from the fourth position to the third position behind Yahoo properties, and of course Google properties at number 1. Facebook accounted for 46.6 million viewers.

Hulu generated the highest number of video ad impressions at 783 million in July. Americans viewed nearly 3.6 billion video ads in all. NewTeeVee notes that four out of five Hulu videos are ads.

84.9% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video during the month. The average video duration was 4.8 minutes. The average duration of online video ads was 0.4 minutes.

Video ads accounted for 9.8% of all videos viewed and 0.9% of all minutes spent viewing video online.

August 16, 2010
Half.com Launches iPhone Comparison Shopping App

eBay owned Half.com has released an iPhone application Buying Wizard aimed at helping users comparison shop for deals on textbooks.

The Half.com iPhone app is the first eBay buying application to integrate barcode scanning technology. The app allows users to scan barcodes on items to find the best deal on textbooks, DVDs, novels and video games.

"With buyers looking to save more this Back-to-School shopping season, the Half.com iPhone app gives students access to the millions of great deals on Half.com virtually anytime, anywhere," said Steve Yankovich, vice-president of mobile platform, eBay.

"eBay has integrated barcode scanning technology into the app making it easier than ever before for students to comparison shop in their campus bookstores and find the best deals on textbooks, novels and more. And, the app’s Speedy Checkout reduces the friction of commerce, allowing users to buy with only a few quick clicks."

Other features of the app include:

*The ability to share deals via Facebook, Twitter, and email.

*Search or browse titles in books, music, movies, games and game systems.

*Based on the user’s criteria for item condition and seller feedback, theBuying Wizard identifies the lowest cost items and shipping discounts (if applicable) to help shoppers get the best deals on Half.com.

August 16, 2010
Facebook to Broadcast Live Announcements, Celeb Events

Facebook is launching a new live video cahnnel today called Facebook Live. This is the company’s official live channel, broadcasting from Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto.

"Facebook Live will provide a deeper, more interactive look into what’s happening at Facebook," a representative for the company tells WebProNews.

Users can submit questions to those featured in videos. For example, America Ferrera and Wilmer Valderrama will appear today, and Facebook users can interact with them through this channel. They can also engage with other viewers, as there is a special feed alongside the video in which viwers can update their status about the event. There is also a chat option.

The video is powered by Livestream. The video player itself comes with options to share on Facebook or Twitter, as well as an embed option.

It appears that while there isn’t a live event going on, the channel just shows past broadcasts, while providing the following message scrolling across the bottom: "Facebook Live is curently off-air, but please feel free to explore our archived videos! Our most recent episode will be available shortly."

It will be very interesting to see what kind of guests stop by the Facebook HQ to do interview and Q&As. I’m guessing we’ll see some pretty big names.

"After today’s interview, Facebook Live will continue to be your window into what’s new at Facebook," Facebook’s rep says.

"All of the content featured on Facebook Live will tie back to Facebook products, features or how people are using Facebook," she adds.

Note: This article was updated after talking with Facebook. (HT: Sarah Perez).

August 13, 2010
iPhone and iPad Apps About To Get More Integrated with Facebook

Facebook has launched a new software development kit (SDK) for Apple’s iOS operating system, which powers the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. This is an update from the previous SDK launched for the iPhone last March.

"With today’s update we’ll have SDKs for both iOS and Android devices that provide an even easier way for mobile app developers to go social," a Facebook representative tells WebProNews.

The two main features that make the new SDK a step up from the previous iPhone OS SDK are use of the Graph API, which lets developers integrate Facebook’s Open Graph into their apps, and authentication with OAuth 2.0.

"With more than 150 million people actively using Facebook from mobile devices, we have a commitment to not only developing our own mobile sites and apps, but ensuring that developers can also build similar social experiences," says Facebook engineer Yujuan Bao. "Since we first launched our first mobile SDK for the iPhone, the Facebook iPhone SDK, in March 2009, we’ve worked with some of the leading mobile app developers to provide easy-to-use SDKs. These include some of the most popular app developers in the iTunes store: Electronic Arts, foursquare, PopCap, SGN, Tapulous, Zynga, and Booyah, who have worked with the SDKs to build fun, social mobile apps and increase app distribution and user engagement."

Facebook has expressed an increased focus on its mobile strategy lately, and this launch certainly plays into that. It also shows that while CEO Mark Zuckerberg may be an Android user now, iOS is still very much on the company’s mind, and the inclusion of the Graph API in the SDK should go a long way for connecting iPhone/iPad apps to the "Open Graph" the way Facebook has already been connecting the web.

August 12, 2010
Delta Launches Ticket Window On Facebook

Delta Air Lines has launched a "Ticket Window" that allows users to book flights directly from its Facebook page.

"Our customers are spending more time online and are looking for new ways to connect with us. We’re now delivering technology where our customers are – from our own website to our Facebook page to Internet news sites and beyond," said Bob Kupbens, Delta’s vice president – eCommerce.

"We already know Facebook is the most used website by inflight WiFi users on more than 2,000 Delta flights every day, giving us the natural launching point for a new online Ticket Window."

Delta’s Ticket Window allows Facebook users to make bookings via a tab on the social networking site without having to visit delta.com. Delta says it plans to expand its Ticket Window to other sites, including online banner ads to allow bookings within the airline’s advertisements.

Delta has also redesigned its homepage to include easier access to flight booking, status updates, online check-in and SkyMiles account information.

In the coming weeks, Delta plans to launch a new iPhone application to offer customers the ability to check in for flights, check flight status, review flight schedules, set a parking reminder, review SkyMiles account balance and use eBoarding passes (in select cities) directly from their mobile devices.

"Unlocking the full power of social media and mobile apps is the next step for Delta, while providing innovative travel tools and greater convenience in our customer’s mobile world," Kupbens said.

August 12, 2010
Google Ventures Reportedly Investing Over $100 Million in ngmoco

It’s no secret that Google has taken an interest in games lately. The company has been reported to have invested in Zynga, which is responsible for games like Farmville and Mafia Wars. Google has acquired another social gaming company, Slide and Jambool, makers of social payments platform Social Gold.

Now, according to TechCrunch’s Jason Kincaid, who cites multiple sources, Google Ventures has invested over $100 million in iPhone/iPad game developer ngmoco. There is no mention of this investment on the Google Ventures site yet.

It’s important to note that Google Ventures is separate from Google itself. But as Kincaid notes, "Google CEO Eric Schmidt previously said that companies that received funding from Google Ventures would have 20,000 Googlers there to help them. Don’t be surprised if we start seeing an abundance of Android games from ngmoco in the near future."

Other companies that Google Ventures has invested in include: Adimab, Corduro, English Central, iPierian, Miso, OpenCandy, Pixazza, Recorded Future, SCVNGR, Silver Spring Networks, VigLink, and V-Vehicle.

Even if Google (the company) doesn’t intend to do anything with any of these strategically, it does appear to paint a pretty good picture of the kinds of things Google thinks will be successful, and could provide a glimpse into some of the things the company is thinking about internally.

August 12, 2010
Zynga Reportedly Pulls Farmville From MSN

Zynga has apparently removed its massively popular game Farmville from Microsoft’s MSN Games, and nobody seems to know why. The timing of this is interesting as Google has reportedly been in investment talks with Zynga, while it has been acquiring other social game-related properties.

While Zynga has offered no comment on Farmville’s absence from MSN, Chris Morrison at InsideSocialGames.com (via VentureBeat) writes:

The departure from MSN looks much more notable, in the grand scheme. MSN itself claims to have about half a billion monthly users worldwide between Games and Messenger — equal to what Facebook claims for itself.

One of the big stories in social gaming right now is that developers are interested in moving beyond Facebook, keeping a line back to the social network’s graph with Connect. With partnerships like FarmVille on MSN, Zynga has been a leader in that move.

The move seems pretty odd to say the least, and I suspect the picture will become clearer before long.

Zynga has been expanding its reach and making moves that should help it expand more in the future. Besides a reported investment from Google, the company recently acquired Japanese gaming company Unoh, and launched Farmville in app form for the iphone.

August 11, 2010
Coming Soon: More Amazon Hardware Products, Facebook Check-Ins?

According to the New York Times, Amazon is looking into building more hardware products beyond the Kindle, citing "people with direct knowledge of the company’s plans". These products would be aimed at making it easier to purchase Amazon content, such as ebooks, music, and/or movie rentals.

The industry has been waiting for Facebook to launch location/check-in features for the better part of the year, but now CNET reports that such features could be here within weeks, citing "multiple sources familiar with the matter".

Former Senator Ted Stevens was killed in a Plane crash. As MG Siegler points out, the timing of this is somewhat odd, as Stevens is known around the web as the guy who described the Internet as s "series of tubes" in the context of net neutrality. Net neutrality is of course a big item in the news currently, as Google and Verizon have released a proposal. More on Stevens here.

IBM announced today that it has acquired Datacap, which it calls "a provider of software than enables organizations to transform the way they capture, manage, and automate the flow of business info". IBM intends to integrate Datacap within its ECM business, which is part of IBM’s Software Solutions Group.

GeoEye, the satellite provider, whose GeoEye-1 provides Google with what the company calls the world’s most advanced commercial satellite imagery, was just awarded a new $3.8 billion contract from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for increased commercial satellite-imaging capacity.

Nieman Journalism Lab has an interesting piece looking at tiered data plans and the possibility that they may "water down" advertising possibilities for news publishers.

Malware reached its highest levels ever in the first six months of 2010, according to a new report from McAfee.

In the first quarter of next year, HP will release a webOS tablet, if what Engadget has learned is true. Employees from the company have reportedly revealed that the device, nicknamed internally "Hurricane" was revealed in a company meeting.

Netflix announced a new deal with Epix, which will give its users streaming access to more content from Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM. Not to be outdone, however, Blockbuster announced that its mail subscription customers can now rent video games.

August 10, 2010
NASA To Hold Tweetup For Next Shuttle Launch

NASA said today it will give 150 of its Twitter followers an inside look at its space program and the chance to view a space shuttle launch in person.

The third shuttle launch Tweetup, scheduled for October 31 through November 1, will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"With only two scheduled shuttle flights remaining, we want new audiences to experience the excitement of a launch," said Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"Our guests at the Tweetup then can share the experience with their followers around the world."

Attendees will tour the center, view the shuttle launch and speak with NASA managers, astronauts, shuttle technicians and engineers. NASA will randomly select 150 participants from online registrations. Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy on its mission to the International Space Station at 4:40 p.m. EDT on November 1.

Registration opens at noon on Tuesday, August 24, and closes at noon on Wednesday, August 25.

August 10, 2010
TweetDeck Coming to Android – Beta Test Starts This Week

The developers of TweetDeck are getting ready to beta test TweetDeck for Android, a move some might call long overdue. The incredible growth that Android is seeing is making the operating system hard to ignore (as a Netflix employee recently pointed out).

While it may be some time before Android users have a stable TweetDeck release, they can at least take comfort in knowing that it’s on the way. TweetDeck’s Iain Dodsworth writes:

First off, we’ve built Android TweetDeck from the ground up to be true multi-stream, laser focused on showing you all your friends’ cross-service activity in one app. Multi-column is still the order of the day but now columns are blended based on the type of activity rather than the service. And all this whilst retaining the most powerful functionality from each included service.

We’ve spent an inordinate amount of time making the app silky smooth from the column scrolling to the custom views – so much so that one of Google’s Android Developer Advocates recently described it as "a thing of beauty". So look out for the beta test later this week and please do get involved.

The upcoming Android version apparently will also foreshadow things to come for the iPhone and iPad versions of the app. Some new concepts in the Android app should be making their way to those (along with some bug fixes pending approval in Apple’s app store).

The desktop and web versions of TweetDeck may also see some additions borrowed from the Android incarnation. In the meantime, there is also an update for the desktop version available.

August 9, 2010
Chatroulette Calls Upon the Power of Napster

Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb reports that Sean Parker (of Napster and Facebook fame) announced from Techonomy that he’s working with ChatRoulette. This is particularly interesting, as TechCrunch reported in June that Shawn Fanning (also of Napster fame) was advising Chatroulette.

PatentlyApple looks at a new patent application from Apple for a "smart bike". They liken the concept to Apple’s Nike + iPod system for runners "except for cyclists."

Reuters reports on words from Yoko Ono this week indicating that you won’t be seeing Beatles songs on iTunes anytime soon.

PocketNow has a photo of what appears to be Windows Phone 7 running on an ASUS device. The photo apparently comes from Pakistan.

There’s an interesting article at The Register claiming that private browsing modes in the four biggest browsers often fail. This is based on a research paper that is scheduled to be presented at the Usenix Security Symposium next week.

This week, RIM unveiled the BlackBerry Torch. Now CrackBerry.com has a teardown of the device available for you to check out (with lots of photos).

Google announced that the Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium will make Google Aps for Education avaiable to 1.4 million students in the state. This is the fourth state to "go Google".

August 6, 2010
Lollapalooza Turns to Facebook Via Mobile Apps to Connect Fans

Lollapalooza gets underway today for the weekend, and its promoters are using Facebook to get fans connected with one another. "This year, the Lollapalooza team is using Facebook to solve one of the hardest problems people face at music festivals – finding your friends. As people are drawn to different parts of the festival and often get separated, cell phone service gets hindered as thousands of people in close proximity try to call their friends," a representative for Facebook tells WebProNews.

She adds that in an effort to combat disconnection with friends at the show the Lollapalooza’s team has updated its iPhone app to have "Friend Finder", with which users can login via Facebook to select friends, see messages from all of their selected friends in one place with the "Friend Wall" and arrange a meeting point using the phone’s GPS. Users can plant a digital flag on the "Lolla festival Map", which messages their location to friends at the event.

"Last year almost 90% of Lollapalooza fans said they used Facebook during the festival," she says. "So it made sense for the festival team to leverage Facebook as the mechanism for people to connect with each other in the updated app."

Grant Park, where the festival is taking place will have 100 acres of free WiFi access for fans (sponsored by AOL Lifestream).

There is also an Android app with many of the same features.

August 6, 2010
Group Accused of Politically Gaming Digg

Digg is looking into accusations that a conservative group has been gaming the site to bury content it deems too liberal.

oleoleolson at AlterNet writes, "A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives. An undercover investigation has exposed this effort, which has been in action for more than one year."

Digg Founder Kevin Rose tweeted that he is looking into the matter:

focused on launching digg v4, but we’re looking into this.. RT @jeremyisweary: Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered http://bit.ly/cES8YdFri Aug 06 00:44:28 via Tweetie for MacKevin Rose
kevinrose

The report alleges that the group banded together on a Yahoo Group called Digg Patriots, which has since been removed.

Meanwhile, as Rose mentioned in the tweet, Digg is working on getting its big redesign out. I imagine we’ll be hearing more about the alleged gaming of the site before long.

August 6, 2010
Google Wave – Ahead of its Time or Just Another Failure?

Google Wave may be going away, but it is highly unlikely that the web has felt its presence for the last time. As Google said in its announcement, the company will "extend the technology for use in other Google projects."

Were you able to find a reason to use Google Wave? Tell us about it.

It will be interesting to see if the technology still goes by the name "Wave", but I have little doubt that some of the innovations we’ve seen in Wave will be popping up in various Google offerings in the form of new products and new features to existing products.

Google’s aim with Wave was to replace email. That didn’t happen, and frankly, I have a hard time believing that too many people bought into that one, but that didn’t change the fact that Wave did some interesting things. One only had to watch a demo or two from someone who knew what they were doing to see its potential.

The question is where will Wave fit into the Google universe if not as its own product? Gmail? If replacing email was the plan, it would make sense that some Wave-like features appear in Gmail, especially given Google’s penchant for adding features (and labs experiments) to it.

How about "Google Me"? It’s still unclear what Google is up to with this rumored social media project that everyone has been considering the company’s move to rival Facebook, despite no announcments from Google or any real evidence. Wave certainly has social (not to mention realtime) elements that could factor into a broader social networking plan.

Here are a few significant moves by Google that may also contribute:

– Google is getting into gaming. Besides a reported investment in Zynga and talks with Playdom and Playfish, the company has reportedly agreed to acquire game company Slide.

– All YouTube users will be required to have a Google account

– Google is letting users sign into multiple accounts at the same time from the same browser. This could be big for businesses wanting control over multiple accounts more conveniently.

– One of the biggest trends in social media right now is that of checking in. Well, Google is focusing on that too with its Google Places API.

Of the company’s social media plans (apparently being run now by Vic Gundotra), Eric Schmidt says that Google isn’t looking to create another Facebook. "Facebook versus Google…We’re not trying to do what Facebook does. The world does not need another Facebook," he is quoted as saying.

Well, some privacy advocates may disagree with that (though Google’s reputation for privacy doesn’t exactly have the best track record). Either way, regardless of how Google pitches whatever strategy it has (not another Facebook), the fact remains that Facebook is eating up much of consumers’ time online, and that is no doubt time that Google would prefer be spent with their properties. So from that standpoint, Google vs. Facebook is very real. It’s about mind share, and ultimately about advertising. If Facebook ever uses the Open Graph to build its own AdSense-like network, then it will really be real.

But back to Wave’s role in Google’s future. How about Chrome? Wave functionality from the browser? Chrome OS? Wider adoption could be more easily achieved from the browser or the operating system. Any of this could be tied to whatever "Google Me" turns out to be, as long as it is connected by a Google Account.

People will call Wave a failure and stick it in the box of past Google social media failures, but Wave (or at least some of the concepts behind it) will be felt in the future.

"We liked the (user interface) and we liked a lot of the new features in it (but) didn’t get enough traction, so we are taking those technologies and applying them to new technologies that are not announced," CNET quotes Google CEO Eric Schmidt as saying. "We’ll get the benefit of Google Wave but it won’t be as a separate product."

Is it just me or does Google seem to be pulling the plug on Wave a little early? Could they already have a specific new strategy in mind for it that they’re already moving forward on?

What do you think about Google Wave? Sad to see it go or good riddance? Share your thoughts.

August 6, 2010
Unconfirmed Next-Generation iPod Touch Photos Surface

MacRumors has posted photos of what are supposedly pieces of the upcoming iPod Touch 4 with FaceTime. These have yet to be confirmed, however.

AppleInsider reports that Apple is rumored to be in talks to buy a Chinese mobile ISP and game developer for $148 million.

AdAge has an interesting article about the San Francisco Chronicle’s decision to run Demand Media content, as said content draws a great deal of controversy. Definitely worth a read if you’re interested in this subject.

Google has long been of great interest to small businesses for a variety of reasons. Now Google has launched a new Small Business blog, increasing its own focus on creating small business resources.

The LinkedIn ran a blog post about the Huffington Post adding a LinkedIn share button to its content. Perhaps more interesting is the note at the end that tells publishers if they want to add it to their own content to contact [email protected]. This could be good for driving traffic.

Google has provided an interesting explanation of its Google Book Search algorithm and what it counts as books. To say the least, it’s a bit complicated.

Google announced late yesterday that it was putting an end to Google Wave, at least as a standalone product. Much of the conversation throughout the industry has turned to the product. In fact, we’ve been having a good conversation about it in the comments section of my earlier article here.

The New York Times and other publications reported on an alleged deal that Google and Verizon were cooking up that would effectively kill net neutrality, but both companies have come forward and denied such a deal.

Yesterday Microsoft teased a new "flat" device, which has now been revealed to be the Arc Touch Mouse to launch next month.

Gizmodo goes " deep inside Xbox 360 Kinect ". This long piece does dig deep to look at what makes it tick.

August 5, 2010
Booyah Taps Google Maps API, Places to Take MyTown International

Booyah announced today that it is taking MyTown international.

The company has launched support for MyTown (for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad) across Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. The company says this makes MyTown the first to support global check-ins utilizing the recently launched Places Web Service via the Google Maps API.

"Booyah is the premier mobile and social gaming company on top of the exploding location graph," said Booyah CEO Keith Lee. "Our launches in the UK, Australia and Canada are just the beginning of bringing real world gaming to players across the globe."

Places returns the 20 most popular places near a given location. MyTown has over 2.8 million users, according to the company.

Last week, Booyah launched check-ins for products in MyTown, which lets users use their iPhone camera to scan barcodes of products to unlock points and earn virtual goods, and "creating a game out of real life items." Lee called this "a holy grail for marketers."

August 5, 2010
Vonage Launches Mobile App for Calling Facebook Friends for Free

Vonage has launched a new mobile app for calling Facebook friends. Users can make free mobile calls to their Facebook friends who also run the app (anywhere in the world). This can be done right from their friends list with one touch.

"The Vonage Mobile app for Facebook is a tangible example of our commitment to deliver extraordinary value and a better communications experience for individuals and their social networks, across broadband-enabled devices, around the world," says Vonage Holdings CEO Marc Lefar. "This is just the start. In the future we will expand on this service to include a wide range of integrated voice and messaging services that change the way people communicate."

Just download the app from the appropriate app market, enter you Facebook log-in info one time, then view your FB contacts once the app automatically detects them. Friends will be grouped by those who can be called for free and those who are available for instant messaging.

This might be helpful in itself, at least for Android users, because the new Android app update Facebook just launched still lacks a chat feature.

The app itself is free, and is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android devices. It works over Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks in most countries.

August 4, 2010
Is Quality Really in Jeopardy Because of Content Farms?

So-called content farms draw a lot of criticism for a supposed lack of quality and some consider them a threat to quality on the web in general. We’re talking about entities like Demand Media, Associated Content, the new AOL, etc. (the definition of the term content farm itself is also debated).

I would argue that content quality is not in jeopardy. Hear me out. For one, while these sites may or may not produce a large amount of sub-par content, that’s not to say that they don’t have quality content too. There’s no question that quantity is the driving force behind these sites, but quantity in content producers (AKA: the writers, video producers) also means a wider range of minds contributing. There is good among the bad. It’s a mix.

Furthermore, as competition among these content farms heats up (and you can bet that will increase), quality is going go play more of a role in setting one apart from the next. Low-quality content will inspire higher quality competition. If a how-to article on roofing isn’t adequate, someone will want to trump it with a better one. Users will flock to the higher quality pieces when the lower quality ones don’t meet their requirements. If those pieces do meet their requirements, how low quality are they really? Quality is in the eye of the beholder. If the reader/viewer doesn’t like what they see, they’ll look elsewhere.

Richard MacManus spoke with Howcast Chief Product Officer Sanjay Raman. Here’s an excerpt from that article:

Who is the top YouTube provider, measured by views? You guessed it, Demand Media. This is because it produces far more video content per month than Howcast (Demand competes directly with Howcast with its property eHow). While Sanjay Raman didn’t have exact figures, he estimated that Demand Media produces about 10 times more videos every month than Howcast. However he implied that this resulted in lower quality videos.

"Demand Media takes tasks and makes them smaller than they need to be," said Raman.

He also claimed that Howcast’s playbacks per video are higher than Demand Media’s. Howcast averages 44-50,000 playbacks per video, he told me, whereas Demand is around 7,000 per video.

Case in point.

Now, that’s also not to say that all of Demand Media’s content is low quality, though many will be quick to tell you that it is. The company has already made moves this year aimed at increasing quality. See the following articles for a few examples:

– Demand Media Aims to Sort Out eHow Content Confusion

– Demand Media Adds New "Talent & Expert Network" to Content Mix

– MerchantCircle, Demand Media Provide New Local Search Opportunities

DM is still adjusting to a new model that it has become the poster child for. There may be a lot of work to do, and just how much it improves remains to be seen. That said, increased competition in this space is likely to fuel increased quality, and if not, the users will go elsewhere. Bounce rates will increase. Someone else will get the traffic.

Furthermore, search engines will continue to compete to deliver the best results, and people will be more inclined to share higher quality articles. That should provide further motivation.

What do you think? Comment here.

August 4, 2010
Pandora Puts Privacy Settings Front and Center

Pandora has updated its site to make it easier for users to find and adjust their privacy settings. Given that Pandora was a launch partner for Facebook’s Open Graph initiative, which set off a huge wave of privacy concerns, this is probably a good idea, if not a bit late.

"We thought it was important to make this adjustment to better reflect the realities of the internet today," says Pandora Founder Tim Westergren. "If you’re a returning listener you’ve probably already seen a reminder about your Pandora profile page, something we’ve offered since we launched."

"This reminder provides you with the immediate opportunity to see your profile, make it public, private, or learn more," he adds.

New users will see similar messages, and they’re also sending out emails to users who listen to Pandora exclusively on mobile devices. They’ll have to sign in on a computer to adjust their privacy settings.

All profile pages on Pandora now have a prominent privacy settings link. If you’re ashamed of what you listen to, go set your profile to private.

Pandora recently announced that it had surpassed 60 million users.

August 4, 2010
Facebook Launches Update for Android App

It was recently discovered that Mark Zuckerberg had begun using an Android device. Many Android users were hopeful that would lead to the company improving its Android app, which has been less than perfect.

Whether Zuckerberg’s Android use was the driving factor or not, Facebook has indeed launched a new update for its Android app. A Facebook spokesperson shared some of the notable features of the update:

– An updated homescreen with:

     * The ability to post a status update or search for friends with just one click

     * A new photo reel that enables easy viewing of photos and videos from friends in your News Feed

     * A draggable Notifications drawer where you can easily see if a friend posted a note on your wall, commented or liked a post or tagged you in a photo

– Video playback from the app. Similar to the Facebook for iPhone application, we are using the H.264 baseline profile for encoding videos

– Support for Events. You can now review your upcoming events, read your event details, and even RSVP – all from the application

– Respond to friend requests without leaving the application

"Facebook Mobile is always looking to bring new and innovative ways for people to stay up-to-date and connected with their friends and family," the spokesperson says. "The latest version of the Facebook for Android application was updated to include popular features, as well as new ways to browse and explore multimedia content."

"People who have already installed the Facebook for Android application on their device will be prompted that an update is now available for download," she adds. "Any Android device owner can download and install the latest version from the Android Market as well."

On another Facebook-related note, Mashable reports that the company has captured the domain Facebook.me from a United Arab Emirates-based squatter, but it is unknown if the domain will be used for a new product or a simple redirect. Right now, it’s just a redirect.

August 4, 2010
Survey: Email, Intranets Top Employer, Employee Communication

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation and Xerox’s Buck Consultants have released findings from a survey looking at employer-employee communication.

Among the findings are that the most common communication vehicles organizations use to engage employees and foster productivity are email and intranets, 83% and 75% respectively. In addition, half of employers are communicating through Facebook, IM, and Twitter.

"This year’s respondents reported slight increases in use of social media tools, and more of them say they have established internal and external policies for appropriate workplace use of social media," said Robin McCasland, past chair, IABC Research Foundation. "When managed effectively, social media can be a great addition to an existing employee engagement strategy. Employees and job candidates alike can read employer news and anecdotes that reinforce a strong, positive culture."

"Listening to employees is essential to employee engagement and retention. Yet surprisingly, 32 percent of survey respondents indicate that their organizations rarely or never conduct employee listening activities," said Bruce Spiegel, principal at Buck Consultants. "This is a huge opportunity for organizations to mitigate their risk of employee turnover and diminished performance."

The survey was given to about 900 communication professionals. It did find that most top executives do not participate in internal or external social media.

August 3, 2010