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| April 17, 2012 |
Twitter won't be rattled by Facebook's Instagram buy, Costolo says
Twitter won't rush to respond to Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, CEO Dick Costolo said during a visit to Japan. Twitter had previously sought to buy Instagram, but the network won't seek to buy a rival service now, Costolo said. "We will make sure that we execute on the strategy that we have and not one that's been laid down for us based on events that happen in the marketplace," he said. The Wall Street Journal/Japan Real Time blog (4/16)
Facebook channels Google+ with larger profile photos
Days after Google+ unveiled a redesign, Facebook has given the layout for its Timeline pages a refresh, introducing slightly larger profile pictures that reflect some of Google+'s changes. The facelift is only for personal pages for now; it isn't known whether brands will also get the update, Emil Protalinski writes. "[I]f the company does end up unifying the profile picture size for Facebook Pages, it will break a lot of designs that businesses worked hard on," Protalinski writes. ZDNet/Friending Facebook blog (4/16)
Demand for Facebook ads lifts rates
Although ad rates for Facebook are on the rise, click-through rates are declining, TBG Digital reports. The study found that ad rates for typical units were up 15% but the click-through rate was down 8% compared with the prior quarter. An analyst explained the apparent contradiction by pointing to high demand coupled with a rise in the number of ads per page. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (4/16)
How customers' online comments can motivate workers
Social media and the flood of online customer comments it brings each day can be a powerful tool when it comes to motivating employees to provide excellent service, say experts including Randy Stanley, vice president at Parasole Restaurant Group. "They now recognize and accept that everyone is a critic and that they can read about their performance on the Internet daily, good or bad." PizzaMarketplace.com (4/16)
Social moms are a top target for big brands
A growing number of moms are turning their parenting blogs into social media empires, and are attracting the attention of big-brand marketers along the way. The best parent-bloggers are savvy self-promoters on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube, making them especially attractive to brands. "These moms are cybercelebrities selling their identities and endorsements. They give advertisers the ability to reach moms through multiple channels," BSM Media CEO Maria Bailey says. The Miami Herald (free registration) (4/12)
Social sites help shape millennials' purchase decisions
A third of Generation Y shoppers say they're more likely to buy products from brands with Facebook pages, compared with 17% of non-millennials, according to a Boston Consulting Group study. "Perhaps not surprisingly, social media is the best way to reach millennials," study author Christine Barton says. Luxury Daily (4/17)
Why marketers should care about "Foursquare Day"
Monday was "Foursquare Day," a day created by Foursquare in celebration of itself, and brands marked the event by offering discounts and freebies to customers who checked in at retail locations. The stunt's continuing success is a reminder of the power of online communities, Murray Newlands writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (4/17)
How to hack your Pinterest photos
An tool from Eugene Chen lets Pinterest users chop up a single photo into tiles that create an image-mosaic when pinned to a board in the correct order. That allows users to create single-image boards with a powerful visual impact, Amy-Mae Elliott writes. Mashable (4/16)
7 ways to build buzz on Tumblr
Tumblr is a great platform for brands, but you need to be sensitive to the site's users' specific sensibilities, Kevin Allen writes. Aim for content-rich, image-heavy posts that deliver real value to your readers, and don't try too hard to go viral. "[M]emes aren't created. They just happen. Brands who try to force it in this medium will find themselves on the wrong side of ridicule," Allen writes. Ragan.com (4/17)
Researchers turn swarms of crabs into a computer
Japanese researchers have built a computer using stampeding soldier crabs in place of electrons. Researchers used shadows similar to those of crab-eating birds to startle the shellfish, which then panic and run in a predictable manner through carefully constructed passageways. The movements and collisions of the crabs can then be used to simulate the logic gates found in conventional computers. Wired.com/Wired Enterprise blog (4/14)
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