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December 31, 2008

Top 10 Web Platforms of 2008

Web platforms allow people to build on top of another company's product. So, to aptly close out their Top 10 Product Series, ReadWriteWeb has chosen its Top 10 Web platforms of 2008:
1. iPhone SDK
2. OpenSocial
3. Adobe AIR
4. Twitter API
5. Facebook Platform
6. Android
7. Amazon Web Services
8. Live Mesh
9. Fire Eagle
10. Mozilla Weave

Posted by staff at 09:56 AM
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December 25, 2008

Data Proves Strong Growth for Mobile Content and Social Networking

Emarketer releases the latest findings on the dominance of the mobile phone content: “The percentage of mobile phone users who said they accessed social networks from their handset jumped 182 percent from September 2007 to October 2008, according to a study conducted by The Kelsey Group and ConStat.” More statistics found here.

Posted by staff at 03:30 AM
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December 20, 2008

Coupons.com Launches Facebook Coupons

Facebook users want to save too! The application, “Coupons.com for Facebook,” enables users to print and share coupons with friends, directly from their Facebook profile page.

Posted by staff at 12:18 PM
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December 15, 2008

Enlightening Look at Social Media Activity of Forty Million Americans

By Nichole Mrasek

Netpop Research is releasing data on the online habits of social networks. The findings cite “76% of all U.S. broadband users actively contribute to social media sites in one form or another, and 29% contribute regularly to social networking sites.” Comparisons are drawn between social networkers and non-social media users. Facebook and MySpace also go head-to-head in the research, with Facebook touting the largest increase in users from 2006 – 2008 (500%).

Another surprising statistic uncovered: “In terms of interests, MySpace users are more interested in NASCAR, astrology, and gardening, while Facebook’s users are predictably more interested in school, science, and investing.” Great information to keep in mind for our clients.

Learn more from the study here.

Posted by staff at 12:40 PM
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Study Shows Many Would Rather Forgo Sex than Give Up Internet Access

In their study “Internet Reliance in Today’s Economy,” Harris Interactive and Intel wanted to know just how far consumers would be willing to go to have the Internet. New York Times reports, “According to the study, 46% of women and 30% of men would opt to forgo sex for two weeks instead of giving up access to their precious Internet for the same period.”

Read more from the report, here.

Posted by staff at 02:50 AM
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December 13, 2008

Best Web Services of 2008

Silicon Valley blogger Louis Gray reviews the ten best new Web services from 2008 and previews how the services will fair in 2009. Summize, ReadBurner, SocialToo are among the top reviewed.

To see who made the list, check it out here.

Posted by staff at 01:02 PM
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December 11, 2008

Fast Company Forecasts for 2009 on the Web

"8 Experts Predict How Web 2.0 Will Evolve” provides insight on possible emerging digital trends we might expect to see in the new year.

Influencers from leading organizations and online media share their thoughts on how the mainstream impact from 2008 will carry over into social media in 2009.

Excerpt from Fast Company—

Tara Hunt, Co-Founder, Citizen Agency and Citizen Space: “Social Media will cease to be such an ’experimental’ field in marketing and will start to become part of the main core of good campaigns. Web 2.0 is the participatory web - which means that the power of this time is that we are all producers.”

Susan Mernit, Co-Founder, People Software: “I see social media in 2009 becoming more and more accessible to mainstream audiences...This means that everyone will experience what bloggers and gamers learned at least 5 years ago--following people online is a great way to virtually know and screen potential contacts and friends, as well as a tool to maintain connections.”

Read additional expert outlooks from the full feature here.

Posted by staff at 11:39 AM
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December 10, 2008

Did You Know 3.0 Video

A must-watch powerful video on the magnitude of digital and predictions for its growth. You can view the video here.

Posted by staff at 12:33 PM
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December 09, 2008

The New York Times Launches Times Extra

In a rather adventurous move for the top daily paper, NYT is changing their homepage and allowing consumers to view top stories from other Web sources. From Times Extra: “Enrich your news reading experience with Times Extra. This new feature on nytimes.com offers related links from other news sources and blogs from around the Web.” Check it out here.

Posted by staff at 09:55 AM
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December 07, 2008

When Clients Want Viral

Clients ask for their campaigns to “go viral” and AdAge’s “Can You Guess Which Pitch Is a Real Viral Campaign? Apparently, Many Agencies Can’t” serves as a great discussion on viral. AdAge defines viral campaigns as, “content passed from one person to another, including images, videos, links, applications, games, stories, e-mails, documents or virtually any other type of digital content that one person passes to another via e-mail, IM, text messaging, or social network like Twitter, FriendFeed, etc.”

The article quickly debunks the idea that distributing a press release or e-mail will have a high impact on a viral campaign. Blogger outreach with great pitches and blog advertising with the right creative content represent stronger steps in the viral direction.

Check out the feature here to learn more and see examples of successful viral campaigns. In closing, “Remember, social-media gurus, advertising agencies and PR flacks: It ain’t viral ‘til it is.”

Posted by staff at 12:28 PM
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December 06, 2008

Facebook Video Upgrade

The Facebook Blog reports on higher video quality for uploads now available on Facebook . Additionally Facebook states, “You’ll also be able to take videos you’ve added to Facebook and embed them on other websites. If you have a blog, personal or business website, you’ll be able to display any of your Facebook videos on that site as well.” With 100,000 videos added a day, more than 45 million to date, this updated format is sure to please fans and enhance consumer viewing experience.

Posted by staff at 12:58 PM
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December 04, 2008

Millenial Marketing Data

EMarketer reviews the latest statistics released on Millenials, an audience of 18 – 24 year-olds. Accenture recently released data focusing on young adult technology preferences, as well as their feelings on work and school.

“If their employers don’t support their preferred technologies, Millennials will acquire and use them anyway,” said Gary Curtis, managing director of Accenture Technology Consulting.

Not surprising, 51 percent of Millenials responded that mobile phones were their preferred mode of communication, while only 20 percent of baby boomers preferred mobile.

Additional survey results from Pew Internet & American Life Project and Resource Interactive are discussed. Read more here.

Posted by staff at 03:22 AM
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December 03, 2008

Amazon.com Holiday Customer Review Team

By Nichole Mrasek

Amazon.com has announced that it will debut its first-ever “Holiday Customer Review Team” this holiday season.. Six Amazon.com customers will provide their product review opinions and, in response, consumers may post feedback or questions to the team. Amazon.com revealed the identity of the reviewers and has dedicated a section on Amazon.com to the team’s critiques and gift guides.

Senior Manager of Community at Amazon.com Russell Dicker says, “Our customers have come to rely on the third-party expertise our customer reviews provide, and the Holiday Customer Review Team is an extension of that resource over the holidays. We’re looking forward to seeing their reaction to our Black Friday deals, and we’re excited that they can share those deals with our customers.”

Reports are surfacing that when reviewers provide unbiased views they sometimes receive perks. According to The New York Times, “Some team members have been flown to Seattle to conduct broadcast interviews on behalf of the company. Moreover, they have been given free products to review and keep.”
We’ll have to wait until the end of the season to judge the success of the review team. In the meantime, read the full story from Amazon.com here.

Posted by staff at 10:12 AM
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December 01, 2008

Journalists Speak Out on Social Media for PR: How They Use Twitter and Other Social Networks

90-Minute Webcast – December 11 – 1:00 pm ET /10:00 am PT

Twitter.com is the latest rage in online communications—a super quick "micro-blogging" site where users post their brief thoughts and "follow" the "tweets" of others. But it’s not just for wasting time—Twitter has emerged as a valuable business communication tool. The latest group to descend on Twitter: Journalists looking for sources, trends and scoops. There are now hundreds of working journalists using Twitter every day to interact with sources, search for story ideas, and turn "twitpitches" from PR professionals into stories! And they’re not just using Twitter; they’re also actively embracing other forms of social media, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, to troll for sources and stories. This is a trend that every working PR professional needs to understand and leverage today.

To help you master these exciting new communications channels, PR University has assembled an exclusive panel of journalists who actively use Twitter and other social media, who will give you their latest insights into this phenomenon, as well as an inside look at how they and their colleagues are using Twitter and other social media and where they think this new medium is going in the future.

Brian Stelter, Reporter, The New York Times
Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Consumer Technology Reporter, St. Paul Pioneer Press (circ. 252,055); Author, "Twitter Means Business: How Microblogging Can Help or Hurt Your Company"
Ina Fried, Senior Writer, CNET News
Chris O’Brien, Business Columnist, San Jose Mercury News (circ. 241,518)
Dan Patterson, Digital Audio Manager, ABC News

For more information on the Webcast visit here.

Posted by staff at 10:44 AM
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