With its acquisition of Lucky Sort, Twitter seems to be acknowledging that it’s a data company after all. The plan appears to be building a services that would do for Twitter equivalent to services such as Google Trends and Google Analytics. Read more »
As more sites focus on longform content, Fast Company disclosed some statistics on how its longer pieces have been doing — but the data shows that the real secret isn’t length but ongoing engagement with readers. Read more at paidContent »
We are used to thinking of a “mass media” market made up of large newspapers and TV networks as the normal state of affairs in media, but what if that was just a historical anomaly? Read more at paidContent »
Twitter says it doesn’t have any interest in hiring reporters or performing other journalistic functions — but regardless of whether it does so, it is still a powerful media entity and one that grows stronger by the day. Read more at paidContent »
Branch might have set out to connect the world’s conversationalists on one platform, but it’s interesting to see how companies are adopting the resource as a more limited way to connect with customers. Read more »
As more and more photos are shared across the web on Pinterest and Facebook, it’s a challenge for companies to bring customers back to their sites from those photos has become a challenge. Pict looks to make it easier to keep track of your customers. Read more »
Are all those Facebook posts about political candidates amounting to much when it comes to civic engagement? A new report from the Pew Research Center breaks down civic participation and social media. Read more »
The conversations you’re having about music on Twitter could do more than build up artist fan bases — you could be helping power an entertainment television show called Trending 10. Read more »
By connecting its customer-relationship-management system with social-media monitoring and publishing tools it’s taken on in the past two years, Salesforce.com looks eager to become an advertising and marketing destination. Read more »
To help businesses focus their ad spending on specific social-media users, Salesforce.com is adding the ability to combine existing customer-relationship management lists with social monitoring and publishing tools. Read more »
For The Win wants to take a BuzzFeed-style viral media approach to sports media. The new site, which will compete with rivals like Deadspin, will focus on finding “shareable” content that will be appealing even to people who don’t follow sports. Read more at paidContent »
What’s the trick to getting consumers talking about your products and shopping on mobile? Fashion retailer Modcloth isn’t afraid to try out a lot of tactics. Read more »
The big news events of today are increasingly becoming participatory, thanks to growing and hyper-connectivity. This new landscape means, the media and its process — but not its real job – has to evolve. Read more »
While both Twitter and Reddit have come under fire for distributing incorrect information about the Boston bombings, mainstream outlets have done so as well. In a real-time news environment, having more sources is ultimately better. Read more at paidContent »
When you’re in official lock-down, piecing together what’s going on a mile from your house requires triangulation — police scanners, Twitter, Facebook, radio and TV — all come into play. Read more »
Brands claim they’re taking to social media, but they’re really inserting ads into other people social engagement streams — not engaging themsleves, says the founder of the Dachis Group. Read more at paidContent »
Google has a useful new tool to manage your “digital afterlife.” The feature sends passwords to trusted contacts if you have been inactive, and provides a way to send on many aspects of your digital life — except for any media you bought. Read more »
People wondered why Google sold Frommer’s Travel barely nine months after acquiring it in the first place. The answer is that it’s keeping a huge number social media followers from sites like Facebook. Read more at paidContent »
How does a large e-commerce site appeal to a wide variety of shoppers online — and then get them used to the idea of shopping with social? Zappos is working to figure out the answer to social commerce. Read more »
Film critic Roger Ebert talked about how much Twitter meant to him as a form of conversation, and his enthusiastic use of it as a way to connect with readers is a lesson to journalists of all kinds. Read more at paidContent »
The financial company Bloomberg says it will add Twitter to its platforms now that the SEC has given a green light to companies to use social media to announce market moving news. Read more at paidContent »
Looking for more information on other apps for your phone, or looking for more visual content in your Twitter feed? Twitter’s new updates to how third-party developers can create tweets has you potentially covered on both fronts. Read more »
I may disagree with them about the benefits of a hard paywall, or the wisdom of cutting 90 percent of the newspaper’s blogs, but at least the owners of the Orange County Register are putting their money where their mouths are. Read more at paidContent »
Have you checked out Vine recently? Legendary pop artist Prince has, with his record label filing a copyright notice with Twitter regarding videos on Vine. It seems like the general public might be giving Vine a serious look. Read more »
Publishers must now focus on a strategy for effectively licensing digital content. In the latest GigaOM Research Podcast, analyst Paul Sweeting discusses why we need a strategy and how it will impact publishers and others. Read more »
Instagram might be changing the economics of the paparazzi business, but the photo-sharing service and its social media peers can also make celebrities — willing or not — out of ordinary people. Who should pay when digital activity has real-world consequences? Read more »
Can America’s viral site BuzzFeed succeed in a country where sensationalist journalism already thrives? We’ll soon find out. Read more at paidContent »
For better or worse, we all live in glass houses. Yet social media has made it easier and faster than ever before to throw stones, and that’s not always a good thing. Read more »
Yahoo has acquired Jybe, the personalized recommendation app that aimed to help consumers get recomendations from friends around them, and then also move toward making purchases through the app. The acquisition shows part of Yahoo’s latest social strategy. Read more »
Looking for interesting companies coming out of Founder’s Den, the co-working space and entrepreneur network in San Francisco? Here are our top three picks from Tuesday’s demo day. Read more »
What might the future of Twitter as a second screen for social TV look like? A partnership with a startup called SnappyTV and Turner will give consumers access to short video replays from March Madness, and the rest of us a look at Twitter’s business model. Read more »
Inky is betting that changing how we interact with email is an important technology problem worth solving. CEO David Baggett explained why he thinks the company’s approach is notable. Read more »
The biggest challenge for modern etiquette is that we have so many different forms of communication available to us now, but not everyone agrees on how or when it is appropriate to use them. Read more »