Privacy discussions took a new turn when Newspepper.com founder Hermione Way asserted that women have been raped as a result of location-based apps “like Facebook and Banjo,” and Banjo CEO Damien Patton responded that “more people have been harmed by the Catholic Church” than social networks. Read more »
HarperCollins has launched Epic Reads, a digital community designed to connect readers with HarperTeen authors and books. But this is not a retail site. Read more at paidContent »
A comScore study of consumer behavior following exposure to marketing messages on Facebook shows that both fans and friends of fans are more likely to buy things after they see such messages, data that Facebook badly needs to prove the value of its social platform. Read more »
The company behind German Facebook clone StudiVZ has changed its name to Poolworks and decided to focus on its social network for school-age kids, IDPool. It seems there’s simply no point competing with Mark Zuckerberg’s juggernaut any more. Read more »
Social virtual goods revenues will grow from $2.1 billion in 2010 to $4.1 billion in 2016. Leading this growth are disruptive factors such as mobile, regulatory changes and alternatives to the traditional OS. But the most important disruption vector will be increasing the universality of virtual currencies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
One of the world’s leading credit agencies is courting controversy with an experimental program that will use data from Facebook and other social networks to inform its ratings decisions. And the biggest surprise? It’s happening in privacy-mad Germany. Read more »
Facebook is said to be working on new features that would allow children under 13 to access the network. Is this a way of helping parents encourage their children to develop better online skills, or does it open kids up to privacy problems and other issues? Read more »
There are reports the giant social network is taking another run at building a dedicated “Facebook phone.” But is this a clever strategic gamble on the future or an expensive bet that takes the company beyond its core competencies and is doomed to fail? Read more »
In this busy new world of multiple social networks and recommendations tools, the discovery process itself is being disrupted by innovation and by the changing ways in which consumers now interact online. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
By now, we know that our online reputations hold implications for our employment, love lives and even insurance claims. But some emerging companies believe that our online identities – and our social data in particular – are valuable sources for evaluating and even managing credit risk. Read more »
With Facebook’s IPO scheduled for later this week, we decided to poll GigaOM readers and other technology watchers on the company’s longer-term prospects. So put the immediate future out of your mind, and think about how Facebook might evolve in the next 2 to 5 years. Read more »
Engagio, a social inbox that organizes people’s online conversations, is take a big step toward becoming a social network of its own. The Toronto-based start-up is rolling out a handful of new features including the ability to follow the conversations of other users. Read more »
Social marketing platform operator Buddy Media is rolling out a bunch of updates to its suite of tools including a unified social data API, the ability to track conversions and campaigns across their entire social media efforts, and a new mobile content development platform. Read more »
A new EU child safety strategy calls for parental controls to be built into all internet-capable devices, for apps to get their own age ratings — and for a proposed electronic ID system to be used for proving your age online. Read more »
Google is doing everything it can to integrate the Google+ social network into all of its properties, so that it can become a “social layer” across the entire company. But that same behavior is irritating users like actor — and prominent Google+ user — Wil Wheaton. Read more »
As it gets closer to what could be a $100 billion stock offering, Facebook faces increasing pressure to prove it is a powerful advertising platform. But some advertisers still appear to be skeptical about how much value they are getting from the giant social network. Read more »
Businesses are hungry to understand more about the public perception of their products and services by tapping social networking sources. That demand is why DataSift, which sorts through tons of social network data, garnered $7.2 million in additional funding from existing backers. Read more »
Media issues like advertising and discovery along with commerce dominated the activity in social and real-time Web technologies during the first quarter. Google raised some hackles, Facebook responded to demands from traditional advertisers, and Yahoo got a new chief executive. Read more in the full report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google-co-founder Sergey Brin recently said he believes the future of the “open Internet” is at risk. Then why is the company trying to build its own closed network? Because the open vs. closed debate is more complicated than it first appears when it comes to Google. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tumblr is finally ready to start opening the doors to brands and will begin with a new tool for placing branded Tumblr posts into its Radar feature starting May 2, said Tumblr founder David Karp, speaking at the Ad Age Digital Conference. Read more »
In the first quarter of 2012 all eyes were on the screen, both big and small. Apple’s new Retina display pushed video streaming, and broadcast-TV streaming service Aereo’s launch was quickly followed with litigation. These events and more are discussed in a new quarterly report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Don’t be too quick to think that Facebook is abandoning its HTML5 mobile strategy in favor of apps. As a defensive movie, acquiring Instagram would lock down Facebook’s strong position in photo-sharing, leaving little room for would-be competitors, but it gives Facebook few new weapons and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Index Ventures co-founder Neil Rimer has helped steer his company to success with investments in Skype, Betfair and many more. He explains why he’s obsessed with education and marketplaces — and why he wishes he’d invested in Kickstarter. Read more »
The newest version of Sincerely’s Postagram app adds a QR code to all post cards sent out, which — when scanned by a QR reader that was just added to the app — lets recipients download a digital copy of the photo and share it on Twitter. Read more »
Members of social sites can get prickly when it comes to advertising. But even the most buzz-worthy social media startups need revenue to survive. Whether you use sponsorships, ads, or affiliate marketing, SkimLinks’ CEO Alicia Navarro has tips to help you monetize your social site. Read more »
Has Pinterest created an entirely new way for users to share content? A survey conducted on GigaOM asked just that question, and a new GIgaOM Pro report delves into the various implications for the social network. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In what is starting to look like an e-commerce version of Risk, Wrapp is retaliating against clone-artists Rocket Internet by launching on their home turf and detailing ambitious expansion plans Read more »
Pinterest’s recent changes to get on the right side of copyright law highlight how the legal system continues to lag behind what the Internet makes possible. Until that issue is resolved, virtually every Internet-powered content-sharing service is at risk. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Five key technology sectors are enabling the smart city: smart grids, smart transport, smart water and waste management, smart building systems, and the enabling ICT platforms for the smart city. Key players like IT companies, telcos and utilities must learn how to harness those technologies, and quickly. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Now that Apple has showed it plans to spend some of its massive $100 billion cash holdings, some argue it should acquire Twitter as a way of bulking up its social features. But just because it could buy Twitter, does that mean it should? Read more »
Swedish startup Tripbirds wants to bring its stylish approach to bear on the social travel market. But with so many services around, and so few obvious winners, is there even a market worth competing for? Read more »
Digitalsmiths has added social recommendations to its product offering, creating a more comprehensive way for users to search and discover videos. That technology brings in real-time data from Twitter and other social networks, to help users choose shows based on what everyone’s talking about. Read more »
Software services and applications are becoming increasingly intertwined with users’ lives, and this connection is leading to greater privacy concerns. Geoffrey Woo and Jon Zhang of Glassmap say there are four things that really matter: real-time adaptiveness, transparency, the right amount of privacy, and user-service symmetry. Read more »
Some argue that Google+ doesn’t have more users — or more active users — because of its poor design. But the biggest issue is that while there are plenty of reasons for Google to want such a network, there are few compelling reasons for users to want it. Read more »
The audio file is no longer the product when it comes to digital music. Instead, the experiences built around it are, and services like Spotify, Facebook, Topspin and others are leading the way into this new era of dynamic, interactive and social music. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
We have Facebook. Daily deal sites. Racks of computers learning our preferences and countless apps to connect us. And yet, the pinnacle of advertising appears to be the 21st-century equivalent of the Tupperware party. That’s right, pitch your friends and get a discount. Read more »
Facebook needed to change the way it sold advertising inventory and add some glitzier formats. Last week, at its fMC event for marketers, it made some progress towards addressing those needs. Let’s see what Facebook is doing right and where it still has ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Twitter and Facebook are both trying hard to show that they are powerful advertising vehicles, in part to justify their multibillion-dollar market valuations. But while each company has shown some growth, there is still skepticism among advertisers about the ultimate value of social advertising. Read more »
For ad-supported web platforms such as Facebook, every dollar spent on infrastructure means even more money brought in by advertising — the culprit of many privacy issues. That has big implications for a company’s bottom line. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Mobile deals combine location-aware discounts with mobile marketing campaigns. What are the largest pitfalls in this promising space, though? Privacy and security issues must be addressed to assure consumers their purchases are secure and their location is being closely guarded. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
