Report: one in four online teens now use Twitter
What are teenagers up to on social media? Twitter use has grown dramatically since 2011, while Facebook stays dominant but shows flat growth. Read more »
Buying Tumblr might make Yahoo cool — but buying Pinterest might have made more sense
There are plenty of reasons why the announced Yahoo Tumblr deal makes sense for those companies. But Marissa Mayer might have seen a much greater payoff from acquiring Pinterest instead. Here’s why. Read more »
How to make Twitter the ultimate news ticker
Recent events, tragic and triumphant, emphasize the social web’s role as a central source for disseminating breaking news. But getting the facts right continues to be a challenge, and a solution requires cooperation and technical innovation. Read more at paidContent »
With Lucky Sort creators on board, Twitter is officially a data company
photo: Lucky Sort
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 »
ESPN and Twitter plan to announce partnership for tweeting sports video clips
photo: Jerry Sharp
If you’re looking for the latest video clips from your favorite sports, you might soon find them on Twitter. The social media company has solidified a deal with ESPN that will let users check out the action via Twitter video clips. Read more »
Back to the future: What if the ‘mass media’ era was just an accident of history?
photo: Shutterstock / Feng Yu
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 reportedly plans to expand Sacramento data center space
Twitter will expand its data center footprint in Sacramento, Data Center Knowledge reports. The move would help the social network support traffic spikes and a continually growing user base. Read more »
Open source flight, from the Drone Lab to Twitter: Q&A with Dave Lester
photo: Dave Lester
We caught up with Dave Lester, soon-to-be graduate of UC Berkeley’s School of Information and a web developer who told us about his drone hacking project, the importance of code integration, and his upcoming foray into open source at Twitter. Read more »
News flash: Twitter doesn’t have to hire journalists to be a powerful media competitor
photo: Shutterstock / noporn
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 »
White House picks long-time Googler for privacy post (report)
Nicole Wong, a top lawyer with a reputation for standing up for liberty and free expression while at Google and Twitter, is headed to the White House. Read more »
Beyond Meat CEO: One day eating meat will have no connection to animals
Can a Valley-backed startup help usher in a transition to plant-based proteins dominating the meat counter? Read more »
Spotify buys music discovery app Tunigo
Spotify has acquired the music app Tunigo, which helps users discover Spotify playlists and browse music and music-related news. Read more »
Why we should stop asking Twitter to introduce a correction feature
Whenever a breaking news event leads to errors on Twitter, critics suggest that the service needs some kind of built in correction or editing mechanism — but adding one would not only be complicated, it would also be unwise. Read more »
Facebook puts a friendly spin on password security with launch of Trusted Contacts
As the issue of password security and online identity becomes more important than ever, Facebook has re-vamped its password security measures, allowing you to contact friends in case of trouble. Read more »
What’s trending on Twitter among African Americans? The Root’s new tool will tell you
News site The Root has rolled out a page that shows the most popular tweets and trends among black Americans, who are heavy Twitter users. Read more at paidContent »
Twitter opens up self-serve advertising platform to all businesses
photo: GigaOM
Interested in advertising for your business on Twitter? The company is rolling out its self-serve ad platform to all businesses now, it announced Tuesday. Read more »
Researchers have created a 21st century global mood ring with data mining
Hedonometer.org draws on tweets and other sources of textual sentiment to gauge population-level happiness. Read more »
Predicting Twitter popularity is all about probability
How can you predict which tweets will get more views, and more viral retweets? A new study developed a statistical model to estimate the popularity of tweets. Read more »
Twitter for Mac finally updated, but fails to excite
It’s good to finally see Twitter put more resources back in to their much overlooked Mac app, this latest update won’t blow you away by any means. Version 2.2 is but a minor improvement on what came before. Read more »
LinkedIn reminds users a network is only as good as its contacts list with new app
LinkedIn is launching a standalone Contacts app that will roll out slowly to users in the U.S. But do you really need a second LinkedIn app with only limited professional contacts in it? Read more »
12 hours of Kevin Bacon: finding anyone in a social network
photo: Shutterstock / turtleteeth
A correctly mobilized social network can find a random individual in just half a day, researchers say. Read more »
Twitter partners with Fuse and Trident to produce cross-platform music TV show
photo: GigaOM
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 »
AP returns to Twitter after hack — but where are its 2 million followers?
The Twitter account of the Associated Press has been restored nearly 20 hours after it was suspended following a hacking incident. But, as of Wednesday morning, 95 percent of its followers are missing. Read more »
Why it’s time for Twitter to add two-factor authentication
photo: alexmillos/Shutterstock.com
As the stakes rise for Twitter when it comes to the security and monetary risks surrounding tweets, it’s time for the company to consider stepping up its security practices to keep accounts safer from hacks. Read more »
AP’s Twitter account suspended after hacking incident roils markets
Financial markets briefly plunged after hackers took over the AP’s account and reported a disaster in Washington. Read more »
New Salesforce.com features meld social media, marketing and CRM
photo: Salesforce.com
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 »
Two deals that make it obvious where Twitter’s heart lies: inside your television
photo: Shutterstock / Dmitris K
Twitter’s love affair with television seems to know no bounds — two recent deals with BBC America and Comedy Central will bring video clips inside users’ streams, and more such deals appear to be in the works. Read more at paidContent »
Reports say Twitter has reached multimillion dollar deal with ad-buying company
photo: GigaOM
A new deal with a large ad-buying firm will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over a multi-year period, the Financial Times reports. Read more »
Stealth startup Jelly announces ex-Twitter growth engineer as co-founder
Jelly, the still stealthy new company from Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has nabbed a top Twitter engineer as its new CTO. Read more »
In Boston bombing lock-down, the best and worst of social media emerges
If your town is inundated with paramilitary forces and you’re told to stay put because a madman’s on the loose, Twitter is suddenly your connection to the world beyond. Read more »
Podcast: More media, more problems and more music on Twitter
photo: Corbis / Jim Frazier
This week’s news wrap up examines new media both in the immediate wake of the Boston attack as well as it’s slow evolution as an industry. Read more »
Reddit + Boston: Journalism gets better when more people are doing it
photo: Flickr / Christian Scholz
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 the search for the Boston bombing suspects comes to your neighborhood
photo: Getty Images
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 »
For Twitter, it’s about creating an effective Discover tab — for #Music
Twitter’s new music app could be a great discovery tool, if the company can figure out how to make the recommendations effective — a challenge they’ve struggled with since the beginning. Read more »
What should Twitter do when people exploit an emergency?
photo: Aaron Amot
News of the Boston bombings spread instantly on Twitter — and do too did scammers and opportunists. Should the company do more to stop these people? Read more »
Can Twitter elevate the “second screen” with live video?
photo: Shutterstock / Angela Waye
Twitter is reportedly in talks to add more content from television networks to its service, which would fit with the company’s recent moves toward courting TV and the people who watch. Read more »
Twitter forces Flattr to stop letting users tip ‘favorited’ tweets
Flattr’s Twitter micropayments venture, where people could leave tips for ‘favorited’ tweets, is over. But as that tie-in got shut down, Flattr enabled tips for YouTube videos. The system also works on Instagram and SoundCloud. Read more »
Celebrity social media firm Ad.ly predicts $5M in revenue after embracing analytics
photo: ad.ly
Ad.ly is a social media ad agency that provides brands with celebrity endorsements. To come up with a more steady revenue stream, it’s turned to offering analytics. Read more at paidContent »
We Are Hunted confirms Twitter acquisition, but won’t spill the beans on any Twitter music plans
Earlier reports that Twitter had acquired a music startup and is launching a stand-alone app are now confirmed — sort of. We Are Hunted wrote Thursday that they’ve joined the Twitter flock, but provided no details on a Twitter app. Read more »
Allen Stern, blogging pioneer and entrepreneur, passes away — we will miss you Allen
An early blogger and startup founder who had recently launched a new business focused on health and fitness, Allen Stern passed away last week and was remembered by his friends and blogging colleagues. Read more »
