Instagram has released a new standalone application called Boomerang. It allows users to share 1-second video clips with their friends, effectively taking…
Read More
Research
How I became my cat’s social media manager, and found a community in the process
I last made an internet friend in middle school, when so few people used AIM that my real-life friends and I traded…
Read MoreFacebook owns the four most-downloaded mobile apps in 2014
Mobile analytics firm App Annie released a report on app trends on Wednesday that sorts out what kind of software people downloaded on their phones…
Read MoreSix ways in which Andrew Keen is wrong about the internet
In his new book "The Internet Is Not The Answer," author Andrew Keen continues a theme he introduced in previous books, about how the internet is a net negative for the economy and for society. But I think he is far too negative…
Read MoreVine rings in its second year by hitting 1.5 billion daily loops
Video app Vine celebrated its second anniversary Saturday, prompting product head Jason Toff to share new metrics. The company is now seeing…
Read MoreHere’s how a real teenager uses, and doesn’t use, social media
A description from 19-year-old Andrew Watts provides a fascinating glimpse into how some teenaged users approach different social-media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat…
Read MoreInstagram could be one of the best deals of the last decade
If a Citigroup analyst is right about the amount of revenue that Instagram will be able to generate from advertising over the next couple of years, Facebook's acquisition of the company for just $1 billion will look like the best deal of the decade…
Read MoreAndy Carvin launches social-media reporting team for First Look
Former NPR staffer and Twitter-based journalist Andy Carvin is launching a team of half a dozen social-media "anchor/producers" who will be embedded in various social platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit and use them as sources of journalism…
Read MoreBeing connected is more of a good thing than it is a bad thing
There are plenty of things that are bad about being connected to the internet and the social web all the time, but there are far more good things about it, including the relationships that it allows us to create with people we've never met…
Read MoreRoadmap 2014 beckons, an evolution of connectivity & design
Our fourth Roadmap is an evolution of what connectivity and design mean for the tech industry and our underlying theme invisible design underscores that.…
Read MoreSocial media and breaking news: Why authenticity trumps authority almost every time
When it comes to breaking news events, many people are willing to overlook the fact that some of the reports they are getting might not be verified or 100-percent accurate, in return for the immediacy and authenticity that comes with a report from someone close to the action…
Read MoreDesign’s disappearing act: how to simplify complex, data-rich products
Really great design disappears. So how do you build that into a complex product? Come learn how from the best designer thinkers in the tech industry at Gigaom's experience design conference Roadmap 2014.…
Read MoreInstagram’s new app has captured people’s imaginations. But does Hyperlapse live up to the hype?
Instagram's Hyperlapse app makes mundane videos more fun to watch. But without being tied to Instagram itself, the app may struggle to make a dent in public consciousness.…
Read MoreWith new app Hyperlapse, Instagram’s latest “filter” is time-lapse video
Instagram's latest filter isn't about color or light -- it's about time. You can now create image stabilized videos with Hyperlapse, a standalone app for shooting timelapse videos.…
Read MorePhotographers rejoice, Eyefi gets IFTTT integration
Eyefi, the company that lets you pop a Wi-Fi enabled SD card into a traditional DSLR camera, has built an If This…
Read MoreVine’s new features may help it with marketers but could repel its teen audience
Vine's newest feature lets users import video into the app. This is bound to delight the brands trying to reach teens, who can now produce prettier Vines, at the risk of alienating the teens themselves.…
Read MoreIt’s complicated: Why we need a new etiquette for handling what’s private and what’s public
It's tempting to see private vs. public as something binary or black and white, but there is a whole universe of human behavior expressed through services like Twitter and Facebook that falls somewhere between those two extremes, and we need to figure out how to handle it properly.…
Read MoreTaylor Swift is right about music, and the industry should act on her ideas
Country star Taylor Swift made some bold and hopeful claims this week about where the music business is going. We should listen to her.…
Read MoreGrasswire founder Austen Allred is trying to build a Wikipedia-style platform for real-time news
Grasswire's founder says he launched the crowdsourced breaking-news service because he believes the power of the crowd to generate and curate news is a much stronger force for good than many people -- including professional journalists -- give it credit for…
Read MoreMark Zuckerberg on the shift to mobile and the Great Unbundling of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg says his approach to mobile consists of breaking the monolithic Facebook app down into smaller, more discrete experiences -- ones that may look and feel nothing like the big blue app or main website, and may even allow for different identities…
Read MoreInstagram reportedly signs $100M ad deal with big agency Omnicom
Just a few months after it started testing ads in user streams, Instagram has signed an advertising deal with agency Omnicom that is reportedly worth up to $100 million.…
Read MoreMark Zuckerberg has learned what Steve Jobs knew: You need to disrupt yourself before your competitors do
The $19 billion Facebook is paying for WhatsApp makes it seem like a desperate move to retain users, but it is also a sign that Mark Zuckerberg is more than willing to disrupt his own company rather than letting others do so…
Read MorePicture-centric LinkedIn rival Somewhere reveals new investors
The Berlin-based firm, which is developing a more touchy-feely alternative to LinkedIn's legacy clutter, has taken on serial entrepreneur Thomas Madsen-Mygdal as chairman.…
Read MoreWith “Sponsored Data” AT&T is double dipping. And that’s just dirty
AT&T today introduced "sponsored data" and while it might seem like a good way for AT&T to make more money, in the end this will be like cutting off its nose to spite its face. And startups will bear the brunt of it.…
Read More