Social Networking Tag

China Not Fond of Microblogging

While many of us can’t imagine living without things “made in China,” the Chinese don’t seem very impressed with some of things coming out of the good ole USA. I’m most specifically talking about microblogging.  Sites like Twitter have swept America by storm this year.  In fact, a report from Sysomos earlier this year said that only 0.49% of Twitter users were from China, while 62.14% of Twitter’s population were Americans.  The British make up the second biggest amount of users on Twitter, but they are far behind America since they only account for 7.97% of Twitterers. 

While it seems no other microblogging site could beat Twitter at this time, Microsoft has launched a new microblogging service in China, hoping to beat Twitter’s success in a different country.  The new service is known as MSN Juku, which Microsoft is calling a “local innovation developed by MSN China.” (more…)

Twitter Founder: Site Not for Sale

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone assured reporters Monday that, contrary to popular belief, the microblogging website is not up for sale, and there are no plans for a sale.  However, Stone said Twitter may eventually go public on the stock market for funding if necessary.

“We are definitely not interested in selling the company,” he said.  Later on he suggested that Twitter could eventually eye an initial public offering (IPO). “If an IPO’s the only thing, then sure. But if there is some other way, then that would be great too. Maybe some other new way will emerge.” (more…)

Record Exec Arrested after Failure to Tweet?

Over the weekend, James Roppo, vice president of Island Def Jam Records was arrested in Garden City, N.Y.  His crime: not tweeting.  Yes, as in not using the popular social networking site, Twitter. 

Roppo was in Garden City with Canadian teen pop sensation Justin Bieber, who was supposed to perform a free concert for the several thousand screaming teen-aged fans who had waited for him, lining up as early as 4 a.m., at the Roosevelt Field Mall.  Several hours before the 15-year-old’s concert, things got out of hand and five people were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries.  (more…)

Posting Photos to Twitter Simplified in U.K.

No matter where you go nowadays, someone nearby is either tweeting, taking a new profile picture for their MySpace page, or shooting a video to post on YouTube. 

The world of social media is all around us.  Twitter has been a great source of information for breaking news this year, since you are able to tweet from just about anywhere. You are able to update your status through text message, aka SMS (Short Message Service).  However, when it comes to posting a picture from your phone onto Twitter, you must have a smartphone and a Twitter app.  Starting today, that all changes.  Twitter users in the U.K. are now able to post pictures directly from their mobile phone via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).

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Social Media Words Enter Official Lexicon

“Word: something that is said. A speech sound or series of speech sounds that symbolizes and communicates a meaning usually without being divisible into smaller units capable of independent use.”  That’s the definition of a word, according to Merriam-Webster. 

The world is full of them.  In fact, there are more than 258,000 words in the English language.  They range from everyday words to silly words like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  While most of us can actually pronounce supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, the longest word in the English dictionary is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which I’m not sure anyone can really pronounce.  Want to try pronouncing Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahul? No, I didn’t just hit a bunch of keys on the keyboard, either.  It’s actually the Maori name for a hill in New Zealand, and is officially the world’s longest name for a place.

These past few years, pop culture influenced which words make it into the English dictionary. Beyonce’s “Bootylicious” was added to the dictionary a few years ago, while the world of Harry Potter helped “muggle,” a person who possesses no magical powers, reserve a spot in the English dictionary as well.  While pop culture has had a significant impact on the world, it looks like it has stepped aside as social media starts to influence the world even more. (more…)

Social Media Coming To A Game Console Near You

It seems like only yesterday, that everyone in the neighborhood had a brand new gaming console called Nintendo.  Playing a 2-D version of Mario was the most high tech game at the time, and a few years later, the release of the Super Nintendo blew America away.  It was the Nintendo 64, where everyone first began to grasp the idea of 3D graphics in games and since then, the PlayStation, Xbox & Wii have become some of our favorite gaming systems.  From being able to only play games, to being able to actually work out daily, video game systems have come a long way.  So what will come next?

Luckily we won’t have to wait long.  Next Tuseday, November 12, 2009, Microsoft plans to release the latest version of the Xbox360.  The new software will be a step up from the current version, heading to the internet integrating the world of social media.  In June, the company announced they’d release the console which would include Facebook, Twitter, last.fm, and Zune video.  (more…)

Social Media Phones

There is a pretty good chance you know several people with an iPhone or Blackberry.  The iPhone, known for all the apps and being able to connect with anyone just about anywhere, is a great tool to use in the world of social media.  The Blackberry, a more business professional phone, also has apps and connects owners with their social networking sites.  Well there are 3 new phone devices expected to hit the market that will keep users even closer to their social networks more then they are now. (more…)

Social Media & App’s Reaching The World

It seems that we can find just about anything on social media sites.  Whether it’s breaking news about Balloon Boy, looking for the latest gossip about Jon & Kate, or commenting on our friend’s status’, the world is only one click away from seeing what we post.  And while the point of social media is to have your voice heard and to share content with the rest of the world, Toyota & MySpace are trying to get voices heard even more.

Toyota, the Japanese car manufacturer, is using its social media app to showcase drawings on jumbo-trons in New York’s Times Square.  The Experience Prius app, which came out in August has added a new feature this week, which will allow you to take what’s on your iPhone screen to the big screen.

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Twitter Favors Democrats

Twitter is in some hot water in California, after the Center for Governmental Studies realized the popular social networking site was suggesting members of the Democratic Party, who are expected to run for California’s governor next year, over the Republican Party candidates.  When someone signs up for Twitter, the company suggests certain celebrities, politicians and other high profiled citizens for new users to follow.  A random list of 20 out of the 500 high profiled users is shown and users can choose to follow as many or as few of those recommendations. 

Some of those 500 high profiled recommended users include San Fransisco mayor Gavin Newsom, and California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who both have either announced or expressed interest in running for California Governor next year on the Democratic ticket.  The two, both have a huge following, as Newsom has over 1.2 million followers, while Brown has close to 966,000 followers.  Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner, and Tom Campbell who are all plan on running for governor on the Republican ticket are not suggested users and all have under 4,500 followers.  (more…)

Social Networking Steals $2.25 Billion From UK

A recent survey came of the UK and has estimated that the use of social networking sites by office workers during office hours is costing over $2,250,000,000 a year in England alone.  1,460 office workers who work for Morse, an IT services and technology company, were surveyed and found out that over half  used social networking sites for personal use during the working day.  Those that admitted to using those sites during the work day, also confessed that they spent an average of 40-50 minutes a week surfing the web during work time. 

If you break it down and said that one worker took 9-10 minutes everyday to check social networking sites while on the clock, by the end of the year, they would accumulated more or less than about a free week of paid vacation.  (more…)