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Facebook's Rejiggered News Feed: The Ads Have It March 09, 2013 Facebook unveiled its new look this week, providing bigger photos and more links in users' News Feeds, along with additional ways to view specialized streams based on topics of interest, such as music. This is apparently an attempt to corral all the random musings and disjointed pictures users are accustomed to sorting through. Facebook's move seems geared toward bringing order to the chaos.

New Facebook News Feed Features In-Your-Face Photos March 07, 2013 Facebook on Thursday announced a major makeover of its News Feed page with an emphasis on bigger images, more user control and a recognition that more members are accessing the social network on mobile devices. "News Feed has become primarily about visual content," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

China Starts Arm Wrestling Android March 07, 2013 Android -- and, by extension, Google -- has too much control over China's smartphone industry, according to a white paper from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Android is used by handset manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE, as well as Samsung, which has a solid footprint in China.

Facebook Denies Promoted Post Hanky-Panky March 05, 2013 Facebook has flatly denied the suggestion by a New York Times columnist that it might be gaming its own system -- that is, that the way it pumps up views of fee-based promoted posts could be by limiting the sharing of ordinary posts. "This is not true," Facebook says in a post labeled "Fact Check."

The Socially Responsible Role of Social Media in Crisis Management March 05, 2013 Hurricane Sandy, which struck the U.S.' Eastern seaboard last October, exemplified the use of social networks in disaster communications. Millions of residents were affected. For many, real-time information was provided through independent, citizen-generated Facebook pages like Jersey Shore Hurricane News and Twitter.

Exploring the New World of Travel Apps March 01, 2013 When Richard Rygg, the co-founder of HipGeo, sailed with his family last year through the islands of French Polynesia, he used his company's app to document the experience. The result is a multimedia blog complete with a GPS track of his adventure, and a collection of dozens of geo-tagged photos of sunsets, beaches and bays.

Facebook's New Ad Tool Targets You Online and Off February 28, 2013 Facebook users will soon see ads in their feeds that are more specifically targeted to what they like and where they've shopped -- both online and offline -- thanks to a series of agreements with data companies announced Wednesday. The agreements expand the social network's Custom Audiences program released last September, which was designed to allow advertisers to target their existing customers via Facebook.

Hackers: The Flies in Social Media Marketing Ointment February 25, 2013 Did you hear? McDonald's has just acquired Burger King! Also, someone at the company apparently has a potty mouth. Another unusual and unexpected corporate trade also happened last week -- Cadillac acquired Jeep. These events, of course, didn't really happen. In both instances, hackers gained control of the brands' Twitter accounts and began sending out false and sometimes very offensive tweets.

HootSuite for Twitter Gives Advertisers a Souped-Up Dashboard February 22, 2013 HootSuite has incorporated paid advertising into its dashboard for the first time with the rollout of HootSuite Promoted Products integration for Twitter. It allows users to buy Promoted Tweets and manage their accounts on the HootSuite dashboard. This is a significant step for HootSuite's users, said Greg Gunn, VP of business development.

Twitter Flies Advertiser API February 21, 2013 Twitter launched an API for advertisers Wednesday, a move designed to help the social network boost revenues to better compete with its Internet ad competitors. The company has had an ad structure in place since 2010, when it launched its Promoted Tweets program, which allows advertisers to push 140-character ads on user feeds.

Burger King Grilled, Jeep Sideswiped During Twitter Hacks February 19, 2013 The Twitter accounts for fast-food chain Burger King and automaker Jeep were taken over by hackers this week, prompting calls for stronger authentication practices while forcing marketing professionals to once again confront the shadowy regions of social media. Burger King was the first brand to report problems Monday.

Building Social Into the Customer Service and Support Infrastructure February 19, 2013 Surprisingly, many customer service organizations have yet to put their toes in the water when it comes to social media engagement. In fact, fewer than half of them actively respond to consumer complaints via Twitter and other social media channels. For companies that do actively engage in social media for customer support purposes, the average response time is an estimated 24 hours.

German Court OKs Facebook's Keep-It-Real Policy February 16, 2013 Facebook's policy of requiring that users post profiles under their real names was upheld by a German court on Thursday. The decision reversed last year's Independent Center for Privacy Protection ruling that Facebook had to permit the use of pseudonyms in Germany. The ULD -- the privacy regulator for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein -- had cited the country's Telemedia Act as its rationale.

Facebook Hopes Friends Will Let Friends Promote Posts February 15, 2013 Facebook is allowing users with a little extra money to promote the status updates, photos or videos of a friend on the social network, according to multiple media reports. The world's largest social network uses certain algorithms to determine which posts get the most traction on Facebook.

IntelliBuzz Helps Brands Keep an Eye on Social Media Mentions February 15, 2013 Intelliverse has rolled out a new cloud-based tool that monitors social media for brand mentions and responds when appropriate. IntelliBuzz is simple enough that a company with minimal IT resources in-house -- that is, a computer and an Internet connection -- can manage this outreach just using the app.

Big Data for Marketing February 13, 2013 The marketing funnel is not exactly a new idea. Neither are sales or customer service, though all have morphed considerably from what they were more than a decade ago when CRM began. Sales and service evolved organically, making incremental changes as markets transformed and new technologies became available.

Icelandic Antipiracy Group Shouted Off Facebook February 07, 2013 n attempted antipiracy campaign came screeching to a halt when, after just four days, the Icelandic Film and Movie organization, SMAIS, took down its Facebook page. SMAIS apparently wanted to spur dialogue with Icelanders, but that backfired when Facebook users -- who were "fans" of the SMAIS page -- began blasting the group in its own comment section.

Wall Street Renews Its Zest for Zynga February 07, 2013 Zynga's shares got a lift from better-than-expected earnings reported earlier this week. The picture wasn't entirely rosy, though. The maker of once-popular social media games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars reported revenue of $311 million for Q4, flat compared to the year-ago quarter.

Fatigued Users Fall Away From Facebook February 06, 2013 Tired of Facebook? You're not alone. More than half the members of the social network have taken a break from it from time to time, and more than a quarter told researchers they planned to spend less time there in the future, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Internet Project.

Twitter Buys Bluefin to Solidify Hold on Second Screen February 06, 2013 The tweets were flying this week, and not just about Beyonce and blackouts at the Super Bowl. Twitter was itself the subject of tweets following the announcement late Monday that it had inked a deal to buy social TV analytics firm Bluefin Labs. Terms were not disclosed.