Royal Birth Trends On Twitter

At 4:24 p.m. yesterday evening, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy.

The birth was officially announced later in the evening: a signed document recording the birth was placed on an easel just inside the gates of Buckingham Palace for the hundreds of excited onlookers and news reporters to see – or, rather, squint at.

A short time after, a more legible announcement of the news was posted on Twitter by the Clarence House Twitter account, the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The news of the royal issue spread quickly through Twitter and a number of hashtags were adopted by the adoring public. The hashtag #royalbaby has been tweeted around 1 million times, while overall mentions peaked at around 25,000 tweets per minute.

Twitter was also at the heart of conversation when The Duchess of Cambridge went into labour: there were just under 500,000 tweets mentioning the royal pregnancy in the hours after.

The official Instagram account of The British Monarchy did its part spreading the news of the baby’s birth, posting two images of the signed document: one as it was erected on an easel and one of the document itself.

How did you find out about the royal birth? What do you think he’ll be called?   

How to Find Great Content to Share on Twitter

What content are you sharing on Twitter?

Do you struggle to find interesting, relevant things to tweet about every day?

In this post, I’ll show you how to curate content your followers will love so you can build a loyal community on Twitter.

Why Curate?

Today most marketers understand the need to create informative and relevant content. But it’s equally important to curate informative and relevant content.
In addition to creating great content for your site, the links to the other people’s content that you share on Twitter also matter.

When you share good content on Twitter, the kind your audience loves, it’s easier to build a strong community. And sharing great content will also increase your credibility in your industry.

When you create and curate relevant content, people are more likely to retweet and share your stuff. Image: iStockPhoto

#1: Know Your Audience

So what content should you share on Twitter? Before you can determine what is the best content to share in your social updates, you need to dig deep and go inside your followers’ heads.

You’ll want to know your social media audience. What keeps your ideal follower up at night? What are his favorite blogs? What’s the first thing that pops into his head when he thinks of you?
If you’ve ever created a buyer persona for a marketing campaign, this is the same exercise.

You want to find the intersection of what interests you and what interests your audience.

You can also ask your followers to find out what they want. You may find general open-ended questions—such as “What would you like me to tweet about?”—too broad to give you the information you need.
Instead, ask your followers a multiple-choice question such as, “Would you like me to tweet about a) social media marketing, b) mobile, c) productivity hacks, d) all of the above?”

You can use their answers as a starting point to plan the content you share and identify what your followers want from you.

Once you identify the content your audience is interested in, commit to this topic. Don’t dilute it.
For example, Social Media Examiner focuses on social media. So you’ll find articles about generating email leads using social media. But you won’t find content devoted to increasing email open rates or the perfect auto-responder series or other topics with no connection to social media.

Find out what topics interest your audience most and share content related to these topics on your social profiles.

#2: Tools to Help You Curate Content

Once you know your audience well, you’ll want to set up a good aggregation tool to find content worth tweeting about.

Here some of the popular news aggregators in the market today. Use the ones you like for your business to find the content you need to provide a valuable stream of daily tweets for your followers.
Feedly – Your News Delivered

Feedly is a tool to help you curate content. Feedly makes it easy for you to look for the articles most relevant for you to share.

One of the best aspects of Feedly is the variety of viewing interfaces available. You can format it to show articles in an email-type layout with headlines or arrange them as image cards or also choose a more traditional magazine layout.

Feedly is a great alternative to Google Reader and offers a variety of layouts to make RSS more enjoyable.

Regardless of the layout you choose, Feedly shows you new content from the blogs and news sources you subscribe to. And it offers a consistent presentation across devices, so you can tweet from your laptop, your tablet or your smartphone.

One of my favorite features is Feedly’s integration with multiple online tools such as Google+, Evernote, Buffer, Instapaper and more. This makes your content curation easier.

You can share and save your favorite articles to multiple social networks and web tools.

Fever – Find Out What’s Hot
Do you want to know how hot the story is that you shared? Fever is a content feed reader that ranks the stories in your feed with a temperature gauge. This allows you to measure how many links and shares a story has within your network.

Fever is a paid service that reads your feeds and picks out the most frequently talked about articles from a customizable time period.

This is a visual way to see how the content you share on Twitter resonates with your audience. It’s an easy way to be sure the content you share matters to your followers.

It is important to note that Fever comes with a one-time price of $30 and you need to host the files on your own server.

The setup is a bit technical, so you may want to ask your IT department to help you get started.
Prismatic – Discover New Content to Share

While RSS readers are great for keeping up with your favorite blogs, Prismatic helps you find new and interesting blogs.

Prismatic delivers socially curated content based on your interests to help you discover new blogs and content sources.

If you like to keep your content curation fresh and interesting, Prismatic does a great job of introducing new blogs and content sources you may never have come across otherwise .

Here’s how to get the most out of Prismatic.
Step 1: Sign up
Sign up for Prismatic using your Facebook, Google+ or Twitter login, or create a stand-alone account on Prismatic.

Sign up at GetPrismatic.com.

Step 2: Choose Your Interests
After you sign up, you can pick the different topics that you and your audience relate to. As you use the service, Prismatic will suggest new topics based on what you share and click.

Find new content by choosing topics your community is interested in.

Step 3: Pick Your Favorite Publishers
You can also use Prismatic as an RSS reader. Under the Favorite Authors section, add your favorite blogs and publishers to Prismatic.

Add your favorite blogs so you won’t miss a thing.

Step 4: Share Your Curated Content
After you’re all set up, share the articles your audience is interested in reading.

It’s easy to share the content you like from Prismatic.

When you share content, remember to include the author’s Twitter handle, so you can introduce your followers to new and interesting people.

And be sure to include relevant hashtags, but don’t overdo it. Buddy Media reports that tweets with one or two hashtags receive higher engagement than those with three or more hashtags.
Prismatic has good sharing features and can help you share great content with your audience.

#3: Analyze and Repeat

One of the most important steps to curating amazing content is to measure the results.
Are there certain articles that get more clicks, retweets and favorites than others? Is a certain topic or interest driving more engagement with your followers?

You can use Buffer to analyze shares, but management tools like HootSuite, SproutSocial and TweetDeck can all provide good analytics on your tweets.
These tools help you analyze metrics such as the number of clicks, retweets, favorites and potential reach each individual tweet receives.

Track who retweets your content and the reach they have.

Use this data to see what really resonates with your audience and A/B test different headlines for your content. Here’s an example of results from two different tweets promoting the same content.

The first tweet received zero clicks.

The second tweet had 80 clicks.

The example above shows how a simple product mention can help spread your content to a greater audience.
Be sure to measure the response to different headlines to see which one interests your audience most and learn from your results.

Share the Content Your Audience Loves
With the wealth of information that exists on the web, marketers have a harder time finding great content to share.

Use these tools and tips and you’ll not only discover content that you enjoy consuming, you’ll also find content that drives greater engagement with your Twitter following.

What do you think? Did I miss any great tools? What are your favorite tips to curate content? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Images from iStockPhoto.

Facebook Updates Mobile App Install Ads

Facebook has updated the mobile app install advert creation interface, making it easier to create adverts which prompt users to install specific mobile apps. This is one of a number of changes Facebook has made to the ads API since announcing that they were going to simplify Facebook ads a few weeks ago.

Mobile app install ads appear in the Facebook mobile stream, prompting users to download an app onto their mobile devices. They consist of a title, a short description, an image and a call to action button.

Previously, app developers had to register an application with Facebook before they could release a mobile app install advert. With the update, all developers need to do is input either an Apple App Store or a Google Play store URL.

After entering the link, developers can then select a target audience and set a budget for the advert.

Facebook are hoping that, by streamlining the app creation process, more developers will be persuaded to pay for one, hence increasing the mobile revenue stream.

Are you an app developer? Do you prefer the new creation interface?

Foursquare Debuts 'Super-Specific' Search Filters

Foursquare has refined its search capabilities to make it easier for users to look for particular venues.  The location-based social network unveiled what it's calling "super-specific searches" for iOS and Android on Wednesday.

"With today's update ... Foursquare helps you find exactly what you want, whatever that may be," it announced in a blog post.

Users can filter their searches based on the following criteria: "I've checked in before," "I haven't checked in," "my friends have checked in," "offering specials," "open now" and "I've saved." Users also have the option to choose the amount of money they want to spend, with dollar signs reflecting certain price ranges.

Foursquare lists five examples, below, of very specific searches that users can now input.

• A cheap sushi place that’s nearby and open now, but that I haven’t been to yet.
• A bar downtown that’s new to me, but that my friends have been to. Oh, and that has margaritas.
• A Moroccan restaurant that has tagines on the menu, but isn’t going to empty my bank account.
• One of the museums in Paris that my friend Matt went to last year, that’s also near my hotel.
• A burrito place I’ve been meaning to try (it’s on my to-do list) in San Francisco, that’s in The Mission and open right now.

For those who want to keep it simple, Foursquare also allows users to select "best nearby" to see the app's recommendations, or to search for "specials" for good deals.

Android users can download the latest update in the Google Play store, while iOS users can head over to the App Store.

In April, Foursquare unveiled a major update to its iOS app, effectively revamping it to become a discovery tool instead of a way to keep track of friends' activities.

What do you think of the app's new features? Tell us in the comments, below.

Images courtesy of Foursquare

Everything You Need to Know About Google's Big Announcements

The bar was set high for the annual Google I/O Developer's Conference in San Francisco following a whole series of product announcements and surprises in 2012, and although no one jumped out of a plane wearing Google Glass this year, we were treated to some cool new products.

The keynote was packed with announcements of enhancements to Google services. For example, Google Maps now shows clouds hovering over the world in real time and displays how Earth looks in the Milky Way as the sun sets. Google+ has 41 new features. The company announced impressive stats about the popularity of its applications, and there was even a rare Q&A session with Google CEO Larry Page. However, we didn't see a new Android tablet launch, an operating system update or more details surrounding Google Glass.

Here's a look at highlights of Wednesday's keynote.

Google+ Redesign and Photo Features

Google+ added 41 — yes, really — new features to its social network to make it smarter and more intuitive, with the inclusion of bigger pictures and related hashtags. The image-focused design looks a lot like Pinterest and Facebook.

The update includes a multi-column layout for pictures and related hashtags. If you're following a sports team, Google+ will tag it for you by adding, for example, #SFGiants. It also rolled out a new way to improve photos. Auto Awesome — yes, it's actually called that — uses a set of photos in your library to create an animated GIF.

Meanwhile, Auto Backup automatically backs up mobile pictures as soon as they are taken, and Auto Enhance acts like a filter to correct color and saturation of pictures.

Hangouts App

A new stand-alone Hangouts app was announced for web, Android and iOS, and it's available starting on Wednesday. Vic Gundotra, senior VP of engineering, told attendees it will focus on conversations, rather than contacts. Contacts will be ranked by Google according to how often you talk to or chat with those contacts.

Users will be able to use text, photos and video within the app, and it will all be stored so you can go back and retrieve that content any time. There is also an option to delete what is shared with others during a Hangout.

Google Maps

After a string of rumors that the company was readying a new Google Maps design, it announced a spectacular new look for the platform. In fact, Google said it rebuilt Maps from "the ground up."

The new Google Maps has Google Earth and Street View baked into it. With stunning Google imagery, as well as user-generated photos that can be uploaded and submitted to Google Maps, the platform has never looked better.

Now, you can create a tailored map for each search and click you make, and it incorporates Zagat badges and restaurant reviews. Offers from retailers such as Starbucks can also be integrated directly into the site, and it makes smart recommendations specifically for you. The more you use it, the better it gauges your interests.

Overall, Google Maps also aims to be a GPS device killer. You can re-route directions based on traffic conditions seen on the Map and view side by side how long each route takes to select the quickest and shortest one.

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4

An unlocked "Google edition" of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone made an appearance during the keynote. The model will be available on AT&T and T-Mobile and tout LTE support, 16 GB of RAM — which is expandable with an SD card — and its bootloader unlocked. This will allow it to receive system updates "promptly with every Android platform update."
The device will be available starting June 26 on Google Play for $649.

New Gaming APIs

New tools have been introduced to help developers make their Android games more social. The suite is a part of updates to the Google Play Developer Console, which developers use to organize their apps released onto Android.

Some perks include the ability to add leaderboards and achievements games within Google Play, giving players the ability to compete against friends through high scores.

Another new API lets gamers play the same game across multiple devices, allowing the game to move from a smartphone to a tablet and so on.

Check out this awesome Google Racer app which creates a track across devices.

More Location-Based Services

Android location services also got a refresh with three new APIs. First, the Fuse Location Provider can acquire locations faster and more accurately — all using less battery power than before.
Another API relies on geofencing by embracing what Google is calling "virtual fences" around geographical areas. It will allow developers to add up to 100 geofences for each app.
The third is an activity recognition feature that lets users track their physical activities. It senses whether a user is walking, riding a bicycle or driving, thanks to accelerometer data and other classifiers.

Android and Chrome Stats

Google announced there have been a total of 900 million Android activations, which is a huge increase from 400 million activations it said it had last year at Google I/O. Although this is impressive — the operating system launched only four and a half years ago — Apple is reportedly close to 50 billion app downloads for iOS.

Google is also proud of its browser Chrome, and it should be: it now has 750 million active users. This is up about 300 million users from the same time last year. Chrome, which launched in beta in 2008, became the most popular browser used worldwide last year, beating Internet Explorer for the top spot.

Chrome Voice Commands

Google is also adding voice commands to Chrome. By saying "Okay, Google" and then asking a question — such as "show me things to do in Santa Cruz" — the Google results page will speak back to you. It comes from its knowledge graph and knows Santa Cruz is a place. It then pulls related things to the city. Users can also make more narrow voice requests, such as "show me pictures of the Santa Cruz boardwalk."
Users can also ask how far away a point is to their location and where to eat nearby.

A Spotify Killer?

On the heels of rumors of launching a Spotify competitor, the company announced the Google Play Music All Access, which "blends your music collection with ours" across multiple devices. Despite its clunky name, the streaming platform is strategically priced at $9.99 — the same as Spotify's monthly subscription service. For those who sign up by June 1, Music All Access Plus will go for $7.99. It comes with a 30-day free trial and is now available in the U.S. It will eventually roll out to more countries soon.

Google hasn't said which record labels have signed on; it's been rumored that deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are in the works.

Google Cloud Improvements

Google Cloud Messaging just got a big revamp during the big Google I/O conference held in San Francisco on Wednesday, and it's now a whole lot faster.
Last year, Google Cloud Messaging — which lets you push data from servers to apps — was announced, and now 60% of the top 100 apps in the Google Play store use it. The company is expanding this service by supporting connections between a persistent connection from servers to many devices.

This means you can upstream messages to send data in both directions, from servers to apps and then from apps to servers. It also is launching a new API that syncs notifications across devices.
"All of the new features are rolling out progressively, and all you have to do up is sign up starting today," Google said.

Google Play for Education

A new program called "Google Play for Education" was discussed during the event and is designed for making devices and software affordable for educators. Teachers can now buy apps and push then to a classroom of tablets at once, which then can be charged to a school account.
Last year, over a thousand schools in the U.S. are using Chromebooks and more than 2,000 new schools this year.
"Chromebooks have gone mainstream in education — not just in US, but around the world," a Google spokesperson told attendees.

Larry Page Speaks

In an unusual move, Page fielded questions from attendees after the keynote presentation and delivered a passionate speech about the importance of technology and programming's "image problem" and took questions from the audience.

Page, who is battling a medical condition related to his vocal cords, spoke softly as he discussed how his father influenced his love for tech: "My dad was really interested in technology. He drove me and my family all across the country to go to a robotics company. Then we got there, he thought it was so important his son would go to the conference."

He also discussed the industry's competitive nature and the company's role in the upcoming Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson film The Internship to help shatter consumer opinion that computer programmers and scientists are "nerdy curmudgeons."

"When I read about us in the press, it's always us vs. some other company or some stupid thing," Page said. "I just don't find that interesting. ... [The] most important things are not a zero-sum game. There's a lot of opportunity out there."

Thumbnail via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, and images via Google and Mashable

Top Five Twitter Tips

1) Keep your profile up to date, including:

• Picture - you/your logo, anything but the egg!
• Bio - tell people who you are, what you do; give them a reason to follow you.
• URL - where can people go to get more info? Website/Facebook/LinkedIn?

2) Follow, watch and learn.
Don't feel that you have to jump straight in. Follow a few people who you know, in your industry, or celebrities and watch what type of things they post and how (if they do) interact. Follow anyone you like, if you don't like their tweets you can always unfollow them later. What do you like/dislike about their actions? Chances are it's the same things others like/dislike.

3) Track trending topics and conversations via hashtags #
You can use the search function on Twitter to find tweets of interest to you. Just type in a keyword and hit search. All tweets containing that word/phrase will appear for you to trawl through. If there is a common #hashtag being used, you can click on it in most applications (twitter.com, hootsuite etc) and filter out tweets just using that #hashtag. Post a related tweet using that hashtag and join the conversation. Some #hashtags to note are below:
#TwitterTip
#ff - follow Friday - recommend people to follow to your followers
#sbs - Small Business Sunday run by @TheoPaphitis
#WOW/#MOM - Jacqueline Golds competition
#northeasthour, #clevelandhour etc

4) Tweet relevant info for your followers.
You can post anything on Twitter and whilst there are no hard and fast rules, I always advise client's that if you wouldn't say it in front of your granny or a client, don't post it on Twitter. The internet is marvellous and dangerous in equal measure. There is no "Law of the Stag", what you post on line is there for all to see and whilst you may delete a regretful post, you can be guaranteed that someone somewhere has saved a copy for future reference.
So what should you tweet? The following should give you a few ideas:

• Links to relevant info (not just your website)
• Pictures of products/events
• Advice
• Questions (great for interaction)
• Give your event a hashtag and have delegates throughout the day.
• Personal tweets are allowed, (and encouraged) just don't bore your followers with your life, especially if you're running your account for business

5) Don't broadcast, do interact
There is nothing worse than a tweeter who is all sell, sell, sell. People are instantly turned off if you are constantly trying to flog them something, so ffer things other than stuff they have to pay for. Advice (free), insights into your day etc always go down well and lead to conversations.
Retweet tweets you find interesting. Respond to tweeps who ask questions to which you have the solution or an opinion. All this encourages people to follow you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7607437

YouTube Spotlights Videos of 'Explosions at the Boston Marathon'

The Boston Marathon explosions have left many looking for an explanation behind the tragic events that unfolded on Monday. As people scour the web for answers, YouTube has made it easier to stay up-to-date on the latest developments.

Hours after the explosions took place, the video-sharing website launched an official YouTube Spotlight page devoted to "Explosions at the Boston Marathon."

At the time of this writing, the page has 26 videos, with 47 minutes of footage in total. They include U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the nation following the deadly blasts, as well as news reports from reputable media outlets including Bloomberg, AP, CNN and The Boston Globe.

YouTube's parent company Google also extended help in the explosions' aftermath. On Monday, the search giant activated Person Finder — a tool it built following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti — to aid in the search for victims of the Boston Marathon explosions.

Two bombs exploded near the annual marathon's finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 100, according to the New York Times.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Rego - d4u.hu

LinkedIn Adds Facebook-Style Mentions to Boost Conversations

LinkedIn just made it much easier to have a conversation with other users on the social network.

LinkedIn announced Thursday that it has started rolling out a new mentions feature that is similar to what's available on Facebook and Twitter. The feature, which was spotted earlier in the day byTheNextWeb, is intended to make it easier for LinkedIn's community to engage with users and companies.

"We’re excited to introduce a new way for you to engage with your network through the ability to mention your connections and companies in conversations on LinkedIn," the company said in a blog post.

The mentions feature, which is being rolled out to English-speaking users starting today, is more limited than similar options on other social networks. You can only mention other LinkedIn users that you are connected to, or other members who are part of a discussion thread on the LinkedIn homepage.

This isn't the first time LinkedIn has taken a page from Facebook and Twitter to boost engagement on the site. LinkedIn added a follow button for brands, similar to Twitter, andoverhauled its homepage and profile pages to be more like Facebook. Flipboard recently integrated mentions into its apps as well

Facebook Like a Ninja With These Keyboard Shortcuts

Did you know Facebook offers an entire range of keyboard shortcuts, designed for keyboard-only users?

You can easily navigate the social network like a ninja once you've learned a few simple commands.

Take a look through our quick and easy guide to get you started. Please share in the comments below any other time-saving Facebook shortcuts you know.
Pick Your Browser

The shortcuts are browser-specific, so you'll need to memorize the relevant key sequence for the browser you use from the list below.

Internet Explorer for PC: Alt + [key stroke], then Enter

Firefox for PC: Shift + Alt + [key stroke]

Firefox for Mac: CMD + [key stroke]

Safari for Mac: CMD + [key stroke]

Chrome: Ctrl + Alt + [key stroke]
Then it's just a matter of adding those different key strokes to navigate the following pages:

/ = Search

0 = Help

1 = Home

2 = Timeline

3 = Friends

4 = Inbox

5 = Notifications

6 = Account Settings

7 = Privacy

8 = About

9 = Terms

There are also action shortcuts, as follows:

c = comment when on a story in your News Feed

j and k = scroll between News Feed stories

l = like or unlike a selected story

m = new message

Google+ Now Lets You Use GIFs for Profile Pics

In what may be a sign of their resurgent popularity, Google+ announced Monday that members can now use animated GIFs for their profile photos.

The social network unveiled the update in a post on its Google+ page, alongside a link to a Google search for "How to create a gif."

Matt Steiner, a software engineer at Google, first made the announcement on his profile page. He said GIFs will animate on both desktop and mobile, "like newspapers in Harry Potter."
Steiner also changed his profile pic to a GIF of himself turning towards the camera and smiling. Check it out, below.

The update comes just a week after Google added a search filter for GIFs and transparent images. When users conduct an image search, they simply click on "Search tools" below the search box, then select "Animated" under the "Any tupe" dropdown menu to refine their results.

Earlier today, Google pushed out a new update to its iOS and Android apps, with photo editing and filters, as well as a new design that looks similar to its desktop layout.

Google+ users, what do you think of the update? Do you plan to change your profile photo to a GIF? Tell us in the comments, below.

Image via iStockphoto, maxphotography

Facebook Tests iOS Notification That Nags You to Post an Update

Facebook's modus operandi is that it tests all kinds of things all the time just to see what sticks. So, don't be too alarmed about this notification feature which Bijan Sabet, a general partner at Spark Capital, tweeted about this week:

A Facebook rep says that the feature is in a "small test we're running." As Sabet's reaction illustrates, the feature has the potential to irk users. Facebook has attempted to toe the line between prompting engagement and becoming too intrusive before by asking users to check in with friends they haven't communicated with in a while. More recently, the company has drawn complaints for nagging Android users to download the latest update of its app.

What do you think of this feature? Let us know in the comments.

Images via iStockphoto, mattjeacock and Twitter, Bijan Sabet

Facebook Updates iOS App With Cover Photo Control

Facebook released version 5.6 of its iOS app Monday, giving users the ability to update their profile cover photo on the go.
Users can now update their cover photo on the iPhone with a tap of their finger.

Simply tap on the cover photo in profile view and you can choose to view your cover photo, choose a new photo from your photo library or take a new photo. Select the photo you want and arrange it as desired, hit save, and you're done.

The update also promises fewer taps for creating group messages and easier ways to name and find group conversations.

The Facebook for iOS update [iTunes link] is available in the App Store now.

Homepage image courtesy of Facebook, composite Christina Warren, Mashable. Screenshots courtesy of Facebook

Facebook’s New News Feed: What Does It mean For Your Business?

On March 7th, Facebook unveiled its redesigned News Feed home page at a press conference in Menlo Park.
The new look focuses on images, making posts larger and more detailed, with different feeds displaying different types of content. The new design is also consistent across all devices, both desktop and mobile, and was influenced by the current Facebook News Feed on phones and tablets. So, the new News Feed has bigger images, different feeds and less clutter, but what does this mean for businesses promoting themselves on Facebook?How it looks:

There are several distinct News Feeds that users can switch between: All Friends, Close Friends, Photos, Following, Music, Games and Groups. Stories from All Friends, Following and Photos are displayed chronologically, with the most recent at the top. There is an omnipresent black toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen, with all the usual tabs: Messages, Events, Pages, Apps etcetera. On the right-hand side of the page are sections containing suggestions, the user’s likes, top rated selections and the opportunity to rate other content, dependent on which feed is selected.

The redesigned News Feed is focused on images, as images now make up around 50% of the content on the current News Feed. Picture and video stories are enlarged and expanded: if a friend’s profile picture is changed, the new one will take up about half the width of the user’s page on desktop devices and the entire width on mobile devices. If an album is uploaded then one photo will be highlighted and enlarged, with others surrounding it.


In fact, all stories, regardless of whether they are image-centric, have been enlarged. Shared pages are announced with a preview of the page in question, consisting of the page’s cover image and profile picture. The first few sentences of articles which are shared in the News Feed are visible, alongside the title and a thumbnail photo (if the article has one). All the stories are displayed alongside a photo of the person who shared it, surrounded by a speech bubble-style box.

What this means for businesses:The benefits of the redesign for businesses are obvious: a wider timeline means more space for Sponsored Stories and the focus on visual content gives marketers the opportunity to get creative with their use of images. A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed to Mashable that Sponsored Stories will still appear in the new News Feed, just as they do in the current version.

The focus on images and videos could herald the appearance of video ads in the News Feed. Last December, Facebook reportedly began developing a video advertising service which will autoplay in the news feed, regardless of the user’s activity on the site. Although the invasive nature of the proposed service was condemned by both Facebook users and the press, pop-up video advertising could still prove successful if the content is well targeted and of a high quality.

The News Feed’s consistency across all devices means that marketers won’t need to create different adverts for desktop and mobile devices, saving them money and time, but not effecting their eventual impressions figures. The autoplay video advertising service is also reported to be consistent across both mobile and desktop devices.


The introduction of new distinct micro-feeds – All Friends, Close Friends, Photos, Following, Music, Games and Groups – provides marketers with new targeting options. For example, a Sponsored Story advertising a social gaming company could be posted solely on the Games feed, while an advert for a new album release could be posted on the Music feed.

However, users can choose to only see the content that their friends are posting in the All Friends and Close Friends tabs. If marketers advertise in these feeds they will have to be careful not to be too invasive: users will go on the two Friends feeds for a personal experience, not to be hassled by advertising.

In fact, the onus is on users to actively want to view the advertising of the brands they follow in the Following tab. Marketers will have to ensure that the content they post in the News Feed is entertaining enough to keep their followers’ attention. The micro-feeds will have benefits and detriments to marketers, senior social strategist Mauricio Aguayo told Mashable:

With most changes like this, it is always going to affect some people positively and some negatively. The user is now much more in control about what they want to see and they will be much more prone to engage with it because they've in essence raised their hand and asked to see this publication. But for awareness purposes and pushing content out, it may be a little negative.

In keeping with the quality over quantity brief, the right-hand sidebar, which often contains smaller, cheaper adverts, will all but disappear when the redesigned News Feed is released. Not only will this affect businesses with less to spend on Facebook advertising who are more reliant on smaller ads, it could also create a sizeable dent in Facebook’s ads revenue, which is partially made up of the sales of right sidebar ads.


Now that cover photos are displayed on the News Feed alongside relevant stories, companies will have to be even more certain that they are making the right impression with the image they choose. According to Facebook Studio’s announcement post:

For both organic and paid Page Like stories, the photo that we’ll now display is the Page’s cover photo. This change is designed to provide more context about the Page. All the more reason to make sure your cover photo is eye-catching and visually representative of your Page.

So, the new News Feed focuses on visual content, encourages users to actively seek out advertising and could pave the way for video advertising on Facebook. It is also likely that such image- and video-based advertising will be quite expensive, pricing some smaller marketers out of using the News Feed to advertise their brands. Whether or not Facebook will introduce a new cheaper alternative is yet to be seen.

"How we're all sharing is changing and the news feed needs to evolve with those changes”, said CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the press conference. “This is the evolving face of news feed."

Users can join the waiting list for the new News Feed here.

What do you think of the new News Feed? How do you think it will affect the work of Facebook marketers?

How To Use Twitter Hashtags to Help Your Business

On Twitter, hashtags are used to categorize tweets into specific topics and conversations, or to label tweets for easy discovery in the search tab.

Hashtags that are frequently used over a short period of time become trending topics, showing up in the Trends sidebar on the Twitter homepage.

Use hashtags to promote your business and follow conversations concerning your industry. Here is what you should consider when Using hashtags to raise your business’ profile on Twitter:

1. Keep it Short

Make sure that your hashtags are short and precise. Use an acronym if one exists or an abbreviation – like #SmallBiz for small business.

Don’t be excessive with your hashtagging. You only really need a couple of hashtags per tweet, three at a stretch. Too many will appear spammy and can alienate followers.

Hashtags are best placed at the end of a tweet, but if there is a keyword part way through which could be hashtagged, such as a brand or product name, then hashtag it.

2. Enter the Conversation

If certain hashtags that are specific to your industry are trending, you can use them to get a wider audience for your tweets.

For instance, #uksnow is currently trending on Twitter, so DIY store B&Q have used it to promote a competition.

You can also include frequently used hashtags in your tweets, such as #marketing or #socialmedia, to categorise your tweets into specific conversations.

Search for more tweets relating to your industry using hashtags and reply to, retweet or favourite the most relevant.

3. Start a Trend

Use Hashtags to promote certain deals or events your company has on Twitter. If you are running a competition on Twitter, ask users to feature a specific hashtag in their tweets if they want to enter.

For example, Domino’s ran a nationwide campaign last year promising to cut the price of their pepperoni passion by 0.01p every time someone tweeted #letsdolunch between the hours of 9am and 11am. 85,000 tweets later the price had dropped from £15.99 to £7.74.

4. Have Some Fun

Twitter is a service centred around the idea of instantaneous, personalized communication between people worlds apart from one another.

Use hashtags to make your company more personable: tweet a topical joke, poke some fun at yourself or just be irreverent. Add an ironic hashtag at the end of an embarrassing story, such as #eggonmyface if you have done something silly.

5. Follow Friday

Every Friday on Twitter is Follow Friday. #FollowFriday, or just #FF, is the day of the week when people are encouraged to follow others and, more often than not, get followed themselves.

Use the hashtag #FF or #FollowFriday every Friday to promote your business on Twitter.

Have you used Hashtags to help your business? How did it go?

Twitter Updates Mobile App, Enhances Search And Web Browsing

Twitter has improved the Search tab on iOS and Android devices, as well as on mobile.twitter.com. Improvements to web browsing and the autocomplete suggestions feature on iOS devices have also been made.

Results in the search tab will now be headed by a “Top Tweet” which, according to Twitter’s announcement post, is “the best match for your query based on relevance and engagement”.

Two further improvements have been made to applications on Apple devices: when a link is opened, the tweet containing it will be displayed at the bottom of the screen and the number of autocomplete suggestions has been increased.

[The improvement to web browsing] provides additional context to the page you’re viewing, and makes it easy for you to retweet, favorite or reply to the Tweet as you’re reading an article or watching a video.

To close the tweet, simply tap the page or pull down the tray icon. Pulling up the tray icon will reveal the tweet.

As users compose tweets, more hashtag, topic and username autocomplete suggestions will be displayed. The suggestions for trending topics will also be updated more frequently.

The Search tab’s autocomplete has also been improved and support for traditional Chinese has been added.

What do you think of the updated Twitter app?