THE DAILY BEAST - Apr 30 - The site now hosts about 53M blogs. It’s an entire universe of people trying to build their personal “brands”—and it’s all free. With its costs growing rapidly, the company on May 2 will launch its first major revenue scheme, allowing some users to pay for placement on the site’s main page, which could be seen by Tumblr’s 110M monthly visitors. Tumblr’s move will not just test the loyalty of its fans or the talents of its founder, 25-year-old Internet tycoon David Karp. If successful, it will provide a way for brands to connect with consumers that is more nuanced than your average Internet ad. It would also delight investors, who have poured ~125M into Tumblr. The company has come a long way from two employees in a tiny Manhattan office. It now occupies two floors in a loft building in Manhattan’s tony Gramercy neighborhood. Last fall, Tumblr took in an additional $85M in funding and the site has hired ~90 people in the last year.
« March 2012 | Main | May 2012 »
Yahoo Escalates Patent War With Facebook
MASHABLE - Apr 29 - Yahoo is adding two more patent-infringement claims to the 10 it filed for back in March. Yahoo specifically calls out Facebook for using recently acquired patents as the basis of its lawsuit — even though some of the patents in Yahoo’s claim were acquired as well. A quick recap: Shortly after appointing former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as CEO, Yahoo warned Facebook that the social network was infringing on its intellectual property, specifically 10 patents that relate to Internet technologies. It then went ahead and sued Facebook a few weeks later. Facebook, rather than try to end the suit with a quick settlement, set out to arm itself for a retaliatory strike. Facebook quickly acquired many patents from both IBM and Microsoft. Facebook also countersued Yahoo — saying that it, too, was guilty of patent infringement.
Microsoft-backed Social Network Wallop.com Goes Under
HELZERMAN'S ODD BITS - Apr 30 - Wallop, an invite-only social network branded as “the exclusive social experience”, is shutting down. Wallop was backed by $13M from Microsoft and venture capitalists including Norwest Venture Partners, Bay Partners and Consor Capital.
Zynga’s Q1 Report Shows A Company Thriving
MASHABLE - Apr 27 - Zynga's Q1 revenue is $321M, up 32% YOY. Zynga launched six games during the first quarter of 2012 — Hidden Chronicles, Zynga Slingo plus four games on mobile platforms: Scramble with Friends, Dream PetHouse, Dream Heights, and Draw Something. Daily active users (DAUs) increased from 62M to 65M.
Bebo Founders, Shareholders Sue Owner For ‘Destroying’ Site
PAID CONTENT - Apr 24 - Bebo’s founders and some other shareholders are suing its current owner, alleging fraud. Original co-founders Michael and Xochi Birch’s MXB Holdings, Ron Conway’s SV Angel investment vehicle, TV executive Michael Jackson and entrepreneur Richard Hecker have filed suit against Criterion Capital Partners, which took Bebo off AOL’s hands in June 2010, and its CEO Adam Levin. The quartet, which invested in Criterion’s Bebo is seeking $5M in damages.
Their filing in San Francisco alleges:
- Criterion has “exploited” Bebo and has been “fraudulent” by “using its operating capital to pay the salaries of Criterion’s staff”, including $14K per month to Levin.
- Criterion has “withheld” Bebo financial operation details from shareholders.
- Bebo has “operated for 20 months and has failed to hold a single board meeting or shareholder meeting”.
In addition to damages, the plaintiffs now want a receiver to be appointed to run the social network.
LinkedIn Finally Launches iPad App
TECH CRUNCH - Apr 26 - Although the iPad has been available for more than two years, LinkedIn has yet to offer its users a native app despite the fact that mobile engagement has been growing at a fast pace for the network. Last August, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said that the company is doubling down on its mobile strategy. And the network then debuted new versions of its iPhone and Android apps as well as an HTML5 mobile site. LinkedIn now says 22% of its active members have been visiting on mobile device. And today, LinkedIn is finally launching its native iPad app to the public. One of the more compelling features included in the iPad app is the ability to sync the device’s calendar with your LinkedIn profile information. LinkedIn will soon launch the app in other languages.
Facebook Takes Down Manhunt's Fan Page
INSTINCT MAGAZINE - Apr 26 - According to the popular gay dating site Manhunt.net, its Facebook page was taken down without notice on April 4. This isn't the first time a gay related Facebook presence has been suspiciously moderated. A month ago Facebook mods came under fire for taking down an innocuous picture of two men kissing in protest of homophobia. Though Manhunt's content may have been a little more charged, did it warrant being banned without notice?
by Jonathan Higbee
See full article at Instinct Magazine
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This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
39% Of Americans Spend More Time Socializing Online Than Face-to-Face
MARKETWIRE - Apr 25 - 39% of Americans spend more time socializing online compared to face-to-face, more than in the U.K. (36%) and Germany (35%), according to a study by Badoo. Aside from feelings of loneliness, the survey revealed that people could embellish the truth when sharing online, perhaps to appear more interesting to others, or to "control" their online persona. 25% of American respondents admit they have exaggerated or lied about who they've met or what they've done on their social networks, with a staggering 39% having shared bad news, such as a death or divorce.
See full article at MarketWatch
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
The Facebook Phone Rumor Is Back
TECH CRUNCH - Apr 25 - A new report hit today stating that Facebook and HTC are co-developing a customized Android smartphone. This phone, said to be developed exclusively for Facebook, would integrate all of the social network’s functions into the mobile platform. The device would launch at the earliest in the third quarter of 2012. Today’s report seems to suggest that the so-called Facebook Phone would use a completely customized Android OS.
Friendster Gets Its Game On
PR NEWSWIRE - Apr 25 - Friendster officially launches as Southeast Asia's social discovery and gaming platform. In 2002, the world was introduced to a site that literally brought the online community closer. The initiation of Friendster, created a new culture where users went to share photos, videos, and connect with one another, virtually. In yet another milestone, Friendster was acquired by Asia's leading e-payment and e-lifestyle provider -- MOL Global in 2009, to become the region's largest online community. To celebrate its official launch as Southeast Asia's social discovery and gaming platform, Friendster will host its biggest game event on April 27 at Philippines' top info-technology shopping mall, SM North Cyberzone.
Significant Social Media Facts
- Facebook
- 850M monthly active
- 250M photos uploaded every day
- 425M mobile users
- Twitter
- 465M accounts
- 175M tweets a day
- 1M accounts are added to Twitter every day
- LinkedIn
- 2 new members join every second
- USA leads membership at 57M, Europe has 34M members
- $552M revenue in 2011
- YouTube
- 3rd most visited site (Alexa)
- 2 billion views per day
- 44% of YouTube’s users are aged between 12 and 34
- Instagram
- 30M users
- The release of the Android app version saw 1M downloads in 1 day
- Pinterest
- One of the top 10 largest social networks with 11M visits per week
- 10.4M registered users
by Jeff Bullas
See full article at JeffBullas.com
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10 Surprising Brands Killing It On Pinterest
- Whole Foods has more than 700 pins earning them 21,586 followers.
- Mashable - 19,655 followers
- Nordstrom - the high-end retailer has won 12,384 and counting
- Benjamin Moore - has been using the site to promote new designer lines of colors
- The Weather Channel - They’re making the most out of all of their weather-related content and have covered a wide range of interests on their boards. Boards range from the expected photos of amazing weather to those that showcase weather-friendly styles, pets, travel, seasonal recipes, and even resources for teachers who want to help students learn about the weather.
- Random House Books - The publisher has built a pretty solid following through more than 800 pins
- Southwest Airlines - They’ve got a substantial number of followers on boards that highlight fun things like travel destinations, airplane-related crafts, travel style, travel tips, and great shots from airplane windows.
- GE - So far, they’ve pinned some amazingly beautiful images from their GEInspiredME and #WhatWorks photo contests
- Major League Baseball
- Wall Street Journal
LinkedIn: India Becomes Second Largest Market
ECONOMIC TIMES - Apr 24 - LinkedIn's Indian user base has grown 300% in the three years it has had a marketing presence in India. LinkedIn has now 14M users from India, which has quickly become its second-largest market globally, bigger than China and only behind the US. LinkedIn's mobile business accounts for a fifth of its user base today, compared to 8% in January 2011. India's booming mobile user base-around 700-plus million and growing rapidly-is a clear opportunity for LinkedIn. India is expected to become the second-largest mobile broadband market globally, with 367M connections in four years, compared to 20-30M today.
Zynga Contributed 15% Of Facebook’s Revenue In Q1
TECH CRUNCH - Apr 24 - Facebook said today that 15% of its revenue in the first quarter came from either advertising or payments tied to Zynga games. That’s down from 19% during the same time a year earlier. Facebook continues to emphasize that any bad blood between the two companies could hurt financial results. Zynga recently overhauled its site as a web destination for gaming that it hopes will attract users away from the Facebook canvas.
Facebook’s Amended S-1: 901 Million Users, 500M Mobile
TECH CRUNCH - Apr 24 - Facebook has just filed a fourth amendment to its S-1 to IPO that notes that it now has 500M mobile users, 901M monthly active users, and that it paid 23M shares at $30.89 a share plus $300M cash for Instagram for a total of $1,010,470,000. Facebook also made $1.058 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2012, up 44.7% from Q1 2012 but down 6.5% from Q4 2011. Of the total $1.058 billion in Q1 2012 revenue, Facebook had an operating income of $381M, and net income of $205M. Advertising made up $872M of the revenue. International revenue accounted for 49% of total revenue in Q1 2012, up from 42% in Q1 2011 and 44% across all of 2011.
Social Networks, Small And Smaller
NY TIMES - Apr 24 - Facebook makes sharing easy. Yes, the site does allow you to define smaller circles of friends, but that requires constantly monitoring what should and should not be shared with whom. Newer social networks, like Path, FamilyLeaf and Pair, offer a range of constraints. A Path network, available only on smartphones, has a maximum of 150 friends. FamilyLeaf is restricted to family members. And Pair is as small as a social network can be: just one other person. The average Facebook user in United States has 245 friends. That figure well exceeds the “Dunbar number,” the 150 meaningful relationships that Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist, has suggested is the effective neurological limit the human brain can handle. 50 is the limit for trusted friends, 15 for good friends, and 5 for best friends.
by Randall Stross
See full article at NY Times
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