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Excerpt:
"But next week Facebook will launch a new kind of unit that’s innovative not just for its format, but for how it was conceived. That’s because Facebook didn’t come up with the idea itself--it crowdsourced it.
The new unit is called the “Comment” ad. It will appear in the right-hand column, like other ads. But it will be formatted like a conversation (or, as Facebook calls them, “a story”). The brand will make a statement or pose a question, and below that will be a comment box where the user can enter a response (see top right).
If the user does enter a response, the conversation then appears in the user’s News Feed, where the brand starts to reap “earned” impressions among that user’s friends. And if some of the user’s friends comment themselves, those comments can be turned into Sponsored Stories (see bottom right).
In other words, it’s the ad that keeps on giving...."
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Facebook To Launch Crowdsourced Ad Format Next Week | Fast Company
via fastcompany.com
Friday, April 29, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Socialistic Interview: Yury Lifshits on the Importance of Facebook “Likes” (Excerpt)
March 17, 2011The Socialistic Interview: Yury Lifshits on the Importance of Facebook “Likes”
The effects of social media on user engagement with news sites have become undeniable: Facebook and Twitter (and Reddit and Digg and many others…) have become major drivers of traffic for pretty much all content sites. So it’s become increasingly necessary to figure out what kinds of stories result in a flood of sharing and engagement, and which ones don’t.
A recent study by researcher Yury Lifshits, under the auspices of Yahoo Labs, looked at Facebook “like” stats for over 100,000 news articles published over three months, seeking to divine insights about the stickiness of content in social media. Socialistic caught up with Lifshits recently to talk about his findings, and what they might mean for content sites as well as social media marketers.
What were some of the key findings from your study of how “likes” affect traffic to online news sites? What are some of the major lessons for content creators?
I can not give well grounded advice here, as I only know the number of likes, not referral statistics from Facebook and Twitter. The feeling is that social referrals become a significant source of traffic. They may be around 1% for now, but can go to 10% or more. Social referrals play a bigger role than it might appear. Epidemic coverage on Twitter initiates secondary coverage in media and blogs. Without Twitter there will be much less of that. Clicks from various social clients are not always attributed back to social networks.Lesson #1: measure your success in social networks. Lesson #2: work to improve your social success. Lesson #3: use social feedback to adjust your editorial policy. Focus more on subjects and forms that readers like most. But of course, you should preserve your voice and integrity.
via socialistic.com
Read the full interview on socialistic.com
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Bigger & Bigger & Bigger: Facebook valued at $65 billion in new investment | Reuters
via reuters.com
"(Reuters) - Investment firm General Atlantic is investing in Facebook, valuing the leading social network at $65 billion, representing a 30 percent boost from its last big investment in January, according to a report on CNBC.
General Atlantic is purchasing a block of roughly 2.5 million Facebook shares from former Facebook employees, giving the firm a 0.1 percent stake in the company, CNBC said.
The deal, which has not closed and requires approval from Facebook, would give General Atlantic a 0.1 percent stake in Facebook, according to the report...."
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Netflix: Can Its Business Model Survive? -Karl Denninger on Seeking Alpha
In a rather interesting move, Warner Brothers apparently is making available "Dark Knight" through Facebook on a pay-per-view basis.
Barriers to entry? Moat? What's that? There isn't one for online video streaming, which is a huge problem. Well, for Netflix (NFLX) it is anyway.
I have long pointed out that Netflix has a major issue with their basic business model, which I argue is basically one of poaching transport charges and billing out only at some reasonable multiple of the licensing charges for the exhibition. That's a nice model, if you can manage to (1) defend it against other entrants, and (2) not get hammered for the distribution costs you managed to shift onto others.
Unfortunately #2 isn't likely to work for long, and now #1 is under attack from all sides. Coinstar (CSTR) (Redbox's parent) and Amazon (AMZN) have announced intent to enter the market, and Amazon has actually done so, making available some of their already-licensed "instant view" content to those with PRIME memberships - without an additional fee.
Facebook has one advantage - 600 million accounts worldwide. Whether there's an actual business model here with a PPV sort of setup is another question entirely, especially considering that Facebook isn't exactly a revenue monster - in fact, I'd argue that there's no revenue of note at all. Oh sure, they've got some advertising money and will for a short while, until advertisers figure out that (1) people don't come to the site for ads, and (2) if you get annoying people will either block display of those units or turn you off. You can only sell advertising in that environment until the buyers figure out that they're wasting their money, at which point your "revenue model" collapses.
read Karl Denninger's full article on seekingalpha.com
Very Interesting: Lessons of the Like Log: The big story and the nuances of shareability » Nieman Journalism Lab » Pushing to the Future of Journalism
via niemanlab.org
Excerpt from original article by Megan Garber:
"The Internet may run on love; thanks to Facebook, though, it also runs on like. Or, more specifically, on Like.
That’s made clear in a collection of research, released last night, that traces the Facebook effect when it comes to online news. Conducted by Yury Lifshits under the auspices of Yahoo Labs, the study traces three months’ worth of Facebook Like stats for over 100,000 stories at 45 large news sites, from The New York Times and the Guardian down to paidContent and Poynter. (The research takes advantage of the fact that Facebook allows anyone to collect the total number of Likes for any URL.)
The Like Log’s findings? In terms of overall popularity (total Likes), The New York Times is “the leader of social engagement,” with some 2.3 million Likes per month, 400 Likes for a median story, and 13 articles in the top 40 most-Liked overall. In terms of individual stories, the Wall Street Journal’s excerpt of Amy Chua’s (in)famous Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother — Journal headline: “Why Chinese Moms Are Superior” — comes out on top, with 340,000 Likes..."
read the full article:
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Another Big Shift: New Film Site Fandor: A Cross Between Sundance and Netflix, Only Smaller #infdist
Tim Appelo's full article is on Hollywood Reporter
"What the film industry desperately needs is a merger of social networks and content," says Ted Hope, the celebrated producer of American Splendor and dozens of indie hits at Sundance and elsewhere. That's why he just joined former Facebook chief privacy officer Chris Kelly on the board of Fandor, the indie film streaming site built by Dan Aronson and Jonathan Marlow, a veteran of Amazon and GreenCine. After several months in beta (trial-run mode), Fandor made its full-fledged debut Wednesday.
Fandor streams about 2,500 films, far fewer than Amazon or Netflix. But instead of having users discover movies through mainstream studio marketing and "people who bought this also bought that" algorithms, Fandor concentrates on indie (and international) movies -- no TV -- and relies on human expertise to curate, like a film fest programmer or the proprietor of a great video store like Chicago's Facets or Seattle's Scarecrow Video -- to pick the good ones, from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to the latest, weirdest Oscar-nominated foreign film, Dogtooth. "It isn't just a simple algorithm," says Marlow. "It's an actual individual who can distil the reasons why you might be interested in the movie." Then you can read learned essays about the films, and plunge into the discussion youself. For $10 a month (or a free first-month introductory trial) you can watch all you want on Fandor, and rave (or pan) them with friends on Facebook..."
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Netflix Stock Drops After Facebook Movie Streaming Announcement - The Hollywood Reporter
Excerpt from full article on Hollywood Reporter:
"The movie rental giant's shares dipped 6% on Tuesday as another new competitor joined Amazon.com in the movie-streaming business.
One day after Warner Bros. said it will let Facebook users stream The Dark Knight for $3 over their computers, Netflix stock dropped 6% Tuesday on worries of another rich competitor entering the fray...."
Big: Warner Bros. to Rent Movies Digitally on Facebook, Starting With 'Dark Knight' - The Hollywood Reporter
Excerpt from article by Gregg Kilday:
"The studio, which says it is the first to offer movies directly on the social media site, aims to roll out additional titles over the coming months.
Warner Bros. is turning to Facebook, where it hopes to find an electronic audience interested in digitally renting The Dark Knight.
Warners said Monday that it is the first Hollywood studio to offer movies directly on Facebook. Friends of Christopher Nolan's Knight, the second of his two Batman movies, can rent the film by going to its official Facebook page and clicking a "rent" icon to apply Facebook Credits. The cost per rental is 30 Facebook Credits, or $3...."
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
BAD BAD BAD BAD. Facebook To Share Users' Home Addresses, Phone Numbers With External Sites
Facebook will be moving forward with a controversial plan to give third-party developers and external websites the ability to access users' home addresses and cellphone numbers in the face of criticism from privacy experts, users, and even congressmen.
Facebook quietly announced the new policy in a note posted to its Developer Blog in January. It suspended the feature just three days later following user outcry, while promising that it would be "re-enabling this improved feature in the next few weeks."
In response to a letter penned by Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) expressing concern over the new functionality, Facebook reaffirmed that it will be allowing third parties to request access to users' addresses and phone numbers.
Facebook noted that it is considering implementing controls that would more explicitly highlight the personal nature of the information being transmitted to applications and explained it is "actively considering" whether to restrict users under 18 years old from sharing their contact information with third-party developers.
"We expect that, once the feature is re-enabled, Facebook will again permit users to authorize applications to obtain their contact information," Facebook's Marne Levine, vice president of global public policy, wrote in the letter to Reps. Markey and Barton. "[H]owever, we are currently evaluating methods to further enhance user control in this area."
Facebook has attempted to tread a fine line with regard to privacy issues even as it has continuously pushed users to share more information, both on Facebook and beyond the social network.
The plan to open up users' address and phone numbers to third-party sites and services marks the latest frontier in Facebook's often controversy-fraught efforts to encourage users to be more liberal in sharing their data and online activity.
AdvertisementEven if the revamped feature were to include improved notifications and protections for minors, privacy experts warn the feature could imperil users' personal information and increase their risk of being targeted by scams, spam, and identity thieves.
Though Facebook prohibits applications from selling users' information or sharing it with advertisers and data brokers, malicious, rogue apps spreading phishing scams and other ruses are not uncommon on the social network. With just a few errant clicks, an unsuspecting user could potentially hand over her home address to a scammer peddling diet cures or free iPads in an effort to compile credit card data and other personal information.
"[Scammers] might be able to impersonate you if they had your phone number," said Norman Sadeh-Koniecpol, a professor at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science. "They're saying, 'Please give us your phone number,' but they're not telling you whether they'll share it or whether they'll sell it or use if for malicious purposes. In fact, you don't know who you're dealing with."
Others are concerned with what they see as Facebook's willingness to change the rules of play--first encouraging people to share personal information with a more limited group of friends, then allowing that data to be accessed in new, unexpected ways.
"People never thought when they were posting this data [such as their phone numbers] that it would be accessible to anyone but friends. There's a real mismatch of expectations around that," said Mary Hodder, chairman of the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium. "Even if Facebook comes back with new protections, they're still saying, 'Hey, get over it, your data is public.' I feel sad for users that Facebook's approach is 'You give us anything and it's all fair game.'"
Despite the social network's intentions to make addresses and phone numbers accessible to developers, Rep. Markey offered Facebook measured praise for its response, while stressing the necessity of protecting younger users.
"I'm pleased that Facebook's response indicated that it's looking to enhance its process for highlighting for users when they are being asked for permission to share their contact information," Rep. Markey said in a statement. "I'm also encouraged that Facebook is deciding whether to allow applications on the site to request contact information from minors. I don't believe that applications on Facebook should get this information from teens, and I encourage Facebook to wall off access to teen's contact information if they enable this new feature."
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Thursday, February 24, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Get ready for the Oscars!: "TV Industry Taps Twitter and Facebook for Viewers' - NYTimes.com
By the time the first ballot is opened at the Academy Awards next Sunday, millions of people will be chatting about the awards show on the Internet. And ABC will be ready.
Trying to exploit viewers’ two-screen behavior, the television network has built a companion Web site with behind-the-scenes video streams, so Oscar winners will be seen accepting an award on the TV set, then seen celebrating backstage on the stream.
Experiments like this one are a sudden priority in television land. As more and more people chat in real time about their favorite shows — on Facebook, Twitter and a phalanx of smaller sites — television networks are trying to figure out how to capitalize.
It’s as if people are gathered around the online water cooler — and the television executives are nervously hovering nearby, hoping viewers keep talking and, by extension, watching their shows.
via nytimes.com
Read the full article on NYTimes.com
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
LIKE: Ex-Googler Brian Kennish Helps Users Disconnect From the Social Web
Kennish released Facebook Disconnect in October and the extension quickly gained popularity, hitting the top 10 list of Google Chrome extensions. He told us that he quit his job at Google three weeks later so that he could "develop tools that make it trivial for the average user to understand and control the data they share whenever they browse or search the Web." He said that he thinks Google is "collecting more personal data than any other company" and "to fight for user privacy while working there would've been impossible."
Disconnect, similar to his earlier project, blocks a number of third-party widgets from sites like Digg, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo, as well as de-personalizes search at the cookie level, allowing you to remain logged-in to services like iGoogle or Gmail without having your search queries attached to your Google profile.
Kennish said that, while the tool is in a primitive state, he hopes it will have a larger effect on the debate over privacy on the Web.
"Realistically, Disconnect won't have a significant direct impact on the average user's privacy -- Adblock (and I mean the whole suite) is the most successful browser extension and used by less than 1% of the Web population," said Kennish. "So government policy and what browser vendors ship natively is more important to me. I'm hoping to show a better way through software and have a butterfly effect on policy and browser implementation."
Kennish calls the "Do Not Track" method of opting-out "a bad model for defending online privacy because phones ring and get your attention, where Web bugs are invisible and go unnoticed."
Indeed, last summer one online advocacy group released a browser extension that alerts you "whenever your personal information is being sent to Google servers." The result was a near constant barrage of alarm bells - if your phone rang this often, you would go insane. Disconnect takes a less obnoxious method, showing a running tally of how many calls have been blocked in the extension's toolbar icon. Clicking on the icon also allows you to quickly allow for unblocking because, no matter our privacy talk, these tools are also useful in our online lives and not always unwanted. Kennish's point is more that the user should be allowed to opt-in, rather than needing to opt-out - an oft-heard refrain in online privacy discussions.
Kennish said that he started with blocking standard third-party social widgets "because I consider them the most dangerous third-party resources and there didn't seem to be another tool that blocks them out of the box. The prevalence of these widgets means they can report on almost all your browsing activity, which can then be linked to databases full of the social data you intentionally share."
While Disconnect may be in early stages and not have a "significant direct impact" for the average user, the tool could be useful for those concerned about how different social tools are keeping track of your browsing habits. The extension is available for both Google Chrome and RockMelt.
See Also
via readwriteweb.com
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Amazing & Beautiful: The World’s Facebook Relationships Visualized [PIC]
via mashable.com
Paul Butler's description:
“I began exploring it in R, an open-source statistics environment. As a sanity check, I plotted points at some of the latitude and longitude coordinates. To my relief, what I saw was roughly an outline of the world. Next I erased the dots and plotted lines between the points. After a few minutes of rendering, a big white blob appeared in the center of the map. Some of the outer edges of the blob vaguely resembled the continents, but it was clear that I had too much data to get interesting results just by drawing lines. I thought that making the lines semi-transparent would do the trick, but I quickly realized that my graphing environment couldn’t handle enough shades of color for it to work the way I wanted.
Instead I found a way to simulate the effect I wanted. I defined weights for each pair of cities as a function of the Euclidean distance between them and the number of friends between them. Then I plotted lines between the pairs by weight, so that pairs of cities with the most friendships between them were drawn on top of the others. I used a color ramp from black to blue to white, with each line’s color depending on its weight. I also transformed some of the lines to wrap around the image, rather than spanning more than halfway around the world.”
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Wow. University offers full MBA course via Facebook | New Media Age
The London School of Business and Finance has put the content of an entire MBA online for free.
It’s using a Facebook application to post the full lectures and content for the MBA course, hoping that people will then want to pay for formal accreditation and examination.
The university said it had invested £7.5m in the course, including the content and course notes.
via nma.co.uk
cont..
"The course, called LSBF Global MBA, includes lectures and panel discussion groups from Accenture, Deloitte, Royal Navy Leadership Academy and Viagogo.
Aaron Etingen, founder of the LSBF, said, “There’s immense potential in the market for online education. Facebook is a real part of people’s lives and we want to promote accessibility to knowledge. The application, developed for us by former Google employees, delivers an MBA awarded by the University of Wales. It’s the first online MBA which will be free to all until the optional point of assessment for qualification.”
He added he hopes the course will appeal to those who want to do an MBA while they’re still working, or those who want to learn while saving up to pay for the final examination."
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dem's Big Numbers: 10,000 Websites Integrate with Facebook Every Day
via mashable.com
From Mashable:
"Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made a “surprise” appearance on the stage of PayPal’s Innovate Developer Conference today to announce its new integration with PayPal. During her short speech, she dropped a few interesting tidbits of information related to Facebook’s growth.
The first interesting stat surrounded social games. According to Sandberg, more people play games on Facebook than on the top three gaming consoles combined. In other words, there are more FarmVille addicts than Xbox, Wii and PS3 fanatics. Combine that with the news that Zynga is now more valuable than Electronic Arts and it’s clear that social gaming has grown to monstrous proportions.
The other stat Sandberg revealed on stage was that 10,000 websites integrate with Facebook every day. That’s 3.65 million new websites per year, and you can’t forget that tens of millions of websites are already utilizing Facebook Connect or the Facebook Open Graph."
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