VALUEWALK - Twitter CEO Dick Costolo for long has been questioned over his leadership abilities by many of the critics, and the latest to join the list is Bill George, a professor at Harvard Business School. They all are of the opinion that Costolo should resign from the position of CEO, and make space for someone worthy. In Q3 Twitter posted a revenue of $361M up 114% on YoY basis. Facebook has ~1.35B monthly active users while Twitter has ~284M.
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More Voices Call For Ouster Of Twitter CEO Costolo
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Facebook To Launch New Video Platform Like Youtube
TECH INSIDER - Dec 26 - It was reported that Facebook has signed deal with National Football League to host videos from the League. The videos will include game clips, highlights and much more, followed by ads. Facebook is not only looking to capture video ads, it is also looking forward to start its complete video service like Youtube.
by Fahad Saleem
See full article at Tech Insider
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Facebook Gets Slapped With A Class Action Lawsuit
NEWS.COM.AU - Dec 26 - Facebook is facing a class action lawsuit in the States over its alleged scanning of private messages. The suit, originally brought in December last year, claimed that Facebook allegedly scanned its users messages and then used that data for advertising purposes. This breaches the Electronic Communications Privacy Act over there. Facebook is also storing all links sent in private messages. If the class action succeeds, any Facebook user in California who sent a link could technically stand to gain up to $10K in damages.
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Facebook Again Dropping In Popularity Among Teenagers
TWEAKTOWN - Dec 20 - Facebook is by far the No. 1 social network, but is losing steam among teenagers according to a survey conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates. The usage among teenagers dropped from 95% in 2012 to 94% in 2013, and further declined in 2014 to 88%.
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Instagram Is Now Worth $35 Billion
TECH CRUNCH - Dec 19 - Citigroup raised the valuation of Instagram from $19B to $35B. Instagram was acquired by Facebook back in April of 2012 for $1B. The acquisition came at a time when Instagram only had ~27M users on iOS (It now has 300M active users).
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Anonymous Social Apps: Big Trend In 2014
TECH CRUNCH - Dec 19 - One of the bigger trends in 2014 was the rise of “anonymous social networking” – or apps that allowed users to post publicly to networks without using their real names. Users on these apps share secrets, gossip and other random thoughts. Secret has recently revamped its app, borrowing ideas from popular apps like Yik Yak and Snapchat and others in order to introduce new features like location-based posts and disappearing private messages. School officials warned parents about the dangers of the apps. On Yik Yak, cyberbullying became so bad this year that the company had to implement technology to block the app on school grounds around the U.S. Sadly, in private, people do want to read about shameful secrets, gossip, and other things that people think, but are too polite to say publicly. When any network caters to this sort of activity, it soars. When the trash talk dropped, so did the app’s popularity. Ask.fm is a great example of what “cleaning up” looks like (via App Annie). It declined from the top of the App Store down to #444 after its acquisition this year, which saw it agreeing to work with regulators to implement cyberbullying protections.
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Twitter And Foursquare May Team Up To Add Location To Tweets
CNET NEWS - Dec 18 - If they reach a deal, tweets could include location information -- such as a country, city or venue -- as early as next year. Twitter already offers some location-based features. It can identify a users location when they sign up for the service and users are able to share their location in their bio if they want. Twitter does not currently in-depth location information for individual tweets.
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Facebook’s Interest-Based Social App Rooms Is Now Easier To Use
TECH CRUNCH - Dec 18 - Facebook’s “Rooms” app has not been an overnight viral sensation. However, it is notable for being the first app from Facebook that didn’t require users to go by their real name. When Rooms first launched, it was difficult for users to find groups to join. Users would have to get an invite from another person in order to get in. But now Rooms is making it easier. The 1.2 version allows users to tap a button on the top-left of the app’s main screen in order to browse through suggested rooms they may like to join.
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Lending Club IPO Rises To $1 Billion
SILICONBEAT - Dec 17 - Lending Club, which went public last week, had sold additional shares to raise its total IPO earnings to $1B. Lending Club connects individual and institutional lenders with people who need money, using data and Web tools to provide the lender with an instant risk assessment. Much in the way eBay serves buyers and sellers, Lending Club offers a marketplace rather than making loans directly as a bank does. It has facilitated $6.2B in loans since 2007.
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Twitter Lets Advertisers Target By Wireless Carrier
ADAGE - Dec 16 - Twitter is introducing two new ad features: one that lets advertisers target Twitter users on particular wireless carriers, and another that lets them reach users on new mobile devices. If a Twitter user logs in using a new iPhone, for instance, advertisers can now pitch the user on other apps. Both Google and Facebook currently offer this feature. Twitter is joining Google in selling carrier-targeting. To date, Facebook does not.
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Social Media Trends Set To Dominate 2015
BUSINESS2COMMUNITY - Dec 15 - 92% of business owners now recognize the need to invest in social media as a necessary part of their business. In 2013, that number was 86%. Another prominent social media trend of 2014 was the success of image-centric networks. Retention rates for Pinterest have been incredible. Instagram also continues to rise in popularity. The final trend of 2014 is the rise in micro video. Some trends from 2014 will spill over into the new year but consuming information on smartphones and tablets will really take off in 2015. Mobile users are also making in-store purchases. Companies like Starbucks are creating their own system for payments, including a rewards program, and we expect more and more companies to follow suit.
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Tinder Is For Love, Winger Is For Friendship
BRW - Dec 15 - Nick Lavidge decided to launched Winger when he saw people in a bar joking about their Tinder choices. In 2011, he started The Urban List, a website compiling new venues and events in Australia’s capital cities. Winger is designed to match small groups of friends with other groups of friends, or bring a single person into a mix. 10K users have signed up since the September launch – groups pay $75, singles $25.
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Facebook Dumps Microsoft Bing For Search
HUEWIRE - Dec 12 - This move has been taken by Facebook as the company decided to revamp its own search offerings. A new tool has been introduced by Facebook that allows its users to quickly search posts from news feed and find past comments and other information also, posted by their friends on Facebook.
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Wakie, The "Social Alarm Clock" App - Most Effective Way To Wake Up
BUSTLE - Dec 12 - Wakie, a new social app, just launched for iOS. It connects people from all around the globe through sleep. Using Wakie, a stranger calls a person when he/she needs to be woken up. The concept behind it is that waking up by chatting with another person is much more effective than a repetitive, ascending ringtone. Wakie is free.
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