Social Media News: We Heart It Social Network

With so many social media sights out there today it is hard to keep up with which ones are new, which ones are old and just which are actually exciting to be a part of. Now-a-days there’s Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and many other more or less similar networking sites. The list is endless. However, there is one that new one that stood out from the others. The social media site known as “We Heart It” is essentially a combination of Pinterest, Twitter and in some ways even Facebook. For people who love sharing pictures, it is the ultimate social media website.

There is so much to do on this social media site. Once you join the website, which takes no more than thirty seconds, you are immediately taken to what it is known as your “canvas”. Your canvas is where everything you do on We Heart It is stored. It is also where your profile information is and your, “about me” bio but we will discuss that later on. One of the best aspects of We Heart It is that when you first join the website you can immediately make it your own. You have the option to change the header of your canvas like you would on Facebook. The header is the top portion of the page where you would upload a picture of whatever it is you want that describes you or your interests. It is a great tool for people to get a sense of who you are at a glance. When you first start using this website, you can also fill out your personal information which includes a personal bio, your interests and even the option of linking your We Heart It page to your other social media websites.

Once all that fundamental basic information is complete, you can begin hearting! Hearting is the process of liking something you see on the search page of We Heart It. This is the part of We Heart It that resembles Pinterest. The way this process works is you search whatever it is you want to look at in the search engine box at the top of the page and BOOM! You have dozens of pictures to look through. Of course, this will depend on the keyword you are searching for. What you search is known as a tag. A tag is what you would associate the picture with when you post one to We Heart It. Tags are what you put under the pictures so people can find them quicker. You can search anything from pictures of cats to pictures of celebrities to recipe options for dinner. You can even plan your wedding or next birthday through We Heart It. It is such a powerful search engine that some people may eventually prefer over Google. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, “But…how do we “heart” the pictures we like”. That is no harder than moving your cursor. When you find a picture you like, all you have to do is move your cursor over the desired picture and when the little heart pops up in the center, you click it! That’s it and then it will show up on your canvas immediately. If you accidentally click the picture, simply click it again to de-heart it. It is an unbelievably easy process.

Each picture you click had to be posted by someone; I mean it didn’t just show up on We Heart It by magic. If you start to notice that you seem to like pictures posted by the same user, fairly frequently, you can follow that user so you are always up to speed on their picture posting. The act of following makes We Heart It a lot like twitter because people can also follow you if they want. So essentially, We Heart It is like the all picture version of twitter. You can post your own pictures on We Heart It as well for people to like by clicking on the plus sign next to the search engine. You can upload the picture from a URL such as through Google, you can upload from another social media site or you can upload straight from your phone or laptop. Yes, you can upload from your phone if you have the We Heart It app that is available for free. If you want to take down one of the pictures you have posted because you either changed your mind or posted the wrong one, you can always take it down with no questions asked so don’t worry about that.

Now, let’s say you have liked around 50 pictures (that is just an example number it is not a minimum) of all different categories and you want to kind of organize them a bit. On your canvas there is an option to do just that. Right on your canvas page, there is an option directly in front of you on the screen that will say “start a new collection”. Just click that box and you’ll be taken to a page where you will name your collection and add to it the pictures that you want. Once you have at least one collection, every time you heart something on We Heart It, you will always be asked what collection you want that picture to go in. It’s however recommended to keep collections. This is because this website is addictive and if you are anything like me and you choose not to use the collections; your page will be in chaos in no time. I have collections from Demi Lovato photos to yummy recipes that I’m probably never going to try!

I highly recommend you go on and try this site. I’m sure it seems like “just another social media website” but honestly, I think the picture quality is better, the results come faster, you are clearly notified when someone likes your pictures and it is much more user friendly. Anybody can use this website regardless of how little you know about technology. Give We Heart it a shot, you never know, you may end up hearting it yourself!

This Week in Social Media

Mobile ad spending takes off, Facebook grabs a decent share of it, the first short film shot only on Vine, Twitter acquires Trendrr for social TV measurement, unintentional risks of cloud sharing on personal devices in the workplace, another Facebook privacy policy update, Kevin Spacey teaches us a thing or two about the future of content and more, it's This Week in Social Media.

A roundup of relevant links affecting our industry.

Each week at Ford, I compose a newsletter that includes a series of links about current events and trends in the worlds of technology, social media, mobile, communications and marketing in order to keep the wider team up to date on changes, newsworthy items and content that might be useful in their jobs. These are those links.
If you have additional links, sources or ideas that might be helpful, I'd encourage you to add some via a comment below or tag me in Google+. And if you’re on Flipboard, you can get these links by subscribing to the This Week in Social Media Magazine, which is now available on the Web.

Industry

• Trend: brands buying advertising around earned media about themselves.
• The latest CMO Survey from Duke's Fuqua School of Business has been released. Some highlights include a continued plunge in spending on traditional advertising, a leveling off of digital spending, and a lack of quantitative metrics to demonstrate the impact of marketing spending, the pressure of which 2 out of 3 CMOs are feeling from boards.
• Mobile ad spending is growing: by 2017 it will account for about 36% of global digital ad dollars.
• Want to get into the mind of a college student? As with many things related to college,they're apathetic about following brands. The challenge for brands of course, is how to break through the lack of attention and lack of interest without going overboard.

The Platforms

• Facebook is releasing a new feature that allows multiple users to upload images to the same album. Great possibilities for events, reunions, launches and more.
• We were always told "you're judged by the company you keep." Well, it still holds true:your Facebook friends may affect your credit score.
• Google and Facebook account for almost half of the UK's digital ad spend andFacebook has seen big gains in global mobile ad market share. 

• Two interesting ones on Twitter: how many Twitter profiles does your brand need?In short, it depends on how you're using it. But even so, it's likely that your brand is tweeting too much and not taking time to speak with (not broadcast to) fans.
• Twitter has acquired social TV startup Trendrr to track conversations across media.
• Medium may be the most interesting new platform that you haven't heard of. Or perhaps you have, but you're still wondering, "What is Medium?"
• A recent update of the Instagram app allows users to straighten their photos. But why?
• Instagram is acquiring video-sharing app Luma, thus allowing filters to be added to videos.
• Sina has released WeMeet, a competitor to WeChat; here are some first impressions.
• While it may be seen as lots of "lite" content, Tumblr content has a longer shelf life than on any other social network - largely because of the reblogging feature that allows it to live on.
• Airbnb is making the world's first film shot entirely on Vine; the film will premiere on the Sundance Channel on September 12 and submissions can be found atHollywood + Vines. 

Measurement / Metrics / Big Data

• While the use of services like DropBox, Google Drive and iCloud are commonplace with personal devices, the use of these for company data could be putting those data at risk. Particularly of note, with so many Millennials using tablets and smartphones for both personal and work purposes.
• The Virtual Chief Digital Officer interviews Katie Kaine on her book Measure What Matters. One of the main takeaways for digital is to measure outcomes, not outputs - that is, actions taken, attitudes changed, behaviors altered, rather than simply likes or followers.

Legal / HR

• Good news for brands, bad news for app developers: Facebook no longer requiressweepstakes and contests to be conducted through third party apps.
• A new update to Facebook's privacy policy allows the social network to analyze your profile picture and more.
• Related: Facebook will pay out $20 million stemming from a class action lawsuit about privacy breaches in its Sponsored Stories product.

Content

• As branded content becomes more important, so too does attracting, retaining and leading writers; Contently has three basic tactics for wrangling writers.
• Virool is taking video content to the next level by helping connect brands and publishers to put the most relevant content in front of viewers.
• Content marketing is continuous storytelling. Michael Brito helps under stand how to actually do it. 

Bookmark / Read / Watch Later

• Steve Garfield's success in social media isn't only about his savvy angel investments. It has to do with his entire philosophy, which boils down to building trust by adding value - not by selling.
• One of the most inspiring thought leaders out there is Avinash Kaushik, who writes Occam's Razor. While he publishes new pieces only every three weeks, they are always insightful and inspire deep thoughts from his readers. His latest is See-Think-Do: A Content, Marketing and Measurement Business Framework. He challenges marketers to think of customers in different stages of consideration and map the audience to those stages.
• Just for fun: 10 sites renamed for the reasons we visit them 

Commentary

Without a question, "House of Cards" on Netflix last year was one of the most groundbreaking pieces of content we've seen. Not because it was a great program but because Netflix broke the mold of television shows being released week after week at the pleasure of the networks and decided instead to release all 13 episodes of the season at once.

"We must observe, adapt and try things to discover appetites we didn't know were there." - click to tweet 

This didn't happen by accident. In the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture a the Guardian Edinburgh Television Festival, Kevin Spacey gave an impassioned speech about the future of content at the entertainment industry based on his experience in shopping around "House of Cards." In this 45 minute-long lecture (and it's worth every minute to watch) he clearly lays out the opportunity for the entertainment industry (or any content-heavy enterprise) to change the future of viewership. Part of the assumption was that the old model of producing a pilot can be put behind us as we now have access to audience preferences, data about their viewing habits and more. 

Spacey said:

"Clearly, the success of the Netflix model, releasing the entire season of 'House Of Cards' at once, proved one thing: the audience wants the control. They want the freedom. If they want to binge, as they've been doing on "House of Cards" and lots of other shows, then we should let them binge."

But this goes beyond the scheduling model. It's fundamentally about realizing that customers and viewers don’t care about the inner squabbles of companies and the way the companies see the world; they want content in every conceivable format. And if it means watching a movie on a streaming service, a television show on a table, or a YouTube video on a television, it doesn't matter what we call it. When they view those shows, it's no longer by appointment and the "water cooler" conversations are no longer happening the day after; they're happening virtually, digitally and socially in real time.

The consumer has the ultimate control. The sooner we realize that and break down the old models of doing business that don't serve them, the better off our industries will be. Really, watch this video when you have a moment.

Facebook Tests “Buy Tickets” Button In Israel And The Netherlands

Facebook is testing a “Buy Tickets” button beside events in the events tab, as well as on some event pages on Dutch and Israeli servers.

The button was first noticed by Israeli social media company Blink on the page of an upcoming event in Tel Aviv-Yafo. According to AllFacebook, who reported Blink’s discoveries, “the actual transactions take place off the social network, as clicking on the buttons take users to third-party websites.”

A short time after the discovery was made, The Next Web reported that the button had also been discovered on a Dutch event page. 


Before the update, event organisers could put a link to a site where tickets could be bought as a bitly.com link on the event page. Now, Facebook has told InsideFacebook that “it is trying more prominent buttons that direct users to wherever event tickets are being sold”.

Facebook is testing “Buy Ticket” buttons on the events page itself, in the upcoming events tab and in News Feed stories about the event.

The “Buy Ticket” button is very useful for companies, brands and performers marketing events on Facebook, as they can track their conversion rates more easily: if people click on “Buy Tickets” it equals profit. Also, with the “Buy Ticket” button on News Feed stories, users can click through straight to the event website.

If the “Buy Tickets” button proves successful, Facebook may be able to earn revenue providing a ticket selling service online instead on linking to third party sites.

Would you like to see the “Buy Tickets” button become a permanent fixture on Facebook?

First Impressions of the Newest Social Site: Pheed

The most buzzed-about startup in Silicon Valley launched this morning and I’ve been switching between work and my Pheed all day. All the while, I’ve wondered what element set these guys apart from their intimidating list of competitors: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (to name a few). From the moment I googled the site to now, their slogan has answered that question: express yourself.

The social design on Pheed encourages users to create original content. Users can easily upload video, audio, words, pictures, or even a live stream onto their Pheed. One of the first aspects of the site I noticed was the little “copyright this pheed” button at the bottom of each post I made. The mere presence of this button serves as a little, constant reminder that you should be posting your own content. The idea of original content on social sites has always been confusing, and Pheed has taken a massive step in offering peace of mind to their users (without making them dig through a mountain of privacy policy pages).

Another massive difference with Pheed is their incorporation of easy monetization. By upgrading to a premium account, you can charge others to subscribe to your Pheed. Many uses come to mind for this setup. Bands and DJs could launch new demos to their Pheed followers before the general public, social marketers could use it like a private “Secrets for Success” mailing list, or it could just serve as a way for internet celebrities to streamline their monetization strategy. Time will only tell if this subscription service catches any traction.

Overall, I’m excited. I always get excited when we get a new social UI from Silicon Valley. Over the next few months, we’ll see if Pheed can deliver on the enormous pressure set by their CEO’s statement, “The wheel had to come about before the car. There are stages, like how Friendster came, then MySpace, then Facebook, each one improving on and adding to the format. There was Twitter and now Pheed—the evolution of a genre.”

Facebook Testing Promoted News Feed Posts for Non-Fans

Brands may soon be able to advertise in the news feeds of Facebook users who aren’t fans of their pages.

The social network revealed Tuesday that it will begin testing promoted posts that can reach people who haven’t “liked” a company’s Facebook Page.

“Starting soon, we are beginning a very small test that will allow marketers to promote Page posts to people beyond their fans in the news feed,” says Facebook spokeswoman Annie Ta. “These ads may appear on both desktop and mobile.”

The ads will look like other brand’s ads in the news feed, but will be labeled as “sponsored,” Ta tells Mashable in an email. A screenshot of the ad shows an option to “like” a company’s Page in the top right hand corner of the post.

“We think this will make it easier for businesses to reach more people,” she says.

Currently, only fans who like a brand’s page receive its posts in their news feeds.

Last week, Facebook introduced new mobile ad units to help app developers market themselves. The units drive users to new apps to download in Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

Facebook says it has directed users to both app stores 146 million times through clicks from news feed, timeline, bookmarks and App Center.

In June, the social media giant introduced Sponsored Stories for the news feed that are specifically for mobile devices.

New Social Media Video course to be launch

About 2am in the morning, I am working on my new Social Media for business video course, really excited because this is a complete course about the biggest social networks online right now.
This course will include not just how to start using social media but how to generate traffic to your business or product but to understand how to create a passive income with it as well.

I have work on this product for months and after it is launched it will have updated version which will be sent to everybody that acquire this product as soon as the version is online.

Me at 2am have a look Clic Here

I am going to sleep right now....