“It’s no doubt that each year the Super Bowl attracts an abundance of fans from all over the country. JiWire looked across its entire network of the on-the-go audience connecting to cafes, hotels and airports, to determine the top 20 places that fans traveled from to attend Super Bowl XLVI and watch the New York Giants play the New England Patriots live.”

The tops 5 cities were Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Dallas, and Philadelphia. Among the devices that were used by the on-the-go audience, smartphones top the chart with 47 percent market share, followed by laptops and tablets at 29 percent and 24 percent respectively. Overall, connectivity in Indianapolis alone increased by 18 percent during the event.

While fans travel across America just to catch the game, brands and advertisers are all about marketing and leveraging the world of social-mobile-local. Instead of paying large sums of money for a 30-second cable ad slot, they might as well take advantage of fans’ heavy mobile usage. Mobile marketing company Velti says users connect beyond their in-person friends and are likely to check their phones 10 times more during the game.

Even popular quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady didn’t escape analytics, as Twitter sentiment compared their positive impressions, putting Manning ahead with 65 percent over Brady’s 62 percent. Here’s also a thought-provoking article from Sandvine about the plunge of internet traffic and Netflix’s viewership during the event. For more on social-mobile, check out this roundup.

image credit: nj.com

Traveling Super Bowl Fans Inflated Indy’s WiFi Nearly 20% is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• How Social, Mobile was Super Bowl 2012? A Brand’s Dream Come True
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• WiFi Hotspots Prove Mobile Ad Gold Mine, JiWire Raises $20M

Since schoolFeed launched in July 2011, the networking site dedicated to connecting high school classmates has gained over 7 million users, and their userbase is growing every second.  The target crowd of schoolFeed are those aged 35-55 who didn’t have social networking sites “in their day” to keep them in touch.

“It’s amazing how many alumni have wanted to find old classmates.  We’re creating over 15 new connections per second.” said Lance Tokuda, co-founder of schoolFeed. “There is a huge market for people that would really want to interact with old classmates. We are excited to offer them a network that meets their needs which is complimentary to Facebook’s social graph.”

schoolFeed features:

• Find and connect with hundreds of old classmates in just one click
• Share an online yearbook with your graduating class
• Follow classmates based on interests
• Earn virtual currency as you engage with other users

And the best part about schoolFeed, apart from reconnecting with high school classmates, is that it’s free and it connects with Facebook.  This leveraging of Facebook’s existing social graph has been key for schoolFeed’s growth, enabling a faster rate of expansion than even RockYou saw during its early days, and later as an initial supporter of the Facebook platform.

But as schoolFeed competes with the likes of Classmates.com more so than Facebook, the newcomer will have to utilize a different monetization scheme for a demographic well accustomed to paying out for direct connections on social networks.  Tokuda thinks it’s high time direct monetization schemes were changed.  schoolFeed will be using its fresh funds to build out new features, as well as its marketing efforts.

“With RockYou there wasn’t a clear way to monetize social media,” Tokuda explains.  ”MySpace was big but advertisers didn’t want to advertise there initially.  Now there’s a clear route for monetization on social media.

“We’re targeting the same people that often used RockYou–a lot of soccer moms, those that play social games.  And even on the brand side, they’re valuable, with a lot of consumer brands targeting them as well, so we think it’s a good fit.  We find that mature demographics have higher monetization rates–they’re the more nostalgic.”

One new feature schoolFeed will offer this mature demographic is event-planning, specifically for school reunions.  They’ll also be building out their search functions, which are still relatively limited at this time.  They’ve already dipped into the highly monetizable social gaming pool with a version of Bingo already engaging users on the site.

schoolFeed Gets $1.7M to Connect Classmates that Missed the Facebook Boat is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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So what was the giveaway?  The front-facing camera.  You see, the Lumia 800 doesn’t have the front facing camera, even the white one. But the photo of the white device on their page clearly shows a front facing camera, so yeah, it’s the Lumia 900.  And people are already begging Nokia for details: When is it coming out?  How much would it cost?  Will it be available internationally?  Of course, Nokia did not answer their questions.  Guess we’ll just have to wait for it to officially hit shelves.

Apkudo’s Device Analytics Software

Apkudo, Inc., the Android innovation start-up company, announced the Apkudo Device Analytics software.

The Apkudo Device Analytics software helps find device and application performance problems before release to help network operators and OEMs launch their Android devices with greater confidence of commercial success.

“Apkudo Device Analytics helps speed handsets and tablets to market, finding usability problems earlier in acceptance testing,” said Josh Matthews, Apkudo, CEO. “Testing with Apkudo Device Analytics helps OEMs and operators meet the fragmentation challenge and position new devices to be competitive in the dynamic mobile marketplace.”

Longer (Battery-life) Is Always Better

OnTrion, manufacturer of superior-quality mobile phone batteries and accessories, announced that they now offer extended batteries for T-Mobile’s HTC EVO 3D model. All of the extended OEM-quality mobile phone batteries OnTrion manufactures have a battery cover and the original mAh (milliamperes) accurately stated on them.

OnTrion is known for their tagline “Engineered to Last Longer,” as well as their extended battery line for all the major smartphone brands.  With the addition of the extended batteries for the HTC EVO 3D, it just show how much the company is committed to living up to that mission.

Other Mobile News

Apple’s VP of iPhone and iPod Engineering, David Tupman, left the company.  Though this is not something that happened recently, according to 9to5mac he left at the end of 2011, Apple has yet to fill the position but is said to be looking for someone from the inside to replace Tupman.

Apple’s Director of iPod and iPhone Engineering Vic Alessi might be the one to replace Tupman since he worked closely with Tupman on iPhones and iPods.  As for Tupman, the reason for his departure was not disclosed, nor his future plans, but a man with his stature will always have a place in Silicon Valley.

Instagram, the photosharing app made for iOS devices, will soon be available for Android devices.  The giveaway?  A notification that popped up in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

According to In Flex We Trust’s Tat Wza, “I was just on the 10.1, when this ‘Featured App’ little green guy, and the word Intsagram poked out like….well like Crazy.”  But when he checked the Android Market for Instagram, it wasn’t there.  So it could be a glitch, or a hacker playing tricks or the may soon be available for Android.  Again, all we can do is wait.

Leaked White Nokia Lumia 900, Instagram on Android? is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• Traveling Super Bowl Fans Inflated Indy’s WiFi Nearly 20%
• Nokia to Layoff 4,000 Workers, Apple Sued for iPad Trademark
• Apkudo Launches New Android Analytics, MetroPCS First On Board
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• Xoom Tablets Sold with User Data on Woot: Privacy Oops!
• Social Mobile’s True Value for Super Bowl 2012? Business Intelligence

Totem is a multi-faceted service that can be a useful resource for PR agents, reporters and startups alike.  It centralizes pertinent information about a company so that anyone has access to the information they need.  Information like the company’s mission, their latest coverage, logo and press contact.  Totem lets you package the press release with the images, contacts with the company history–everything you need to learn about a given company.  And the beauty of Totem is that it’s self-serve for every aspect of press these days, whether it’s social media-driven or more traditional.

There’s two initial options for Totem users: a free service with all the basics you need, or a premium account with full customization for a one-time fee of $99.  The founders believe that this type of service shouldn’t be reserved only for the well-funded.  They also believe that the current way news-related marketing works is overdue for a revolution.  As one that digs through press pitches on a daily basis, I’m glad to see someone delivering a high measure of convenience not only for myself, but every person involved, from press agent to the company itself.

Totem hopes that your press page will become a living, breathing entity, readily updated and always accessible.  It’s designed almost as a landing page, combining the press release with a company blog to present a rather evergreen resource.  What’s more, certain aspects of Totem’s pages are embeddable, so they can be placed on a company’s website in an integrated manner, separating the “press” resource as needed.

But what Totem is really doing here is building a database of companies and their information, and Totem’s true value will lie in how this database is leveraged moving forward.  Will Totem target publications in need of embeddable company information to build out their own resources?  That’s something Totem’s considering, Dilworth tells me.  But the next step is really analytics, where users will be able to see how their embeddable data is being received and how content is being shared.

The analytics angle isn’t a surprising one, given Dilworth’s own background and clients.  Even from his days at Porter-Novelli, I often found myself chatting with startups with a heady focus on semantic search, natural language and data analysis.  From Twine to Parse.ly, Dilworth specializes in data-centric businesses, and has always been able to convey this, sometimes better than the startup founders he represents.

It’s important to note that Totem is a separate project from Jones-Dilworth, though there’s an obvious interest in launching a program like Totem–scratching one’s own itch, if you will.  Totem’s a much-needed change in a digital movement that’s already contravened printed media and its traditional subscription model, all the while reforming content distribution, and marketing for a tech savvy people.

What Happens When a PR Guy Scratches His Own Itch? Totem Launches Beta Today is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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Some features included in the overhauled app are collections, playlists, new releases, top charts, recommendations, and support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich’s new remote control client. Android users can not only have immediate access to Rdio’s list of 12 million songs, but can leverage with its social features and extensive music discovery options as well.

“With the Rdio for Android redesign, we were focused on bringing Android users the best mobile music discovery application possible,” said Malthe Sigurdsson, VP of Product, Rdio. “We believe this launch further reinforces our commitment to creating the most visual, social and interactive experience of music across every platform.”

Rdio offers flexible subscription plans for continued access across a growing number of devices. Plan options include:

• Rdio Unlimited, $9.99/month: Unlimited Web and mobile streaming on all available devices, as well as wireless syncing to listen offline
• Rdio Unlimited Family: 2-3 person Rdio Unlimited accounts on one plan for discounted rate (2 for $17.99/month or 3 for $22.99/month)
• Rdio Web, $4.99/month: Unlimited Web streaming and access through Mac/Windows desktop apps

Mobile Music Mayhem

Meanwhile, Spotify’s having it tough these days because of the criticism it’s getting, despite dramatic growth. Three of the biggest albums in 2011 by Adele, Coldplay and Black Key were not available on the service or any of its rivals to avoid cannibalizing iTunes sales. “Spotify competes with download stores,” says Coldplay’s manager, Dave Holmes. Still, props to Spotify for earning the love of Warner Music chair Edgar Bronfman Jr., while he calls Google Music an “oxymoron.”

Rhapsody’s also eager to take over the mobile space, having recently launched a new tablet app to push original editorial content, helping it distinguish its brand from other digital music services.  Pandora is also set to benefit from Facebook’s upcoming IPO, along with Zynga and Groupon though users are still complaining of its being pricey despite having 125 million users.

Futhermore, iTunes dealt with a few cloud problems with its song match service a few days ago. Songs that user uploaded to the service was unavailable for streaming or download. Apple also kicked out China’s most popular browser, Qihoo, out of iTunes.

Rdio Updates for Android 4.0 as Mobile Music Heats Up is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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• RDIO CEO: “Spotify is a Unicorn.”
• Spotify Invades US Shores, Confirmed

Watch ads or check your phone?

The research furthers that a third of Super Bowl users will watch the game “with device in hand.” This will enable mobile users to check their phones 10 times more during the game. Over 80 percent of viewers said they will use their mobile device as much as they did during the same event last year.

Fans are also likely to check their mobile devices for status updates on Facebook or Twitter during commercial breaks. “People have to do something while the teams are in the huddle or during timeouts, so their phones are a good activity,” Zencka said. And to think, a 30-second Super Bowl ad slot comes with a $3.5 million price tag.

“Viewers are sitting in front of the television with a mobile device in their hand and they’ll likely check that ‘second’ screen often,” Velti Executive Krishna Subramanian said in a press release. “There’s no going back now from the fact that the Super Bowl is truly a two-screen experience. Mobile is the second screen that completes the full circle of user engagement – turning advertising into content.”

In retrospect, here are mobile users’ engagements during last year’s Super Bowl (courtesy of iProspect via):

- 61% of Facebook users who identified as Super Bowl fans posted status updates during the game in 2011.

- 28% of users who identified as fans directly chatted or messaged with friends. – On Twitter, the record for most sports-related posts per second was broken six times, culminating at game’s end with 4,064 tweets per second.

- Overall, last year’s Super Bowl generated more than 4.5 million tweets in six hours. – In the United States, Twitter traffic during the game increased by 50% over the previous day.

- 2011 Super Bowl ads have been viewed more than 360 million times online.

- 39% of Super Bowl related searches from mobile devices in the week surrounding last year’s game came on Super Bowl Sunday itself.

- Traffic to Yahoo‘s mobile homepage jumped by as much as 34% over normal during breaks in the action.

- Sports-focused mobile traffic on Yahoo jumped by as much as 387% over normal during commercial breaks.

Brand’s mobile focus gains BI

With this much focus on mobile during the event, brands may as well target the hefty mobile usage and social presence of fans through engaging marketing campaigns and viral videos on YouTube. Twitter and Facebook are getting more and more traction as conversation hubs over the last few years’ major live events. These, on top of the exploding tablet and smartphone usage, will need some heavy thinking from marketers as the figures are becoming harder and harder to ignore. They need to have some strategy to take advantage of this Super Bowl’s mobile craze.

“With millions of people using their mobile phones today for brand interaction in addition to traditional communication, the Super Bowl offers companies a significant opportunity to socialize their marketing campaigns,” said Mark Reino, CEO of Merit Mile Communications. “What’s more, companies that leverage cloud marketing for precision targeting, automation that keeps costs low and enhanced ROI metrics will be the clear winners during the Super Bowl.”

The real value of mobile connections is the direct access to consumers and the potential for business intelligence that follows as a result.  Mobile is the segue between the intangibility of a television broadcast and the physical access of a handset.  Mobile devices are individualized and can establish a long-lasting connection between a brand and a consumer.  We’re seeing this concept evolve within mobile ad standards, with Millennial Media’s latest product update for targeting consumers that have already demonstrated interest in a brand.

Mobile also adds an edge of urgency with the perk of web access.  This immediacy is what brands are picking up on, making the “on-demand” trend a two-way street for content marketers and end users.

“The power of mobile is that it’s immediate–a merchant has the ability to make an announcement with regards to the Super Bowl, or even a time-sensitive discount during half time, and hook them with their loyalty program, incentivising customers to come back,” says Adam Weizer, CEO of Servistree.

“What’s starting to gain traction is the realization that mobile is immediate.  The people that really get this is the younger generation.  I believe email marketing will fade out and mobile will take precedence as people become more familiar with how to use text on their mobile devices.”

Should you actually decide to interact with Super Bowl 2012 on your mobile device, here are some top apps to follow the big game online.

Contributors: Kristina Farrah

Social Mobile’s True Value for Super Bowl 2012? Business Intelligence is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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With rumors of an IPO coming as early as this week, Facebook is, for once, making headlines for something other than mandatory profile updates and privacy concerns.  While there’s fear an IPO could ruin Facebook’s “startup” appeal and slow down innovation, an initial public offering could raise enough capital for Facebook to more aggressively grow its verticals.  Two areas of importance for Facebook moving forward include mobile and social television.  It’s part of a larger “connected device” trend that’s delivering content through more channels, and as this space expands, Facebook will need to monetize the social aspects of these channels as well.

Facebook Mobile

Facebook’s mobile strategy has been pretty limited to apps so far, favoring iOS in terms of launch schedules and feature updates.  And Facebook’s actual apps center around social interaction and accessing account information, doing little to extend their platform’s ecosystem for Facebook apps, particularly games.  This is where Facebook will really need to build out its ecosystem if it hopes to gain ground in the mobile sector, where Google, Apple and even Microsoft are already ahead.

Looking at the latest rumors, Facebook’s plans for mobile include a handset of its own.  This isn’t likely the way to win in the mobile arena–there’s enough devices on the market, and plenty of competing operating systems.  Even Android is diversifying across niche devices like the Kindle Fire, which has a stripped down version of Google’s mobile OS, adding to the fragmentation woes that plague developers, retailers, carriers and consumers alike.

What Facebook needs is a solid mobile extension of its own platform, that will enable better points of integration for the companies building apps for Facebook’s site and/or mobile marketplaces.  Sure, you can tap Facebook contacts for a round of Words with Friends, but this is still a segmented initiative on the part of the game publisher. Unifying a web and mobile presence will be a key software development for Facebook moving forward.

We’re already seeing the necessity of this with Zynga, which is making its appeal to mobile gamers and forced to leave Facebook behind in the process.  Increasing gamers on tablets and smartphones in today’s market means diversifying away from the very platform that brought Zynga to the point of success to launch its own IPO, especially with Facebook imposing a 30 percent tax on revenue made on its website.  In order to retain the value of its ecosystem, Facebook will have to support the mobile transition for its developer community, and possibly better incorporate its offerings with the mobile market mainstays, like Android and iOS.

Facebook already has a budding relationship with Microsoft, one of its high profile investors, which has already integrated Facbook’s social graph into its search results and facilitated deals like Skype’s video calls on the network.  As Microsoft continues to layer up its own platform, tying efforts with Windows 8, Windows Phone and Xbox, Facebook could make room for an easier transition on this front.

Facebook on TV

Facebook is a term associated with nearly all things social, whether online or off.  The worldwide network has set national revolutions in motion, held firm as a platform for religious and political debate and enabled a new sense of globalization as far as culture and access are concerned.  So when we think of TV’s future as being a social one, it’s hard to avert a discussion about Facebook as well.  But even more than mobile, Facebook’s absent from the social TV trend in many regards, though it presents a grand opportunity for extended channel distribution as well.

You don’t have to look further than the first month of 2012 to realize the growing importance of socializing the tube.  The Super Bowl is rank with advertisers seeking ways beyond Facebook Pages and tweets to engage viewers, reeling in participation from General Motors, Coca Cola and Shazam.  These brands in particular are leveraging mobile devices to send viewers directly to a website where they can gain more information about a product, unlock free content and qualify for prizes.  With approximately 60 percent of all Super Bowl viewers expected to be within arm’s reach of a smartphone or tablet, mobility is becoming an important avenue for television to become more interactive and social.

The first week of 2012 also brought a slew of connected device expectations from TV set makers like Sony and LG.  Not only are they building out their own integrated system, but many are looking to Google TV as a platform to extend the newest social TV trends.  At CES this year we saw the future of TV, and it’s a highly social one, with in-screen chats, recommendations, sharing functions and rewards systems.  And Google’s much further ahead on this initiative than Facebook, given its Android platform and default social interactions that are cataloged every time you use a Google-powered app or service.  Apple, too, has demonstrated initiative in this space, though its personal media cloud approach is lacking social capabilities.

Leave it to apps, and even cable providers to fill in the missing gaps here.  Even Comcast’s jumping on this bandwagon, testing a social TV experience dubbed Xcalibur in Georgia.  It involves a recommendation engine and “friend trends” powered by Facebook.  Companies like GetGlue have also run with the social TV trend, building insight around marketing trends while rewarding viewers all the while.

Facebook’s ads = social monetization

Beyond merely powering existing gaming and TV efforts, Facebook will namely benefit from these extended channels by finding a way to loop things back into its own ecosystem.  Facebook’s true value lies in its ability to access users and their preferences, creating hoards of useful marketing data alongside an audience that can be monetized in a series of socially oriented ways.  It’s true that marketing has become very social, but above all, accessibility matters.  Facebook’s building a presence in the mobile and TV space, but it hasn’t reached a major point of influence for its own monetization or ad distribution.

There’s a new age dawning for socially driven marketing, and TV is a great way to attract the biggest budgets in media to the socially situated.  Social content management provider thismoment recognizes the convergence of connected devices and the future of marketing, a challenge that their new CMO John Bara will take head on.  Thismoment is building the technology for big ad shops, simplifying the transition for brands like Coca Cola, and bridging gaps for the likes of Google.  This all effectively leverages thismoment’s Digital Engagement Channel, a platform where brands and agencies can create, distribute and optimize branded and UGC content across Facebook, YouTube and beyond.

Facebook’s IPO will create jobs for the company, no doubt.  And those jobs will likely further Facebook’s goals around mobile and TV verticals as part of a larger scale approach to new media marketing.  Social is one of many considerations encompassed in new media marketing, and Facebook will have to find away to continuously ad value to its social platform amidst the growing network of associated platforms currently overlapping its space.

Facebook IPO: Bubble or Bargain? Success Hinges on Mobile, TV is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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The catalog includes some of Yahoo’s popular brands and services that were not being embraced by consumers enough to continue in the mobile sector. Yahoo said the app reduction is part of its effort “to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn’t” as part of their “mobile first” strategy. Here is what Paid Content thinks about Yahoo’s decision:

“This latest move seems like a particularly damning admission in the case of popular online brands such as Yahoo’s news and finance portals: it is yet another demonstration that Yahoo has failed to find mobile traction with consumers in some more obvious areas.”

For the meantime, Yahoo offers temporary support for other apps, such as News and Finance on iOS, Sports, Mail, Messenger and Flickr.  They are also pushing two new apps that were launched last year: Into Now, a check-in for TV and other entertainment viewing, and Livestand, a Flipboard-like aggregated magazine. While Yahoo said they will faze out some of their apps, the technology behind them is not in vain, as they make their way into the new apps Yahoo plans to continue to offer.

Thompson continues to believe in Yahoo’s culture of innovation–mentioning this during a conference call after taking his new position, and last week during his first quarterly earnings call– as he strengthens the company’s audience-base, expediency and standing. Yahoo said they are making space to be able to implement new ideas in mobile products that they intend to release this year.

While the move makes sense, there’s so much to do in convincing users in the sea of competing apps. Still, watching a former titan claw back to its former glory is a must-see. But in the end, we can only wonder if their strategy will take off.

Yahoo is not the only company who has troubles in winning consumer preference. Even an enterprise as powerful such as Google had to shutdown offerings every now and then as they fail to gain traction. The most recent app decommissioned by the search giant is Picnik.

Yahoo Kills 10 Mobile Apps, Hones Focus on Social TV, News is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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MediaPost – Facebook Correlated with Low Self Esteem

The study, titled “‘They Are Happier and Having Better Lives than I Am’: The Impact of Using Facebook on Perceptions of Others’ Lives,” … revealed that students who spend a lot of time on Facebook are relatively more likely to perceive other people as having better lives than themselves.

According to the authors, “Those who have used Facebook longer agreed more that others were happier, and agreed less that life is fair, and those spending more time on Facebook each week agreed more that others were happier and had better lives. Furthermore, those that included more people whom they did not personally know as their Facebook ‘friends’ agreed more that others had better lives.”

Meanwhile, people who spent less time on Facebook and more time in “real” socializing with friends tended to be happier than subjects who used Facebook intensively.

Earlier studies have found big differences in the behavior of students who spend long hours online. MediaPost reporter Erik Saas points to a 2010 study that links students who spend a lot of time on social network sites like Facebook as:

“…60% more likely to have four or more sexual partners; 62% more likely to have tried cigarettes; 69% more likely to be binge drinkers; 69% more likely to have had sex; 79% more likely to have tried alcohol; 84% more likely to have used illicit drugs; and 94% more likely to have been in a physical fight.”

For some students, I’m sure those numbers will sound more like an advertisement for a good time, rather than as a deterrent to the online life.

[Cross-posted at Silicon Valley Watcher]

Facebook Use is Linked to Depression…and More Sex is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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“This company is misleading you, the user, the consumer, into thinking that you are getting a message from a friend. And in fact, that is an advertisement,” said Assistant Attorney General Paula Selis.

The messages look legit but it actually leads you to online surveys or ad sites that would steal your identity and/or credit card information.

Attorney General Bob McKenna warns Facebook users, “Trust your instincts before you click. If it doesn’t really look like something that your friend would send to you, it doesn’t contain any introductory language, you might want to check with them before clicking.”

Timeline Dilemma, IPO, War

Some Facebook users aren’t happy with the mandatory rollout of Timeline in their profiles, which starts this week, and users will have seven days to “clean” their profiles if they don’t want their dirty little secrets exposed.

They had a three-day trading suspension, which ends today, in preparation for their IPO.
Along with other social networking sites, they launched the Don’t Be Evil bookmarklet in response to the Google+ monopoly in social search results.

Twitter

Censorship

Twitter announced that in some countries, tweets will be censored to comply with laws.  Tweets will not be totally erased but will be censored in some countries, and Twitter will post a censorship notice for tweets removed.

Twitter announced the censorship in their blog post.

“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.”
“Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country – while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.”

“One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice.  We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can’t. The tweets must continue to flow.”

On a related note, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking companies to develop a software that would allow them to easily scan social networking content so they can prevent crimes from being committed.  But this effort is being questioned, as this could curtail internet freedom.

Earlier this week, Twitter acquired Dasient, the leader in anti-malware technology to beef-up their security portfolio.

Google+

Google+ Vice President of Product Bradley Horowitz announced in his G+ account that 13-year olds can now have a G+ account.

“With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online. We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self-expression. Today we’re doing both, for everyone who’s old enough for a Google Account (13+ in most countries [2]),” wrote Horowitz.

But this announcement, along with Google’s new privacy policy, is met with raised eyebrows as it render Google users’ data vulnerable and exposed.  Legislators are now arguing that users should have more control in data being collected by Google.

Aside from opening their doors to teenagers, G+ also welcomed Google Earth as it now has it’s own official page, and Google in Education, a page made for educator and their supporters.

Facebook Likes Jacked, Twitter Censored, Google+ Takes on Teen Rage is a post from: SiliconANGLE We're now available on the Kindle! Subscribe today.

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