facebook application development » trending

Facebook and Google Maps Dominate Smartphone App Usage [STUDY]

Christina Warren — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:19:43 +0000

Nielsen has released a new mobile application report and its findings showcase not only the increase in smartphone usage, but also what applications are most popular. For its report, Nielsen surveyed more than 4,200 people who had downloaded a mobile application in the last 30 days.

The survey really highlights just how much smartphone ownership trails traditional feature phone ownership, at least in the U.S. Nielsen’s study shows that 21% of American wireless subscribers have smartphones.

Still, even non-smartphone users have heavily embraced mobile apps. Nielsen’s survey indicates that the average number of apps that a feature phone user has on his or her device is 10, while the average number of apps a smartphone user has is 22.

Broken down even further, the average number of installed apps based on smartphone OS looks like this:

BlackBerry: 10
iPhone: 37
Android: 22
Palm: 14
Windows Mobile: 13

Most Popular Smartphone Apps

While the specific applications vary from platform to platform, the most popular apps across smartphones were pretty consistent in this report: Maps, weather, Facebook and music all had strong showings.

Check out this chart, which breaks down the five most popular apps by smartphone OS:

It’s interesting to see just how much Facebook dominates the mobile app space; it’s one of the top five apps on each of the platforms highlighted. Still, Nielsen notes that broken down by demographic, MySpace is still very popular among teens and that LinkedIn is strong in the 25-44 demographic.

Do any of these findings surprise you or does this align with your own mobile app usage? Let us know.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter

Tags: facebook, Google Maps, mobile apps, Nielsen, smartphones, trending

90+ Essential Social Media Resources

Matt Silverman — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:24:41 +0000

Now you’ve gone and done it. You’ve come across a list so enormous, so useful, and so awesome, our futile attempts to describe it have been lost in the tubes of cyberspace.

We’ll just say this: No matter what you’re into — Twitter, Facebook, Mobile Apps, Business Development, or good-old-fashioned YouTube hilarity — you will find it below.

So put down your barbeque, send out another huge thanks to our men and women in uniform, and limber up your scrolling finger — it’s a big one.

If you dig the uber-list, be sure to send some comments our way down below!

Social Media

HOW TO: Disable Facebook’s “Instant Personalization” [PRIVACY]
New menus on the Facebook home page this week took users by surprise, and left many concerned about the privacy implications of being suddenly more “connected” to their favorite sites and interests. If you’re looking for ways to opt out of these new features, this guide will show you how.
HOW TO: Spring Clean Your Twitter Account
An untended Twitter feed can quickly become overgrown with useless tweets and dead weight users. These great tools will help you streamline your Twitter account in no time.
How Freelancers are Using Social Media for Real Results
Social media can be a boon for those who make their living gig-to-gig. Sheer networking is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to landing work via the social web. We spoke to freelancers in a variety of fields to find out how they make it happen.
9 Essential Social News and Bookmarking Sites for Designers
The design community is always hungry for content, inspiration, and tutorials. These nine networks are a great place to discover and share creative resources.
4 Ways One Non-Profit Uses Location to Increase Engagement
The National Wildlife Federation has been getting creative with their social media awareness campaigns, particularly when it comes to location-based technologies. This post discusses some of their innovations.
Tim Ferriss: 7 Great Principles for Dealing with Haters
For all the personal connections and open sharing done on social networks, you’ll always find a fair share of scathing negativity. Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week, gave a talk at The Next Web ‘10 event in Amsterdam, and had these seven points to share on the subject.
Gowalla CEO Talks About the Future of Social Media [INTERVIEW]
We sat down with Josh Williams to discuss the origins of his location-based network, and what current trends in the space mean for the future.
5 Free Services for Pre-Scheduling Your Twitter Updates
Whether for marketing purposes, event promotion, or just keeping your account fresh while you’re on vacation, a tweet scheduler can be a handy tool. Check out these five great ones, all of them free.
How Twitter’s New Media Blog Aims To Teach By Example
Twitter’s new blog highlights news organizations with smart Twitter integration in the hope of becoming a resource for the media. We spoke with Twitter about their strategies and goals.
Top 10 LEGO Movie Tributes on YouTube
Those stop-motion goodies are back, this time reenacting our favorite flicks in all their colorful plastic glory.
Top 10 YouTube Cover Songs
For better or worse, YouTube has become the ultimate repository of musical tributes. From guys in their bedrooms, to a capella cleverness, to guitar-wielding toddlers, this hand-picked list highlights some of the best around.
5 Ways to Support World Malaria Day Online
The fight to end malaria in the developing world has become a rallying cause on the social web. Check out these five easy ways you can make a difference online.
How Non-Profits are Using Social Media for Real Results
Social media has become an essential tool for non-profits in their efforts to spread awareness and raise funds. Check out some real-world examples of how some organizations have put the social web to good use.
Why Content Curation Is Here to Stay
At times, content creators and content curators have been at odds. But the sheer volume of “stuff” and noise on the web has made curation essential. This post discusses the status of the curator on today’s social web.
Social Enterprise: 5 Tips for Getting Execs on Board
There’s no longer much question about whether corporations need to be engaged in social media, but convincing the head honchos of the value can be challenging. We spoke to some of the top names in social strategy and got some great tips on bringing the boardroom up to speed.
How Does Twitter’s New Social Good Initiative Stack Up?
The recent launch of Twitter’s Hope140 campaign has already done some good for important causes, but how effective is it when compared to other social awareness and fundraising campaigns? This post discusses the pros and cons of tweet-based charity.
5 Ways Facebook’s Open Graph Will Impact E-commerce
Facebook’s new Open Graph technology could dramatically change how we interact with the web, especially when it comes to online shopping. These five predictions lay out what to expect from your favorite e-commerce sites in the near future.
Top 10 Wedding Dance Videos on YouTube
If you think you’ve seen some crazy nuptials, check out some of these dance moves, immortalized forever in the hallowed halls of YouTube.
HOW TO: Find Long Lost Friends on Facebook
400 million people are using Facebook. If you’re looking for someone, chances are you can find them there. Here’s how to do it.
HOW TO: Make the Most of Your Twitter Profile Page
There’s a lot more to Twitter than just sharing your favorite foods in 140 characters. If you’re looking to make an impression with your profile page, check out these tips.
5 Ways Government Works Better With Social Media
Social media has the potential to make government more transparent and accessible. Here are five examples of how the social web can improve public services.
8 Tips for a Successful Social Media Cause Campaign
Social networks can provide unprecedented reach to non-profits and their partner companies, but there are some strategies to note before diving into the next campaign. Check out these eight tips.
4 Tips for Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom
Education has long faced resistance to new technologies, but social media can be a great resource in the classroom. Here are some tips on bringing it to the fore.
Top 5 Social Media Tips for C-Suite Execs
While your web-savvy employees may be hip to social media, getting upper management on board can be challenging. We gathered some expert advice, and lay out the value proposition in this post.
Why the Fashion Industry Loves Foursquare
Lifestyle brand Diesel recently launched a fairly tacit Foursquare campaign that demonstrates the great marketing potential for location-based services. This post details where they succeeded, and where they fell short.
Why Hasn’t Location Reached the Mainstream Yet?
Despite all the buzz about location-based services, most people don’t use them. Here are some of the reasons why, and a few predictions about the future of the trend.
HOW TO: Turn Slacktivists into Activists with Social Media
Non-profit Twitter and texting campaigns may be tapping thousands of new cause contributors, but is a $10 SMS really where their engagement ends? This post speaks to how non-profits can deepen that connection through social media.
Social Media Parenting: Raising the Digital Generation
Who are your kids friending on Facebook, and how much online time is too much? We asked the experts to weigh in on some concrete strategies for raising the first fully digital generation.
HOW TO: Get Notified When Someone Hacks Your Facebook
Did you know that Facebook can alert you when someone logs into your account from an unknown computer? Follow these simple profile steps to set up this important security feature.
In Defense of Facebook
With all the vitriol surrounding Facebook’s latest privacy gaffs, this post takes a moment to look at the people most responsible for our online privacy — ourselves.
How Facebook Makes Edgy Concepts Mainstream
Two years ago, the thought of sharing your location or credit card purchase history online would have seemed ridiculous. Today, it grows ever more mainstream thanks to major social networks like Facebook that make these early-adopter trends more comfortable for the average user.
Why Twitter Needs to Do More to Save Trending Topics
Twitter recently amended its trending topics algorithm in the hopes of producing more relevant and newsworthy results. But is this an interference in the natural development of popular topics? And is Twitter doing enough to remain a relevant source of real-time news? This post takes a hard look.
How the U.S. Engages the World with Social Media
You might be surprised to learn that the U.S. Department of State and many of its embassies around the world are having great success shaping America’s image abroad through social media. We spoke with some of the diplomats and officials who are making a difference through Twitter and Facebook.
21 Rules for Social Media Engagement
If you’re creating a social media policy for your business, or even your personal brand, these 21 points are a surefire way to stay on track and on message in an online world full of noise.
5 Innovative Websites That Could Reshape the News
While traditional journalism remains in upheaval, a handful of startups have provided a glimpse at what the future of news gathering might look like on the social web. Whether these models are sustainable remains to be seen. Check out this post for look at some of these innovators.
5 Essential Facebook Privacy Tips
If you’re not cognizant of your Facebook privacy settings, you may be broadcasting things to the world (or even certain groups of friends or family) that you may not have intended. Note these important settings to ensure you stay in control of your social data.
How Social Media is Changing Government Agencies
Agencies around the world are finding that social media is more than a broadcast medium. Active engagement can serve the public in important ways. Here are some examples.
EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes at the “Married on MySpace” Wedding [VIDEO]
We got an exclusive chance to go behind the scenes at the actual wedding of winning couple Dehlia and Graeham Ford-Feliz.
TwitPic Founder Talks About the Future of Twitter Photo Sharing [VIDEO]
TwitPic has become one of the most popular ways to share photos on Twitter. With a recent facelift and a lot of attention from prospective buyers, the company has some big plans in the works. We spoke to the founder, Noah Everett, to get his take on TwitPic’s rapid growth and future.

Business

10 Killer Tips for Creating a Branded YouTube Channel
Video is the way to go for businesses on the social web. Be sure to give these rules a run-down before embarking on a branded YouTube adventure.
10 Dos and Don’ts for Brands on Twitter
People expect different things from individuals and brands on Twitter, and crossing those streams could lead to a few common mistakes. Check out this list of tips to ensure your company plays by all the right rules.
5 iPhone Apps to Boost Productivity
With the right apps in tow, an iPhone can be productivity powerhouse. Check out these five recommendations.
5 Tips for Making Your Presentations More Social
Social media has opened up a wealth of opportunities to make business presentations more engaging. These five tips can transform your boring set of slides into a dynamic, real-time force of nature.
What Twitter’s New Ad Model Could Mean for Small Business
It’s easy to see the potential for large companies like Starbucks to leverage Twitter’s new advertising model, but what about small businesses? This post discusses the options.
5 Simple Tools for a Paperless Office
Many small businesses are still beholden to paper for a variety of reasons, but there are some easy changes you can make to your document systems to dramatically reduce that consumption. Check out these tools and apps that can get your business moving in a greener (and cheaper) direction.
4 Ways Foursquare Can Improve Your Workplace
Though mainly thought of as a location-based social game, Foursquare is showing some big internal potential for companies. Build camaraderie, enthusiasm, and knowledge among your team. This post can show you how.
HOW TO: Cultivate Your Brand’s Super Users
The customers who already use and love your product could be the most influential spokespeople for your brand. This post discusses how to identify these super users, and how to make the most of their passion.
HOW TO: Make Sure You’re Tracking the Right Data
The flood gates are open on social data, and if marketers don’t pay attention to the right things, the volume can easily get overwhelming. Here are some tips for honing in on the data the really matters to your marketing strategy.
What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Your Business
Facebook’s latest big changes have big ramifications for marketers and businesses with a presence on the network and the web at large. Find out what these developments mean for your social strategy in this post.
10 Essential Tips for Building Your Small Biz Team
Your business’s most important asset is your team, and hiring the right individuals can be a challenge. Check out this advice in your hunt for that new slam dunk employee.
5 Ways Small Businesses Can Leverage LinkedIn’s New Features
LinkedIn’s new social feeds mean more opportunities to share and connect on the business network. Here are 5 tips for making the most of these new features.
HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Offline Networking Events
While online social networking is all well and good, don’t forgo an opportunity to translate your online reach into a meaningful offline connection. This post has some great pointers.
Why Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses
Co-working is a great way for your small business to save on overhead costs while leveraging the natural synergies between your team and other professionals working out of the same space.
10 Must-Have BlackBerry Apps for Small Business
The king of business mobile devices can do a lot more than just send e-mail and make calls. These 10 apps can boost your productivity, and keep you connected on the go.
The Local Advertising War Will Be a Clash of the Internet Titans
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and even Foursquare are on track for a cataclysmic battle for location-based advertising dollars. Here’s a look at where we stand, and what to expect.
5 Ways Small Businesses Can Use Tech to Save Money
If you’re looking to trim a few dollars from this quarter’s budget, the resources you need may be starting back at you from you from this very screen. Check out these penny-pinching tech tips.
How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results
While you probably won’t learn the nitty-gritty details of a deal on Twitter, VCs and angels use social media extensively for research, promotion and other purposes. This post explores some of their strategies.
Which Department Owns Social Media?
Does a company’s social media presence belong to the marketing department? Customer service? Legal? We asked the experts how they categorize the versatile medium for business.
13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn
Are you effectively managing your LinkedIn profile? Here are 13 tips for making yourself visible and presentable on the business network.
HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget
The social web makes it more cost-effective than ever to get the word out about your business, no matter what industry you’re in. We spoke to the experts for their cost-cutting tips.
4 Tips for B2B Marketing on Facebook
Even if you sell to other businesses, Facebook can still be a great place to engage customers and drive sales. Check out these four strategies.
Why Your Company Needs to Embrace Social CRM
Social media is changing the rules of customer engagement. Your company needs to understand and embrace Social CRM to meet the needs of the new social customer. This post discusses how.
5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories
When most think of social media for business, fun, consumer-facing brands come to mind. But what about B2B and niche products? These five success stories may surprise you.
5 More Simple Tools for a Paperless Office
Looking for ways to reduce your small business’ carbon footprint and operating costs? Cut your paper consumption with these five web-based services.

Mobile

4 Reasons the iPhone Is a (Video)Game Changer
The iPhone has truly taken the video game world by storm, and there’s plenty yet to explore in mobile gaming. Check out this analysis of the current trends, and what they might mean for the future of the industry.
HOW TO: Turn Your Android Phone Into a Killer MP3 Player
If you shun the iMusic lifestyle, you can still keep all your favorite tunes at your fingertips with an Android device. This post will show you how.
Top 10 iPhone Apps for TV Fanatics
Whether you’re addicted to Lost, or have taken up the guilty pleasure of Gossip Girl, there are great TV tie-in apps that will keep you up to date, and tapped into some great bonus materials.
8 Best Android Apps for Health and Fitness
Whether you’re looking to get in shape or stay that way, your mobile device can help. The Android Market is full of health-minded apps that can keep you on track toward physical fitness. This post reviews eight of the best.
10 Free iPhone Apps To Learn A New Skill In 10 Minutes
Have you ever wanted to learn origami, CPR, or Morse Code? There are apps for those, and many more skills, so fire up your iPhone and check out this list of freebies.
How Mobile Technology is Affecting Local News Coverage
The news-gathering game has changed, thanks to the ubiquity of smart, multipurpose handhelds. Whether you’re using your own device to report and disseminate the news, or you’re tapping a social web of mobile updates and Twitpics for sources, the mobile-savvy journalist is out at the front of the industry.
7 Ways Journalists Can Use Foursquare
While Twitter and Facebook have been established as great places to make and break news, Foursquare’s growing popularity offers some interesting location-based opportunities for journalists.
8 Best Android Apps for Photo Editing
Looking to add a few tricks to your Android’s photography bag? Check out these eight apps that will have you cropping, filtering, and snazzing up those mobile snaps in no time.
How the Next iPhone Will Improve Your Productivity
The upcoming release of the new iPhone and its accompanying OS upgrade means a lot of important changes for power users. Here’s a breakdown of the key features.

Tech

HOW TO: Give Your Inbox a Master Cleanse
If your inbox is bursting with social media notifications, useless newsletters, and unsolicited messages, you’re certainly not alone. Use these tactics to bring your unread count back into a reasonable realm.
HOW TO: Secure Your WordPress Blog
WordPress is certainly a secure platform right out of the proverbial box, but there are always ways to protect your blog or site from the more nefarious denizens of the web. Heed these tips for more secure blogging.
5 Real-Time Location Trends to Watch
The location game is heating up faster than you may think. Keep on top of things by noting these important trends, as relayed by Joe Stump, CTO of SimpleGeo, who spoke at The Next Web ‘10 event in Amsterdam.
Why Schools are Turning to Google Apps
The state of Oregon has made the bold move to embrace Google Apps for its entire education system. The reasons and benefits are compelling, and could open up a wealth of possibilities for schools around the country.
8 Ways to Repurpose Your Old Electronics
Why toss your obsolete gadgets in the landfill when you could transform them into art, data storage, and other useful items? Here are eight suggestions for keeping your gadget habit in the green.
5 Quick Tips to Solicit Useful Design Feedback
Designers can (and should) take their work very personally, but this often makes it hard to receive constructive criticism. Here are five easy ways to get the feedback you need to keep a project moving forward.
5 Charities for Donating Your Old Electronics
Just because you no longer have a use for your second generation iPod doesn’t mean it should be headed for the scap heap. Take a moment to note these charities where your old gadgets can be put to new use.
7 Ways to Customize Your Real Life Online
Sometimes, a startup can offer unique products that a big retailer or e-commerce outfit just can’t. These seven websites will customize all sorts of cool stuff — from shoes, to chocolate, to pet food.
10 Awesome Webcam Feeds From Around the World
Live webcams offer a real-time, remote glimpse at some interesting locations. We’ve hand picked these ten great ones for your viewing pleasure.
How Big Live Promises Big Change for Online Music Fans
The soon-to-be-launched service Big Live aims to bring concert enthusiasts together on a social network-style platform. This post outlines some of the offerings of this ambitious project.
NFC Technology: 6 Ways It Could Change Our Daily Lives
Near field communication technology, which enables data to be transferred between mobile devices at close range, has been around for some time. Recently, it has been gaining traction as a practical way to shop, do business, and more. Check out these examples that could become commonplace in the near future.
5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood
There are plenty of ways to generate a playlist based on artist, song, or genre. But what if you just need a tune-stream for a broken heart, or an energizing workout? These five web apps can do it with a few clicks.
Why Much of Your Favorite TV Content Still Isn’t Online
With web video consumption growing, why has TV been so reluctant to fully embrace online viewership? We spoke to researchers and TV executives for some answers.
HOW TO: Add Facebook “Like” Buttons to Your WordPress Blog
This post goes over several ways to implement Facebook’s “Like” buttons and other social plugins into your hosted WordPress blog or website, so that you can hook into the Facebook social graph.
WordPress 3.0: The 5 Most Important New Features
The official launch of WordPress 3.0 is almost here, and it packs a host of excellent new features. Peruse this list to find out what all the hubbub is about.
6 Free Websites for Learning and Teaching Science
Release your inner science nerd and check out some of the web’s wonderful free resources for the pursuit of knowledge about our world. From genetics, to robots, to the infinite cosmos, these sites abound with information for students, teachers, and the just plain curious.
10 Awesome Vintage Video Games You Can Play Online
We dare you not to kill some time with these fabulous classics from gaming’s golden yesteryears. Strap in and click through to start reliving your former 8-bit glory.
5 Tools For Integrating HTML5 Video in Your Website
HTML5 is coming, and with it the coded potential to displace Flash as a viable medium for web video. These tools will get you rolling with the new format.
Five Amazing App and Gadget Demos from Google I/O [VIDEO]
Google and its partners are rolling out some amazing new products and toys in the near future. We were on the ground at the I/O conference to get a hands-on video look at some of these developments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, M-X-K

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, LinkedIn, Twitpic, Twitter, WordPress, YouTube, iStockphoto, video

Tags: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, small business, social media, tech, trending, twitter, youtube

WARNING: Facebook Clickjacking Attack Spreading Through “Likes”

Christina Warren — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:29:19 +0000

A new clickjacking worm is spreading through Facebook via the “Like” feature. The attack, which is said to have hit hundreds of thousands of users, uses a combination of social engineering and clickjacking to make it appear as if a user has “liked” a link.

The messages that are being used in the link text include, “LOL This girl gets OWNED after a POLICE OFFICER reads her STATUS MESSAGE,” “This man takes a picture of himself EVERYDAY for 8 YEARS!!,” “The Prom Dress That Got This Girl Suspended From School” and “This Girl Has An Interesting Way Of Eating A Banana, Check It Out!”

When a user clicks on the text that appears to be “liked” he is taken to a blank page that just has the text, “Click here to continue.” Clicking anywhere on that page will then publish the same message to that users Facebook page.

This vector is extremely similar to the Fbhole worm that spread across Facebook 10 days ago. Because users unwittingly end up recommending the offending page to their social graph, this is the type of worm that can spread extremely quickly.

Security firm Sophos has identified the linked pages as being infected with the Troj/iframe-ET worm. It doesn’t appear as if the worm does anything other than add likes to your feed, but if you’ve been infected, you’ll still want to take action.

Sophos recommends deleting any entries in your news feed related to the links and check your profile and info pages to make sure that no links or pages related to those sites have been added to your profile.

[img credit: Sophos]

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Antagain

Reviews: Facebook, banana, iStockphoto

Tags: facebook, security, trending, worms

WARNING: Facebook Malware Attack on the Loose

Pete Cashmore — Sat, 29 May 2010 19:05:14 +0000

A Facebook phishing attack is on the loose this weekend — the third widespread attack on the site in the past three weeks. The attack attempts to steal your Facebook login credentials, install malware on your computer and even get your home address.

The attack is spread via a “hilarious video” posted to Facebook walls, reports WebSense. When clicked, a form appears requesting your Facebook login.

The attack then returns you to Facebook, installs an app called “Media Player HD,” and asks you to download the “FLV player” — doing so installs malware on your machine. It gets worse: Depending on your location, you may also be presented with a contest to win an iPad … if you just enter your home address.

To avoid getting caught, simply remove the “hilarious video” if you find it on your Facebook wall. If you see it elsewhere on Facebook, don’t click it … and of course remember the obvious rule: Don’t enter your Facebook login anywhere other than Facebook.com.

If you already fell for the attack, change your Facebook password, uninstall the Facebook app (often called “Media Player HD”), and run a virus/malware scan on your computer.

The video below, courtesy of Websense, explains the attack.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: facebook, phishing, social media, trending

Facebook Announces New Privacy Features

Adam Ostrow — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:35:01 +0000

Following weeks of debate over Facebook and privacy, the company is announcing new features to address the criticism that has emerged since the launch of the Open Graph and Instant Personalization.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg — who penned an op-ed in The Washington Post on Sunday promising new privacy options — is doing the presenting at a live event at the company’s headquarters.

After opening his presentation with a brief history of how Facebook and its privacy features have evolved, Zuckerberg described a number of upcoming changes to the social network.

Facebook isn’t going to remove the dozens of privacy controls that let you customize settings for very specific elements of your profile. However, the company is rolling out:

One simple control for changing content viewing permissions to friends-only, friends-of-friends, or everyone — it applies to everything you’ve published on Facebook in the past. This setting will also apply to everything you publish in the future.
A simple way for determining how people can find you on Facebook, and what users that aren’t your friend can see.
A simple way for turning off the Facebook Platform, specifically, being able to opt-out of Facebook’s new instant personalization features and providing third-party sites with information.
A way to opt-out of sharing your friends list and the Pages that you like.

The theme here is clearly “simple” — an easier way to stop sharing information with people, websites and applications that you don’t want to have access. That said, it looks like instant personalization instant personalization will remain on by default.

The new privacy controls will go live in the next few weeks, and Facebook will be inserting a message on user homepages alerting them to the new options. Stay tuned to Mashable for more news and analysis on Facebook’s latest privacy moves.

[img credit: Darwin Bell]

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter

Tags: facebook, trending

New Facebook Privacy Controls Arrive on Wednesday

Adam Ostrow — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:06:37 +0000

On Sunday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised simplified privacy settings “in coming weeks.” It now looks like that timetable has been bumped up, with an executive at the social network revealing at an event in New York that new features will launch tomorrow.

What those features might look like is still anyone’s guess, but we’d expect to see an alternative (or outright replacement) to the granular controls that Facebook currently offers.

While that may appease some of those who think the site confuses users into sharing more information, the biggest question is whether or not recent feature additions –- specifically instant personalization and a series of social plugins -– will move from automatic opt-in to manual (a.k.a. –- default opt-out).

We see that as unlikely given the rapid adoption of the tools by web publishers, but we should have answers within the next day or so. Stay tuned.

[img credit: Darwin Bell]

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: facebook, facebook privacy, privacy, trending

WARNING: Facebook Malware Attack Behind Distracting Beach Babes Video

Pete Cashmore — Sat, 22 May 2010 18:24:42 +0000

A Facebook malware attack is on the loose this weekend, enticing users to click a “Distracting Beach Babes” video on their Facebook Walls. The Wall message reads:

“this is hilarious! lol Distracting Beach Babes [HQ] Length: 5:32″.

If you see this video on Facebook today, do not click the link: Doing so, and downloading a linked file, will result in malware being installed on your computer.

If you see the video on your wall, remove it. If you’ve clicked the video, meanwhile, run a virus and adware scan on your computer. And of course, be more careful about clicking suspicious-looking links in future.

Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, Antagain

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: distracting beach babes, facebook, malware, trending

24 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

Matt Silverman — Sat, 22 May 2010 15:55:25 +0000

If we had to choose one word to sum up this week’s essential resources, it would have to be “business.” If you own a business, work for a business, or even give money to businesses in exchange for goods and services, you’ll want to scroll on down and take a look at how even one week’s worth of social media news has shaped your industry.

Additionally, we we still have some good old fashioned mobile app reviews, some important Facebook privacy tips, and an interesting look at the way governments and agencies are using social media to better engage. So what exactly are you waiting for? Get started!

Social Media

In Defense of Facebook
With all the vitriol surrounding Facebook’s latest privacy gaffs, this post takes a moment to look at the people most responsible for our online privacy — ourselves.
How Facebook Makes Edgy Concepts Mainstream
Two years ago, the thought of sharing your location or credit card purchase history online would have seemed ridiculous. Today, it grows ever more mainstream thanks to major social networks like Facebook that make these early-adopter trends more comfortable for the average user.
Why Twitter Needs to Do More to Save Trending Topics
Twitter recently amended its trending topics algorithm in the hopes of producing more relevant and newsworthy results. But is this an interference in the natural development of popular topics? And is Twitter doing enough to remain a relevant source of real-time news? This post takes a hard look.
How the U.S. Engages the World with Social Media
You might be surprised to learn that the U.S. Department of State and many of its embassies around the world are having great success shaping America’s image abroad through social media. We spoke with some of the diplomats and officials who are making a difference through Twitter and Facebook.
21 Rules for Social Media Engagement
If you’re creating a social media policy for your business, or even your personal brand, these 21 points are a surefire way to stay on track and on message in an online world full of noise.
5 Innovative Websites That Could Reshape the News
While traditional journalism remains in upheaval, a handful of startups have provided a glimpse at what the future of news gathering might look like on the social web. Whether these models are sustainable remains to be seen. Check out this post for look at some of these innovators.
5 Essential Facebook Privacy Tips
If you’re not cognizant of your Facebook privacy settings, you may be broadcasting things to the world (or even certain groups of friends or family) that you may not have intended. Note these important settings to ensure you stay in control of your social data.
How Social Media is Changing Government Agencies
Agencies around the world are finding that social media is more than a broadcast medium. Active engagement can serve the public in important ways. Here are some examples.
EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes at the “Married on MySpace” Wedding [VIDEO]
We got an exclusive chance to go behind the scenes at the actual wedding of winning couple Dehlia and Graeham Ford-Feliz.
TwitPic Founder Talks About the Future of Twitter Photo Sharing [VIDEO]
TwitPic has become one of the most popular ways to share photos on Twitter. With a recent facelift and a lot of attention from prospective buyers, the company has some big plans in the works. We spoke to the founder, Noah Everett, to get his take on TwitPic’s rapid growth and future.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

8 Best Android Apps for Photo Editing
Looking to add a few tricks to your Android’s photography bag? Check out these eight apps that will have you cropping, filtering, and snazzing up those mobile snaps in no time.
10 Awesome Vintage Video Games You Can Play Online
We dare you not to kill some time with these fabulous classics from gaming’s golden yesteryears. Strap in and click through to start reliving your former 8-bit glory.
5 Tools For Integrating HTML5 Video in Your Website
HTML5 is coming, and with it the coded potential to displace Flash as a viable medium for web video. These tools will get you rolling with the new format.
Five Amazing App and Gadget Demos from Google I/O [VIDEO]
Google and its partners are rolling out some amazing new products and toys in the near future. We were on the ground at the I/O conference to get a hands-on video look at some of these developments.
How the Next iPhone Will Improve Your Productivity
The upcoming release of the new iPhone and its accompanying OS upgrade means a lot of important changes for power users. Here’s a breakdown of the key features.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business

5 Ways Small Businesses Can Use Tech to Save Money
If you’re looking to trim a few dollars from this quarter’s budget, the resources you need may be starting back at you from you from this very screen. Check out these penny-pinching tech tips.
How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results
While you probably won’t learn the nitty-gritty details of a deal on Twitter, VCs and angels use social media extensively for research, promotion and other purposes. This post explores some of their strategies.
Which Department Owns Social Media?
Does a company’s social media presence belong to the marketing department? Customer service? Legal? We asked the experts how they categorize the versatile medium for business.
13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn
Are you effectively managing your LinkedIn profile? Here are 13 tips for making yourself visible and presentable on the business network.
HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget
The social web makes it more cost-effective than ever to get the word out about your business, no matter what industry you’re in. We spoke to the experts for their cost-cutting tips.
4 Tips for B2B Marketing on Facebook
Even if you sell to other businesses, Facebook can still be a great place to engage customers and drive sales. Check out these four strategies.
Why Your Company Needs to Embrace Social CRM
Social media is changing the rules of customer engagement. Your company needs to understand and embrace Social CRM to meet the needs of the new social customer. This post discusses how.
5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories
When most think of social media for business, fun, consumer-facing brands come to mind. But what about B2B and niche products? These five success stories may surprise you.
5 More Simple Tools for a Paperless Office
Looking for ways to reduce your small business’ carbon footprint and operating costs? Cut your paper consumption with these five web-based services.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mashable, Twitpic, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, small business, social media, tech, trending, twitter, youtube

5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories

Rick Burnes — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:45:02 +0000

Rick Burnes leads the content production team at HubSpot, a marketing software firm that produces the Inbound Marketing Blog and Inbound Marketing University.

Chances are, most of the businesses you interact with as a consumer are on social media. Your local restaurant is blogging, your grocery store is on Twitter — even your favorite candy is on Facebook. Companies in mainstream, consumer-facing industries are all over social media.

But how about other businesses? Manufacturers? B2B service providers? Equine dentists? Are they experimenting with social media?

You bet. Here are five examples, all at different stages of their experiments, and all indicating the breadth of business use of social media.

1. Equine Dentist Builds Relationships With Facebook

How do you turn a regional service business into an international destination for industry thought leadership?

Facebook.

At least that’s what worked for Geoff Tucker, an equine dentist based in Palm City, FL.

In a business driven by relationships, Geoff says that Facebook allows him to build new ones. “People do business with people who they’re friends with. Period,” he says. “And Facebook is a great way to get to know people. It allows people to see that I’m a person.”

As he builds these relationships using social media, Geoff is also expanding his company’s reach. He says it was his blog, his Twitter feed, and his Facebook account that helped him win appearances on Horse Talk Radio and HorseGirl.tv.

So what’s this done for his business? Geoff says that over the last year, Facebook alone has generated about 100 leads and 10-to-15 customers.

2. Steel Building Manufacturer Taps New Verticals

As a manufacturer of prefabricated steel buildings, SteelMaster was initially hesitant to get involved in social media.

“It’s steel buildings,” explains Michelle Wickum, director of marketing for the Norfolk, VA company. “How is that going to tie to Facebook? It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but when we looked at the growth in Facebook and social media, we felt we had to get our arms around it.”

About a year ago, SteelMaster put its first toe into the social media water. The company discovered two important applications for their business. First, they found that Facebook is an excellent way to post pictures of customers’ steel buildings. Not only do the pictures engage existing customers — they also demonstrate to prospective customers the range of uses for SteelMaster buildings. “Photography for us is the hook,” Michelle explains.

Perhaps more importantly, SteelMaster found that social networks like Twitter and Facebook gives it exposure to and create demand in specific verticals where it previously had little traction. Chicken farmers and woodworkers don’t typically think to use steel buildings, but when friends and colleagues share pictures of their SteelMaster buildings on Twitter and Facebook, the farmers and woodworkers become interested.

3. Full Social Media Integration for Marketing Paint

Idea Paint is a Boston-area startup that sells paint that turns surfaces into dry-erase boards. The company uses social media throughout its sales and marketing process.

The company blog, where employees publish videos, images and stories of product installations, is the hub of Idea Paint’s social media activity. The company uses Twitter and Facebook to share content published on the blog — then to listen to, respond to, and interact with the community that content engages.

Marcus Wilson, Idea Paint’s head of marketing, says this system gives the company a level of customer intimacy and global reach and that was unheard of 10 years ago.

What’s this mean in terms of business results? Social media is now one of Idea Paint’s largest sources of leads and traffic — and it is growing steadily. Meanwhile, the company’s Twitter and Facebook reach grew 70% in Q1 2010, and is expected to grow an order of magnitude in Q2.

Idea Paint produced this video on their social media strategy, exclusively for Mashable readers:

4. Integrating Twitter Into the Paper Selling Process

One year ago, the marketing team at Neenah Paper, a manufacturer of high-quality paper products, confronted a growing problem: It was becoming harder and harder to reach new potential customers. Their traditional channels — phone conversations and in-person meetings — were not working as well. Prospects were tuning them out.

Jamie Saunders, Neenah’s marketing communications manager, noted that most of the company’s potential customers — designers, graphic artists and printers — were spending their time in front of their computers, and that social media could be a way to better engage them.

So Neenah took a step into the social media world. While the experiment started with Neenah’s marketing team, its sales team was one of the biggest beneficiaries. They discovered they could do prospecting and nurturing via Twitter. Today the company has 10 sales representatives across the country using their personal Twitter accounts on behalf of Neenah to close new business.

Jamie says these sales reps are finding that social media is simply a more effective way of engaging with their prospects. “It’s an invitation to have a conversation. You’re getting permission to have a conversation — a conversation that used to happen in person.”

5. Leading the Online Aviation Maintenance Discussion

In November 2008, a handful of auto executives flew their private planes to Washington, DC to testify before Congress in support of federal aid for their industry. This perception of corporate excess created an outcry, and the private aviation industry’s image was damaged.

At that time, aircraft maintenance and support company Duncan Aviation had just started using social media. The company discovered that the new medium could be a way to positively shape the conversation — to add its perspective and improve the industry’s damaged reputation.

Beth Humble, now Duncan’s social media lead, explains that while social media is an important part of Duncan’s strategy, the company doesn’t aspire to create a Comcast- or Coke-like presence on the social web. Instead, the goal is simply to influence the right people.

“There are a lot of industry people that we network with that are on Twitter: Journalists, other aviation bloggers, and industry and media outlets,” Beth explains. “If you connect with the right few people, you can really get in there and connect with thousands of people.”

For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

More business resources from Mashable:

- HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget
- 13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn
- How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results
- Why Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses
- What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Your Business

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, FANDER09

Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter, blog, iStockphoto

Tags: business, facebook, List, Lists, small business, social media, social media marketing, trending, twitter

Facebook and Others Caught Sending User Data to Advertisers

Barb Dybwad — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:53:20 +0000

Facebook, MySpace and other social networks have apparently been sending personal and identifiable information about users to advertisers without consent, despite assurances to the contrary.

Large advertising companies including Google’s DoubleClick and Yahoo’s Right Media have received information including usernames and ID numbers that could be traced back to individual profiles as users clicked on ads. The data could potentially be used to look up personal information about the user, including real name, age, occupation, location and anything else made public on the profile. Both of the aforementioned companies denied being aware of the “extra” data they were receiving and claim they have not made use of it.

The Wall Street Journal reports that since questions were raised about the practice with Facebook and MySpace, both companies have since rewritten at least some of the code that allowed transmission of identifiable data. Beyond those two companies, LiveJournal, Hi5, Xanga and Digg made the list of sites who have sent identifiable information back to advertisers when a user clicked on individual ads.

The WSJ found that Facebook went farther than most in sharing identifiable data by sending the username of the person clicking the ad as well as the username of the profile he or she was viewing at the time. This news could hardly come at a worse time for Facebook, a company that currently faces a privacy backlash potent enough to make the cover of Time Magazine this month.

Outside of Facebook, the other companies named in the article maintain the data they send to advertisers contains the user ID of the profile a user is visiting when he or she clicks on an ad, and not the user ID of the individual visitor. Both Google and Yahoo strongly refuted the idea that they would ever make use of any such personally identifiable data. Yahoo VP of Global Policy Anne Toth said of the allegations, “We prohibit clients from sending personally identifiable information to us. We have told them. ‘We don’t want it. You shouldn’t be sending it to us. If it happens to be there, we are not looking for it.’”

What do you think: Is this another privacy-related stain on Facebook as well as other social networks, or much ado about nothing?

UPDATE: Digg contacted us to clarify what they do and do not do with respect to personally identifiable information sent to advertisers. Chas Edwards, Publisher & Chief Revenue Officer at Digg, indicated that although the URL of the page the user is currently visiting is passed through (note that this is normal behavior — essentially how URLs function on the web), no personally identifiable information about the user themselves is passed through: “We don’t share user data or any other personally identifiable information with any advertisers or ad networks, even if a user clicks on an ad; we only provide URLs of pages being visited. For site analytics purposes, we do share user data — that is *encrypted* so that it can’t be tracked to PII on an individual user — with 3rd party research suppliers such as Omniture.”

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Twitter, Xanga

Tags: advertising, digg, facebook, facebook privacy, Google, hi5, LiveJournal, MARKETING, myspace, privacy, trending, xanga, Yahoo