SOCIAL MEDIA WATCH: Be social, test new apps, and read this article, you will
It’s a fact. Social media is no “slow movement.” There’s no time to rest on your laurels. Content that’s making a buzz one minute is outdated the next. So here’s a quick look at what’s making news.
The little engine that could . . .
That little engine is, of course, none other than Facebook and the number of users is what’s steadily climbing. Facebook now has 901 million users and is on track to pass the billion mark in August. Statistics show that 58 percent of active users log on every day (guilty as charged) and 54 percent log on with their smartphones, which brings me to my next point—Facebook’s mobile presence.
Flashback to Instragram—Facebook’s costly purchase which caused a lot of ink to spill (not to mention moolah)
Marc Zuckerberg showed his flair for business by getting a whopping 50-percent discount on the purchase of this photo-sharing app. In fact, according to an article in SocialTimes, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom initially asked for a modest $2 billion. For us mortals, these figures are staggering, but for a social media god like Facebook, $1 billion is just one percent of the company—a mere drop in the bucket.
Numerous theories have been circling in the last two weeks that explain the purchase which strikes me as a tad compulsive given how sudden it was.
Theory No. 1: Twitter, social media’s No. 2, also had its eye on the app. This could explain why Mark Zuckerberg made the decision in just one weekend, without outside input!
Theory No. 2: The potential of mobile technology: economic, gigantic, and fantastic (insert more “ics”). The power of smartphones is on the up—in part due to the increased number of smartphone users, nearly 500 million, (this infographic illustrates the explosion of mobile), in part due to the marketing opportunities it represents for companies. Facebook heeded the advice “Be where your users are” and hopped on the mobile bandwagon by purchasing the application (hey, that rhymes!).
Theory No. 3: Facebook’s stock market debut is slated for May 17, 2012. The purchase will raise the company’s value and stocks. Anybody else hear ABBA’s "Money Money Money"?
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most influential of them all?
The mirror is called Klout, an app that measures your influence on the main social networks—your e-reputation as it were. How does it work? Just log on to your accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) at this site and bingo! But bloggers tend to differ in their opinions on it, dishing out both praise and criticism. The fact is that in the last few months, Klout has got people talking. The app’s interest lies in being able to share your score with other social network users, compare yourself to them, and create a buzz.
Dying to know who’s No. 1? Well, wonder no more because Mashable has come up with a list of the top 100 influencers in the world! And the lucky winner with a perfect 100 Klout score is 18-year-old superstar Justin Bieber who’s been driving tweens wild the world round. His video “Baby” is the most watched YouTube clip of all time with 731,841,279 views! Curious? Sappy? Click here.
Happy listening!
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