social media

7 social media lessons from the Grammys for organizers of other events

It's awards season in the U.S., with the focus primarily on the upcoming Oscars and Sunday night's Grammys.

Last year, I wrote about how the Oscars missed an opportunity to use hashtags the right way on TV, and I look forward to seeing if the organizers learned anything from this year's Grammys. (Note: CNET parent company CBS owns the broadcasting rights to the Grammys, but I am writing this unprompted and on my own).

Here are six things the Grammys did right on social this year -- plus one they didn't -- and what folks … Read more

Outcry as ob-gyn uses Facebook to complain about patient

Now that Facebook is not merely woven into the social fabric but actually constitutes it, we've become used to it being the forum for indiscretions.

Normally, though, it's teachers being amusing about their little pupils, or fugitives teasing cops.

One rarely hears of accountants posting that their clients are ugly, inefficient, or numerically challenged.

And one certainly hasn't heard of an ob-gyn complaining that a patient is always late.

As KMOV-TV reveals it, Dr. Amy Dunbar of St. Louis' Mercy Hospital ran out of mercy for a patient whose time-consciousness allegedly rivaled that of a singing, stomping diva.… Read more

Twitter to enable searches for tweets older than a week

Twitter said today that it has begun slowly rolling out the ability to search for tweets older than a week.

In a blog post, the social-networking giant said it plans to enable users to find more than just the most recent tweets.

The announcement is the second this week aimed at letting users surface more content on Twitter. Yesterday, the company rolled out updates to its iOS and Android apps, as well as to mobile.twitter.com, designed to streamline the discovery process on Twitter.

As we roll this out over the coming days, the Tweets that you'll see … Read more

Twitter streamlines mobile apps, adds search button to iOS

Twitter has streamlined its mobile apps to make it easier to find any kind of content, and has added a search button to iOS that can be used anywhere in its mobile apps.

The social-networking giant said today that it is updating its iOS and Android apps, as well as its mobile.twitter.com offering, in an attempt to make it easier for users to find the things they're looking for. The update is the latest in a string of tweaks Twitter has made in recent months presumably aimed at improving users' content discovery experience.

Perhaps the most important … Read more

Twitter won't make 'sacrifices' required to be in China: CEO

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said that the social-networking giant won't "make the kind of sacrifices" necessary to be allowed to work in China and Iran.

In an interview with the The Wall Street Journal published today, Costolo addressed the question of whether Twitter would like to be available in China and Iran by replying that the company is not willing to filter out the kind of politically sensitive material that government officials in those two countries would require in order to be allowed to function there.

Costolo also said a Twitter IPO is "not necessarily inevitable&… Read more

Twitter confirms buying social TV analytics company Bluefin Labs

Twitter said today that it has bought Bluefin Labs, a company specializing in social TV analytics.

The deal, first reported by Business Insider, would give Twitter the inside scoop on information such as which Super Bowl commercials drove the social conversation. It would likely also help Twitter become more of a media company as it tries to bolster its advertising revenue by working hand-in-hand with brands and with TV networks.

In its blog post today, Twitter said, "We believe that Bluefin's data science capabilities and social TV expertise will help us create innovative new ad products and consumer … Read more

Report: Twitter buys social TV analytics company BlueFin Labs

Twitter has reportedly acquired BlueFin Labs, which generates social TV analytics, in a deal which is said to be the social-networking giant's biggest-ever.

According to Business Insider, Twitter has closed a deal to buy BlueFin, a company that specializes in helping media companies understand how people use social media in conjunction with their TV watching.

As Business Insider wrote, "Twitter's move into social TV makes a lot of sense. It hired a Head of TV last fall and there's a strong correlation between people watching shows and tweeting about them. Just look at last night's … Read more

How Oreo's brilliant blackout tweet won the Super Bowl

Anyone watching the Super Bowl this evening saw a great game -- and one of the greatest embarrassments in pro sports history: a power outage that halted play for a full half-hour.

As the eventual champion Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers -- and tens of thousands inside New Orleans' Superdome and millions watching on TV -- waited, Oreo came up with an idea so brilliant and bold that it out and out won the night.

"Power out? No problem," the tweet read, along with a hastily put-together image of an ad showing an Oreo and the … Read more

Twitter: Hacking attacks may have accessed data of 250K users

Twitter said today that it recently detected a series of attempts to hack into user data and that the attackers may have successfully absconded with some users' information.

In a blog post this afternoon, Twitter explained the situation and the steps it has taken to fight off the hackers.

This week, we detected unusual access patterns that led to us identifying unauthorized access attempts to Twitter user data. We discovered one live attack and were able to shut it down in process moments later. However, our investigation has thus far indicated that the attackers may have had access to limited … Read more

Twitter's valuation said to hit $9.9 billion

Everyone wants to know what Twitter is worth, and while a number of recent reports have pegged the company's valuation as high as $11 billion, or as low as $9 billion, it now seems that the real number is in the middle, at just under $10 billion.

According to Fortune, a new block of early employee shares, currently for sale, price Twitter at a valuation of $9.9 billion. "The shares were secured by a fund affiliated with Gentry Venture Partners, which has been pitching the deal to clients," Fortune wrote. "It would seem the premium … Read more