X (Twitter)
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Pages That Display Tweet Buttons See 7x More Social Mentions
In a recent report released by BrightEdge, an enterprise SEO company, stats were released showing correlation between social buttons and social shares. Data showed that pages that displayed the Tweet button saw 7 times more social media mentions than pages that didn’t feature the button. This data was pulled from the “top 10,000 sites on […]
Here’s What Twitter Should Do To Make Photo Galleries More Useful
I like the new user photo galleries that Twitter started rolling out yesterday. They’ll make photo search and discovery much easier, especially for those of us who’ve scattered our photo uploads across TwitPic, yFrog, Mobypicture and other photo services. But I’m also hoping that the product Twitter launched yesterday is a shell of what it’ll […]
Twitter User Galleries Start Rolling Out Today
Twitter has begun rolling out User Galleries, a new feature that should make the process of searching (and finding) images shared on Twitter a lot easier. The galleries will show images — but not videos — that are shared on Twitter via many of the major photo upload/sharing tools, such as TwitPic, yFrog, Instagram and […]
Twitter Rolling Out New Features To Highlight Activities & Interactions
When you typically think Twitter, you probably think about text based 140 character updates. New improvements being rolled out geared towards spotlighting user activities and interactions may change this perception. These very visual changes are very “Facebook-esque” in their appearance and could be very appealing to new, less-savvy users. The most dramatic change is a new “Activity” tab […]
Twitter Taking Direct Photo Uploads, Will Create User Media Galleries
Twitter says it’s planning to create “user media galleries” that will house all of the media a user shares on the service — including items uploaded and shared via other services. The news comes at the same time that Twitter has begun accepting direct photo uploads via the Twitter.com interface. As Mike Cane pointed out, […]
Ready Or Not, New Twitter Lands For All Users This Week
Nearly a year after its launch, the “new” Twitter interface will roll out to all users this week — whether they want it or not. The company tweeted this afternoon with a warning to those who’re still using the old Twitter interface: If you’re currently using Old Twitter, we want to let you know that […]
Twitter Intros Ability To Target Promoted Tweets To Followers
As it continues to develop the advertising opportunities available on its service, Twitter is now allowing brands to target their promoted tweets to followers only. Like other promoted tweets, the messages appear at the top of users’ timelines upon login, and scroll down afterwards. They can also be dismissed immediately. The company announced the new […]
Twitter Search Gets “New Twitter” Look & Feel
For ages, Twitter has operated a standalone Twitter Search site in addition to allowing people to search from within Twitter.com itself. Today, that standalone site has gained a new location and been upgraded to match the Twitter.com search experience. Previously, Twitter Search was located at https://search.twitter.com. Now, that address leads to https://twitter.com/search, as tweeted by […]
Report: 58 Percent of SMBs On Social Media Sites, Most Have Only Limited Engagement
There’s been a boatload of survey data released in the past six months documenting the adoption of social media by US small businesses (SMBs). The numbers range from about 40 to 70 percent of SMBs reporting they’re using social media to some degree. Yet survey data aren’t always accurate because it’s challenging to get a […]
How Twitter’s Technical Infrastructure Issues Are Impacting Google Search Results
In the last few days, several noticed that the Google Toolbar PageRank value for www.twitter.com had plummeted to 0 (it’s now back to its previous 9). Was Google punishing Twitter for how things went down with the feed expiration that temporarily derailed Google’s Realtime search efforts? Nah, Twitter’s website has just been suffering from technical […]
Twitter Is Being Investigated By The FTC
Business Insider broke the news today that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating Twitter apparently due acquisition tactics of applications. Twitter had begun offering “official” versions of apps by way of acquisition back in 2010 with some notable apps including Tweetie and TweetDeck. Entrepreneur Bill Gross had also started buying Twitter apps under a company named TweetUp. […]
Obvious Corporation Re-Launched By Some Of Twitter Founders
Biz Stone is following in Evan Williams’ footsteps in stepping away from day-to-day operations at Twitter, joining with Williams and Jason Goldman, also a Blogger and Twitter veteran, to re-form The Obvious Corporation, the company that incubated Twitter. On his blog, Stone explained his departure: “…it has come to my attention that the Twitter crew […]
Twitter Launches ‘Twitter For Newsrooms’ (#TfN) As A Resource For The Press
Twitter launched Twitter For Newsrooms, a detailed resource to help professionals in news, TV, sports and entertainment use Twitter effectively. The guide is geared toward the novice to intermediate user and helps to standardize the use of Twitter. Specific sections include: #Report #Engage #Publish #Extra The guide contains advice including: ways to properly brand yourself, recommended tools, […]
A Portrait Of Who Uses Social Networks In The US (And How Social Media Affects Our Lives)
Did you know that out of all social networking users 92% partake in Facebook, 29% participate on MySpace, 18% are on LinkedIn and Twitter is the least utilized network with just 13% usage? Or that males on LinkedIn nearly double the number of females, yet female usage of Twitter almost doubles male usage? Today Pew […]
Buoyed By Facebook, Social Media Sites Hit All-Time Traffic Highs In May
While Facebook gets the lion’s share of attention, the overall adoption of social media is also lifting several sites to all-time traffic levels and there’s no sign that this will change anytime soon. According to a new comScore report, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr — in addition to Facebook — all hit new highs for U.S. […]
Twitter Adds Automatic Shortening For URLs
Twitter announced a new feature allowing users to tweet easier and safer. The official t.co Twitter shortener will now automatically shorten URLs right from the Tweet box when using the web version of Twitter. The feature shortens links to 19 characters, and shows users a preview of the destination link. When a user’s link will […]
Live Blog: Twitter CEO Dick Costolo At D9
Dick Costolo will be interviewed today by Walt Mossberg at the D Conference. Having survived another drive across the nearby Portuguese Bend landslide here in Palos Verdes, I stand ready to live blog. Let’s do this thing. Walt: Asking about the Pew study today with new stats on Twitter usage (see Pew: Twitter Usage Grows […]
Pew: Twitter Usage Grows to 13% With African-Americans Leading Adoption
Thirteen percent of the U.S. online population now uses Twitter at least occasionally, according to new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, marking a significant increase from the 8% previously measured in November 2010. Growth was especially strong among non-Hispanic Whites and those between 30 and 49 years old. Among online African-Americans, […]
Twitter Intros Instant Follow Button
In a bid to increase its presence across the Web, Twitter today announced the “follow button,” a snippet of code that can be placed on any Web site that allows readers logged into Twitter to click and follow instantly. Previously, a Twitter user would have to click-through to the Web site’s Twitter.com page and click […]
Twitter Buys TweetDeck, Promises To “Invest” In It
When rumors circulated in recent days that Twitter was about to buy Tweetdeck, there were red flags flying everywhere from people assuming that Twitter would buy the popular client software and then shut it down. Not so, says Twitter. In a blog post confirming the acquisition, Twitter promises that “we will continue to invest in […]
Who Started The “Dear Yahoo, I’ve Never Heard Anyone Say ‘Let’s Yahoo It’ Sincerely Google” Twitter Joke?
As you might expect, I monitor a number of search-related topics being discussed on Twitter. Over the past few days, there’s been spike in funny bit of advice that Google is giving Yahoo — that no one says, “Let’s Yahoo It.” But how did that get started? Let’s start with the joke first: Dear Yahoo, […]
New Twitter Home Page Emphasizes Interests
Twitter has launched a new home page design that the company says should be visible to all users now. Sure enough, I logged out and there it was. As you can see from the screenshot above, the new home page is less cluttered and instead focuses on a single statement: “Follow your interests.” Gone are […]
Twitter Improves “Who To Follow” Results & Gains Advanced Search Page
Twitter announced that it has improved its “Who To Follow” feature with better people search results and added a new advanced search page, making it easier to do such searches at Twitter.com. People Search Gets Subject-Specific Now when you search for a topic in Twitter’s search box, Twitter will suggest people to follow based on […]
Jack Dorsey Back At Twitter; Ev Williams “Less Involved,” Company Says
More changes today atop the perch at Twitter: Jack Dorsey, the company co-founder who famously sent the first tweet five years ago, is back in a day-to-day role as Executive Chairman and will be in charge of the Twitter product. Evan Williams, meanwhile, is “less involved day-to-day” at Twitter, the company tells us. Appropriately, Twitter […]
Twitter Celebrates 5th Birthday With Conan Show Appearance, New Video & More
Twitter’s 5th birthday celebration is underway — the company is sharing a new video, new website, blog posts, and has a national TV appearance on tap, too. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is scheduled to appear on tonight’s Conan show on cable network TBS. That’ll be the cap on what’s already been a celebrity-filled birthday. Twitter […]
An Illustrated Guide To Searching For Shared, Tweeted & “Realtime” Images
Looking for images that are being shared and posted in realtime? That image search space has gotten more competitive, as Nachofoto reenters the field. Below, what it offers, along with general realtime image searching tips using other services like Topsy, Google Realtime Search and Twitter itself. I’ve used realtime search tools often, in order to […]
YouTube, MSNBC Benefit From Quake-related Search Spikes, Hitwise Says
Search activity spiked late last week in response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the two sites benefitting the most in terms of web traffic were MSNBC and YouTube. That’s according to a series of tweets from Experian Hitwise this afternoon. As the image above shows, Hitwise says that the phrase “japan earthquake” […]
Twitter Says Activity Levels Are Soaring
With the five-year anniversary of the first tweet approaching, Twitter says user activity is soaring. In a blog post that details tweet and account activity, Twitter says it’s “growing at a record pace.” Here are some of the details: Users are now sending one billion tweets per week. Over the last month, users posted an […]
Twitter Awareness At 92%, But Usage Just A Fraction Of That
New research suggests that most Americans are well aware of Twitter … they’re just not using it. According to an Edison Research/Arbitron study, Twitter awareness in the U.S. among people 12 years old and older is at 92% — that’s up from 87% a year ago.
Twitter Putting Focus On SMBs For Ads Growth
Like Google before it Twitter hopes to tap the massive base of small and medium advertisers for ad-revenue growth. According to data in the Wall Street Journal, there are currently about 100 small advertisers using Twitter’s “promoted” ad products. By contrast there are “125 big brands” using the site to market their products or services. […]
On Twitter, Oscar Comes Up Short Against Super Bowl
Sunday night’s Academy Awards came close to matching the Super Bowl’s overall activity level on Twitter. But, like the Pittsburgh Steelers or The Social Network, it came up just a bit short in the end. Twitter says its users sent a total of 36.4 million tweets in a five-hour span Sunday beginning with the Oscars […]
Obama’s Silicon Valley “Tech Supper” – Who Sat Where? Why Was He There?
Why was he there? Who wasn’t invited and why? What did they talk about? Why was he really there?
Twitter As Utility, Like Running Water? That’s Goal, Says CEO
One should be able to access Twitter anywhere, on any platform, and the interface should be instantly usable. So said Twitter CEO Dick Costolo in outlining the company’s vision for its future at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, going as far as to compare the service to running water. “It needs to be water. […]
How Much Will Google Pay for Twitter?
There are three companies that we know are interested in or “hungry” for Twitter: Microsoft, Google and Facebook. In an article on bubbly valuations, the Wall Street Journal says that Twitter is again in “low-level” acquisition talks: Executives at both Facebook Inc. and Google Inc., among other companies, have held low-level talks with those at […]
Super Bowl Sparks Twitter Record For Sporting Event
Fans watching the final few moments of the Super Bowl last weekend set a new record for Tweets-per-second (TPS) for a sporting event: 4,064 Tweets were sent at 10:07:16 p.m. EST, according to Twitter. The previous TPS record, of 3,283, was set during Japan’s 3-1 win over Denmark during the World Cup soccer tournament last […]
Twitter Study: Mainstream News Are Carbs, Blogs Are Protein For Your Marketing
What do I mean by that headline? A study from Stanford University, summarized by the NY Times, found “that bloggers, over time, had more influence than mainstream publications in areas like technology or entertainment.” In other words a mention or write up in a top publication will generate a “sugar rush” of interest and activity […]
Report: Twitter Co-Founder Ev Williams No Longer Works There
Back in October 2010, Twitter announced that then-CEO and co-founder Evan (@ev) Williams would step down to focus on product. According to a report in the Business Insider, that hasn’t really materialized. Says the Business Insider report by Nicholas Carlson: The truth is, right now, a few months after Williams wrote a blog post saying […]
Topsy Social Analytics: Twitter Analytics For The Masses (& Free, Too)
There are plenty of social analytics tools, but the most full-featured ones are often too expensive (i.e., geared towards enterprise-level users) and the inexpensive ones usually offer limited functionality. And then there’s Topsy Social Analytics, which was just launched this morning and immediately becomes one of the best free Twitter analytics tools I’ve seen. There […]
Reports The Self-Service Twitter Ad Platform Is Live May Be Greatly Exaggerated
That self-serve advertising platform that MediaPost got a look at? Well, Twitter is denying that it’s the self-service platform it plans to roll out this year for long-tail advertisers, according to a report in ReadWrite Web. “Reports that Twitter is testing a self-serve ad platform are inaccurate,” the company’s PR folks tweeted this afternoon. “We […]
US Twitter Users Spending More Time Than Ever On Twitter.com, Report Says
A new report from Experian Simmons says US-based Twitter users are spending more time on the Twitter.com website than ever before. But the report also cautions that overall visits to Twitter are down. Experian says the number of US adults that visited Twitter.com at least once a month fell 14% between November 2009 and November […]