New Social Networks Provide Limits to Sharing. Photographs by Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times Davin Bentti, who works in Atlanta, uses the Instagram application on his iPod Touch to control posting of photos. The service was introduced in October. Path allows users to share with Facebook friends, but limits the sharing to 50 friends at most. Some of these networks leverage the existing huge audiences of Facebook or to let their users reach the maximum number of friends. INSTAGRAM Instagram, a photo-sharing network based around a free app for ’s , is the breakout hit of specialty social networks.
Instagram’s secret weapon is its built-in photo filters, which modify your pictures before you upload them. Davin Bentti, a software engineer in Atlanta, uses Instagram to control where he posts photos. Social media, mobile tech on the rise for weddings. NEW YORK — As her grandfather sat pleasantly perplexed at her wedding, Lauren Barnes reached into the recesses of her strapless white gown, whipped out her iPhone and accepted her groom’s Facebook relationship change to “married.” “Nothing’s official,” she said, “until it’s Facebook official!” In today’s $78-billion-a-year business of getting hitched, those wacky viral videos of whole wedding parties dancing down the aisle seem positively 2009.
Social media, mobile tools and online vendors are abundant to offer the happy couple extra fun, savings and convenience, though most of the nation’s betrothed aren’t ready to completely let go of tradition. Some send out video save-the-dates, include high-speed scannable “QR” barcodes on invitations, live-stream their ceremonies for far-flung loved ones to watch online, and open their party playlists to let friends and families help choose the tunes. One couple featured a “guest of the week” on their wedding blog. Stone is using DepositaGift.com. Infographic: A Look At The Size And Shape Of The Geosocial Universe In 2011. Thanks to Jesse Thomas of interactive design agency JESS3, we now have an updated look at the structure of the geosocial universe as it exists in anno domini 2011.
It wasn’t so long ago that the International Astronomical Union booted Pluto out of the solar system or that MySpace was overtaking Yahoo! And Google as the most-visited site in the U.S. Well, a few rotations around the sun later, and the overall shape of the geosocial universe has changed dramatically. New stars have been born and others have been scattered out across the cold recesses of Internet space. Today, Myspace is sputtering, Skype is part of the Microsoft solar system, and LinkedIn is being traded publicly. As you’ll see, Thomas’ infographic shows the current size of major social networks as well as the other well-known online services we use on a daily basis relative to their peers. Some other notable trends in the geosocial universe, courtesy of JESS3:
Why Entertainment Will Drive the Next Checkin Craze. In recent months, a crop of services have popped up that re-purpose the checkin concept, popularized by Foursquare, and connect it to media and entertainment, as opposed to location. In theory, the idea of checking-in to cultural concepts (like media, music, etc.) and not places is one that doesn't jive in the real-world. It would follow then that the apps that provide this service — GetGlue, Philo and Miso — are silly and far too extreme in ideology to attract anything more than a testbed tech audience. In practice, this alternative checkin behavior is one that is more cultural and familiar than anything the location checkin offers.
In fact, it emulates the way we experience entertainment in our everyday lives. The desire to share is unchanging — it's how we share that will continue to evolve with the help of social media and entertainment checkin services. The Culture of Entertainment Philo is hyper-focused on live television. The Checkin Connection Enter the checkin. Industry Matters. TNW Social Media | One of the Worlds Leading Social Media Blogs. Focusing on Social Media Culture, Applications and Marketing. Foursquare’s Next Game: Choose Your Own Adventure? Foursquare is growing quickly, gaining momentum from mainstream deals, and now they have the money in the bank to keep it up.
But the big question remains: can they keep it up in the face of major competition? Twitter already has location features, Yelp recently added check-ins, and soon Facebook will as well. How can Foursquare survive against competitors that have millions — if not tens of million or hundreds of millions more users than they do? Their answer, apparently, is to change the game. Today, on The Big Money’s Disruptors podcast, Foursquare engineer Anoop Ranganath appeared to talk a bit about Foursquare and its future. When Foursquare first started, the point leaderboard was an area of emphasis for many users — it really was a game to try and get to the top of it. “Foursquare is a game. In other words, Foursquare sounds like its game is going to shift towards a more Choose Your Own Adventure-style. If you want to learn more, click here. The Influence of Foursquare.
Foursquare is a location-based social network that motivates its users to get out and explore a city using three basic concepts – loyalty, encouragement and discovery. In January of 2011, Foursquare stated on its blog that the company grew 3,400%. That's not up to Facebook's numbers, but the platform has made a place for itself in the social media world and has a dedicated base of users around the globe - Foursquare is reportedly nearing 7 million users. Now that it has been around for a while, we were curious to discover what influences users to participate. Foursquare is best known for its badges, which users get when they check-in to certain places. Users can also gain the title of "Mayor" when they've been to a place more than anyone else using Foursquare.
We set out to discover which elements are most influential to Foursquare users. As a Foursquare user myself, I find that one of these elements alone is not what makes it so interesting. Connect: Authored by: Nathan King.