Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Friday, 2 September 2011
Patent Wars: A New Age of Competition
Patents are a source of constant lawsuits between large tech companies like Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. They’re one reason Google wants to pay $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility. And many entrepreneurs believe these documents stunt innovation rather than protect it.
Last year, 107,792 patents were issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Here are some interesting points on the history, process and recent impacts of this important component of the tech ecosystem.
Friday, September 02, 2011 0
Oprah to Appear Live on Facebook, Invites Your Questions
Oprah Winfrey is coming to Facebook next week. On September 8, the TV star will be the one answering questions rather than asking them, appearing on a one-hour Facebook Live streaming video interview on Sept. 8 at 10 P.M. South African Time.
To see the live webcast, go to Facebook Live on Sept. 8 and Oprah will answer questions shared by visitors to theFacebook Live event wall. Fans are invited to share their questions now, with the promise that “you might hear Oprah answer your question during the live show.”
Oprah is no stranger to Facebook. Her official Oprah Winfrey page is liked by more than 6.2 million fans. She’s also hip to the iPad-based magazine app Flipboard, where there is an official “Oprah” section.
Oprah has a burgeoning Twitter account as well, where she has 7.2 million followers. That number is dwarfed by the throngs of devotees the woman enjoys elsewhere. For instance, soon after she joined Twitter and featured it on her TV show in 2009, Twitter traffic was boosted by an astonishing 24% compared to day before the segment aired.
Friday, September 02, 2011 0
Monday, 3 January 2011
What Will Facebook Do With All That Money?
We’re still reeling from the news that Facebook has raised $500 million in new funding at a $50 billion valuation. While The New York Times report has yet to be confirmed, we’ve heard rumors for a while now that Facebook was looking to raise a massive round of funding to fuel its rapid growth further before an eventual IPO.
According to the deal, Goldman Sachs will invest $450 million in the social network, while previous investor Digital Sky Technologies will add an additional $50 million. Not only that, but Goldman Sachs will help Facebook raise an additional $1.5 billion through a “special purpose vehicle” designed to allow outside investors to indirectly invest in the company.
Facebook had previously raised $800 million, so when all is said in done, the social giant will have raised an astounding $2.8 billion. What will Facebook buy with all that new cash?
The first thing Facebook’s likely to do with its $2 billion in new funding is to cash out some of its existing investors and employees. The social network previously did this when DST bought $200 million in Facebook stock from its employees. Some of its early investors may also reach into the $2 billion pot and cash out.
Once that’s done, it’s all about growth. We’ve heard from a reliable source that Facebook is close to purchasing the Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park, California from Oracle Corporation. The deal could be finalized as soon as this week, but it won’t be cheap. The new campus will give Facebook the room it needs to grow for the foreseeable future.
Facebook is also likely to greatly ramp up its hiring. Currently the company has between 1,500 and 2,000 employees, a small number compared to its 500 million users and definitely small for a company with a $50 billion valuation. eBay and Starbucks are worth far less, but have 15,000 and 120,000 employees respectively. If Facebook intends to truly challenge Google as king of the web, it needs to ramp up its hiring in multiples.
The new round of funding could be the beginning of Facebook’s expansion into other markets as well. It has stayed focused on social networking since its inception, but it could follow in Microsoft and Google’s footsteps and use its vast reach to launch products in new markets.
At some point, Facebook needs to find new markets to continue its expansion. The company is on pace to serve 1 trillion display ads per year, but it could make so much more money with a competitor to Google AdSense and AdWords, the primary revenue drivers for the search giant.
What do you think Facebook should buy with its new cash? Let us know in the comments.
Monday, January 03, 2011 0
95+ Predictions for the Web in 2011
2010 was a busy year for social media and the web. It began (more or less) with the launch of the Apple’s genre-defining iPad tablet and culminated with the ascent of Facebook as the web’s most visited site. In between we had the fall of Palm, the rise of Android, the surprise of Groupon and the success of the Facebook movie. There was more, too, from fun new gadgets to embarrassing downtime (at a startup not called Twitter).
If all that was packed into the final year of the last decade, what’s coming our way as the calendar flips to the next?
For the past two weeks, editors and contributing writers at Mashable have been gazing into our crystal balls to try to discern what’s coming in the next year. Below is a roundup of all of our predictions posts for 2011, covering over 90 topical predictions for what’s in store for the web and social media in the coming year.
- Ben Parr on predictions for… Social Networks in 2011
- Tim Ferriss on predictions for… Social Media Marketing in 2011
- Jesse Thomas on predictions for… Digital Advertising in 2011
- Vadim Lavrusik on predictions for… News Media in 2011
- Christina Warren on predictions for… Mobile in 2011
- Jenn Van Grove on predictions for… Startups in 2011
- Jolie O’Dell on predictions for… Web Development in 2011
- Jacob Gube on predictions for… Web Design in 2011
- Erica Swallow on predictions for… Small Business in 2011
- Leyl Master Black on predictions for… Public Relations in 2011
- Geoff Livingston on predictions for… Social Good in 2011
- Brenna Ehrlich on predictions for… Music in 2011
- Charlie White on predictions for… Games in 2011
- Matt Silverman on predictions for… Politics in 2011
- Brian David Johnson on predictions for… Connected Devices in 2011
- Josh Jones-Dilworth on predictions for… Online Data in 2011
- Gabe Zichermann on predictions for… Game Mechanics in 2011
- Philip Ruppel on predictions for… E-Book Publishing in 2011
Monday, January 03, 2011 0
Facto.Me Is an Addictive App for Sharing Facts About Yourself
From the maker of designer/developer community Forrst comes Facto.me, a highly self-referential app that’s at least mildly addictive, entertaining and social.
The premise is simple: We all have stories to share about ourselves, but sometimes, they don’t quite come out the way we’d like them to in conversation. We tend to disclose information about ourselves in passing and as it’s relevant to the conversation. Often, this means we leave out the most interesting bits about ourselves and our lives, simply because no one ever asks us those questions.
Like Formspring, a similarly addictive anonyous Q&A app, Facto.me draws our focus inward. We’re asked not to respond to questions from strangers but rather to share fascinating non sequiturs about ourselves, things few or no other people might know.
For example, Kyle Bragger, the guy who made Facto.me, secretly enjoys country music (secret’s out, buddy). And I turn to the crochet hook when I need to unwind.
Monday, January 03, 2011 0
Facebook Raises $500 Million, Now Worth $50 Billion [REPORT]
Facebook has received a massive new round of funding: $450 million from Goldman Sachs and $50 million from Digital Sky Technologies, according to a new report.
Monday, January 03, 2011 0
Saturday, 1 January 2011
6 Predictions for Social Networks in 2011
The past year was an eventful one for the world of social networking. Facebook went on an acquisition spree. Twitter started growing up. And MySpace? Well it’s the same old story over there.
In 2010, we predicted that Facebook would conquer the web. We just didn’t know the social network would do it so convincingly. We’re not oracles, though, and we did miss on some of our acquisition picks. Well, time for round two.
Now that Facebook is clearly king, what is going to happen to the rest of the world’s social networks? What will happen to Bebo? What’s next for MySpace? And will Facebook finally hold that IPO?
Here are my predictions for what will happen in the world of social networking in 2011:
1. Google’s Social Networking Efforts Flop Spectacularly
Google dominates search. It has nailed mobile. Oh, and it owns YouTube, the web’s biggest video property. So why the heck does it fail so miserably at social?
Until this year, Google’s had middling success in social — YouTube, Gmail, Gtalk, Blogger and Orkut have all had varying levels of success. This year though, Google Wave was shut down, Google Buzz flopped and Google’s big social initiative has been delayed due to in-fighting and a lack of clarity and purpose.
Here’s my first prediction of the year: Google’s social media efforts will be spectacular failures. TechCrunch nabbed a screenshot of the “Google +1″ social toolbar, one big component of Google’s social plan, we’ve been told. We remain unimpressed, though. As Buzz demonstrated, sticking something social on a page doesn’t mean people will instantly use it.
More importantly, Google as a company is built for speed and efficiency, neither of which are critical to the success of a social network. That’s why we predict another horrendous year for the search giant in the social realm.
2. A Middling MySpace Is Sold Off
Despite a total redesign and overhaul, MySpace continues to plummet like a boulder pushed off a cliff. While we’re fans of the social network’s attempt to reinvent itself as a “social entertainment destination,” the frank truth is that MySpace is bleeding money and there’s no end in sight to the bloodshed.
Eventually MySpace will bottom out; we just don’t know when. It won’t come soon enough for News Corp. though, and it will start looking for someone to take its high-profile Internet property off of its hands. MySpace is still a valuable asset in the right hands, so somebody will pick it up.
3. Bebo Gets a New Owner… Again
Bebo’s fall from grace is one of the sad stories of social networking. When we first covered Bebo in 2006, it was on its way to becoming a powerhouse. In 2008, AOL acquired Bebo for $850 million, an astounding (and overvalued) price point.
Six months ago, AOL sold Bebo for about $10 million to Criterion Capital Partners. Then they made a few big moves: they hired Kevin Bachus, co-creator of the Xbox, and brought Bebo co-founder Michael Birch back as an advisor and investor.
Bebo’s still shrinking though. Unless Birch and Bachus can orchestrate a comeback of Rocky proportions, Criterion Capital Partners will start looking to make money on its investment or at least minimize its loss. Even if it makes a comeback, Criterion’s reportedly interested in selling Bebo this year.
We expect Bebo to be in new hands by this time next year. The most likely acquirers, we believe, would be a group led by Birch himself.
4. No Facebook IPO in 2011
There have been countless rumors about a Facebook IPO since 2007. The media has been waiting with baited breath for the day that Mark Zuckerberg cashes in on his baby and turns his company public.
I’m here to tell the media: Don’t hold your breath.
I could create a list of reasons the size of an SUV why Facebook and its billionaire leader aren’t going to be raising money on the public markets. Here are just a few of them:
- Mark Zuckerberg is famously uninterested in money. He believes in delayed gratification and has lived in a modest home for years — he’s the opposite of the far more extravagant Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle. In other words, he’s in no rush for a big payday.
- Secondary markets like Sharespost have changed the game for cashing out on investments. In the past, VCs needed to cash out on their investments by acquisition or IPO, but as Accel Partners proved last month, VCs no longer need an IPO to do so.
- Zuckerberg sees no strategic advantage to an IPO. In fact, it’s just a lot more paperwork, headaches and scrutiny. He’d love to delay that as long as possible.
- Facebook doesn’t believe it’s ready for an IPO: “Facebook would benefit from another year of growth absent the added scrutiny that comes with a public listing,” Business Week reported earlier this year.
The result is that there won’t be a Facebook IPO in 2011. So long as the company’s growth metrics are strong, Facebook has no need for the public markets. When it hits its saturation point though, that’s when you should expect the social network to make its move. I predict that will happen in 2012.
5. Twitter Has a Very Boring 2011
While I don’t consider Twitter a social network, many people do, so it’s only appropriate that I provide a prediction for what will happen to Twitter in 2011.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with anything interesting: Twitter’s going to have a steady and boring 2011.
Sure, Twitter will launch new features, and senior execs will continue to step down and new people will take their place, but that’s what happens to any maturing business. Now that Twitter has new funding, has launched its ad platform and has launched a complete redesign, is there an earth-shattering event that could take us by surprise?
I don’t discount it; I just don’t predict there will be one. An IPO makes no sense with the new round of funding. A redesign isn’t necessary. Really, Twitter is focused on its ad platform and will launch features that enhance it. Twitter will slowly continue to grow, but I don’t expect Facebook-like hockey stick growth.
In 2011, Twitter is going to be one of the most boring social media services around. And I know the Twitter team is just fine with that.
6. The Social Networking Trend of 2011: Mobile Photos
“We’re in a unique time right now because of the power of the cell phone with the two cameras, both the front and the back, and the broadband networks that allow photos to be shared simply and consumed through social networks in realtime.” ~Brian Pokorny, Dailybooth CEO
Pokorny was discussing during his Ignite talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. He argued that publishing has evolved from the desktop (blogging) to the phone (tweeting) to the smartphone (photo-taking).
While social photography is nothing new (Flick) and Facebook dominate), mobile photography is just beginning to blossom, thanks to apps like Instagram, PicPlz, Path, and Dailybooth. Other services like Tumblr, Gowalla, Posterous and most recently Foursquare are only pushing the trend further.
2011 will be the year mobile photo sharing becomes all the rage. These services will hit critical mass as smartphone users install apps in order to keep up with their friends. I also predict that Facebook will join the fray and implement new mobile photo-sharing features integrated with its Places platform, bringing the whole trend to another level.
Saturday, January 01, 2011 0
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