Facebook – It’s All About Location, Location, Location!
It looks as though Facebook will tonight be launching their very own new location features, similar to those pioneered by Foursquare and Gowalla. Think tagging for the geographically-minded: new features are expected to tag any location mentioned on a user’s profile – be they in a status update, on a wall or in a photo album.
Perhaps in anticipation of this, Foursquare has made a big deal of its new privacy settings, updating pages on their site to help users understand and benefit from them.
Is such blatant flagging up of Foursquare’s new and improved privacy settings some clever PR move, set up a day before Facebook launches their new location features? Are Foursquare in fact preparing for Facebook to fall under fire – again – for their lack of privacy control with their new geo-tagging features? Or is this just a last ditch attempt for Foursquare to maintain at least some of its users now that the Big Daddy of social networking sites is launching its own geo-location features?
Read more at the Guardian.
Pic thanks to Mashable.
MIA Dissects Her Online Presence
In our experience, the music industry has always been a step ahead of the game when it comes to utilising social media (we were creating app content for the likes of B*Witched and A1 ten years ago, dontcha know). Be they classical musicians on YouTube, pop-stars on Facebook or unsigned hopefuls on MySpace, there is no doubt that online platforms offer a wealth of opportunities for artists to promote themselves and reach potential new fanbases.
But sometimes an artist isn’t happy with the way they’re being portrayed online. Cue The Guardian’s interview with controversial Sri Lankan/British rap-star MIA. She’s been talking about the challenges facing her on Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, blogs and more, for an article – ironically – online.
Read it here.
Facebook Gets The Hip Hop Treatment
Ever wanted to poke that hottie you’ve seen walking down the street? We’ve been particularly enjoying the Facebook-inspired video for The Toxic Avenger feat. Orelsan’s video ‘N’Importe Comment’ (which a quick go on the Google Translate toolbar tells us means ‘Anyhow’).
Featuring a wealth of modern social media and technology references (see how many you can spot!), the video is a pretty cool spin on the way social media has infiltrated our everyday lives, from ‘adding’ attractive new friends to scrolling through your wardrobe choices iPhone-style.
Check it out here:
The Times content paywall
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia has gone on record to say that the Times content paywall is a ‘foolish experiment’.
During an interview at Brand Republic, he said, ‘I think it’s not going to last, I think they will give up.’
He believes that it prohibits users sharing the content and because news is a generic commodity, there’s nothing unique to warrant a fee though he would have no qualms about paying for the New York Times on an iPad.
The payment for content has long been debated – and it’s interesting that companies are still making a case for it. Our basic mantra at All-Leo is that getting people to hand over money for online content is a pretty tricky task as there’s always something equally engaging just a click or two of a mouse away on another site. We’re living in an age when it’s about rethinking what is valuable to people – and generally it’s not what we used to care about.
As Einstein says, ‘We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.’
Read on over at Wallblog.
What happens to your Twitter account when you die?
Twitter has revealed its policy for the accounts of deceased users.
Just as Facebook allows users to request that an account be deleted or ‘memorialised’ when a friend or loved one has passed on, Twitter users can now get in touch with administrators at the company to either completely delete the account or obtain a backup of the deceased user’s tweets.
Is this something that keeps you up at night? Will you have to write a will as to who you leave your Twitter account to?
We find it endlessly fascinating as to how technology is creating and shaping people’s lives. Cool, huh?
Read on over at Mashable.
Pic thanks to SoxialMedia.