As the Republican presidential primary in Florida gets underway today, Facebook’s U.S. Politics page highlights the role that the social network played in the Chicago mayoral race in November, 2010.
When Rahm Emanuel stepped down as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff to run for mayor of Chicago, time was short as he had to move back to his hometown and launch a formal campaign.
Once Emanuel’s staff and his digital team at Bully Pulpit Interactive realized Facebook could supplement more traditional campaigning, the team identified three areas where social media could make an impact:
Informing voters about campaign news, events, and Emanuel’s daily activities;Driving voter actions, including attendance at Emanuel’s campaign events and increasing the rate of campaign donations; and Maximizing voter participation on election day.
The campaign’s Facebook page featured what’s become the norm for candidates’ position papers: advertising to encourage Facebook likes, photos of events and information about Emanuel.
His staff also tested campaign messages on Facebook to figure out what might work in other communications channels.
Although Emanuel ran with little to no serious competition in the mayoral race, the results of the social media campaign are still impressive:
30 percent of Emanuel’s voters interacted with his campaign online, with Facebook comprising most of the online strategy;87 percent of visits from social media channels to Rahm’s website came from Facebook; and He doubled his fan base in Chicago to 65,000, who together have 2.5 million Chicago Facebook friends who potentially saw stories about Rahm in their news feeds.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Facebook Has Favored Status Among Advocacy Experts
Advocacy experts, technology companies and grassroots organizers are meeting in Miami to share stories about Facebook and social media’s role in changing the way citizens communicate with elected officials.
“Grassroots” is outreach that involves average citizens using their voice to reach policymakers, traditionally through phone calls, in-person meetings or letters.
But platforms such as Facebook are revolutionizing grassroots communications because constituents can contact members of Congress, state legislators or local city council members directly.
And it’s one reason why the Public Affairs Council is devoting a major portion of their National Grassroots Conference to effective social media use, which includes an in-depth look at Facebook.
According to the online schedule, Facebook’s Kathryn Harbath, associate manager of public policy, is leading several panels, including “Facebook Forum 101.” She joins other speakers with public policy and social media expertise.
If the Facebook and Twitter conversation about the National Grassroots Conference is any indication, the opening day didn’t disappoint when it came to sharing Facebook tips and takeaways.
Brad Fitch of CMF offered an impressive statistic in the opening presentation: 72 percent of Capitol Hill staffers believe social media, including Facebook, helps them reach constituents they haven’t reached before;In the CMF’s report on social media usage on Capitol Hill, nearly two-thirds of social media managers surveyed think Facebook is a somewhat or very important tool for understanding constituents’ views and opinions, and Nearly three-quarters of the senior managers and social media managers surveyed think Facebook is somewhat or very important for communicating their members‘ views.
“Grassroots” is outreach that involves average citizens using their voice to reach policymakers, traditionally through phone calls, in-person meetings or letters.
But platforms such as Facebook are revolutionizing grassroots communications because constituents can contact members of Congress, state legislators or local city council members directly.
And it’s one reason why the Public Affairs Council is devoting a major portion of their National Grassroots Conference to effective social media use, which includes an in-depth look at Facebook.
According to the online schedule, Facebook’s Kathryn Harbath, associate manager of public policy, is leading several panels, including “Facebook Forum 101.” She joins other speakers with public policy and social media expertise.
If the Facebook and Twitter conversation about the National Grassroots Conference is any indication, the opening day didn’t disappoint when it came to sharing Facebook tips and takeaways.
Brad Fitch of CMF offered an impressive statistic in the opening presentation: 72 percent of Capitol Hill staffers believe social media, including Facebook, helps them reach constituents they haven’t reached before;In the CMF’s report on social media usage on Capitol Hill, nearly two-thirds of social media managers surveyed think Facebook is a somewhat or very important tool for understanding constituents’ views and opinions, and Nearly three-quarters of the senior managers and social media managers surveyed think Facebook is somewhat or very important for communicating their members‘ views.
Facebook Debuts Timeline Movie Maker
The mystery behind the Timeline Movie Maker domains that were registered earlier this month has been solved, as Facebook announced the launch of an application under that name that allows users to create movies highlighting moments from their timelines.
Timeline Movie Maker was created with marketing agency Definition6, and it will only work for users who have upgraded to the timeline profile.
Timeline Movie Maker was created with marketing agency Definition6, and it will only work for users who have upgraded to the timeline profile.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Tool Uses Chat Window To Solicit Facebook Likes On Websites
Before you go, there, can we talk you into liking our Facebook page? That’s the basic premise behind Like Chat, a new tool from Virtual Person.
Like Chat replaces the traditional like button on websites with a chat window in an attempt to better engage users and increase total likes. Its features include:
-The ability to configure the chat window to display just as visitors are exiting the website.
-A large content database that enables the application to engage visitors in conversation while pushing them to like the page.
-The ability to provide customized answers to questions about the brand, its benefits, working hours (if applicable, such as retail stores), pricing, and contact information.
-Automatic conversion of likes from websites to brands’ Facebook pages using the Virtual Person script.
Virtual Person Founder and Chief Executive Officer Tomer Sasson believes the next step for search engines will be to emphasize social searching, increasing the demand for Facebook likes, and he added:
That’s why it is important for companies to gain likes, and why they spend around $1 per like during various campaigns. Because we acknowledge the importance of the issue, we decided to create the next level in like generation, the Like Chat, for customers, for free.
Like Chat replaces the traditional like button on websites with a chat window in an attempt to better engage users and increase total likes. Its features include:
-The ability to configure the chat window to display just as visitors are exiting the website.
-A large content database that enables the application to engage visitors in conversation while pushing them to like the page.
-The ability to provide customized answers to questions about the brand, its benefits, working hours (if applicable, such as retail stores), pricing, and contact information.
-Automatic conversion of likes from websites to brands’ Facebook pages using the Virtual Person script.
Virtual Person Founder and Chief Executive Officer Tomer Sasson believes the next step for search engines will be to emphasize social searching, increasing the demand for Facebook likes, and he added:
That’s why it is important for companies to gain likes, and why they spend around $1 per like during various campaigns. Because we acknowledge the importance of the issue, we decided to create the next level in like generation, the Like Chat, for customers, for free.
Monday, February 6, 2012
No Rocket Needed For This New NASA Launch
NASA unveiled its first online space trivia game on Jan. 30, a Facebook app that allows multiple players to compete for cosmic bragging rights.
The free game, called "Space Race Blastoff," is a mix of Space Camp and "Jeopardy!" that pits players against one another in a quiz on NASA and space exploration history. Players with enough correct answers can earn award badges emblazoned with NASA astronauts, spaceships or astronomical objects, NASA game designers said.
"'Space Race Blastoff' opens NASA's history and research to a wide new audience of people accustomed to using social media," said David Weaver, NASA's associate administrator for communications at the agency's Washington headquarters, in a statement. "Space experts and novices will learn new things about how exploration continues to impact our world."
The new game was developed by members of NASA's Internet Services Group in the agency's communications office. It is the agency's latest foray into digital and social media. The space agency already routinely uses Twitter to announce space news and discoveries, and recently launched a space-themed Internet radio show.
In addition to facing off against other competitors in a battle of space wits, players can use the points they earn to complete sets of award badges or earn some premium awards, according to a game description. And if playing with others isn't your style, there's a solo option too, NASA officials said.
To play, competitors choose an avatar from a range of options that include scientist, astronaut (with multiple spacesuit options), alien and robot.
You can find the game here: http://apps.facebook.com/spacerace
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Tweet and Be Damned
Another firm has jumped on the Twitter sentiment bandwagon; Topsy Labs is planning to release a Twitter trading tool to investors later this year. Topsy follows U.K. hedge fund Derwent Capital, which launched a fund last year using a Twitter algo that claims to predict market direction three or four days in advance with nearly 88 percent accuracy. And U.S. firm Wall Street Birds, which offers a free service for investors to use to make investment decisions based on the analysis of social media data. (It has become so popular that to sign up you must get invited by an existing user.)
But are emotionally laden Twitter messages able to provide reliable bellwethers for market sentiment? As I said in an interview with Advanced Trading in April, I think you can use a Twitter algo to get a sentiment reading on particular topics, but by the time you've got the information it is more of a trailing indicator rather than a leading indicator.
Or, if it is a leading indicator, it could be wrong. A case in point is last week's McDonald's Twitter debacle. McDonald's posted an ad on Twitter in order to gather warm and fuzzy stories about itself. The campaign backfired spectacularly, according to Forbes, when its hashtag, #McDStories, was turned into a 'bashtag'.
Instead of cute stories about family dinners at McDonald's the hashtag was Tweeted around the world attached to tales of horror about McDonald's food.
The McDonald's episode seems to have triggered the urge to sell, with the share price falling almost 3% between January 20th and 24th, even while the DJIA was up over 1% for the same period. This share trashing reflected the mood. According to Twitter Sentiment, on January 25th #McDStories attracted a 68% negative sentiment. But McDonald's fundamentals were still good; Q4 profits were up and analysts were still recommending it as a 'buy'.
Most sentiment algos employ correlations that determine the market sentiment. For example, if #McDStories Tweets contain 'good' words such as "yummy" then they are rated positively. If they contain 'bad' words (not for publication here!), they are rated negatively.
But these correlations are not always very good market indicators. The Anne Hathaway factor is a good example. The Huffington Post pointed out in March 2010 that whenever Anne Hathaway was in the news the stock price for Berkshire Hathaway went up. (When Bride Wars opened, the stock rose 2.61 percent).
Another problem I have with the idea of using Twitter and social media as trading tools is that they can be easily abused. In October 2010, U.S. prosecutors nabbed a gang who allegedly used Facebook and Twitter social networking sites to tout stocks in a classic "pump and dump" fraud of about $7 million.
Whether information comes from a news story, exchange data, Twitter feeds or even Facebook it can be used in an algorithm. Therefore algorithms that use the data must have constant adjustment to ensure they are not running in the wrong direction. It is crucial to have the ability to change them on-the-fly and to monitor them for possible rogue tendencies. Otherwise runaway Tweets could create havoc -- to the markets or to investors' portfolios.
But are emotionally laden Twitter messages able to provide reliable bellwethers for market sentiment? As I said in an interview with Advanced Trading in April, I think you can use a Twitter algo to get a sentiment reading on particular topics, but by the time you've got the information it is more of a trailing indicator rather than a leading indicator.
Or, if it is a leading indicator, it could be wrong. A case in point is last week's McDonald's Twitter debacle. McDonald's posted an ad on Twitter in order to gather warm and fuzzy stories about itself. The campaign backfired spectacularly, according to Forbes, when its hashtag, #McDStories, was turned into a 'bashtag'.
Instead of cute stories about family dinners at McDonald's the hashtag was Tweeted around the world attached to tales of horror about McDonald's food.
The McDonald's episode seems to have triggered the urge to sell, with the share price falling almost 3% between January 20th and 24th, even while the DJIA was up over 1% for the same period. This share trashing reflected the mood. According to Twitter Sentiment, on January 25th #McDStories attracted a 68% negative sentiment. But McDonald's fundamentals were still good; Q4 profits were up and analysts were still recommending it as a 'buy'.
Most sentiment algos employ correlations that determine the market sentiment. For example, if #McDStories Tweets contain 'good' words such as "yummy" then they are rated positively. If they contain 'bad' words (not for publication here!), they are rated negatively.
But these correlations are not always very good market indicators. The Anne Hathaway factor is a good example. The Huffington Post pointed out in March 2010 that whenever Anne Hathaway was in the news the stock price for Berkshire Hathaway went up. (When Bride Wars opened, the stock rose 2.61 percent).
Another problem I have with the idea of using Twitter and social media as trading tools is that they can be easily abused. In October 2010, U.S. prosecutors nabbed a gang who allegedly used Facebook and Twitter social networking sites to tout stocks in a classic "pump and dump" fraud of about $7 million.
Whether information comes from a news story, exchange data, Twitter feeds or even Facebook it can be used in an algorithm. Therefore algorithms that use the data must have constant adjustment to ensure they are not running in the wrong direction. It is crucial to have the ability to change them on-the-fly and to monitor them for possible rogue tendencies. Otherwise runaway Tweets could create havoc -- to the markets or to investors' portfolios.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Mom Arrested For Abandoning Daughters Posted A Pic Of Champagne On Facebook
The 26-year old mother who was arrested for abandoning her two young daughters on a Brooklyn street on Sunday uploaded a picture of someone holding a bottle of champagne just hours after the alleged incident.Following the arrest, neighbors of the mother, Dalisha Adams, described the ongoing verbal abuse the children endured with one neighbor saying they heard Adams threaten her children on Sunday morning shouting, "Stop crying. Shut the fuck up. I'm going to get you out of here."
Another neighbor said they would hear the mother scream, "'Shut the fuck up! Get the fuck out of here.' I heard her cuss out her little baby. I hope she doesn't get those kids back. It's not right."
Adams was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor after an elderly couple found her two daughters, 5-year old Dominae and 3-year old Dioni, holding extra diapers and abandoned at a busy intersection in Canarsie on Sunday afternoon.
A witness said, "They were wandering up and down the sidewalk for a while, just playing by themselves. It's horrible. How could you leave your own children out there?"
Using records obtained by the Administration for Children's Services, investigators were able to track down Adams at 11:24PM.
The children showed no signs of physical abuse but were taken to Brookdale University Hospital for observation.
The grandmother of the two girls told The Daily News she was not aware of her daughter's plan and said, "I would have took them. All she had to do was call."
The intersection where the children were found:
Friday, February 3, 2012
Facebook Expected To Make Huge Announcement
Facebook IPO: Company Expected To File S-1 Seeking $5 Billion On February 1, IFR Reports
Facebook is expected to submit paperwork to regulators on Wednesday morning for a $5 billion initial public offering and has selected Morgan Stanley and four other bookrunners to handle the mega-IPO, sources close to the deal told IFR.
The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 picked Morgan Stanley to take the coveted "lead left" role in what is expected to be the largest IPO ever to emerge from Silicon Valley.
The $5 billion is a preliminary target and could be ramped up in coming months in response to investor demand, IFR added.
The other four bookrunners chosen were Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan, although the underwriting syndicate could be expanded later, IFR cited the sources as saying.
Facebook declined to comment on the report by IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters. "Lead left" refers to where the top underwriter's name will appear on the IPO prospectus.
The preliminary IPO filing sets the stage for a May market of the world's largest social network, IFR reported, a coming-out party that will dwarf almost any before that, including Google Inc's $2 billion IPO.
IPO VETERAN CLINCHES DEAL
Morgan Stanley's experience in arranging major Internet IPOs - including those of Groupon and Zynga - helped it clinch a pivotal role after an unusually secretive selection process, IFR reported.
Final pricing would not be set for several months, during which the size of the IPO could be increased should investor demand warrant it, IFR added.
The prospective IPO - expected to be one of the largest U.S. market debuts in history - has whipped up a frenzy of investor and media speculation this month, buoying shares in social media peers from RenRen to LinkedIn and igniting fierce competition on Wall Street.
The IPO - a prized trophy for any investment bank - likely set a new standard for how low its arrangers are willing to go on advisory fees to win big business, analysts say.
Silicon Valley start-ups from Zynga and LinkedIn to Groupon and Pandora Media Inc have since last year begun testing investor appetite for a new wave of dotcoms, with mixed results.
Investors last year had warned of a second dotcom bubble inflating, after LinkedIn doubled on its debut; but the so-called over-enthusiasm has waned in recent months.
The last dotcom player to debut, Zynga, closed 5 percent below its IPO price during its first trading day in December.
Facebook is expected to submit paperwork to regulators on Wednesday morning for a $5 billion initial public offering and has selected Morgan Stanley and four other bookrunners to handle the mega-IPO, sources close to the deal told IFR.
The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 picked Morgan Stanley to take the coveted "lead left" role in what is expected to be the largest IPO ever to emerge from Silicon Valley.
The $5 billion is a preliminary target and could be ramped up in coming months in response to investor demand, IFR added.
The other four bookrunners chosen were Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan, although the underwriting syndicate could be expanded later, IFR cited the sources as saying.
Facebook declined to comment on the report by IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters. "Lead left" refers to where the top underwriter's name will appear on the IPO prospectus.
The preliminary IPO filing sets the stage for a May market of the world's largest social network, IFR reported, a coming-out party that will dwarf almost any before that, including Google Inc's $2 billion IPO.
IPO VETERAN CLINCHES DEAL
Morgan Stanley's experience in arranging major Internet IPOs - including those of Groupon and Zynga - helped it clinch a pivotal role after an unusually secretive selection process, IFR reported.
Final pricing would not be set for several months, during which the size of the IPO could be increased should investor demand warrant it, IFR added.
The prospective IPO - expected to be one of the largest U.S. market debuts in history - has whipped up a frenzy of investor and media speculation this month, buoying shares in social media peers from RenRen to LinkedIn and igniting fierce competition on Wall Street.
The IPO - a prized trophy for any investment bank - likely set a new standard for how low its arrangers are willing to go on advisory fees to win big business, analysts say.
Silicon Valley start-ups from Zynga and LinkedIn to Groupon and Pandora Media Inc have since last year begun testing investor appetite for a new wave of dotcoms, with mixed results.
Investors last year had warned of a second dotcom bubble inflating, after LinkedIn doubled on its debut; but the so-called over-enthusiasm has waned in recent months.
The last dotcom player to debut, Zynga, closed 5 percent below its IPO price during its first trading day in December.
Sorting Through The Facebook IPO-Related Rumors
There’s no shortage of speculation and rumors about Facebook’s upcoming initial public offering, some of it plausible, some of it not so much.
First off, the Wednesday date that has been making the rounds from several sources does not mean that the actual IPO will occur Wednesday or Thursday.
If anything actually occurs this week, it will involve Facebook registering the offer and disclosing information that it was previously able to keep private.
The Wall Street Journal is also being more cautious with Facebook’s valuation, pegging it at $75 billion to $100 billion, while several other media outlets are running wild with the $100 billion figure. We saw that the company’s valuation on SharesPost closed at $79 billion, so that’s the number we need to stick with.
And then there’s the matter of which bank will be named lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs. Reports have surfaced about Facebook having issues with each of them — with Morgan Stanley for leaking information, as reported by CNBC and expanded upon via Twitter by Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino; and with Goldman Sachs for its mishandling of a private placement last January.
First off, the Wednesday date that has been making the rounds from several sources does not mean that the actual IPO will occur Wednesday or Thursday.
If anything actually occurs this week, it will involve Facebook registering the offer and disclosing information that it was previously able to keep private.
The Wall Street Journal is also being more cautious with Facebook’s valuation, pegging it at $75 billion to $100 billion, while several other media outlets are running wild with the $100 billion figure. We saw that the company’s valuation on SharesPost closed at $79 billion, so that’s the number we need to stick with.
And then there’s the matter of which bank will be named lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs. Reports have surfaced about Facebook having issues with each of them — with Morgan Stanley for leaking information, as reported by CNBC and expanded upon via Twitter by Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino; and with Goldman Sachs for its mishandling of a private placement last January.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
You Can Buy Facebook Stock Right Now: Mutual Funds
The possibility that Facebook might register with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public stock offering as early as Wednesday may make certain mutual funds seem palatable, although it’s overly idealistic to expect any upside this way.
The mutual funds that contain Facebook shares have small stakes in them that effectively get offset by the many other investments held in the same basket.
Buying a mutual fund based on a single stock doesn’t amount to buying shares of that particular company, especially when you’re talking about a holding that doesn’t factor into the top five positions, which is the case with all of the funds we’re about to mention here.
Additionally, public mutual funds disclose their holdings on a quarterly basis, meaning any activity since the end of 2011 and now remains unknown until the end of this quarter; it’s entirely possible that all holdings in Facebook could have been sold between the last disclosure and now.
The Fidelity Advisor New Insights fund contains private shares of Facebook as of the most recent disclosure of holdings.
Similarly, two funds at T. Rowe Price have Facebook shares: New Horizons and Global Technology.
It’s been speculated that Facebook shares may lie in two funds at Morgan Stanley: Focus Growth and Capital Opportunities.
Again, because of disclosure timing, it’s entirely possible that all of the funds might have unloaded their Facebook holdings by now.
The mutual funds that contain Facebook shares have small stakes in them that effectively get offset by the many other investments held in the same basket.
Buying a mutual fund based on a single stock doesn’t amount to buying shares of that particular company, especially when you’re talking about a holding that doesn’t factor into the top five positions, which is the case with all of the funds we’re about to mention here.
Additionally, public mutual funds disclose their holdings on a quarterly basis, meaning any activity since the end of 2011 and now remains unknown until the end of this quarter; it’s entirely possible that all holdings in Facebook could have been sold between the last disclosure and now.
The Fidelity Advisor New Insights fund contains private shares of Facebook as of the most recent disclosure of holdings.
Similarly, two funds at T. Rowe Price have Facebook shares: New Horizons and Global Technology.
It’s been speculated that Facebook shares may lie in two funds at Morgan Stanley: Focus Growth and Capital Opportunities.
Again, because of disclosure timing, it’s entirely possible that all of the funds might have unloaded their Facebook holdings by now.
Learn Who Unfriended You On Facebook
Facebook users who are disappointed that the social network hasn’t given them a way to see who has unfriended them can remain disappointed with Facebook if they like, but browser script Unfriend Finder, by Edouard Gatouillat, can provide the information they are looking for.
As first reported by Mashable, the script, available for download free-of-charge, is compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari. Mashable added that Unfriend Finder installs automatically for Chrome users, while Firefox users must first install the Greasemonkey add-on.
Once installed, Unfriend Finder:
-Adds a tab labeled unfriends to the top right-hand corner of users’ Facebook homepages, and puts a similar option in the user’s favorites list.
-If a user is unfriended by someone else, a red number notification will appear next to unfriends, looking exactly like the alerts for friend requests, messages, and notifications.
-Unfriend information, including the name of the user who committed the action, will appear in the main notifications tab.
The same information appears if users click on the unfriends option in the favorites list, but accessing the data that way will also give them the date and time of the action.
-Unfriend Finder also alerts users when people deactivate and reactivate their profiles.And the script allows users to keep track of friend requests (pending requests, ignores, cancels).
As first reported by Mashable, the script, available for download free-of-charge, is compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari. Mashable added that Unfriend Finder installs automatically for Chrome users, while Firefox users must first install the Greasemonkey add-on.
Once installed, Unfriend Finder:
-Adds a tab labeled unfriends to the top right-hand corner of users’ Facebook homepages, and puts a similar option in the user’s favorites list.
-If a user is unfriended by someone else, a red number notification will appear next to unfriends, looking exactly like the alerts for friend requests, messages, and notifications.
-Unfriend information, including the name of the user who committed the action, will appear in the main notifications tab.
The same information appears if users click on the unfriends option in the favorites list, but accessing the data that way will also give them the date and time of the action.
-Unfriend Finder also alerts users when people deactivate and reactivate their profiles.And the script allows users to keep track of friend requests (pending requests, ignores, cancels).
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Facebook Might Unveil Timeline Brand Pages On Feb. 29
February 29 only appears on the calendar every four years, and the 2012 edition may include Facebook’s official announcement on timeline for pages.
A source told Business Insider that the social network may use its invitation-only Facebook Marketing Conference that day to make the announcement, saying:
At Facebook, they pushed back the launch of timeline for brands to the end of February. Those two pieces of information are too much of a coincidence.
Another source told Business Insider:
Timeline is coming to brand pages. Most people don’t even know.
The Facebook Marketing Conference event, parts of which will be live-streamed, will be held in New York February 29, and it features a keynote by Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Vice President of Product Chris Cox, and VP of Advertising and Global Operations David Fischer.
If the information from the sources is accurate, those three executives are a perfect fit for handling the introduction.
Of course, it’s possible that the three might announce something else of interest to marketers. Facebook won’t disclose a date for launching timeline on pages until the rollout on profiles is complete, and the date for that remains unknown.
Regardless, the rollout of timeline for profiles is giving marketers plenty of things to get up to speed on in the mean time.
Readers, do you think we’ll see timeline on pages at the end of February?
A source told Business Insider that the social network may use its invitation-only Facebook Marketing Conference that day to make the announcement, saying:
At Facebook, they pushed back the launch of timeline for brands to the end of February. Those two pieces of information are too much of a coincidence.
Another source told Business Insider:
Timeline is coming to brand pages. Most people don’t even know.
The Facebook Marketing Conference event, parts of which will be live-streamed, will be held in New York February 29, and it features a keynote by Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Vice President of Product Chris Cox, and VP of Advertising and Global Operations David Fischer.
If the information from the sources is accurate, those three executives are a perfect fit for handling the introduction.
Of course, it’s possible that the three might announce something else of interest to marketers. Facebook won’t disclose a date for launching timeline on pages until the rollout on profiles is complete, and the date for that remains unknown.
Regardless, the rollout of timeline for profiles is giving marketers plenty of things to get up to speed on in the mean time.
Readers, do you think we’ll see timeline on pages at the end of February?
Over 50% Of Facebook Users Worry About Timeline
More than half of Facebook users are worried about timeline, according to a poll of 4,110 people by Sophos.
More specifically, of the 4,110 respondents to the Sophos poll:
51.29 percent said timeline worried them;32.36 percent said they didn’t know why they were still on Facebook;8.39 percent guessed they’d get used to timeline; and7.96 percent liked timeline.
As Sophos pointed out, the type of Facebook user who would respond to one of its polls is likely more security-conscious than the average user on the social network.
Still, more than 50 percent expressing concern and fewer than eight percent giving timeline the thumbs-up isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
Readers: Are you concerned about the security implications of the amount of personal information that can potentially be revealed by timeline if you don’t use the settings correctly?
More specifically, of the 4,110 respondents to the Sophos poll:
51.29 percent said timeline worried them;32.36 percent said they didn’t know why they were still on Facebook;8.39 percent guessed they’d get used to timeline; and7.96 percent liked timeline.
As Sophos pointed out, the type of Facebook user who would respond to one of its polls is likely more security-conscious than the average user on the social network.
Still, more than 50 percent expressing concern and fewer than eight percent giving timeline the thumbs-up isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
Readers: Are you concerned about the security implications of the amount of personal information that can potentially be revealed by timeline if you don’t use the settings correctly?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)