It seems that incredible, triple-digit growth is not sustainable. Who knew? According to CNN, the number of Twitter users (tweeters?) has finally leveled out. On the bright side, the people using Twitter use it more than ever.
image from kelly Livesay's blog (thanks!)
Hard to believe, but this time last year Facebook and MySpace were even-steven. My how quickly things have changed.
2009 has turned out to be a monumental year for Facebook, a social networking powerhouse that garnered over 200 million new users and raised $200 million. This year, Facebook was the most visited site in the U.S. on Christmas and Christmas Eve. And let’s not forget that “unfriend” was recently given the distinction of word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.
Facebook has quickly infiltrated virtually ever corner of the modern zeitgeist. We’re anxious to see what’s in store for 2010 and beyond, but in the meantime, we tip our hats to you, Facebook. It’s been quite a year.
How do you sum up college in 140 characters or less?
Would-be journalists at Griffith University in Australia could tell us. The academic institution just made Twitter education part of the mandatory courseload.
“Some students’ tweets are not as in depth as you might like. But I don’t know if getting them to write an essay is any more beneficial,” said Jacqui Ewart, senior lecturer at the university.
Let the Tweducation begin!
“Paranormal Activity” might just be the latest anti-blockbuster not coming to your city.
Taking a page from the Blair Witch playbook, DreamWorks and Paramount are taking a grass-roots approach to marketing their latest horror flick, relying heavily on the assumption that social networking will do the rest.
“Paranormal Activity” opened last week in very limited release (seven select cities), and also released an Internet trailer asking viewers to demand the movie come to their local cinema. The studio is not only hoping social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter will build buzz for the film, but are using feedback to determine where to screen next.
Read more about the marketing tactics here, here and here.
CNN released an interesting, highly-investigative report today on the “12 most annoying types of Facebookers,” breaking them down into different categories of users.
Sure, we all know a “Self-Promoter,” a “Bad Grammarian,” even a “Lurker” or two. But is the author merely bitter because he has less than 300 friends? Or perhaps on the receiving end of some not-so-flattering photo tags? Either way, he seems to be in on the joke. And so are we.
The Ford Fiesta has come to party. Ford has enlisted 100 brand ambassadors, aka “agents” to spend six months behind the wheel of a Fiesta, reporting on their experiences. Their mission, should they choose to accept it (we think they have), is to lifestream their experiences on the road. You can even read about the agents, their missions, and what turns their wheels. Nothing like putting a face to a Fiesta.
Read more about the Fiesta movement here.