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Social-networking app for family and close friends adds new sharing features to Android and iPhone apps.

Larger photo presentation on Path 2.5

Path, the social-networking app designed to keep users in touch with family and close friends, rolled out a major update this evening for the iPhone and Android platforms that brings a variety of new features, including the ability to "nudge" friends.

Version 2.5 of the app, the first major update to the mobile app since November 2011, introduces book and movie sharing, larger images, and new photo editing tools.

Photos will now appear larger in home feeds, and users will have the option of adding filters. Users can snap photos by touching the volume button or immediately switch to capturing video with a single tap of the video screen.

The new version also allows users to share movies and books with friends, as well as get reviews and actor and author information without leaving Path.

"It's our hope that these additions to Path allow [users] to watch and read what your friends are watching and reading," the company said in a company blog post announcing the rollout.

Path streamlined the intro process with a short tour called Path 101 designed to get new users up and running more quickly.

One of the more interesting new features of the app allows users to "nudge" inactive friends and family. Like Facebook's "poke," the feature encourages inactive friends to post what they've been up to. It also allows users to send friend suggestions to friends and add personal voice messages.

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Path unveils 2.5: Larger photos, movie sharing, and a 'nudge'

The explosion in the use of social networking and smartphones in the past four years means the London 2012 Olympics will be the most tweeted, blogged and reported upon event in history.

Ironically, although the approximately 10,500 competitors are ensconced in the Olympic village behind 17 kilometres of four-metre-high electric fencing, they have probably never been more accessible to the public.

For such a carefully orchestrated and commercially controlled event as the Olympics, the thought of athletes running free and loose with their views rather than merely appearing at choreographed press conferences is anathema to the International Olympic Committee and commercial sponsors alike.

The IOC has looked to keep pace with the challenges thrown up by the social networking phenomenon with initiatives such as a social media hub that links internet users with athletes.

It has also drawn up guidelines on the use of social media - but this move is very much a gesture of futility nearly equal to that of King Canute, when he ordered the waves to retreat from the shore.

Since the Beijing Olympics, the number of Facebook users has surged to 900 million from just 100 million, while there are over 500-million active users on Twitter, compared to just 6 million in 2008.

Twitter has already claimed its first victim of the 2012 London Olympics, with Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou forced to pack her bags because of a racist tweet.

The uproar caused by her remark about West Nile mosquitoes and the number of Africans in Greece is yet another indication, if one was needed, of the ever-increasing power of social media.

Unlike the disgraced Papachristou, British gymnast Louis Smith waved goodbye to his Twitter followers when he moved into the Olympic village this week.

"It's important to show the public who we are, but this can reflect our whole life depending on what happens," he said. "I really want to put everything I can into this Olympic Games. If that means not tweeting and staying off Facebook then that's what I need to do."

Original post:
Social Media Changing the Olympic Reporting Landscape

Small businesses, unduly apprehensive about social networking, are losing out on online marketing and commercial possibilities.

Social media in India is growing at 100 per cent and by 2014, 129.3 million Indians are expected to join social media forums. According to eMarketer, the fastest growth in social networking this year will come from India, followed by Indonesia and China.

With an increasing number of users registering on social media Web sites, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can successfully use social media platforms to promote themselves. Despite the fact that social networking sites now reach 82 per cent of the worlds online population and social networking is the most popular online activity worldwide, SMEs are not capitalising on it.

It is true not only in India but even in the US, where nearly half of the population is engaged in social networking. Yet, according to a survey by Zoomerang, one out of every two small businesses in the US doesnt have a strong social media presence.

Similarly, in Australia, which has a social network penetration rate of 44.4 per cent, only 34 per cent of medium and 27 per cent of small businesses are plugging into social media (Australian Interactive Media Industry Association). So why is social media still a scary prospect for SMEs?

Primarily, the fear of losing control over sensitive information hinders social media adoption among SMEs. It is like putting part of the message in the hands of customers, who may go the wrong way.

The fact is that not every business is going to be able to use social media in the same way. So before engaging in social media marketing, SMEs need to be clear about what they are trying to promote. What is their unique selling proposition? Who is the target audience?

It is imperative that they do a target audience profiling, which entails deciding on demographics (who your customers are) and psychographics (why your customers act as they do).

Though the main objective of using social media is to generate leads, it is equally important to understand the target customers and engage with them accordingly. Hence, social media is about community building, not blatant advertising.

Perceived difficulties in technical implementation, ROI (return on investment) measurability and the ability to tackle new and complex security threats also make SMEs (especially the ones with limited technical ability) resist social media.

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Social media — big visibility for small biz

Facebook is looking at ways of allowing researchers access to its data to validate the company's research papers.

Annette Shaff / Shutterstock.com

Social scientists hungry for Facebooks data may be about to get a taste of it. Nature has learned that the social-networking website is considering giving researchers limited access to the petabytes of data that it has amassed on the preferences and behaviour of its almost one billion users.

Outsiders will not get a free run of the data, but the move could quell criticism from social scientists who have complained that the companys own research on its users cannot be verified. Facebook's in-house scientists have been involved in publishing more than 30 papers since 2009, covering topics from what drives the spread of information and ideas1 to the relationship between social-networking activity and loneliness2. However, because the company fears breaching its users privacy, it does not release the underlying raw data.

Facebook is now exploring a plan that could allow external researchers to check its work in future by inspecting the data sets and methods used to produce a particular study. A paper currently submitted to a journal could prove to be a test case, after the journal said that allowing third-party academics the opportunity to verify the findings was a condition of publication.

We want to participate in the scientific process and we believe that there should be a way to have other researchers validate [our studies] without infringing on the policies that we have set with our users, says Cameron Marlow, head of Facebook's data-science team.

If the scheme were to go ahead, it would apply to papers after publication. Scholars would have to travel to the companys headquarters in Menlo Park, California, because Facebook would not risk sending the data electronically, and they would have access to aggregated data only, and no personally identifiable information. The company would also allow access for only a limited period and contingent upon researchers signing a non-disclosure agreement. Marlow says, however, that these conditions should not keep researchers from being openly critical about matters related to the published paper such as technique or data processing.

External scholars would not be allowed to conduct their own studies on the data sets.

The alternative publicly releasing anonymized raw data sets is not likely to be an option, says Facebook. Internet company AOL, based in New York, and film rental and streaming firm Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, have both done this in the past, only for researchers to show that individuals could be identified in the anonymized data. It is hard to really guarantee that it is anonymous, says Marlow.

Facebook's proposals are a step in the right direction, say researchers. Their intentions are very good, agrees Bernardo Huberman, director of the social-computing group at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California. Huberman has voiced concerns in Nature about the lack of researcher access to 'big data' at private companies3. Facebook wants to get closer to something that is the scientific method, he says.

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Facebook 'likes' the scientific method

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Alliance Health Networks, the leading social networking company serving consumers and the healthcare industry, today announced the addition of Susan Ingebretson, director of program development for the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Center at California State University, Fullerton, and Christine Miserandino, award-winning writer and lupus patient advocate, as new patient advocates on the Fibromyalgia Connect and Lupus Connect networks, respectively.

Fibromyalgia Connect and Lupus Connect are part of Alliance Healths growing portfolio of social health networks currently serving more than 1.5 million registered users across some 50 condition-specific sites. Fibromyalgia Connect and Lupus Connect aim to empower people to more actively manage their health through personal connections, powerful tools and deeper insights. Patient advocates offer network members deep knowledge and experience dealing with a particular disease or condition, and can offer a unique perspective on how to effectively cope with and manage their health.

From the beginning, our top priority at Alliance Health has been to create an online forum that provides actionable information with a personal touch, and one of the ways we accomplish that is through our patient advocates, said Stead Burwell, CEO of Alliance Health Networks. There is a lot of information out there, and our patient advocates are able to draw upon their personal experience to distill it down to something understandable and useful. Susan and Christine are extremely passionate about helping people navigate their personal health journey, and I know they will be great sources of knowledge and support for our members.

In addition to her work at the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Center, Ingebretson has written extensively on fibromyalgia, including a book titled FibroWHYalgia: Why Rebuilding the Ten Root Causes of Chronic Illness Restores Chronic Wellness, which chronicles her own journey from illness to wellness. She is also a frequent speaker and a certified holistic health coach. More information on Ingebretson can be found on her website, http://www.rebuildingwellness.com.

As a patient advocate for the fibromyalgia community, Ill be able to share my first-hand experience in both dealing with and finding healing solutions for fibromyalgia, said Ingebretson. When I searched for answers more than a decade ago, I couldnt find resources specific to my concerns. Fibromyalgia Connect serves as a way to help navigate through the immense amount of information, and I hope visitors will find the sense of comfort and community that theyve been looking for.

Miserandino has lived with lupus for 18 years, and has also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Sjgrens syndrome, Raynaudsdisease and neuropathy. An ardent advocate, Miserandino is a guest expert on WebMD.com, has been a keynote speaker for many health organizations around the world, is a member of the board of directors for the Lupus Alliance of America, and is a member of the Society for Participatory Medicine, which aims to help patients make informed decisions about their care and treatment. Miserandino also runs the online resource http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com.

I believe that my lifelong medical circumstances have put me in a unique and understanding position, so that I can try to help people through similar difficult times, said Miserandino. No one should ever feel alone or singled out because of their illness.I hope the information and community on Lupus Connect can aid people in leading better lives through knowledge, networking, friendship and most of all support.

About Alliance Health Networks

Alliance Health Networks is building a free and independent social engagement platform that gives people the power to navigate their personal health journey. The company owns and operates more than 50 social networks and 20 mobile versions serving over 1.5 million registered members. Alliance Health leverages social networks to help consumers more actively manage their care through personal connections, powerful tools and deeper insights. The company's investors include New World Ventures, Physic Ventures, Highway 12 Ventures and EPIC Ventures. For more information, visit: http://www.alliancehealthnetworks.com.

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Alliance Health Networks Brings Two Prominent Patient Advocates to its Lupus and Fibromyalgia Social Networks