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Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone Jr. suspended from Twitter http://ift.tt/2xyBUC8 Following a late-night, profanity-laced, Twitter tirade directed at CNN anchors, Roger Stone Jr., a longtime confidant and associate of President Donald Trump has been suspended indefinitely from the social media platform. Stone (who looks like a caricature of a villain from a Charles Dickens novel) was likely set off by reports from CNN that the first charges had been approved in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the President’s campaign staff and Russian agents during last year’s presidential election. In a Sunday email to Politico, Stone protested the ban and said that he was consulting with lawyers about taking legal action against Twitter. “This is a strange way to do business and part and parcel of the systematic effort by the tech left to censor and silence conservative voices,” Stone wrote in an email quoted by POLITICO. The language in Stone’s email is far more staid than the commentary Stone leveled at CNN anchor Don Lemon on Friday night. Stone reportedly took to the social media platform and called Lemon a “Piece of shit,” and “human excrement”, and wrote that the host must be “confronted, humiliated, mocked and punished”. It’s not the first time that Stone, a political operative for the Republican party since his work with Richard M. Nixon’s Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) in the 1970s, has made vulgar attacks on Twitter. He does it all the time. This time might have been a tweet too far for the messaging service, since users have publicly excoriated the service for its responses to harassment and its arbitrary enforcement policies. In an email with Buzzfeed, a Twitter spokesperson referred to Twitter’s policy around harassment and abuse as a potential reason why the account may have been blocked. But don’t worry too much about Twitter’s attempts at censure. Stone has at least two other accounts that he’s still actively tweeting from…. Perhaps another issue that Twitter might want to take a look at when it examines its enforcement policies. Featured Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty ImagesSocial Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com October 29, 2017 at 05:56PM
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Instagram Live With Friends, Facebook Live Video Producer, Snapchat External Link Sharing http://ift.tt/2gQfauo Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media. On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show with Michael Stelzner, we explore Instagram Live with Friends with Jeff Sieh, Facebook Live Video Producer with Luria Petrucci, Snapchat external link sharing with Carlos Gil, and other breaking social media marketing news of the week! Watch the Social Media Marketing Talk ShowIf you’re new to the show, click on the green “Watch replay” button below and sign in or register to watch our latest episode from Friday, October 27, 2017. You can also listen to the show as an audio podcast, found on iTunes/Apple Podcast, Android, Google Play, Stitcher, and RSS. For this week’s top stories, you’ll find timestamps below that allow you to fast-forward in the replay above.
Facebook Tests New Web-Based Live Video Producer Tool
: Facebook is testing a new web-based Live Video Producer tool that allows broadcasters to “control footage from multiple cameras in one stream” and “choose different formats for displaying the videos, such as a split screen view, dividing into quarters, or a picture in picture mode.” (3:54)
Facebook Supports 4K Video Uploads: Facebook is testing 4K video uploads and viewing using the 2160p UHD-1 Ultra-High-Definition Television standard. Earlier this year, Facebook rolled out 4K support for Live 360 video along with other enhancements but this is the first time it has been spotted on standard video uploads. (11:10) Vimeo and Livestream Debut New Live Event Camera, Mevo Plus: Shortly after finalizing its acquisition of Livestream, Vimeo debuted the new Mevo Plus camera, a “pocket-sized live event camera… [featuring] faster data transmission speeds, increased range of use, stronger Wi-Fi performance, reduced network interference, and improved stability.” This new camera also makes it easy for creators to edit video in real time and stream live to every major platform. (13:44) .Instagram Introduces Split-Screen, Two-Person Live Video: Instagram now allows broadcasters to invite viewers to join their live video streams within the app. Once the other person is added to the live stream, the screen splits into two with the host on the top and the guest below. Instagram began testing this new feature with “a small percentage” of users this past August and rolled it out globally on both Android and iOS devices this week. (20:02) Slack Introduces Interactive Screen Sharing: Slack expanded its screen sharing capabilities to now include interactive screen sharing. Now users can “invite others to write, code, design – or whatever working together means to you – all directly from your shared screen.” (27:44) Snapchat Rolls Out External Link Sharing and Temporary Ghost Mode Option: Snapchat rolled out two new features along with an update to its iOS app this past week. These include the ability to share links from other apps via the iOS share sheet, which allows users “to send a private message with the link to one or several people.” Snapchat also rolled out the ability to opt for “Ghost Mode” for a limited span of 3 to 24 hours rather than having to completely turn on or off live location sharing. (30:40)
Facebook Messenger Integrates In-App Payments to Family and Friends With PayPal in the U.S.: A partnership between Facebook and PayPal announced a year ago enabled transactions from online merchants through their Messenger chatbots. Starting this week, Facebook Messenger and PayPal extending this integration to include peer-to-peer payments in the U.S. PayPal also rolled out a new customer service bot for Messenger, which allows customers to “seamlessly receive payment and account support directly in the app.” Facebook Tests Paywall and Subscription Support for Instant Articles: Facebook announced it will be testing news subscription models in Instant Articles with “a small group of publishers across the U.S. and Europe.” The program will begin with two paywalled options for publishers, a metered model where everyone gets to read 10 free stories per month before needing to subscribe, and a freemium model where the publishers choose which articles to lock. Those who haven’t subscribed to the publication will also be prompted to subscribe to gain full access to the publishers’ content. Facebook confirms plans to initially test paywalls and subscriptions on Android devices but it plans to expand it “soon.” Facebook Experiments With In-App Purchases and Ads in Instant Games on Messenger: Facebook is working with “select game publishers” to develop interstitial and rewarded video ads and in-app purchases within Instant Games on Messenger. Facebook also announced it’s making it easier for developers to submit and launch games directly on the platform with more robust developer tools for measurement and ad optimization. Instant Games is a closed beta platform for developer partners on Messenger for iOS, Android, and news feed. Facebook plans to open the platform wider once monetization features and tools are firmly in place.
Facebook Partners With Auto Industry Leaders to Simplify Car Buying in the U.S.: Facebook announced that “in the coming weeks,” Marketplace will be partnering with auto industry leaders such as Edmunds, Cars.com, Auction123, and others to make car buying easier for shoppers in the U.S. Facebook users will be able to browse inventory from auto dealers, use enhanced filters to find exactly what they’re looking for, and communicate directly with dealerships from within Facebook and Messenger. Facebook Workplace Officially Rolls Out Chat Apps for Desktop and Announces Group Video Chat: Facebook officially released a new desktop app for Workplace Chat with new features like screen sharing. Facebook also announced plans to roll out a group video chat with the capability to create virtual conference “rooms” for up to 50 people “in coming months.” Along with these new apps and features, Facebook is also updating the overall design of Workplace to simplify the interface and make it consistent across Android, iOS, desktop, and web. Facebook Stories Features Collapsible Menu and “Play All” Option: Two new features were spotted for Facebook Stories this week. These features include a collapsible menu and a Play All option for Stories. LinkedIn Debuts Smart Replies for Messaging: LinkedIn is using machine learning to generate “smart replies” within its messaging feature. LinkedIn will suggest three possible responses that are contextual and relevant to the conversations you’re having and the messages you’ve received. Smart replies are first rolling out globally in English within the LinkedIn mobile app and on desktop. In the near future, LinkedIn plans on “personalizing your smart replies further” beyond simple replies with suggestions that might include names. LinkedIn also plans to expand this new technology to more languages. VIDEO Google Expands Booking Button to More Business Listings: Google initially rolled out the ability to book appointments at spas and salons directly on Google Maps or search with Reserve with Google. Google has since expanded this functionality to more U.S. businesses. With the help of several scheduling partners, business owners can now add a Booking button to their listing directly from their Google My Business account. Google announced that this new feature will be rolling out over the next few days in the U.S. and will be coming to other countries and business categories “soon.” Facebook Clarifies Impact of Explore Feed Tests for Page Posts: Amid concerns that the rollout of Facebook’s discovery-focused Explore feed signaled possible changes to how personal posts and page content could appear in the news feed, Facebook issued a clarification around its test of a separate feature being run in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala, and Cambodia. Facebook confirmed that it’s currently testing “one dedicated space for people to keep up with their friends and family, and another separate space, called Explore, with posts from pages” in these specific markets but stated that it currently has no plans to roll this test out further or to charge pages for distribution in the news feed or Explore feed. WhatsApp Expected to Roll Out Voice and Video Calling for Group Chats: WhatsApp’s icons for voice and video calls were spotted inside an example of a group chat used in the company’s recent announcement about live location sharing rolling out to the app. This sighting has led to speculation that the messaging app will soon expand video and voice calling to ongoing group conversations. Currently, voice and video calls on WhatsApp can only be shared one on one.
Facebook Introduces News Feed Publisher Guidelines: Facebook released News Feed Publisher Guidelines, which include “do’s and don’ts” to help publishers succeed on its platform. They offer an overview of how the news feed works in light of the values and signals considered when ranking stories, the standards and policies being enforced, and the available storytelling tools that help content reach the right audience. Facebook then provides “actionable strategies and three publisher principles” for creating and posting content to the news feed. Twitter Provides Detailed Transparency for Ads: Twitter is taking steps to “dramatically increase transparency for all ads on Twitter.” According to the company, this initiative also includes improving controls for customers and stricter advertising policies for marketers. Twitter’s new, industry-leading transparency center will provide greater visibility into who’s advertising on Twitter and the campaign details about the creative, timing, and ad targeting for these ads. Twitter will initially roll out this update to users in the U.S. but eventually plans to make them available globally. Gmail Now Supports Third-Party Add-Ons: Google announced that Gmail users can now “do more” from their inbox with new third-party add-ons such as Asana, Dialpad, and other partners. With these new integrations, businesses can quickly and easily connect with customers, track projects, facilitate invoicing, and more directly within the Gmail inbox. Want to catch our next show live? Click here to subscribe or add our show to your calendar. Social Media via http://ift.tt/1LtH18p October 28, 2017 at 05:05AM
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Crunch Report | Hey Dillon Francis, iPhone X Is Now Available For Pre-Order http://ift.tt/2yXyH2x Hi!You are about to activate our Facebook Messenger news bot. Once subscribed, the bot will send you a digest of trending stories once a day. You can also customize the types of stories it sends you. Click on the button below to subscribe and wait for a new Facebook message from the TC Messenger news bot. Thanks, Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com October 28, 2017 at 12:49AM
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Twitter makes another rule change; this time tackling revenge porn http://ift.tt/2yRmRY3 In the latest of its (likely fruitless) attemptsto govern the seething mob that comprises its user base, Twitter rolled out a change in how it oversees the publication of what it euphemistically referred to as ‘intimate media.’ The latest rule change intends to combat yet another toxic Twitter problem; the prevalence of revenge porn throughout its network. Earlier this year, Twitter was under fire for its slow response to naked photographs that were distributed by Rob Kardashian of his ex-girlfriend, seemingly without her consent. The photos circulated on the site for thirty minutes before they were taken down. The new policy from Twitter states that no one can post or share “intimate photos or videos” of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent. Twitter’s definition of “intimate media” includes content captured with a hidden camera that may involve “nudity, partial nudity, and/or sexual acts”; images that are sometimes called ‘creepshots’ that involve a user being able to see genitalia, buttocks, or breasts of another person; images or videos taken “in a private setting and not intended for public distribution”; and any other images that may be deemed private. The company noted that some forms of consensual nudity and adult content are permitted on the site and gave itself a pretty big loophole should it fail to respond to something that could be a violation of its policy in a timely manner. The new policy states:
Luckily, this burden of proof standard doesn’t apply to “creepshots or upskirts.” In those instances Twitter won’t require documentation, “as it is often difficult for victims of this content to identify themselves.” Any account in violation of the new rules will be suspended, once Twitter identifies that the content was, indeed, distributed without consent. Retweeters will be asked to remove offending tweets with a warning that if they continue to violate the policy, their Twitter accounts will be suspended. Of course, as one of my esteemed co-workers noted, all of this is academic, since Twitter doesn’t allow harassment or hate speech on its site either — and those policies have worked out incredibly well. Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com October 27, 2017 at 08:49PM
How Social Media Has Evolved and Where It Is Headed : Social Media Examiner
http://ift.tt/2zJ94iY Want to prepare for emerging social technologies and marketing tactics? Wondering how to reach your audience as algorithms change? To explore the past, present, and future of social media marketing, I interview Brian Solis. More About This ShowThe Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Brian Solis, a digital analyst and futurist at the Altimeter Group. He’s considered one of the founding fathers of social media marketing. He authored The Social Media Manifesto and the book Engage. His most recent book is X: The Experience When Business Meets Design. Brian explores the insights revealed in his most recent update to The Conversation Prism. You’ll discover how human aspiration and intent can help you reach your desired audience as social media continues to evolve. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen NowListen now: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show: How Social Media Has Evolved and Where It Is HeadedSocial Media in 2007 The early days of social media were a really exciting time, Brian explains. After Web 2.0 in Silicon Valley in the mid-2000s, Facebook opened to the public in 2006, Twitter appeared in 2007, and early social networks like Friend Feed and Friendster were still around. Some people saw the promise of social media but most of the world had no idea. There was zero direction. Social media was, and still is in some ways, the Wild West. When Brian wrote The Social Media Manifesto, he was thinking about the idea of a revolution. Social media had the potential to be a great democratizer of information. Social media was a platform where everyone could share their voice. As someone who struggled to get through to traditional media or buy media to reach people, Brian believed that the ability to reach people directly and people-to-people engagement were going to be the future of all media. Brian wrote the manifesto so individuals, marketers, brands, and traditional media would think about the potential and how to be part of the movement, rather than try to control it and broadcast through it. At the time, Brian ran a couple of companies, including an early digital agency/lab dedicated to helping startups reach their markets. Using techniques that might be considered “growth hacking,” the agency found clever, nontraditional ways of helping companies with few resources get as big as they could so they could get acquired, make an IPO (initial public offering), or simply reach profitability. Brian was in and around the development of not only social media but also many other social technologies. Brian says after the rise and fall of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 showed promise but was then hit with the economic challenge of the 2008 recession. However, Brian was interested in the way social media seemed almost recession-proof. It took everything by storm. For instance, South by Southwest Interactive enjoyed a surge in popularity around 2005 through 2007 with the rise of Web 2.0 and social media. Plus, it was the beginning of entrepreneurship, at least in this era. Everybody in every industry was suddenly a social media pro. You had marketers, advertisers, coaches, you name it. Everybody latched onto social media because it seemed like it was the next gold rush. Social media showed the promise of fantastic opportunities, not just from a market or a profit standpoint, but for changing the world. Brian wanted to do his part to steer social media in a positive and productive direction. Listen to the show to hear more about the evolution of the Internet and social media. The Conversation Prism Brian started working on The Conversation Prism in 2007, and it officially launched in 2008 at South by Southwest with posters all around Austin. Brian created The Conversation Prism as a response to the hundreds of social networks popping up everywhere: Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and all of these “niche works,” as they were called. Ted Rheingold started Dogster and Catster, which were social networks for dog and cat owners. Plus, people became “social media experts” overnight. The Conversation Prism (along with The Social Media Manifesto) was Brian’s attempt to explore and make sense of this seemingly chaotic landscape. Brian says the work was like digital anthropology. He wanted to organize all of the networks according to what they offered, their promise, and how people were using them. At the center of The Conversation Prism was the idea that all of these things came together in some way, shape, or form. The map was also created so marketers, media outlets, and brands could see all of the social networks, think about how they were being used, and figure out how to listen to conversations and where to engage. The early drafts of the Prism showed how one conversation could bend light and go everywhere. However, as the Prism added hundreds of networks, stacking them vertically became impossible. Instead, Brian tried to create a visual that was still true to the sense of a prism with spectra of conversations across the web, so he ended up organizing The Conversation Prism in a circular form. When The Conversation Prism hit the market in 2008, it took off like crazy. Initially, The Conversation Prism was just a free infographic, but due to high demand, was later sold as a 22 x 28-inch poster. Marketers, brands, and entrepreneurs hung it up on their walls for inspiration. The Conversation Prism also inspired a lot of platforms like Radian6 to create technologies that would allow people essentially to bring The Conversation Prism to life. They started a massive movement. Listen to the show to hear Brian discuss the impact of apps and mobile on The Conversation Prism. The Latest Conversation Prism Update The Conversation Prism was recently updated for the first time in four years. During that time, Brian has been busy covering everything from digital transformation, corporate innovation, and customer and employee experience to corporate culture and disruptive technologies. Since the last update, social media has found its stride. Instead of big disruption, many social networks came and went. Because many platforms were turning over quickly, he let the changes play out. Over the last year or so, Brian got really serious about the update. His friend Jaimy Szymanski helped with this version, in which they removed 84 companies and added 141. They also added new categories without taking any away. This change shows that social media is getting more sophisticated and expansive. For instance, they added messaging, as well as crowdfunding, and travel and hospitality, because social media is becoming more vertical. They also started to track connecting IRL, which are social networks (like Tinder), which bring people together in real life. Listen to the show to hear Brian and I discuss one of the platforms that disappeared quickly. The Rise of Live Video, Messaging, and More I ask Brian for his thoughts on a variety of things related to social media in the next part of our conversation. Live Video. Live video is the next iteration of how people share themselves, as well as how they watch or follow others. In the beginning, social media was largely text and then evolved into imagery, and later, more sophisticated imagery. Video started with YouTube, Vimeo, and other early networks. Now, live video has turned people into real-time broadcasters. Many of these people simply share who they are and what they’re doing right now. Or they use live video to share serendipitous moments. However, others use live video as full-on broadcast mechanisms to engage new audiences in ways that weren’t possible before. These users are almost becoming like their own TV networks. In some ways, people haven’t been very creative in the way they use live video. But Facebook, for example, has started to show what’s possible beyond Twitter, Periscope, and Meerkat. People can engage small or large groups around moments that matter. Algorithms. There are algorithms, artificial intelligence, and what Brian calls “the human algorithm.” Algorithms are designed by different companies for different purposes. Companies need to consider the human algorithm (human aspiration and intent) in terms of purpose, outcomes, and possibilities. Without a positive, optimistic approach, you can quickly steer people into a lot of trouble. Brian believes that by aligning artificial intelligence with the human algorithm, algorithms can be much more human, relevant, and promising. I mention, as an example, how five years ago, National Geographic on a single post would get like 50,000 shares, millions of engagements, and tens of thousands of comments. Now their audience is substantially larger and they get maybe 1% of the engagement. I think algorithms are there to create a good user experience but have also dramatically hurt engagement and conversations. When I ask Brian if algorithms have forced live video to be more necessary, he says yes and no. You need to consider the human algorithm element. Just because you have the platform doesn’t mean that you’re going to be engaging or sharable. “With social media comes great responsibility and great opportunity,” Brian says. Broadcasting means you have to challenge yourself to think about whom you are trying to reach, why you want to be followed or watched, and what kind of content and engagement strategy you will build around it to be relevant. Then, to make sure you’re plugging into the algorithms so you reach your desired audience, you need to assess how the algorithms work and how they’re always changing. Looking at The Conversation Prism 5.0 from the center outward, a content creator, consumer, brand, or marketer can see a framework for designing strategies for reaching the right people. Those algorithms should be considered as part of that strategy. Live video goes back several years. The success of live video has depended not only on a platform but also on interesting, engaging content. Justin Kan’s startup, Justin.tv, allowed people to live-stream their lives. Justin.tv has since become Twitch, which is live gaming. Justin.tv had to pivot because some people were broadcasting their lives because they could, and it wasn’t really interesting. Another platform, Ustream, appeared after Justin.tv. Facebook has really demonstrated what’s possible because it’s such a huge platform where people have a built-in audience. The algorithm will definitely affect who you do and don’t reach. At the moment, Facebook is putting substance behind live, so now is probably the best time ever to get into live video. Messaging. Messaging is the result of people’s increasingly mobile lifestyle. Messaging and notifications have become massive and led to different types of messaging, such as Snapchat, not just texting. Similarly, Dave Morin, who was an early driver of Facebook, founded a great network called Path, which was about intimate, immediate social networking with the people who mattered in your world. Although Path came and went, you can still find messaging that harnesses the private, public, and other types of moments. There’s this famous saying, “You live a private life, you live a public life, you live a secret life, and there are networks for all of them.” Augmented Reality. Augmented reality goes back to the early days of mobile. It allows you to add a layer that really brings the real world to life. People are doing this to some extent, just not in real time. For instance, in the early days of the iPhone, Brian and a friend developed technology for seeing enhanced information about products in-store. You could hold the phone over UPC codes in supermarkets, and product information appeared. QR codes also came out around that time, and others were experimenting with consumer applications, too. Brian calls these types of programs “experience architecture.” That is, just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s necessary. However, you can find great augmented reality applications, one of which is the vertical windshield. Social Television. Facebook Watch was just announced, while major companies including Snapchat, Twitter, and Apple are making huge bets bringing television to mobile and some of the social platforms. Social TV is the next big thing, Brian says. It was born out of what people did anyway: watching television and going on social media to participate in the conversation. Content playing directly on the network will further integrate the experience. In early attempts, dedicated social networks had content as the mainstay, and people engaged around the content. However, better opportunities come when you engage with your social or interest graph and introduce content into that mix. Everybody’s starting to bid on and create content. It’s a matter of time until we start to see what Netflix, Amazon, and Apple create. Determining Influence. Brian has been studying digital influence since 1997. Brian observed random people becoming incredibly influential, meaning they could have an effect or change behavior. Lots of tools can help you find great people. But like any data point, you get out of it what you put into it. You have to really be mindful of what you’re thinking about so you can find the right people to be involved. Artificial Intelligence. Anytime there’s a new technology, marketing tends to put that technology in the portfolio of classical marketing. Brian has seen this with social media, the Internet of things, everything. He believes artificial intelligence isn’t something that should simply be added to the mix. Marketing is ripe for innovation and disruption. So much is possible when you start thinking differently about data, platforms, and opportunities. Artificial intelligence will make certain things better and traditional marketing even worse. To illustrate, an artificial intelligence platform called Kahuna plugs into marketing and can help you better understand how people consume content. As long as people’s minds are open to doing things in new ways, artificial intelligence will make this generation of marketers the most valuable breed. When individuals think differently about their approaches and build on that, that’s when they win. I read that IBM is partnering with MIT. IBM is investing heavily to build the next generation of artificial intelligence engineers. The ability to make sense out of data rapidly will be a huge competitive advantage. It comes down to experience architecture, Brian says. People need to design new ways of doing or seeing things so the outcomes become wonderful experiences that people didn’t know were possible. This field is for anybody who wants to re-create themselves as a relevant strategist or expert in the future. Listen to the show to learn about the great unbundling. Discovery of the WeekAFS, which stands for Advanced Facebook Search, is a cool Chrome plugin that suggests search options you can’t even imagine are available, such as a page where someone is tagged or videos a person likes. A while ago, Facebook beefed up its onsite search so now you can search for people, posts, photos, pages, groups, and so on. With the AFS plugin, you can dive even deeper into Facebook. It’s like uncovering hidden advanced search features with an easy-to-use tool. After you install the plugin, go to Facebook and start searching as you normally do. For instance, type the name of a person or a page. Then click the AFS plugin’s browser icon to see extra-granular searches based on the search you just did. Social media marketers can use AFS as a research tool. You might see what’s searchable on Facebook and maybe create content in that vein. Find AFS in the Chrome Web Store. Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how AFS works for you. Listen to the show! Listen now: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Key takeaways mentioned in this episode:
What do you think? What are your thoughts on the evolution of social media? Please leave your comments below. Social Media via http://ift.tt/eZnnjC http://ift.tt/1LtH18p October 27, 2017 at 04:14PM
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Here’s a chart that shows why financial earnings are a big deal http://ift.tt/2xsYLiy So, we’re midway through earnings season, and as you’ve probably seen we’ve covered a majority of the big companies that have reported thus far: Alphabet, Twitter, Microsoft, Atlassian, Paypal, eBay, and Netflix. There are plenty more that have reported, and there are still more to come, but these are the periods that generally have the most impact on the best public barometer of a company’s success: its stock price. Sometimes the stock swings are small, and sometimes they are big, but here’s a good example of how each of these reports and these days are among the defining factors of a company’s stock price — Twitter: Shares of Twitter are up another 5% or so today, and after they reported their earnings yesterday they saw a quick 13% spike. Twitter at the time basically said they might make money in the near future, and Wall Street loves profitability. But if you look at the dates where you see the wildest swings in that stock price in the past year, you’ll see they line up with those dates: February 10, April 26, July 27 and most-recently October 26 this year. The stock price is critical for a number of reasons. It helps define where a company is in its lifecycle and how valuable it might be. companies also give you stock as part of compensation packages, so it needs to keep it up in order to keep its employees happy and attract talent. And having a higher stock price helps defend the company against activist investors that want to agitate change — something to which no company, not even Apple, is immune. Whenever a company reports its financial guts, it gives the public — and Wall Street — an opportunity to tune its expectations and see whether the company is headed in a positive or negative direction. You might see an extended run-up or decline following the earnings, usually as reports come in from the various analysts that have read into the numbers and advise where they think things are headed. Twitter, in particular, is a volatile company and is sensitive to earnings reports, but it isn’t completely alone in those swings. You’ll find that’s the case with recent IPOs like Snap, too: Again, the dates do line up with some of the jumps and adjustments: August 10 and May 10. Snap, as a recent IPO, is again a very volatile stock as Wall Street looks to tune what it expects out of a new breed of advertising. So, as a result, its stock price can be all over the place. As these reports come out, we get a sense of where the public companies are going. But it also gives us a sense of how sectors are performing and help gauge whether we think areas are opportunities for startups and how much overhead companies that are still private might have thanks to the various comparisons they can draw with some public companies. You can check out our full earnings coverage here for the third quarter. Featured Image: Photographer: Yana Paskova/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty ImagesSocial Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com October 27, 2017 at 01:38PM
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How to Start A/B Testing Your Email Marketing (A Beginner’s Guide) http://ift.tt/2llNGhn It’s important for you to always try to improve your email marketing strategy. The trends continue to change each year, and you need to adapt. If you’re still sending out the same boring newsletter or promotional offer you used 5 years ago, it’s time for you to make some improvements and adjustments. But where do you start? You may want to try testing a couple of different templates or designs to see which one is the most effective. A/B testing is not strictly for people who want to update their old email strategies. It’s great for business owners and marketers who are actively trying to keep up with the new trends as well. Making minor changes to your subject lines, color scheme, CTA buttons, and design could drastically improve your conversions. If you’ve never attempted to A/B test your marketing emails, I’ll show you how to get started. Test only one hypothesis at a timeFirst, decide what you want to test. Once you decide what you’re testing, come up with a hypothesis. Next, design the test to check that hypothesis. For example, you may want to start by testing your call to action. Let’s look at how Optimizely tested their CTA button. These two messages are identical. The only thing that changed was the wording of their call to action. They didn’t change the color, design, heading, or text of the message. Optimizely simply tested “Watch Webinar” against “View Presentations & Slides.” The results were drastically different. Subscribers clicked on the variation nearly 50% more than the control group. You may want to run further tests on other components of the message. So, now that Optimizely knows which variation produces the most clicks, they can proceed with testing different subject lines that can increase open rates. Where do you start? Before you can come up with a valid hypothesis, you may need to do some research. Decide which component of your subject line you want to test. Here’s some great data from Marketing Charts. Based on this information, you could A/B test the number of characters in your subject line. You already know that subjects with 1-20 characters produce the most opens. Take that one step further. Your hypothesis could be that 11-20 characters will produce more opens than 1-10 characters. There’s your variation. Let’s say the first thing you tested was a CTA button, like in the Optimizely example. Now, you can move on to the subject line. If you tested the CTA and subject line at the same time, you wouldn’t know which one was the biggest factor in your results. You can’t effectively test a hypothesis with multiple variables. Testing one thing at a time will ultimately help you create the most efficient message. How to set up your A/B email testsAll right, now that you know what to test, it’s time to create your email. How do you do this? It depends on your email marketing service. Not all platforms give you this option. If your current provider doesn’t have this feature, you may want to consider finding an alternative service. I’ll show you the step-by-step process of running an A/B test through HubSpot’s platform. Step #1: Select “Email” from the “Content” tab of your Marketing Dashboard Your marketing dashboard is pretty much the home page for the HubSpot account. Just navigate to the content tab and select Email to proceed. Step #2: Click “Create email” Look for the “Create email” button in the top right corner of your page. Step #3: Create your A/B test Once you name your email campaign and select a template, next you’ll see the editing tab. Click on the blue “Create A/B Test” button on the left side of your screen. Step #4: Name the variation By default, this popup will have the name of your campaign with “(Variation)” after it. But you can name it something more specific based on what you’re testing. For example, you can name it “September News CTA Button Placement” instead. Step #5: Change the variation based on your hypothesis Now you can edit the two messages. Remember, the content should be identical. Change only the one thing you’re testing. Step #6: Choose the distribution size of the test groups 50/50 is the best distribution. But if you want to modify it, drag the slide bar to change the distribution ratio. Step #7: Analyze the results After you send out the test, HubSpot’s software automatically generates a report. Based on the test we ran, Version B had a higher open rate. So, that must be the clear winner, right? Not so fast. It was higher by less than 1% compared to the control group. The difference isn’t significant enough to declare a definitive winner. It’s an inconclusive test. That’s OK. These things happen. If the results are within 1% like in the example above, it’s pretty clear they are inconclusive. But what about 5%? 10%? Or 15%? Where do you draw the line? You need to determine your natural variance. Run an A/A test email to determine this. Here’s an example of an A/A test on a website: The pages are the same. But the one on the right saw 15% higher conversions. So that’s the natural variance. Use this same concept for your email campaign. Send identical emails to see what the open rates and click-through rates are. Compare that number against your A/B test results to see if your variance results were meaningful. Test the send time of each messageSometimes you need to think outside the box when you’re running these tests. Your subject line and CTA button may not be the problem. What time of day are you sending your messages? What day of the week do your emails go out? You may think Monday morning is a great time because people are starting the week ready to go through emails. But doing further research suggests otherwise. It appears more people open emails in the middle of the week. You can run a split test between Wednesday and Thursday or Tuesday and Thursday to see which days are the best. Take your test one step further. Hypothesize what time you think your subscribers will open and click in your message. Studies show people are more likely to open an email in the afternoon. Between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM is the time when you’ll probably see the most activity. Take this information into consideration when you’re running an A/B test. Your opening lines are essentialEarlier we identified the importance of testing your subject line. Let’s take that a step further. Focus on the first few lines of your message. Most email platforms give the recipient a preview of the message underneath the subject. Here’s what it looks like on a user’s phone in their Gmail account: Play around with the opening lines of your message. It’s a great opportunity to run an A/B test. Look at some of the examples above. Banana Republic doesn’t mention the offer in the first few lines. Why? Because it’s written in the subject line. It would be redundant if they included that information again in the first sentence. But if you keep reading, there’s probably room for improvement. The next part of the message tells you that you can see all the images on their mobile site. That may not be the most efficient use of their preview space. There’s one way we can find out for sure. Run an A/B test. Changing your opening lines can help improve open rates by up to 45%. Manually running an A/B testAs I mentioned earlier, not every email marketing platform has an A/B test option built into their service. Other sites besides HubSpot that have an A/B test feature include: But if you’re happy with your current provider and don’t want to switch for just one additional feature, you can still manually run an A/B test. Split your list into two groups, and run the test that way. It’s possible you already have your contacts segmented by other metrics. This can help increase open rates and conversions. But it’s also an effective method for analyzing your hypothesis. You’ll have to create two separate campaigns and compare the results, which is completely fine. You just won’t see the comparison side by side on the same page as we saw in the earlier example. If you’re doing this manually, always run your tests simultaneously. Running tests on separate occasions could impact the results based on time, which plays a major factor in the analysis. Test a large sample size. This will help ensure your results are more accurate before you jump to definitive conclusions. Running a manual test does not mean you should test more than one variable at the same time. Stick to what we outlined earlier, picking a single variation for each test. Experiment with the design of your email campaignsOnce you have your subject line, opening sentences, and calls to action mastered, it’s time to think about your existing template. You can keep all your content the same, but change the layout. Here are some examples of different templates from MailChimp: What do all of these templates have in common? The word count. None of these templates give you space to write long paragraphs because it’s not effective. Keep your message short. Research from Boomerang suggests that your email should be between 50 and 125 words. The messages in their test sample got at least a 50% response rate. While you’re experimenting with template designs, you can also try different images. Try one large background image with text written over it. Another option is to include a picture within the content. Your A/B template test can help determine which method is more effective. Swapping out one image for another is something else you can test. For example, if you’re using a picture of a person, test the difference between a male and female. ConclusionA/B testing works. If you used these tests to successfully optimize conversions on your website, the same concept could be applied to your email marketing strategy. Before you get started, come up with a valid hypothesis. Don’t start changing things without a plan. Test only one variation at a time. After you’ve come up with conclusive results for your first test, you can move on to something else. Try testing your:
The email marketing service you’re currently using may have an option for you to run and analyze the results from an A/B test. If not, it’s no problem. You can manually run an A/B test by creating two separate groups and two different campaigns. This is still an effective method. A/B tests will help increase opens, clicks, and conversions. Ultimately, this can generate more revenue for your business. How will you modify the call to action in the first variation of your A/B test? Social Media via Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/UU7LJr October 27, 2017 at 10:00AM
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It Is About Time: The Journey, Episode 3 http://ift.tt/2hfjD6y The Journey, a Social Media Examiner production, is an episodic video documentary that shows you what really happens inside a growing business. VIDEO Watch The Journey: Episode 3Episode 3 of The Journey reveals what many will see as an impossible goal pursued by Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner. Mike makes time for important projects while avoiding dangerous rabbit trails. . Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to The Journey on YouTube. Social Media via http://ift.tt/1LtH18p October 27, 2017 at 06:00AM
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Russian government condemns Twitter’s ad ban for Russia Today and Sputnik http://ift.tt/2y8JTtU The Russian government officially slammed Twitter’s decision to ban Sputnik and Russia Today from its advertising products. The Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova has posted a statement on Twitter and Facebook. Zakharova goes one step further and attacks the U.S. government directly. According to her, this has become a freedom of speech issue and the Russian government will take measures. She didn’t say what she had in mind. “We see this as another aggressive step aimed at blocking the activities of Russian TV channel Russia Today and it is the result of pressure from part of the American establishment and special services,” she wrote. Twitter didn’t ban Russia Today and Sputnik from Twitter. They’re still tweeting and sharing articles on their official accounts. But the company found out that they both “attempted to interfere with the [2016 U.S. ] election on behalf of the Russian government.” In particular, Twitter realized that they had spent $1.9 million on ads to increase their reach. The company said that those ads don’t comply with the platform’s rules. Twitter will donate $1.9 million to fund research into the use of its service in civic engagement and elections. Russia Today also published a presentation of different advertising offers from Twitter. It looks like Twitter was encouraging Russia Today to buy more political ads with Twitter offering free ads if Russia Today committed to spending $1.15 million to $1.5 million on ads. Earlier this year, a Director of National Intelligence found evidence of Russia’s efforts to influence the U.S. election. Facebook ads have been the main focus, but Twitter is also investigating 2016 advertising activity and trying to be more transparent when it comes to political ads. Featured Image: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesSocial Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com October 27, 2017 at 05:14AM
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How Social Media Has Evolved and Where It Is Headed http://ift.tt/2zJ94iY Want to prepare for emerging social technologies and marketing tactics? Wondering how to reach your audience as algorithms change? To explore the past, present, and future of social media marketing, I interview Brian Solis. More About This ShowThe Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Brian Solis, a digital analyst and futurist at the Altimeter Group. He’s considered one of the founding fathers of social media marketing. He authored The Social Media Manifesto and the book Engage. His most recent book is X: The Experience When Business Meets Design. Brian explores the insights revealed in his most recent update to The Conversation Prism. You’ll discover how human aspiration and intent can help you reach your desired audience as social media continues to evolve. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen NowListen now: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show: How Social Media Has Evolved and Where It Is HeadedSocial Media in 2007 The early days of social media were a really exciting time, Brian explains. After Web 2.0 in Silicon Valley in the mid-2000s, Facebook opened to the public in 2006, Twitter appeared in 2007, and early social networks like Friend Feed and Friendster were still around. Some people saw the promise of social media but most of the world had no idea. There was zero direction. Social media was, and still is in some ways, the Wild West. When Brian wrote The Social Media Manifesto, he was thinking about the idea of a revolution. Social media had the potential to be a great democratizer of information. Social media was a platform where everyone could share their voice. As someone who struggled to get through to traditional media or buy media to reach people, Brian believed that the ability to reach people directly and people-to-people engagement were going to be the future of all media. Brian wrote the manifesto so individuals, marketers, brands, and traditional media would think about the potential and how to be part of the movement, rather than try to control it and broadcast through it. At the time, Brian ran a couple of companies, including an early digital agency/lab dedicated to helping startups reach their markets. Using techniques that might be considered “growth hacking,” the agency found clever, nontraditional ways of helping companies with few resources get as big as they could so they could get acquired, make an IPO (initial public offering), or simply reach profitability. Brian was in and around the development of not only social media but also many other social technologies. Brian says after the rise and fall of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 showed promise but was then hit with the economic challenge of the 2008 recession. However, Brian was interested in the way social media seemed almost recession-proof. It took everything by storm. For instance, South by Southwest Interactive enjoyed a surge in popularity around 2005 through 2007 with the rise of Web 2.0 and social media. Plus, it was the beginning of entrepreneurship, at least in this era. Everybody in every industry was suddenly a social media pro. You had marketers, advertisers, coaches, you name it. Everybody latched onto social media because it seemed like it was the next gold rush. Social media showed the promise of fantastic opportunities, not just from a market or a profit standpoint, but for changing the world. Brian wanted to do his part to steer social media in a positive and productive direction. Listen to the show to hear more about the evolution of the Internet and social media. The Conversation Prism Brian started working on The Conversation Prism in 2007, and it officially launched in 2008 at South by Southwest with posters all around Austin. Brian created The Conversation Prism as a response to the hundreds of social networks popping up everywhere: Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and all of these “niche works,” as they were called. Ted Rheingold started Dogster and Catster, which were social networks for dog and cat owners. Plus, people became “social media experts” overnight. The Conversation Prism (along with The Social Media Manifesto) was Brian’s attempt to explore and make sense of this seemingly chaotic landscape. Brian says the work was like digital anthropology. He wanted to organize all of the networks according to what they offered, their promise, and how people were using them. At the center of The Conversation Prism was the idea that all of these things came together in some way, shape, or form. The map was also created so marketers, media outlets, and brands could see all of the social networks, think about how they were being used, and figure out how to listen to conversations and where to engage. The early drafts of the Prism showed how one conversation could bend light and go everywhere. However, as the Prism added hundreds of networks, stacking them vertically became impossible. Instead, Brian tried to create a visual that was still true to the sense of a prism with spectra of conversations across the web, so he ended up organizing The Conversation Prism in a circular form. When The Conversation Prism hit the market in 2008, it took off like crazy. Initially, The Conversation Prism was just a free infographic, but due to high demand, was later sold as a 22 x 28-inch poster. Marketers, brands, and entrepreneurs hung it up on their walls for inspiration. The Conversation Prism also inspired a lot of platforms like Radian6 to create technologies that would allow people essentially to bring The Conversation Prism to life. They started a massive movement. Listen to the show to hear Brian discuss the impact of apps and mobile on The Conversation Prism. The Latest Conversation Prism Update The Conversation Prism was recently updated for the first time in four years. During that time, Brian has been busy covering everything from digital transformation, corporate innovation, and customer and employee experience to corporate culture and disruptive technologies. Since the last update, social media has found its stride. Instead of big disruption, many social networks came and went. Because many platforms were turning over quickly, he let the changes play out. Over the last year or so, Brian got really serious about the update. His friend Jaimy Szymanski helped with this version, in which they removed 84 companies and added 141. They also added new categories without taking any away. This change shows that social media is getting more sophisticated and expansive. For instance, they added messaging, as well as crowdfunding, and travel and hospitality, because social media is becoming more vertical. They also started to track connecting IRL, which are social networks (like Tinder), which bring people together in real life. Listen to the show to hear Brian and I discuss one of the platforms that disappeared quickly. The Rise of Live Video, Messaging, and More I ask Brian for his thoughts on a variety of things related to social media in the next part of our conversation. Live Video. Live video is the next iteration of how people share themselves, as well as how they watch or follow others. In the beginning, social media was largely text and then evolved into imagery, and later, more sophisticated imagery. Video started with YouTube, Vimeo, and other early networks. Now, live video has turned people into real-time broadcasters. Many of these people simply share who they are and what they’re doing right now. Or they use live video to share serendipitous moments. However, others use live video as full-on broadcast mechanisms to engage new audiences in ways that weren’t possible before. These users are almost becoming like their own TV networks. In some ways, people haven’t been very creative in the way they use live video. But Facebook, for example, has started to show what’s possible beyond Twitter, Periscope, and Meerkat. People can engage small or large groups around moments that matter. Algorithms. There are algorithms, artificial intelligence, and what Brian calls “the human algorithm.” Algorithms are designed by different companies for different purposes. Companies need to consider the human algorithm (human aspiration and intent) in terms of purpose, outcomes, and possibilities. Without a positive, optimistic approach, you can quickly steer people into a lot of trouble. Brian believes that by aligning artificial intelligence with the human algorithm, algorithms can be much more human, relevant, and promising. I mention, as an example, how five years ago, National Geographic on a single post would get like 50,000 shares, millions of engagements, and tens of thousands of comments. Now their audience is substantially larger and they get maybe 1% of the engagement. I think algorithms are there to create a good user experience but have also dramatically hurt engagement and conversations. When I ask Brian if algorithms have forced live video to be more necessary, he says yes and no. You need to consider the human algorithm element. Just because you have the platform doesn’t mean that you’re going to be engaging or sharable. “With social media comes great responsibility and great opportunity,” Brian says. Broadcasting means you have to challenge yourself to think about whom you are trying to reach, why you want to be followed or watched, and what kind of content and engagement strategy you will build around it to be relevant. Then, to make sure you’re plugging into the algorithms so you reach your desired audience, you need to assess how the algorithms work and how they’re always changing. Looking at The Conversation Prism 5.0 from the center outward, a content creator, consumer, brand, or marketer can see a framework for designing strategies for reaching the right people. Those algorithms should be considered as part of that strategy. Live video goes back several years. The success of live video has depended not only on a platform but also on interesting, engaging content. Justin Kan’s startup, Justin.tv, allowed people to live-stream their lives. Justin.tv has since become Twitch, which is live gaming. Justin.tv had to pivot because some people were broadcasting their lives because they could, and it wasn’t really interesting. Another platform, Ustream, appeared after Justin.tv. Facebook has really demonstrated what’s possible because it’s such a huge platform where people have a built-in audience. The algorithm will definitely affect who you do and don’t reach. At the moment, Facebook is putting substance behind live, so now is probably the best time ever to get into live video. Messaging. Messaging is the result of people’s increasingly mobile lifestyle. Messaging and notifications have become massive and led to different types of messaging, such as Snapchat, not just texting. Similarly, Dave Morin, who was an early driver of Facebook, founded a great network called Path, which was about intimate, immediate social networking with the people who mattered in your world. Although Path came and went, you can still find messaging that harnesses the private, public, and other types of moments. There’s this famous saying, “You live a private life, you live a public life, you live a secret life, and there are networks for all of them.” Augmented Reality. Augmented reality goes back to the early days of mobile. It allows you to add a layer that really brings the real world to life. People are doing this to some extent, just not in real time. For instance, in the early days of the iPhone, Brian and a friend developed technology for seeing enhanced information about products in-store. You could hold the phone over UPC codes in supermarkets, and product information appeared. QR codes also came out around that time, and others were experimenting with consumer applications, too. Brian calls these types of programs “experience architecture.” That is, just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s necessary. However, you can find great augmented reality applications, one of which is the vertical windshield. Social Television. Facebook Watch was just announced, while major companies including Snapchat, Twitter, and Apple are making huge bets bringing television to mobile and some of the social platforms. Social TV is the next big thing, Brian says. It was born out of what people did anyway: watching television and going on social media to participate in the conversation. Content playing directly on the network will further integrate the experience. In early attempts, dedicated social networks had content as the mainstay, and people engaged around the content. However, better opportunities come when you engage with your social or interest graph and introduce content into that mix. Everybody’s starting to bid on and create content. It’s a matter of time until we start to see what Netflix, Amazon, and Apple create. Determining Influence. Brian has been studying digital influence since 1997. Brian observed random people becoming incredibly influential, meaning they could have an effect or change behavior. Lots of tools can help you find great people. But like any data point, you get out of it what you put into it. You have to really be mindful of what you’re thinking about so you can find the right people to be involved. Artificial Intelligence. Anytime there’s a new technology, marketing tends to put that technology in the portfolio of classical marketing. Brian has seen this with social media, the Internet of things, everything. He believes artificial intelligence isn’t something that should simply be added to the mix. Marketing is ripe for innovation and disruption. So much is possible when you start thinking differently about data, platforms, and opportunities. Artificial intelligence will make certain things better and traditional marketing even worse. To illustrate, an artificial intelligence platform called Kahuna plugs into marketing and can help you better understand how people consume content. As long as people’s minds are open to doing things in new ways, artificial intelligence will make this generation of marketers the most valuable breed. When individuals think differently about their approaches and build on that, that’s when they win. I read that IBM is partnering with MIT. IBM is investing heavily to build the next generation of artificial intelligence engineers. The ability to make sense out of data rapidly will be a huge competitive advantage. It comes down to experience architecture, Brian says. People need to design new ways of doing or seeing things so the outcomes become wonderful experiences that people didn’t know were possible. This field is for anybody who wants to re-create themselves as a relevant strategist or expert in the future. Listen to the show to learn about the great unbundling. Discovery of the WeekAFS, which stands for Advanced Facebook Search, is a cool Chrome plugin that suggests search options you can’t even imagine are available, such as a page where someone is tagged or videos a person likes. A while ago, Facebook beefed up its onsite search so now you can search for people, posts, photos, pages, groups, and so on. With the AFS plugin, you can dive even deeper into Facebook. It’s like uncovering hidden advanced search features with an easy-to-use tool. After you install the plugin, go to Facebook and start searching as you normally do. For instance, type the name of a person or a page. Then click the AFS plugin’s browser icon to see extra-granular searches based on the search you just did. Social media marketers can use AFS as a research tool. You might see what’s searchable on Facebook and maybe create content in that vein. Find AFS in the Chrome Web Store. Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how AFS works for you. Listen to the show! Listen now: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Key takeaways mentioned in this episode:What do you think? What are your thoughts on the evolution of social media? Please leave your comments below. Social Media via http://ift.tt/1LtH18p October 27, 2017 at 05:03AM |
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