Vizify
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Yahoo's latest purchase brings pretty graphs to Tumblr
Marissa Mayer's been in full-on spending mode since taking over the reins at Yahoo. As such, we're not surprised to find out that the company has made yet another acquisition: Vizify. Yahoo's new purchase, a startup based in Portland, Ore., focuses on turning social data into interactive media. Most recently, Vizify's tech could be found powering Twitter tool #FollowMe, which mashes up pics, tweets and Vines to make a short highlight reel for users. The idea being that, at a glance, other people could see what they would gain by following you on the microblogging network. Naturally, with social sites like Tumblr and Qwiki already a part of Yahoo, it's easy to see why there was interest in Vizify -- and chances are Mayer isn't quite done yet. Neither outfit disclosed financial terms of the acquisition, but Vizify did send out an email to its users about what to expect going forward, which you can find after the break.
Twitter launches #FollowMe: highlight reels based on tweets, photos and Vines
It's common for Twitter regulars to get a stream of new followers, but it's not always clear why they should follow back -- how do you summarize a person's post history in a few seconds? Twitter wants to solve this by launching its #FollowMe tool. The service uses Vizify to build a short, HTML5-based highlight clip from a person's followers, photos, tweets and Vine videos. Most of the legwork is automatic; users only have to edit the clip if they want to fine-tune the results, and any tweet with the relevant link will show the animation in-line. The #FollowMe rollout won't guarantee any additional popularity in the Twittersphere, but it should at least make for a stronger sales pitch.
Vizify offers free infographics all about you, makes you feel like a big shot
Infographics. The stuff of high turnover websites and news channels, right? Well, yes, but now you can bring the same white space and pastel shades to your own internet footprint, courtesy of free infographic web app Vizify. It's still in its trial period for now, which means you'll have to wait for an entry code to tap into the breezy visualization generator, but we managed to plug in as many social networks as we could to see how it all works. The service is definitely centered around those that are very connected to the internet. Vizify will draw information from Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, LinkedIn and also connect through work-based websites you add yourself. It will then populate a clickable front page with circles including images, quotes and links to your profile elsewhere. The service, which is geared at recruitment, crafts a convenient short link to offer up on resumes or job emails. Edit options include a choice of color palettes, and the ability to tweak the layout of the information circles [seen above] and the larger pages that follow it, bringing either more career-centric (or interesting) content to the forefront. Sign up for an access code at the source to give it a try for yourself, or take a stalker-esque trip down an Engadget editor's social network tracks at the second link below.
