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Twitter now displays conversations in chronological order (video)
Twitter has always been a great place to discuss hard-hitting news (like Miley Cyrus' puzzling evolution), but following conversations can feel a bit like a mining expedition. The company has taken note, and a new update to the website, iOS and Android apps -- available today -- makes engaging in conversations on Twitter a much more intuitive process. Now, the first tweet in a chain will show up on your timeline above the replies, allowing you to read the conversation in chronological order. Up to two subsequent related tweets will be connected to the first by a vertical blue line; for lengthy conversations, you can continue reading with a simple tap. To learn more, check out Twitter's video after the break.
Nielsen study shows connection between TV ratings and Twitter activity
In recent years, social media has altered the way we interact with each other, and according to a Nielsen study released today, it's also changing the way we consume media. While it may sound like a common sense conclusion to anyone who witnessed the storm of tweets surrounding the SyFy phenomenon Sharknado, Nielsen has uncovered a statistical link between what people tweet and what people watch. Basically, the more people tweet about a particular show, the more people will watch it. Likewise, the higher a program's viewership, the more likely people are to discuss it on Twitter in real time. Certain types of programming -- reality TV, comedies and sports -- showed a higher percentage of ratings changes influenced by social media, while things like scripted dramas showed a smaller but still noticeable uptick. The times are a-changin', and studies like this one are bound to inspire broadcasters and advertisers to change with them.
This is the Modem World: Social networking makes us feel alone
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. I was listening to someone, somewhere, on something -- not really sure where, and it doesn't matter -- but someone said that they'd rather be alone than have friends who make them feel alone. It's probably been said by many people in many different ways, but for some reason, that saying has attached itself to me as I engage in my twice-daily social networking while comparing it to what I'm actually doing in my downtime that doesn't qualify as "work." Social networks make us feel alone. I'm not claiming to be the first to notice this, but now that there's a social network for pictures, for videos, for 140-character updates, for business networking, for food, for our pets...
Facebook rolling out Graph Search to US users this week
Remember that profile-specific social network search tool Mark Zuckerberg announced back in January? It's finally ready for the general public. According to the New York Times and ABC News, Facebook Graph Search will start rolling out to US users this Monday. The update is more than a simple search bar revamp, however -- it allows users to mine their social circle for very specific information, asking questions like "Who are my friends in San Francisco," or searching for "people who went to Stanford who like the 49ers." The tool is designed to harken back to the company's original goal of connecting people, and aims to help users draw lines between their friends and interests. Graph Search will also pull select data from Bing, allowing users to peek at the weather from the comfort of their timeline. Despite launching on a wider scale, the service isn't perfect -- the New York Times reports that it still has trouble juggling synonymous phrases (something we experienced in our own hands-on), returning discrepant results for searches like "people who like to surf" and "people who like surfing." The tool also works within the confines of a user's privacy settings and public activity, meaning that you won't accidentally uncover your cousin's secret My Little Pony fan-group if its privacy settings are locked down. The feature is set to debut for a few hundred million users this week, and will continue to become available to the all US users in the coming weeks.
Twitter wants to make a 'DVR mode' for live TV events, offer delayed Twitter streams
Social media is very much about keeping up with what's happening right now -- but not everybody consumes live media simultaneously. What happens when you watch a time-shifted sporting event four hours late, but still want to see what your peers had to say in the heat of the moment? Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has an idea: social media DVR. Speaking at a moderated panel at at the Center for Technology Innovation, Costolo envisioned a system that would allow users to jump back in time and look at a snapshot of the social network at a specific moment. "It would be nice to see things like a graphic of spikes in the conversation," he said. "And be able to scroll back to that time and see what happened at that particular moment." The CEO continued to suggest that such a feature could be designed around planned events, describing it as "Twitter in a DVR mode." Although it was suggested that these features are in testing, Costolo stopped short of saying if they were actually something users could expect to see soon. Naturally, we reached out to the company for further comment, but haven't heard back just yet. Still, it's at least clear that the company hasn't abandoned its television-based ambitions.
Turkish PM blames riots on 'scourge' of social media, prefers the calm of state TV
The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has condemned social media as a "the worst menace to society" following a weekend of anti-government demonstrations across his country. He singled out the "scourge" of Twitter in particular, since protestors have been using that platform to share information and vent anger at the government. Small-scale riots started over plans to build a shopping mall or mosque (depending on who you believe) on the grounds of a popular park in central Istanbul, but they quickly spread to other areas and to a broader set of grievances about Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian stance. None of these disturbances were especially visible on national TV stations, however, as there have recently been heavy crackdowns on press freedom within Turkey. From the sound of it, Erdogan would prefer a more tightly controlled internet too -- or perhaps none at all. [Image courtesy of Adem Altan/Getty Images]
Facebook for Android adds stickers, new layout for business pages (update: and 'ongoing notification')
Facebook updated its Android app today, with a flurry of new features. The cutesy / creepy stickers that recently hit its messenger platform are now a part of its core application, along with the ability to delete unwanted comments from posts. The highlight of this new software push is a redesigned layout for business pages, which rolled out on iOS and its mobile web UI last month. Under this retooled interface Like, Directions, Check In and Call buttons at the top aid discovery in the style of Google Maps, Foursquare or Yelp. If you'd like to take closer at Facebook's refined setup for Android, feel free to socialize with the source link below. Update: Although it wasn't noted in the changelog, we've noticed a new "ongoing notification" that appears after updating, and judging by the comments, so have some of you. It can be switched off in the app's settings, but it's on by default and drops a Facebook icon in your notification bar with shortcuts to areas like messages, friend requests and service notifications. You can get a peek at the surprise addition in the pic above -- let us know if you're feeling appreciative or angered in the comments. Update 2: Without warning, the ongoing notification setting and accompanying icon / notification widget has disappeared from our Android devices, and from those of several readers. There was no update to the app, but the menu item is nowhere to be found and the bar disappeared after a device restart. Was this an accidental leak or just an early test by Facebook? We've contacted the company to find out more information, but for now all we have are these screengrabs.
Path spam mishap brings renewed attention to privacy concerns
It seems that just when Path was emerging from one privacy PR nightmare, another one landed on its doorstep. The day after the company reached 10 million users, The Verge related the story of digital marketer Stephen Kenwright who had an unpleasant experience with the app. Kenwright downloaded the app to his phone, tried it, then removed it. The next morning, he discovered that despite the app being removed, a good many of his contacts had gotten robocalls and texts saying that Kenwright wanted to share items with them through Path. As The Verge explains, the robocalls were an unintended side effect of some phone companies turning texts into voice calls when they're sent to a landline. Kenwright wasn't alone. The Verge documented several more cases of this happening, including a thread at Reddit. After The Verge posted its story, several users chimed in on the comments, saying the same thing had happened to them. Like every time you play a Zynga game, Path will try to make sure you draw in as many of your Facebook contacts as possible. However, the default in this feature is turned on, not off. Path acknowledged that the initial messages were supposed to be sent during the brief time Kenwright had the app installed and not after. But it's this sort of thing that adds one more layer to an already-growing privacy backlash against the service. But until then, if you plan to try Path, double check to make sure you're not accidentally spamming all your contacts in the process.
Sony PS4 Share button the result of one first-party developer's eureka moment
To share or not to share was never a question for the creation of the PS4 -- it was always more about the how. Right from the start, Sony's upcoming, next-gen console had been planned with a social networking bent, but as Shuhei Yoshida, the company's head of Worldwide Studios, revealed to Edge, the decision to build a Share button into the DualShock 4 was the result of one first-party developer's eureka moment, not a cross-SCEI compromise. All credit is due Nathan Gary, creative director at Santa Monica Studio (best known for its God of War series), who successfully pitched the concept of a dedicated controller button to the PS4 team; an idea that was not only quickly met with unanimous praise, but also immediately implemented into the final product. It's yet further proof that Sony's learned from its past PS3 fumbling and has crafted a machine for developers, by developers.
Want to work at Engadget? We're hiring a social media manager!
Do you live and breathe social media tools and have a passion for metrics? Engadget is looking for you! We're searching for a very special social- and community-savvy individual to lead the charge setting social strategy for the top consumer tech blog on the planet. Your role would focus on bringing the Engadget voice to life on new channels, leveraging an arsenal of measurement and analysis tools to identify best practices and broadly develop new audiences while interacting more directly with our existing fanbase. You will need to be highly detail-oriented, unflaggingly personable, have a passion for technology and a deep understanding of how to leverage learnings from metrics to drive brand growth. Preference will be given to candidates in the San Francisco Bay area, but location is not a strict requirement and we are willing to work with the right person anywhere you live. Read on for requirements and how to apply!
Rockmelt says goodbye to its social web browser, says hello to Rockmelt for Web
It was a good ride while it lasted, but the browser wars haven't been kind to Rockmelt, which has announced that it'll cease supporting its socially-inclined desktop browser sometime in the next few months. The decision was made because keeping up with the steady stream of updates for Chromium, the code upon which the Rockmelt browser was based, was simply too costly. In its place, the company has announced Rockmelt for Web, a portal that may serve to alleviate some of the Reader rage many of us are experiencing. It aggregates content from "your favorite sites, your favorite people, and a dash of crazy stuff you never would have discovered," so it's like a combination of RSS, social networks and StumbleUpon. It's an invite-only beta for now, though users of the browser and iOS app have already been invited to the party. The rest of you lot can get on the list by hitting the source and signing up.
Bloomberg terminals now pull in real-time Twitter feeds
Now that the SEC has given companies its blessing to share business data over social media, Bloomberg has begun to pull live Twitter feeds into its market terminals, known as the Bloomberg Professional service. According to the firm, that makes it the first financial information platform to integrate real-time tweets into investment workflows. Within the service, tweets are classified by company, asset class, people and topics, and stock buffs can even search messages, create filters and set alerts to notify them when a certain subject gets a flurry of mentions. The outfit hopes the inclusion of 140-character missives will let financial-minded folks keep their fingers on the market's pulse without switching to another system (read: being distracted by Tweetdeck) to get the big picture. Hit the jump for the full skinny in the press release. [Image credit: Jared Keller, Twitter]
SEC: Companies can share business data on social media
When Netflix CEO Reed Hastings took to Facebook last year to announce that the service had exceeded one billion viewing hours in a month for the first time, the financial world was in uproar. After all, there are rules and regulations concerning when sensitive data about a company's successes and failures can be made public. Since then, however, the Securities and Exchange Commission has done some thinking, and in trying to keep up with social savvy CEOs like Hastings and compulsive tweeter Elon Musk, has ruled that such disclosures can be made, as long as shareholders are notified about which sites will be used. If nothing else, it'd be a great way to see your follower count explode.
Facebook Replies offers threaded commenting for businesses and popular profiles
Starting today, Facebook is launching a new threaded Replies commenting system for users with more than 10,000 followers as well as Pages linked to brands and businesses. By placing the most "liked" conversation logs at the top of its related post, the social network hopes this new addition will improve interactions between groups and their readers. Qualified profiles should be able to opt-in to the feature today, but the company advises that it will be activated for all Pages and profiles with more than 10,000 followers on July 10th. As of now Replies is only supported on the site's desktop version, but Facebook plans to add this feature to its Graph API and mobile applications. While it's great to see the popular social network finally pulling its commenting system out of the Dark Ages, we can only imagine the flame wars that will ensue between followers. Moderators, start your engines.
Klout for Business translates social media influence into big brand power
Your imaginary (and seemingly arbitrary) social media score just got that much more credible -- by the same company calculating it. Klout's launching an offshoot of its influencer index to target businesses, turning individual social media data into metrics companies can use to better their brands. The service, which will continue to rollout into April, will arm big business with info culled from its Perks program (brand feedback provided by Klout's user base), highlighting hot topics, relevant social networks and other intangible "buzz" data so highly sought after by marketers. The sign-up page is live now on Klout's site, so any companies eager to abuse benefit from willfully divulged social data should do so with haste.
This is the Modem World: The internet may be killing cash
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. We worship money. It can be exchanged for life-sustaining stuff, makes us powerful and drives us to make new things. It also drives us to do some very strange stuff, but that's a subject for another day and place. You may not bow to the altar of the dollar, but you certainly recognize the need to have some in order to survive. While we adore money as a society, its time may be limited as a currency, and the internet may be to blame. Money wasn't always king. Before we traded cash, we exchanged gold, cows, clamshells, rice, copper, tea leaves and even bat guano. At some point in those currencies' lives, people determined that there were other things worth more and moved on to trade those.
Editorial: Tech is a flock of starlings
You've seen the videos -- thousands of starlings flocking in the sky to swirl and surge across wide, cloudless backdrops. The beauty of their coordinated motion is stunning. The phenomenon is expressively called murmuration. There might be purpose to starling choreographies, but if so, it is movement without destination. The flock shapes and re-shapes itself continuously. Doing so makes preying on the flock difficult, but beyond that, the motivation of these group flights is ineffable. If ornithologists told us that starlings were imitating the group behavior endemic to tech-adoption culture, it would be easy to see the similarity. The science behind murmuration extends the analogy even further.
Facebook reportedly launching new 'content-specific' news feeds
We've already had one major Facebook press event this year for the launch of Open Graph personalized search features but according to TechCrunch, another one later this week will herald the arrival of a revamped news feed. The new main page will filter content by type to pull out photos, music, with larger images overall and larger images for advertisements. The mockup shown above is based on information distilled from various sources that indicates the social network's plan is to put currently buried feeds like Pages users have liked in a more central and easier to access area, along with information pulled in by the ever expanding number of services linked to one's Facebook ID. What isn't confirmed however, according to the TechCrunch rumor are revamp views for the mobile apps, despite the company's stated plan to go "mobile best" in 2013. Hit the source link for more details on how your mother will be keeping tabs on you in the near future.
European data authorities confirm Facebook facial recognition software deletion
After landing itself in hot water with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) and Hamburg's Data Protection Authority (DPA), Facebook has deleted all of its European photo tagging facial recognition data. After reviewing the company's source code and deletion process, DPC spokesperson Ciara O'Sullivan confirmed today that the regulatory agency was satisfied with the social network's compliance. Additional removal confirmation came from Hamburg's DPC's technical department, which also reviewed the firm's software to ensure that its standards were met. In a recent comment to CFO World, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the data had been deleted and that the social network has no plans to reinstate facial recognition software in Europe anytime soon. No word on whether Facebook will now purchase sadface.com for... oh, $80 million or so.
App.net gives users 10GB of cloud storage, its File API to set social data free
We thought App.net had eyes only for Twitter when the project was funded and garnered its first 20,000 customers. Today, a post on the company blog reveals that its sights are set much higher than mere messaging. Rather than provide just an ad-free alternative to Twitter, it turns out App.net plans to become a social app platform through its new File API and cloud storage services. The API gives devs the tools needed to build any and all social applications they can dream up -- from photo sharing apps to collaboration tools. Additionally, App.net is giving annual and dev accounts a 10GB cloud locker. That storage can, in turn, be leveraged for simple file sharing by users and as a repository for social data that can be accessed by apps built with the API. So, photos, messages and other info from an App.net account can be fully controlled by users and can be accessed by any social app they choose. This is a stark contrast to Facebook or Google+, where access to such data is controlled by those companies. Of course, the new platform's only as good as its apps, so interested devs should head on down to the source, grab the API, and get started building the next-gen social network.
