Home � � Mashable: Latest 27 News Updates - including “Advanced Trojan Could Zombify Your Android Device”

Mashable: Latest 27 News Updates - including “Advanced Trojan Could Zombify Your Android Device”

Posted by Ashim Adhikari on 5:42 AM // 0 comments

Mashable: Latest 27 News Updates - including “Advanced Trojan Could Zombify Your Android Device”

Advanced Trojan Could Zombify Your Android Device
Bloomberg Interviews Mashable’s Pete Cashmore About Top Tech in 2010 [VIDEO]
Skype Video Calling for iOS Has Arrived
44% of Online Sharing Occurs Through Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]
New iPhone App (Almost) Replaces Waiters [INVITES]
2010: The Year Facebook Dethroned Google as King of the Web [STATS]
“World of Warcraft” + Xbox Kinect = Magic [VIDEO]
FlickSquare Mashes Up Foursquare Photos with Flickr
HOW TO: Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions Using Social Media
Mashable is Hiring and Other Job Openings in Social Media
Indie Filmmaker Turns Snow Day Into Homage to Classic Cinema [VIDEO]
Foursquare and Bravo Hook Up for New Year’s Eve
Why iPad Magazine Sales Are Not As Bad As They Seem
Why the Fashion Industry Is Betting Big on Branded Online Content
How World Events Drove Mobile Shopping in 2010
HOW TO: Launch a Successful Twitter Contest
What Apps & Tools Do You Use to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions? [OPEN THREAD]
4 Predictions for the Future of Politics and Social Media
Skype Explains Outage In-Depth
Win a Pair of Justin Bieber’s Solo Justbeats Headphones or iBeats Earbuds [CONTEST]
Why Chocolate Companies Are So Sweet on Social Media
80+ Terrific Tech and Gadgets Resources From 2010
Why Nutrisystem Is a Branded Social Networking Giant
Mashup Combines This Year’s Top 25 Songs [VIDEO]
This Morning’s Top 3 Stories in Social Media, Tech & Business
SEC Probes Trading in Private Companies Including Facebook and Twitter
American Eagle Teams with SCVNGR for New Year’s Promotion
Americans Don’t Want the FCC to Regulate the Internet [STATS]

Advanced Trojan Could Zombify Your Android Device

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 02:09 AM PST

An advanced new Android trojan named Geinimi has been found in the wild, mobile security firm Lookout reports.

The trojan is possibly the most sophisticated piece of Android malware so far, with the ability to steal your personal data and send it to a remote computer, as well as take commands from a remote server, which would effectively turn your Android device into a zombie inside of a botnet.

The detailed description of everything Geinimi can do sounds scary: it can send your location, device identifiers (IMEI and IMSI) and list of installed apps to someone. It can also download an app and prompt the user to install it.

The real threat to end users isn’t very big, however. You can install Geinimi on your Android device only if you install an infected app, and Lookout reports it only saw those in third-party Chinese app stores. Most users download apps from the official Android market, which is a much safer option; if you must install an app from a third-party store, make sure it’s safe before you do.

Reviews: Android

More About: android, botnet, Geinimi, Lookout, malware, trojan, zombie

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Bloomberg Interviews Mashable’s Pete Cashmore About Top Tech in 2010 [VIDEO]

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 12:36 AM PST

The social media and tech world saw a lot of innovation in 2010, such as the release of the iPad, the growth of Tumblr and the ongoing popularity of Facebook.

Mashable’s founder and CEO Pete Cashmore talked to Bloomberg about the top tech stories of 2010, discussing the aforementioned successes and also sharing his thoughts on why services like Diaspora, as well as Google’s Chrome OS, are not among this year’s winners. He also offered some predictions regarding Google and Facebook in 2011.

Watch the video above to get the full story.

Reviews: Facebook, Google, Mashable, Tumblr

More About: Chrome OS, diaspora, facebook, Google, ipad, pete cashmore, tech, top tech of 2010

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Skype Video Calling for iOS Has Arrived

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 10:58 PM PST

It’s official: Skype has quietly rolled out an updated version of its iOS app that brings two-way video calling to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Version 3.0 of the Skype app, now available in the iTunes app store, can mak two-way Skype video calls between owners of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th generation. iPad and iPod touch 3rd generation owners can receive video calls, but can’t send video back due to the lack of camera on these devices.

The new Skype app is also able to send and receive calls from its traditional desktop application. Thus, you can be video chatting with your sister while on the train. Skype 3.0 for iOS supports both portrait and landscape mode.

However, the killer feature may be that the app supports video calls over 3G. This is in stark contrast to Apple’s Facetime video chat protocol, which only works via Wi-Fi. Is AT&T about to let Apple do video calls over 3G, or will Skype overload an already-strained AT&T network?

This is a positive development for a company that has been embarrassed by a total collapse of its network that lasted over 24 hours. Skype explained that last week’s extended downtime was due to overloaded servers that sent out delayed messages that were improperly processed due to a bug in an older version of Skype for Windows.

Reviews: Skype, Windows

More About: facetime, iphone, iphone app, Skype, Skype Video CallingF

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44% of Online Sharing Occurs Through Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 10:15 PM PST

Sharing widget AddThis, which is installed on more than 7 million domains and reaches more than one billion users per month, released an infographic Wednesday with some interesting statistics about about our sharing habits.

Among the impressive numbers: 44% of shares occur through Facebook, up 33% from last year (due both to the platform’s record growth and the release of the “Like” button, no doubt). Shares over Gmail increased by 395%, outpacing StumbleUpon, Facebook and Twitter. Shares via MySpace and Friendster dropped 20% and 31% respectively.

While the data gathered from AddThis are by no means comprehensive, the percentages should be relatively accurate given the sample size and the number of sharing services supported.

What platforms do you use most often to share content online?

Reviews: AddThis, Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Twitter, gmail

More About: facebook, gmail, social media, twitter

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New iPhone App (Almost) Replaces Waiters [INVITES]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 09:09 PM PST

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Storific

Quick Pitch: Storific enables customers to place orders at restaurants, cafes, and bars using their iPhones.

Genius Idea: Although a number of mobile apps like GrubHub, CityMint [iTunes link] and SnapFinger have made ordering food for take out or delivery a matter of tapping on a smartphone, diners who choose to sit down generally still rely on a waiter to take their orders. But if startup Storific catches on, these patrons will also have a high-tech alternative.

Storific enables customers to browse menus and place orders through an iPhone app. Users check in to the establishment using a table-specific code that the waiter drops off at the beginning of the meal. As they indicate what they want, the items are added to the business’s web-based dashboard. Customers can also send messages to the kitchen and waitstaff that appear on the same dashboard.

The France-based startup has launched beta projects in 16 locations throughout France, Italy, Canada and the United States. Co-founder Michael Cohen says that the pilot businesses, which include cafes, restaurants, and night clubs, have reported that the app has helped them improve sales by allowing customers to order without waiting for a waiter. He also argues that the app could reduce the number waitstaff needed and make service faster.

It’s hard to see how iPhone ordering could become mainstream for restaurants. Since not everyone has an iPhone, which is the only phone the company currently makes an app for, it’s unlikely that a restaurant would make handing out check-in codes a standard process. Another barrier is that ordering from a human is an integral part the experience at most restaurants — especially the high-end restraunts that Storific’s competitor, Tabula Technologies, is targeting.

More promising places for an ordering app like Storific might be bars, cafes, or sporting events. In bars, the app could prevent the frustration that comes with trying to get the attention of a busy bartender. At cafes, people working on computers wouldn’t need to abandon them to buy another coffee. And at sporting events, fans wouldn’t miss critical plays while buying a soda. The Philadelphia Phillies piloted an ordering feature of the MLB’s At Bat app earlier this year.

Another market that Storific is smart to be targeting is hotels. It would be easy to leave a checkin code on a card in each room and allow guests to order room service through their iPhones. While some hotels have already begun to make room service a part of their brand-specific apps, hotels that don’t have the resources to invest in branded apps might realistically turn to Storific.

The company, which as of now is self-funded, plans to charge establishments a monthly fee for the service after it launches out of Beta in mid-January. The fee will be based on the number of tables, or number of check in codes, at the establishment (for instance, 100 tables will cost $99 per month).

Mashable readers who would like to try Storific at their businesses can apply for the free beta program using reference code MA50.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Bliz

Let’s Get Physical

There’s the freshman 15 everyone gains from collegiate pizza and beer, and then there’s the startup 15 many of us tech geeks gain from sodas and office snacks. Between the time spent sitting in front of a computer screen and the time spent networking over drinks and dinners, it’s easy to put on pounds when you work on the web. Of course, you can always try the startup diet, but that’s not necessarily going to work for everyone.

Keeping a food and exercise log might sound like a daunting task, but it turns out you may already be tracking some of that data without even knowing it. Foursquare actually lets you see your entire checkin history and, if you do a quick search, you can find it so you can easily see whether you’ve really been going to the gym or frequenting your fast food runs.

Similarly, the Foursquare stats page lets you see your own checkin trends in handy graphs and lists. There’s even a site called weeplaces that lets you turn your Foursquare, Facebook Places and Gowalla checkins into graphic visualizations. And, weeplaces will let you filter those visualizations by food-related checkins and parks and recreation checkins, so you can really get a handle on your history.

Google Maps also lets you search your own history, so can get a visual reminder of the places you’ve been searching for, and start picking up on trends in your own behavior. You just have to enable it. And, of course, there’s the age-old pedometer, made a lot easier and more fashionable via a host of iPhone and Android apps that let you easily track how much you’re walking without having to do anything more than a quick download.

Of course, once you establish the things you want to change about your eating and exercising habits, you still have to make those changes stick. Apps like LoseIt, Weight Watchers and LiveStrong let you log calories you eat and calories you burn via your smartphone. Fitango prescribes personalized plans to help you get in shape, and gives you a forum for sharing milestones you meet with your friends. Similarly, Phitter is like a fitness-focused Twitter stream where people share weight loss trials, tribulations and tips to help keep each other going.

Or, you can try something like the Social Workout Challenge, which gives you fitness goals to meet and a community of people to keep you accountable for meeting them. If you really want to take your weight tracking to the next level, there’s even a scale that automatically tweets your weight to the world. While you’re at it, FixNixer and QuitMeter also give you similar tools for tracking your way out of a smoking habit, another great way to get yourself in better physical shape in the new year.

Money, Money, Money

For many people, the New Year is also a great time to get a fresh financial start. But again, it’s a lot easier to make changes going forward when you know how you’ve been behaving in the past. That’s where a site like Mint.com can be very handy. Mint aggregates all of your various accounts, including credit cards, bank accounts and assets, and then turns your spending habits into easy-to-read charts and graphs that show you where you’re spending and where you could be saving. It even lets you compare your shopping and spending habits with other people in your area, so you can see how you stack up. Many credit cards, like American Express Blue and Visa Signature, also give you year-end spending summaries that show you how much you’ve spent, how much you’ve saved, how much interest you’ve accumulated and more.

Once you’ve nailed down how your money is going out the door, you can start figuring out ways to keep more of it in your wallet. Again, this is where tracking will be key to actually keeping those resolutions. First, you can establish your financial goals via an online calculator, which lets you figure out exactly how much to start saving. Once you’ve figured out your goals, there are more than 50 great, free mobile apps to help you track your spending. On Facebook, the BillMonk app will help you keep better track of those tricky situations where you’re sharing a bill with friends, and you need to make sure everyone knows what they owe. XPenser lets you record your expenses from any device, including via tweet and e-mail, and TweetWhatYouSpend gives you a forum for sharing your expenditures with everyone on Twitter, so your friends can help hold you accountable when you blow your budget shopping those post-holiday sales.

Get Your Social Media in Shape

Whether or not you work on the web, if you’re reading Mashable, chances are you have a social media presence. And, just like your physical and financial identities, your social media self might be due for a little makeover in 2011 too. The good news is that the data is even easier to find when you’re talking about your personal tech habits. For example, you can use the Top Words app to figure out the topics you talk about most on Facebook. Klout tells you which topics you talk about the most on Twitter, and all sorts of other stats that will help you pinpoint what it is about your social media presence that you may want to change.

Similarly, BackType analyzes your Twitter profile and tells you what percentage of your tweets are replies, retweets, links, etc. Like Klout, it also tells you who you’re influencing and who your influencers are. And, it shows you your most shared sites. All of these are great data points for determining things you’d like to change about your social media presence. Finally, ViralHeat gives you in-depth analysis of the sentiment around your various social network profiles, which really lets you hone in on how your social media behavior is being received by your followers on Facebook, Twitter and across the web.

Once you’ve established what you want to change, you can set up ViralHeat to send alerts and updates directly to your inbox so you can track the impact of those changes on the fly. Similarly, since Klout and BackType both update regularly now, you can see your statistics change as your behavior does, which is a great way to keep yourself motivated. And, of course, make sure you set up Google Alerts to track all the activity around your various accounts.

If your resolution involves blogging more often, there are plenty of apps to help you do that on the go, right from your phone. Another way to remind yourself of things you want to blog, tweet or post about is by using a service like TwittRemind, which lets you tweet yourself reminders to do things throughout the day.

To make the most of your many profiles, consider setting up a hub page via a service like about.me, which lets you showcase all your profiles in one place. Or, sign up for a social network aggregation service to make it easier to make changes on all your profiles at once. You also might want to consider setting up a targeted Twitter list of friends and followers who can help you hold yourself accountable and focus your social media efforts so you can minimize the number of relationships you’re managing and maximize the return you’re getting from all these changes.

New Year, New You

Whether your New Year’s resolutions involve getting yourself in better physical, financial or social media shape, the web can help you figure out exactly what you want to change and how you’re going to keep yourself accountable for changing it. 2011 is a brand new year and a completely fresh start, and, breaking your New Year’s resolutions is so 2010.

More Social Media Resources from Mashable:

- 10 More Creative Uses of the New Facebook Profile [PICS]
- 10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks
- 6 Reasons Why Social Games Are the Next Advertising Frontier
- 3 Things Brands Must Do to Reach Millennials Online
- How Social Media Can Help With Your Long Distance Job Search

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59

Reviews: Android, Apps, Facebook, Google Maps, Gowalla, Mashable, Mint, Twitter, about.me, foursquare, iPhone, iStockphoto

More About: 2011, New Year, new years, Resolution, resources, social media, tools

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Mashable is Hiring and Other Job Openings in Social Media

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 03:21 PM PST

If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all of our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage Social Media for Career Success and How to Find a Job on Twitter.

But we’d like to help in a more direct way, too. Mashable’s job boards are a place for socially savvy companies to find people like you. This week and every week, Mashable features its coveted job board listings for a variety of positions in the web, social media space and beyond. Have a look at what's good and new on our job boards:

Mashable Job Postings

Regional Sales Director at Mashable in San Francisco, CA.

Regional Sales Director at Mashable in New York, NY.

Ad Ops Manager at Mashable in New York, NY.

VP Product at Mashable in San Francisco, CA.

Events Manager at Mashable in New York, NY.

VP of Sales at Mashable in New York, NY.

Events Content Coordinator at Mashable in New York, NY.

Ruby on Rails Developer at Mashable in San Francisco, CA.

Mashable Job Board Listings

at The ACMENetwork in Los Angeles, CA.

Content Producer at The ACME Network in Los Angeles, CA.

Online Platform Producer at The ACME Network in Los Angeles, CA.

Technology Director at Domus Inc. in Philadelphia, PA.

Social Media at Fetching Communications in Tarpon Springs, FL.

Social Media Production Manager at Voltier Creative in Delray Beach, FL.

Technical Manager, Digital Activations and Sponsorships at Fox Digital Media in New York, NY.

Associate Manager, Global Marketing Strategy & Planning at Walt Disney Resorts in Glendale, CA.

Search Engine Marketing Manager at Marcel Media in Chicago, IL.

Social Media Content Manager at Gerson Lehrman Group in New York, NY.

Social Media Community Manager at Gerson Lehrman Group in New York, NY.

Associate, Marketing Operations at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA.

Associate, Regulatory Review at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA.

Technical Services Analyst – Implementation at HCSS in Sugar Land, TX.

Senior Digital Strategist at Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau in Asheville, NC.

Inside Sales at Producteev.com in New York, NY.

Sr. Analyst, Strategy & Analysis at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA.

Business Development at Wanderfly in New York, NY.

Marketing and Communications Director at Bay East Association of Realtors in Pleasanton, CA.

Senior Analyst, Strategy & Analysis at Digitas Health in New York, NY.

Online Community Manager at News Corporation in New York, NY.

Assistant Digital Media Strategist at M. Booth & Associates in New York, NY.

Mashable’s Job Board has a variety of web 2.0, application development, business development and social networking job opportunities available. Check them out at here.

Got a job posting to share with our readers? Post a job to Mashable today ($99 for a 30 day listing) and get it highlighted every week on Mashable.com (in addition to exposure all day every day in the Mashable marketplace).

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, YinYang

Reviews: Mashable, iStockphoto, social media

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Indie Filmmaker Turns Snow Day Into Homage to Classic Cinema [VIDEO]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 02:46 PM PST

At least one person was being productive during the Great Blizzard of 2010 — filmmaker Jamie Stuart spent hours in the driving snow with his Canon 7D to create Idiot With A Tripod, an homage to Dziga Vertov’s 1929 Man With a Movie Camera.

Stuart’s short piece appeared in “Roger Ebert’s Journal,” after the Queens, New York, resident e-mailed the video to the famed critic. Ebert’s take on the piece? “This film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject,” he writes.

If you’ve ever taken a college film class, it’s likely that you’ve seen Vertov’s cinematic depiction of urban life. Well, Idiot With A Tripod is a very similar (albeit less complicated) exploration of a modern New York — a city symphony depicting a community encased in snow and its efforts to free itself.

Ebert conducted an e-mail interview with Stuart, who explained how the film was made:

“Technically, for Idiot with a Tripod, I shot with my Canon 7D and edited it with Final Cut Pro. Early on, I was able to vary things a little more — I used macro diopters for the close-ups during the day shots, my portable slider for the dolly shots and also, a 75-300 zoom for the rooftop shots. I was more limited at night because of the weather conditions, so I stuck with my 24mm, 50mm and 85mm — all of which are manual Nikon lenses. Which meant that in the middle of that maelstrom I was changing lenses, wiping off the lenses and manually focusing/adjusting each shot.”

The piece also features music from The Social Network, composed by Trent Reznor, which somehow manages to perfectly recall The Cinematic Orchestra’s score for the ’20s classic.

What do you think of this short film? Oscar-worthy? Two thumbs up? Let us know.

More About: Film, roger ebert, video, web video, youtube

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Foursquare and Bravo Hook Up for New Year’s Eve

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 02:42 PM PST

New Year’s Eve is turning out to be an active night for location-based services as Facebook Places, SCVNGR and now Foursquare are all planning programs around it.

Foursquare is teaming with Bravo for the cable channel’s inaugural New Year’s Eve special “Watch What Happens Live: Andy’s New Year’s Eve Party” starring Andy Cohen (pictured). Bravo, which claims to be the first entertainment property to launch a branded experience on Foursquare, will stream live profile photos, first names and hometowns of Foursquare users who follow Bravo and are checking in that night. Two viewers who unlocked the Andy Cohen Foursquare badge during the month of December will also get tickets to the event. The program airs 10:30 ET/PT on December 31 and runs two hours.

Simultaneously, Facebook Places is running a program with the Times Square Alliance using a billboard on One Times Square to urge attendees to check in to the service. SCVNGR also launched a promotion today with teen clothing brand American Eagle promising a donation of $10 to Big Brothers Big Sisters for every challenge that consumers complete. (Example: Take a picture of yourself next to the eagle on the American Eagle billboard in Times Square.)

Not all the players in the category are launching activities around New Year’s, though. Loopt is sitting this one out, as is Gowalla, according to reps from both firms.

Reviews: Gowalla, foursquare

More About: bravo, Facebook Places, foursquare, gowalla, loopt

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Why iPad Magazine Sales Are Not As Bad As They Seem

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 02:25 PM PST

According to a new report from Women’s Wear Daily, digital magazine sales are on the decline. A closer look at the data, however, reveals that sales are not nearly as bad as they appear.

The report, which cites numbers released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, points out that magazine sales on the iPhone and iPad are down across the board.

Vanity Fair sold 8,700 digital copies of its November issue, down from an average of 10,500 between August and October, while Glamour moved 2,775 iPad issues in November, down 35% from September.

GQ, meanwhile, had its second-worst digital sales months since its debut on the iPad in April, having only sold 11,000 copies on the iPad and iPhone in November. Men’s Health had its worst performance on record, averaging 2,000 iPad sales in October and November, roughly a 30% decline from spring.

Wired rounded out the decline with an average of 22,500 sales in October and November, down from 33,711 in September and 100,000 in June, the month of its much-applauded arrival on the iPad.

When you compare digital sales to print newsstand sales, however, it becomes clear that digital sales numbers aren’t nearly as poor as they first appear. In fact, after an initial spike, the sales performance of issues on the iPad and iPhone roughly correlate their performance on the newsstand (note that except for Wired, sales data is relative):

Vanity Fair Single Issue Sales

Glamour Single Issue Sales

GQ Single Issue Sales

Red dot marks the first release of GQ’s iPad app.

Men's Health Single Issue Sales

Men’s Health did not report iPad sales data for July/August.

Wired Single Issue Sales

However, given that more than 14.1 million iPhones and 4 million iPads were sold during Apple’s fourth quarter (which ended on September 25) and have continued to sell since then, fall sales should be trending higher. So why aren’t they?

Why iPad Magazine Sales Aren’t Improving

1. Price: The number one complaint about magazines on the iPad is the price. It’s difficult to justify $4.99 for content that will entertain consumers for, at most, six hours — especially when a) much of that content, including those oh-so-special behind the scenes videos, is available for free on the web and b) other apps provide so many more hours of entertainment for half the price. Furthermore, it’s difficult to persuade current subscribers to pay for individual issues when they’re already receiving the same content at a fifth of the price in print.

2. Lack of Exposure: It’s not easy to browse for magazines in the App Store, which are stowed among hundreds of thousands of other apps. Magazines need their own iBooks app that resembles a newsstand, or at least a dedicated area in the App Store. Magazines need to showcase the covers and some of the content of their latest editions in order to trigger the same impulse purchases made at checkout counters.

3. Failure to Innovate: Part of the reason the first iPad editions of magazines sold so well is because they delivered truly novel experiences for the device, from animated covers to interactive graphics. The problem is that the experiences haven’t evolved since then. The same bells and whistles are attached to each app; only the content differs.

4. Large download size: Magazine apps need to slim down. Wired’s first issue was half a gigabyte, or nearly one-thirtieth of the smallest iPad’s 16 GB storage capacity; the first issue of The New Yorker, a weekly, came in at 173 MB, thus discouraging consumers from downloading apps in the interest of saving space. Their size also prevents users from downloading issues over 3G.

If rumors that Apple will soon allow magazines to sell subscriptions are true, thus substantially lowering the cost of digital issues, we can expect to see a reverse on the recent declines. Until then, magazines need to up innovation and decrease size to increase their appeal.

How else do you think magazines, or Apple, can help increase magazine sales on the iPhone and iPad?

Image courtesy of Digital Trends

Reviews: App Store

More About: conde nast, glamour, gq, ipad, ipad apps, media, men's health, rodale, vanity fair, Wired

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Why the Fashion Industry Is Betting Big on Branded Online Content

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 01:36 PM PST

Macala Wright Lee is the publisher of FashionablyMarketing.Me. Wright Lee is a retail consultant who’s firm, Fashionably Digital, specializes marketing consulting for fashion, luxury and beauty brands. You can follower her on twitter at @FashMarketing.

The fashion industry's use of branded content gained momentum in 2010. In 2011, retailers will have three big shifts to consider as part of their branded content strategy. While many brands approach branded content in different ways, Susan Etlinger of The Altimeter Group feels that all retailers and fashion brands must:

Talk to their customers; consumers expect dialogue with the brands they care about.
Need to be able to shift between channels — web, mobile, print, broadcast — with a moment’s notice in order to keep a constant stream of communication with customers.
Maintain a consistent brand experience, no matter where the customers are or what they’re doing. To reach this new empowered consumer, retailers now need to think in three dimensions: social, cross-channel and local.

So what do these guidelines for effective branded content translate to fashion brands and retailers? That answer can be found in four evolving mediums: the use of video, indie fashion and big brand collaborations, Tumblr as an engagement platform, and possibly giving online customers a healthy dose of reality.

Indie Fashion and Big Brand Collaborations

In 2010, we began to see indie fashion team up with big brands. Examples of this include Kaboodle's collaborations with indie fashion retail sites Moxsie.com and 80s Purple through PopPicks, and the launch of their indie fashion shopping channel that pulls products from independent sellers on Etsy into the Kaboodle site.

"Kaboodle's platform has always provided a perfect way for brands to collaborate with a community of shopping enthusiasts who are ready and willing to buy products," says Shari Gunn, Kaboodle's chief marketing officer. "A vertically targeted environment like this provides natural and authentic ways for brands to establish conversations with their customers and also provides a number of unique and engaging touch points. Kaboodle has collaborated with partners such as Etsy in order to surface their products for a new group of consumers. This kind of direct communication between retailers and consumers has only just begun, and consumers will continue to have more influence over retailers in the future."

One of the most notable indie fashion/big brand collaborations this year was when American Apparel partnered with lookbook.NU to create American Apparel's first printed mailorder catalog (still available online). The site’s user-generated photo campaign asked lookbook.NU community members to send in photos of themselves wearing American Apparel products. The winners were flown to LA and used as models for the book.

Ryan Holiday, American Apparel's online marketing strategist, reports that the campaign was one of the brand's most successful collaborations of 2010, generating more than 10,000 photo submissions and 3,000 orders in more than 30 countries.

When asked about the continuing trend of big brands partnering with indie fashion, Holiday said he believes that more brands will implement strategic partnerships that extend the brand's lifestyle to targeted fashion communities, like the American Apparel and lookbook.NU collaboration.

Holiday adds that success is a "matter of whether brands have the ability to meaningfully interact with a community or partner without crushing it, sucking the life out of it, or corrupting it. It’s also a matter of the fashion communities staying true to their mission (real people who love fashion) and not becoming too obsessed with fame, ad dollars, or modeling deals."

Veronica Cavallo, social media manager at Attention, says the American Apparel campaign was especially successful because of its community-driven focus.

"Strategic partnerships allow association and exposure to new audiences, as well as great opportunities to leverage participants’ social networks and online presences.," Cavallo says. "A more communal and collaborative approach to branded content conceptualization makes campaigns such as American Apparel's successful."

The Rise of Fashion Films

Fashion films became a common industry tool in 2010, costing less than $50,000 to professionally produce. Though there is some skepticism as to whether fashion films are beneficial to designers, I believe we will see an influx of brands creating fashion films throughout 2011.

A great starting point for exploring fashion films is Christian Louboutin's film Dancer in a Daydream created by FASHIONAIR (no longer online). The film began with Christian Louboutin at work in his Paris atelier. While he worked, he slipped into a daydream that takes him to New York City. The dream had him tap dancing on Broadway like Fred Astaire alongside two showgirls wearing his signature red-soled shoes. As Business Of Fashion reported, "What's most compelling from a business point of view was the way FASHIONAIR had displayed the video alongside shopable and sharable products featured in the film — an elegant and highly effective way to integrate content and commerce and turn engagement into sales."

I spoke with Martin Zagorsek, partner of New York-based fashion consultancy Launch Collective, about the fashion film trend. Emerging designers such as Amy Claire, and established, internationally famous designers such as Christian Louboutin are using videos to tell their stories. Zagorsek says, "I see more and more fashion designers turning to film, or rather video, in order to help communicate their vision. The cost of creating video has dropped to the point where it’s not that different from the cost of a quality photo shoot, and video often allows designers to convey ideas and emotions in ways that are more compelling that photography."

The Great American Boyfriend – “Genuine Ken”

One of the most interesting twists in the evolution of branded content came from toy manufacturer Mattel, which has created the search for "The Great American Boyfriend." In an eight-episode, digital reality video series, Mattel's Genuine Ken features eight contestants competing to be the Great American Boyfriend. Celebrity guest judges will eliminate one contestant per episode, determining which finalist, like Ken, truly has the qualities of "the ultimate boyfriend for every occasion." The digital series premieres on Hulu in early 2011. The web series is not children's entertainment; it's clearly geared toward a sophisticated adult audience — fans of Barbie and Ken who have grown up.

So what does Mattel's content have to do with the fashion industry, aside from the fact that Barbie has always been fashionable? Genuine Ken is an example of the type of television-quality online content that brands such as H&M, Zara or Forever 21 could potentially produce to engage their customers through video.

Hamilton South, founding partner of HL Group, a strategic media consultancy in New York, discussed the Mattel web series in the context of fashion. “Genuine Ken, is the perfect example of engagement through content. It’s differentiated from other efforts in branded content creation by the fact that it is intentionally produced as TV-worthy entertainment. I anticipate we'll see more execution like this in 2011 because the more engaging the content, the more likely people are to share it. Mattel was smart to make the investment in this level of production to create a compelling series that authentically reaches and engages an older audience in a relevant, modern way.”

Tumblr as a Brand Content Platform

Through my research and industry interviews, I found that consultants, brand managers and agencies were fascinated with Tumblr as an engagement platform. "Over the past year, fashion has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments of the Tumblr community, with 20% of our top 1,000 blogs related to fashion," reports Tumblr's new fashion director Rich Tong. Live.Milkmade.com is an example of how Tumblr as a fashion community fascinates industry professionals. The crowdsourced photo site was created by Milk Studios New York digital media agency ALLDAYEVERYDAY.

I spoke with ALLDAYEVERYDAY's Kevin Kearney and Philip Leif on how the fashion industry could use Tumblr. "Tumblr is best used as a platform to find the community that surrounds a brand and then activate those communities, focusing on the influencers within those groups," said Leif and Kearney. They offered three points of advice for fashion brands and retailers to consider in regards to Tumblr development:

1. Brands and retailers must establish a content plan before concepting and designing a Tumblr blog or micro site. Editorial concepts don’t need to be complicated, but they should be achievable and consistent to ensure success.
2. Brands and retailers must decide what their methods of engagement with users are going to be. Incorporating and smartly leveraging Tumblr as an engagement tool through following, reblogging and the built-in Q&A and submission tools are crucial for campaign success.
3. Brands and retailers must determine key goals and metrics for success. Is the site a brand play? Or an e-commerce marketing channel? Brands sometimes find it challenging to set and track goals, as well as benchmark the ROI of their Tumblr audience versus other online audiences.

The Future Of Tumblr and Fashion

As a marketing tool for online community and influence engagement, every brand and agency should be considering the use of Tumblr when developing long-term marketing programs; it's going to become as commonly used as Twitter or Facebook. As Kearney and Leif pointed out in our interview, brands must consider the limitations of any platform, including scheduled maintenance and unexpected downtime. "While Tumblr is an easy engagement tool, allowing users to push and pull content from others, the use of Tumblr as platform has to be integrated into a brand’s overall initiatives to reach the right audience," says Kearney.

For fashion brands and bloggers alike, I've wondered if Tumblr is the be-all-end-all blogging platform. The answer is no. I do think that many independent fashion writers and style bloggers who use their blogs for expression of their personal brands will migrate to Tumblr, because it’s easier to post and reblog content from friends and followers. But professional bloggers, equipped with content syndication and SEO knowledge will always stick to self-hosted, custom-designed sites that allow them to maximize their traffic in order to develop their careers.

What's more, I believe we will see more Tumblr/Shopify-powered e-commerce sites launch due to the low cost of development. This offers fledgling startups like Of A Kind a quick and cost efficient way to get started as e-tailers. Once they've received VC funding or manage to generate enough revenue, they can develop more robust sites with additional features to build online revenue.

Considerations for Branded Content

Branded content creation serves several purposes at once: customer entertainment, brand advertising, social engagement and customer communication. Here's a caveat: When it comes to branded content, brand managers and agency executives have to think of context and relevancy.

In a recent speech, Hamilton South of the HL Group shared what fashion brands and retailers need to keep in mind as branded content becomes a bigger part of the marketing mix.

1. Good content relies on good storytelling. Turning press releases and overt marketing messages into shareable content is a recipe for failure. Hire specialists who know what they are doing on both the content development side and the distribution side.
2. Think beyond the immediate transaction. The real value in using branded content is its ability to create a relationship with the consumer that lasts. There's a lot of talk at the moment about measurement, and an increase in purchasing isn't the only mark of success. Time spent on engagement with the brand, new user registrations, sharing within communities — all of this data needs to be part of the measurement mix.
3. Many fashion brands make the mistake of thinking that because they know how to shoot great ad campaigns, they understand all aspects of content creation. And that's a fundamental mistake. The fashion industry has often over-relied on photography as its primary illustration vehicle. In order to be successful, brands need to partner with people who understand video, language, sound and graphic design as they work online, and the difference is enormous.

As fashion designers continually innovate in the fashion lines, I'd hope brands and their agencies would be as innovative with their content. Don't copy another brand's campaign; focus on being unique and original, even if you have to build a Tumblr site to put your brand into context and find inspiration.

More Fashion Resources from Mashable:

- 25 iPhone Apps for the Mobile Fashionista
- HOW TO: Score the Best Fashion Deals on the Social Web
- How the Fashion Industry Is Using Digital Tools to Increase ROI
- How the Web Is Changing Fashion Marketing in 2010
- How Social Media Has Changed Fashion Week

Reviews: Facebook, Hulu, Tumblr, Twitter

More About: American Apparel, business, fashion, Kaboodle, MARKETING, social media marketing, tumblr

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How World Events Drove Mobile Shopping in 2010

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:07 PM PST

eBay announced its most interesting mobile shopping trends of 2010 today. Among other topics, the company analyzed holiday season spending and shopping reactions to cultural events like Valentine’s Day, the World Cup and Apple’s iPad release.

The trends are based on the total value of items purchased using eBay’s mobile app, which more than 30 million people have downloaded. eBay spotted them using an interactive heat map it developed to demonstrate global mobile shopping in the top 20 of its shopping categories.

Sporting events were one area of cultural event the company found drove mobile sales. During the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, sales in the sports and memorabilia category peaked in Canada. During the Tour de France, the category peaked in France, and During the World Cup, where Germany placed third, the category peaked in Germany.

Gadget releases also powered sales. After the iPad debuted on April 4, there were more mobile sales in the consumer electronics category than any other day this year. Similarly, when the iPhone 4 launched in the U.S. on June 24, the cellphones and accessories category hit its peak as people flocked to eBay to buy new and pre-owned iPhones.

The most interesting finding when it came to Valentine’s Day was not related to jewelery or chocolate, but video games. Apparently geeks, perhaps reacting to a bevy of special online gaming tournaments, felt the need to stock up. eBay’s mobile app shoppers spent 68% more on video games in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day than they did last year.

Another impressive finding was the growth of mobile sales this holiday season. eBay’s mobile app sold nearly $100 million of merchandise in the U.S. during the month before Christmas, which represents an increase of 134% over last year at the same time. Considering that last year all U.S. mobile sales from all retailers all year long totaled about $1.2 billion, eBay alone selling about 10% of that in one month likely signifies an impressive growth rate for mobile commerce in general this year.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Talaj

Reviews: World Cup, iStockphoto

More About: ebay, mobile commerce, shopping trends, valentine's day, world cup

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HOW TO: Launch a Successful Twitter Contest

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 11:48 AM PST

Clay McDaniel is the principal and co-founder of social media marketing agency Spring Creek Group. Find him via @springcreekgrp on Twitter.

Everyone loves a good contest, and Twitter is a valuable platform on which to run one. If your followers already like your brand, they'll typically be willing to enter a contest in exchange for the chance to win your products, recognition or prizes.

Launching, running and measuring a Twitter contest takes specific social media marketing skills. You'll need a deep knowledge of contest laws in your state, as well as the right tools to measure participation, viral sharing, brand impact and bottom line sales resulting from the contest. A Twitter contest should not just be promotional, but should further the business goals of your entire social media program.

If you want to launch a Twitter contest that boosts sales and brand recognition and helps your company reach specific social media marketing goals, there are a few proven strategies you can implement. Here are five steps to launching one with high impact.

Step One: Determine the Rules and Regulations

Before you launch your contest, make sure to map out the rules and regulations, such as who is eligible, what the prizes are, the time frame for the contest, and how will winners be determined. For example, will it be a "straight draw" sweepstakes, or will you let the community vote on the winner? Will participants have to complete a quiz or test? Include a link to some short and clear contest rules. Make sure your contest follows all the legal requirements in your state and country.

While Twitter contests are often thought of as footloose and fancy free, whenever you invite people to "enter for a chance to win," you have entered the realm of the legally regulated contest. Consult legal counsel before launching the contest. There are regulations on whether you call it a "sweepstakes," "contest" or "lottery," for example, and some states require official registration of your contest with state authorities. A general rule of thumb is to keep prizes under $500 to avoid winners being required to pay taxes on their winnings.

Twitter even has its own guidelines for contests that you may want to check out before you get started.

It may seem obvious, but make sure your contest actually highlights the products or brand you want to promote. Sometimes you spend so much time getting the details right, you forget the big picture goal: to drive brand engagement or sell more of a certain product.

Step Two: Iron Out the Details

Your contest needs a name, start date, end date and clearly defined prizes. It's best to have one grand prize, a first prize, second prize and third prize, then a large number of much smaller prizes –- as more than one chance to win gives people more incentive to participate. For each prize, make sure to create a unique URL, so your analytics program can track which prizes are most compelling (clicked on the most). Sometimes, it turns out your first or second prize is more compelling than your grand prize, for example, and that's valuable information to have for your next contest.

Make sure your hashtag for the contest is clear and unique, such as #WinWin7 that was used by Microsoft for a contest inviting people to enter for a chance to win seven great prizes for seven days during the Windows 7 launch. Use your hashtag in all contest messaging, even when promoting it via e-mail, banners, mobile or other channels. Use your analytics software to measure how and where people shared the contest hashtag with friends and what direct impact the contest hashtag had on increased Twitter and website traffic.

Step Three: Promote Your Contest

Treat your Twitter contest like what it is: a serious marketing campaign. You need to plan, launch and measure the contest with the same precision you would any marketing campaign. Start by defining clear marketing goals (Is this a branding campaign? A sales push?) and ROI objectives, then create a calendar for the entire project, starting from planning through to launch, execution, measurement and post-mortem. Create a messaging road map listing every tweet, ad creative, Facebook update, mobile text message, etc. you plan to put out to promote the contest –- with dates for when the message will go out.

Make your messages catchy, but also plan what you want to say to drive the most traffic to the contest at key times; messages in the beginning of the campaign should drive participation (i.e. “Tweet this message for a chance to win a Free iPad!”), those at the end should focus on urgency (“Time's almost up –- enter today!”). Invite people to share the contest with friends to improve their chances to win.

Step Four: Ready, Set, Launch

Now that you've done all the planning, it's time to launch the contest. On your planned launch date, make sure there are no big news stories or other contests, promotions or one-day trends that would overshadow your contest. If all's clear, post your first tweet about the contest –- "Contest Will Start in 15 Minutes –- Get Ready!" –- and simultaneously launch any other marketing campaigns you are planning to promote the contest (external promotion is not required, it just helps make your contest all that more successful). Create a flurry of dialogue, tweets, retweets and direct messages on the first day of the contest. Start measuring activity in your analytics system right away, because you'll want a clear picture of the entire contest from start to finish. Keep a log of every tweet you send out and every one that comes in.

Step Five: It's a Wrap

When the contest is done, it's time to award prizes and promote the winners. If your contest required people to take a quiz or complete a task, then the winner is the person with the highest score. Or perhaps your contest required the community to vote on the winner –- such as a vote for the best photo, video or logo created.

However the winner is chosen, as based on your rules and regulations, don't just let winners know they won by direct message and then disappear –- use the end of the contest as another chance to promote your brand and connect with your followers. Tweet out congratulations to all the winners.

Next, it's time to collect and analyze all your contest data. Search Twitter for every mention of the contest hashtag, then use social media analytics tools to see where else the hashtag was shared — Facebook, blogs, forums, mobile social networks, etc. Lastly, remember that the winners of your contest may become "super evangelists" for your brand, so make sure to reach out to them regularly after the contest with special promotions, offers and direct tweets that will encourage them to continue spreading good vibes about your brand or products in the future.

When done right, a Twitter contest can build your brand, dramatically increase your followers and fans, and create true customer evangelists who will continue promoting your brand to friends for months or years to come.

What do you make of these steps? What advice can you give based on your own Twitter contests? Let us know in the comments below.

More Twitter Resources from Mashable:

- What Twitter's Trending Topics Told Us About the World in 2010 [CHARTS]
- HOW TO: Use Twitter's Advanced Search [VIDEO]
- 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter
- We Hold These Tweets To Be Self-Evident [COMIC]
- HOW TO: Activate Your Brand's Super Influencers

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Windows

More About: contest, how to, social media, social media marketing, twitter, twitter contest

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What Apps & Tools Do You Use to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions? [OPEN THREAD]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 11:23 AM PST

That time of year is coming. The time when — following an evening of executing a stellar Dionysus impression — you resolve to make some changes (lose weight! fall in love! finally move out of your parents’ basement!). So what we’re wondering on the brink of this most metamorphic of times is: How will you do it?

There are tons of tools out there designed to help you successfully fulfill your New Year’s resolutions — Facebook apps, iPhone apps and web platforms galore. But we’re all different, unique snowflakes, so it’s unlikely that the same app/tool/big-dude-assigned-to-keep-you-out-of-the-refrigerator will work for everyone.

That’s why we’re asking you, the readers, to take to the comments section below to answer two questions: 1). Do you make New Year’s resolutions (why or why not?), 2). What are your favorite apps/tools for keeping them?

Now go dig into that leftover pie — while you still can.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sparkia

Reviews: iStockphoto

More About: apps, new years eve, social media

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4 Predictions for the Future of Politics and Social Media

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 10:32 AM PST

Show me a modern political candidate who doesn’t understand television, and I’ll show you a loser.

When TV became the dominant medium for Americans to consume news and entertainment, political candidates could no longer be successful without looking polished in televised debates, appearing on talk shows and spending big on commercials.

Like the television boom of the 1960s, we are standing on the precipice of a big shift in how public figures are perceived and how campaigns are conducted. Our frontier is social media, and its impact on mainstream political culture is coming on fast.

While my colleagues have been making their predictions about what’s on the tech and social media horizon in 2011, there will be no major U.S. elections next year. Here, we’ll be postulating about social media’s impact on the more long-term future of American civics.

1. There Will Be a Tipping Point

While campaigning and marketing share many similarities, the differences mean everything when you’re talking about democracy’s big picture. Brands can sell by hitting a tech savvy demographic of influencers. Elections involve everyone, whether they’re online or not.

If a large bloc of your constituency is made up of 65+ year-old retirees, chances are a Facebook strategy won’t be time well spent. Despite the enthusiasm of the tech crowd and blogosphere, Twitter is exceedingly far from the mainstream, with only 6% of Americans using the service. And while the world consumes YouTube videos at a mind-bending rate, viral success is still transient and elusive.

While these tools have certainly proven to be effective in rallying support and contributions, we don’t yet live in a world where social media can make or break a political candidate by itself.

That will change, perhaps even by the next major election cycle.

The future of the social media politician is not about wild speculation and technological uncertainties. It has everything to do with when and how deeply social media can be absorbed into mainstream culture. We are on track for a tipping point — a JFK/Nixon TV debate moment — when everyone on the political scene will acknowledge that we can never go back to campaigns without social.

2. New Media Strategists Will Just Be Strategists

I’ve had the opportunity to talk with the new media strategists for a number of senators, congresspeople and political causes. Despite their differences, they all agree that their own jobs will soon be folded into the larger campaign strategy. As many have already foreseen, social media will not require experts for much longer. As we head toward true mainstream adoption, social will be a default and well-understood tool in the belt of any public-facing professional.

We’ve already seen this happening in the private sector with marketing and PR professionals. As many corporate entities lumber to catch up with those on the cutting edge, so too will government officials and the campaigners who seek their offices.

3. We’ll See the Devaluation of Old Media in Politics

Print and radio ads are not as valuable as TV. TV will no longer be as valuable as interactive media. For politics, this is especially so, as the arena (at its best, anyway) warrants engagement and discussion.

As media appetites shift, this is an inevitability. In the U.S., we’re already seeing web use catch up with television in terms of weekly hours spent. Political money will simply go where the eyeballs are, and we’re likely to see a big payoff on social creativity when it comes to future campaigns.

4. Whistle Blowing Gets More Efficient, But That’s It

The WikiLeaks saga has ignited plenty of discussion about journalism and whistle blowing in the Internet age. But at the end of the day, the mechanics of an information leak are about the same as they’ve always been: Someone from within an organization leaks damaging information, and the media (in whatever form) disseminates it to the public. Generally speaking, WikiLeaks has only acted as a “middle man” for raw information. It’s journalists who are making sense of it and transmitting it to the public with context.

The web only speeds up this process through digitization and universal access. Governments and politicians will feel the impact of leaks sooner, but it’s unlikely the methods of protecting sensitive information will be much changed.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think will be social media’s biggest impact on the political process? How long until we see a winning campaign strategy that is purely social? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More Political Resources from Mashable

- How WikiLeaks Became the Story of the Year in 2010 [VIDEO]
- The Future of Social Media and Politics
- How Political Campaigns Are Using Social Media for Real Results
- How the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" Nailed Social Media
- 17 Web Resources to Help You Decide on Election Day

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Wikileaks, YouTube

More About: facebook, List, Lists, politics, predictions-2011, social media, trending, twitter, youtube

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Skype Explains Outage In-Depth

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 10:14 AM PST

Six days after an extended outage left its network inaccessible to many users for nearly 24 hours, Skype CIO Lars Rabbe has published a post-mortem write-up of the situation.

Essentially, a server overload set into motion a chain of events that led to a perfect storm of problems and issues that impacted the very core of the P2P network that keeps Skype running. As a result, the service was down for many users for up to 24 hours.

In his blog post, Rabbe describes the sequence of circumstances that led to the outage. The main point of breakdown — aside from the initial overload of a cluster of support servers — centered around the Skype for Windows client. Instead of correctly processing the delayed response from the overloaded servers, Skype for Windows version 5.0.0.152 would instead crash.

The latest version of Skype for Windows, version 5.0.0.156, the 4.0 versions of Skype for Windows, Skype for Mac, Skype for iPhone, Skype on your TV and Skype Connect/Skype Manager were not impacted by this first wave of issues.

The problem, unfortunately, was that approximately 50% of all Skype users across the globe were using the 5.0.0.152 version of Skype for Windows. This was the first stable release of Skype 5, released in October. The updated version of Skype for Windows was released on December 14, but unless a user happened to manually check for the update or download the latest version, chances are, he or she was running the crashtastic Windows client. Rabbe says that program crashes caused approximately 40% of clients running the buggy version of Skype for Windows to fail — in other words, 20% of Skype clients in use failed because of this issue with the older version of the software.

This is where the perfect storm elements start to come together. Those failed clients represented 25 to 30% of the publicly available “supernodes.” In essence, a supernode is a connection point that can also help funnel traffic for other users. The way that peer-to-peer VoIP networks like Skype work is that a client must connect to a supernode in order to make a connection, send voice or video data or exchange instant messages. By default, every Skype client can be a supernode, depending on your firewall settings and bandwidth capacity. If your Skype client crashed and you were a supernode, the number of available connection points for other users just dropped.

Rabbe writes, “The failure of 25—30% of supernodes in the P2P network resulted in an increased load on the remaining supernodes. While we expect this kind of increase in the instance of a failure, a significant proportion of users were also restarting crashed Windows clients at this time. This massively increased the load as they reconnected to the peer-to-peer cloud.”

As luck would have it, all of this occurred just before the usual daily peak in usage. That meant that traffic to the remaining supernodes “was about 100 times what would normally be expected at that time of day.” To further complicate matters, this additional load triggered built-in-protection mechanisms, that under ordinary circumstances, could indicate something beyond just a sudden drop in available supernodes. These triggers created what amounted to a positive feedback loop, where overloaded sueprnodes shut themselves off, which in turn overloaded other supernodes, causing them to shut themselves off and so-on. This was the event that basically took down Skype for the majority of users — whether you were using Windows or not.

Lessons Learned

This Skype outage and Rabbe’s detailed explanation are interesting in that they highlight what — for all intents and purposes — was a fluke. Had the Windows client not had the propensity to crash and had the time of the outage not occurred during peak usage and just ahead of a major holiday, the situation likely would have been much different.

The big takeaway, at least from our perspective, is that Skype needs to look at providing better auto-update mechanisms for its desktop clients. While it’s true that auto-updating can be considered user-hostile, for minor (relatively speaking) revisions like the latest Skype update, it would probably be better to push those updates to clients automatically and set that as the default. This is what Google does with its Google Chrome browser to great success. Skype wouldn’t even have to go as far as Google — it could still require users to approve an upgrade to a major version (provided the old version was still supported) and only auto-update smaller hot fixes.

This outage was also an interesting look at how the Skype ecosystem operates. Skype continues to be unique amongst VOiP providers in part because of its P2P roots. This system is an implicit part of why Skype works so well, but under the right circumstances, it can also provide its own unique set of problems.

Reviews: Google, Google Chrome, Skype, Windows

More About: networking, outage, outages, p2p, Skype, voip, Windows

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Win a Pair of Justin Bieber’s Solo Justbeats Headphones or iBeats Earbuds [CONTEST]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 09:28 AM PST

A little more than a year ago, YouTube sensation Justin Bieber stole the hearts of tweens across the globe with his debut album My World.

Little did we know he would soon change our worlds by claiming a trending topic spot on Twitter for the majority of 2010. A Twitter employee even said that 3% of the service’s servers are dedicated to Justin Bieber at any given time.

In honor of 2010 being The Year of The Bieber on Twitter, we’re giving away one pair of his Solo Justbeats headphones and one pair of his Limited Edition iBeats earbuds, both by Beats by Dre. Let your Bieber Fever ignite and enter to win!

How to Enter the Contest

Tell us what you think will be the hottest trending topic in 2011 and why
Tweet your prediction using #mashbieber OR
Submit your prediction in the comments below OR
Submit your prediction to our Mashable HQ Tumblr

Submit your prediction by Friday, December 31 at 12 p.m. ET. Please use your real identity in the submission so that we may contact you via e-mail, Twitter or Facebook to let you know that you’ve won. We’ll announce the two winners after the contest closes. The contest is limited to those 18 and older in the U.S. For more contests and prizes, also make sure to “Like” us on Facebook.

Justin Bieber Talks About His Solo JustBeats Headphones

Image courtesy Attention USA

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, justin bieber

More About: beats by dre, contest, giveaway, Headphones, ibeats, justbeats, justin bieber, trending topics, twitter, youtube

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Why Chocolate Companies Are So Sweet on Social Media

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 09:03 AM PST

In a past life, Dana Zemack was a chocolate expert and traveled throughout the country leading chocolate classes, workshops, tastings and parties. These days, she is a public relations pro at tech PR firm LaunchSquad and works with wonderful and innovative tech startups and emerging companies. To find Dana, tweet at @danamarcelle or check out the LaunchSquad blog.

O, chocolate. You stole our hearts the day we met you (in Mexico, about 3,000 years ago). Since then, royalty and aristocrats have feasted on goblets of you, armies have sustained themselves by snacking on you, a whole town in Pennsylvania was built for the milk version of you, and copious lovestruck teenagers have swooned over heart-shaped boxes of you. The world has a deep, lengthy and curious history with chocolate. As a result, chocolatiers and chocolate-makers have the luxury of commanding an audience that is undyingly passionate about their products.

In a world where communication between brand and consumer continues to become more and more personalized, conversational and transparent, chocolate companies have a unique opportunity to connect. Most of those discussed here, which are smaller, artisanal brands, simply don’t have a ton of marketing spend at their disposal. Obviously, social media is a critical and powerful marketing tool. So the big question is, how do these companies maximize the fan love?

Neighborhood Darlings: Engaging Your Local Community

Bean-to-bar chocolate companies — as in those that make pure chocolate from scratch — are few and far between. Though the number of American artisanal chocolate makers has grown exponentially within the past six years, having a chocolate factory in your hometown is a pretty sweet and special treat.

The folks at Missouri-based Askinosie Chocolate work with a local baker to create special cupcake recipes using Askinosie’s chocolate. Then, every Tuesday (known at Askinosie as Cupcake Tuesday), the baker makes around 200 special cupcakes. According to Lawren Askinosie, whose official title is “Pursuer of the Passionates,” local residents get wind of the week’s latest flavors on Twitter, storm the Askinosie shop and the cupcakes sell out every week. During this past summer’s “Hide and Eat” campaign, the company hid chocolate bars inside the storefronts of other local businesses, posted clues on Facebook and Twitter each day and incited local residents to rush the different stores to discover the bars.

Strategies to engage the local community are in a whole different realm than those focused on national or international fans. Neighborhood companies can offer their local fans something that no one else can have. It’s all about creating something really special, narrowing down the channels through which people can find out about it, and mixing things up a little by partnering up with other nearby businesses. Part of the allure of any artisanal food company is that engagement online can, with a little effort, lead nearby fans directly to something delicious that can be eaten on the spot.

We can learn a lot from the raging food truck obsession that’s taken over our big cities. Scharffen Berger, a leading American chocolate maker who is in a very different place in the chocolate market than the smaller companies included here, recently partnered up with New York City bakery Sweetery’s dessert truck, Street Sweets, to promote a Scharffen Berger chocolate cupcake recipe contest. Thousands of Scharffen Berger chocolate cupcakes were given away during two days in late October, with Twitter updates offering the truck’s whereabouts around the city.

Keeping It Real: Catering to Each of Your Audiences

Fans of Vosges Haut-Chocolatier can find their truffles, chocolate bars and other sweets online, at certain specialty retailers and at a handful of small Vosges boutiques called “Purple Houses,” after Vosges’ purple branding. Boutique patrons at the different locations range significantly, from the SoHo regulars who stop by the shop every couple days, to enthralled Las Vegas tourists who never dreamed that chocolate could be infused with wasabi and ginger.

Clearly, different locations have different personalities. Each store has its own Twitter account, authored by the store manager. Vosges sets basic branding guidelines and then encourages managers to let their personalities shine through and cater their Tweets to their local customers. Followers of the Chicago O’Hare International Airport location will see tweets like “Bliss in B6!” — as in, gate B6, which is where the store is. According to Caroline Lubbers, who heads up Vosges’s national social media, “bliss at B6″ was tempting enough to make one traveler tweet back that she was actually excited for her Chicago layover.

Then there are the brand’s nationally focused social media campaigns. Vosges is a luxurious, glamorous brand, and a major part of the mystique of its truffles and chocolates are its exotic flavors and spices. Curry powder, candied violets and sweet guajillo chili pepper are some examples.

In a recent “What kind of truffle are you?” Twitter campaign, fans tweeted their five main personality traits and received responses with links to which truffle they are. Find me anyone who wouldn’t want to be described as “zingy, crunchy, spicy, sassy, buttery sweet” Red Fire toffee.

I liked this idea so much I sent them mine. They told me that I am a caramel marshmallow.

Another Piece of the Puzzle: Supporting Sales

Beyond the consumers, small chocolate companies have another crucial audience to think about. This time it’s their retailers and wholesalers. Again, these are small companies whose owners and founders are oftentimes making the chocolate themselves. There isn’t a ton of extra cash available for mega sales teams.

Utah-based chocolate maker Amano has many hundreds of retailers. According to founder and owner Art Pollard, when Amano posts about a new product, not only does it get a sizable bump in online sales (which more than doubled for five days following its Facebook alert about the newly in-stock Montanya bar, for example), but the savviest of its retailers are also quick to respond with bulk orders. With a sales team of two, being able to get the word out instantaneously to even a fraction of its sellers both saves time and boosts sales.

Vosges sees its wholesalers get involved on its Facebook Page. Furthermore, many people tweet their questions before calling customer service. Beyond using Twitter as a quick response customer service platform, Vosges also uses the platform to promote its retailers. The company keeps tabs on any tweets from people looking for its products and directs them to the nearest place to find its bacon chocolate bars, for example, even giving them a heads up about local sales and deals. Askinosie is also entering the local deals space on the location side, now exploring Facebook Places, with deals popping up as fans check in nearby.

Make Your Own and Eat It Too: Merging Online With Offline

As much as many of us wouldn’t mind popping into a local chocolate shop and making our very own signature sweets, this would likely result in a raging mess and personal escort right back out the door. From teaching tons of chocolate sculpture, truffle-making and tasting workshops, I can personally attest that being surrounded by chocolate makes people crazy.

PlayFirst’s popular Facebook game Chocolatier Sweet Society, which launched this past June, recently took an interesting approach to helping its 390,000 monthly active users connect virtual (and less messy) chocolate making to the real-life experience of actually eating the chocolates they’ve “created.”

Players aim to become “world famous” chocolatiers of the Victorian era; they build their chocolate shop from the ground up, making decor and branding choices, choosing recipes, and making the chocolates. Players use virtual currency to purchase new recipes, source premium chocolate and exotic ingredients, and invest in other ways to bring more customers into their stores.

Just before Thanksgiving, PlayFirst launched a special initiative with San Francisco-based chocolatier Charles Chocolates, a small batch, artisanal brand with a look and feel that matches the game’s Victorian aesthetic. Players can not only get recipes and make branded chocolates from a special collection that Charles Chocolates created just for the game, they can also buy the real-world versions of the chocolates, which are only available through the game and cannot be bought in any store, online or off. According to Eric Hartness, who leads the social team at PlayFirst, this is the first time that you can create a virtual good in a social game and then buy it in the real world.

PlayFirst saw installs rise 54% for the four days following the day of launch, and re-engagement of existing players increased by 16%. Players have since created more than 135 million pieces of Charles Chocolates for their virtual shops (the most popular being “toasted almond clusters,” of which 52 million were made).

Askinosie, right in line with tapping Facebook to engage online fans for real-world product purchases, has plans for a Facebook-based store.

Ask Around: Crowdsourcing Your Product

Once the community is built out and thriving, there’s another opportunity that presents itself, though not all chocolate companies would dare to take it on. One innovative brand crowdsources its entire line. Tcho, based in San Francisco and led in part by CEO Louis Rossetto and President Jane Metcalfe (also known for co-founding Wired Magazine), was the first company to launch a chocolate line in beta. Marketing associate Larry Del Santo explained that the beta concept is the foundation of the company — appropriately, the store is called “beta store” and factory tours are called “beta tours.”

It’s soon launching its first line of milk chocolate bars, expected to be out in 2011. To develop the bars, this past June, the company tapped its fans to beta test different recipes. The beta bars were available for purchase online, and anyone who was interested in participating could try them out and share their feedback through an online form. About 90% of the participants were online and the rest did their trials in-store.

Though the company expected to run the beta through the summer, all the bars sold out within the month. Del Santo also explained that milk chocolate makes for a particularly fun beta. What do they test for? A few things: Much like wine grapes, cacao beans are grown in different places around the world in a variety of climates and soils, and therefore have different flavor profiles. Chocolate tasters can look for flavors and subtleties similarly to how they might taste wine. But unlike their darker counterparts, the taste of milk bars goes beyond the straight bean blends, as the type of milk plays a major role. All that said, this past October, Tcho introduced a line of milk chocolate bars sold exclusively at Starbucks. This collection wasn’t offered out to the world in beta; its style and flavor was developed internally.

Go On. Take a Bite.

Some swear it’s an aphrodisiac, others stand by its supposed magical antioxidant powers, and still others buy it in bulk to remedy a bad mood. But overall, the vast majority of us have a deep, emotional connection to the cocoa beans that are hacked out of odd-looking pods to be dried, roasted, ground and blended with cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla (sometimes) until it all morphs into the velvety goodness with which we are all so enamored.

All artisanal food companies, both big and small, can learn from how these chocolate makers and chocolatiers are innovating and engaging with resources that are often quite limited.

What other interesting social media campaigns have permeated the foodie world? Share your thoughts in the comments.

More Foodie Resources from Mashable:

- 7 Great Mobile Apps for Environmentally Friendly Eating
- For Restaurants, Social Media Is About More Than Just Marketing
- 10 iPhone Apps for Wine Enthusiasts
- 10 iPhone Apps for the Global Foodie
- 7 Services That Will Suggest Things You Like

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pederk

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto

More About: chocolate, facebook, Food, MARKETING, social media, social media marketing, twitter

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80+ Terrific Tech and Gadgets Resources From 2010

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 07:35 AM PST

tech gadgets robots geek 2010 roundup year end year in review

Twelve months is a long time in the consumer technology arena, which explains why this roundup of the best of Mashable’s tech and gadgets posts from the past year is such a fantastically mammoth list.

From facts about big tech brands to unusual laptop sleeves and geeky tees for kids, we’ve written a lot for gadget-lovers in 2010, so take a look below for the ultimate catch-up resource on all things gadgets and tech.

We hope you enjoy the roundup of the results of our labors from the past year — please be sure to bookmark, subscribe, sign-up, follow or “like” to see much, much more of the same in 2011.

Gadget Resources

Our gadget-related lists have brought you stylish accessories, green gadgets and useful kits in 2010. Here’s a list of lists.

Tech Resources

From sci-fi predictions that came true to tips for eye health, 2010 has seen a varied and interesting mix of tech topics on Mashable.

Tech Company Resources

Whether you’re gaga about Google or mad keen on Microsoft, we’ve delivered fun facts and other insights into the tech companies you care about.

Geek Fun

We’ve had tons of fun in the past 12 months with some light-hearted articles looking at all things geek. Here’s a review for you…

Online Resources

Beyond the hardware side of things, we’ve been busy online in 2010, offering you a variety of how-to guides, websites to bookmark and entertainment options you’ll find waiting for you on the web.

Apple Resources

Whether you’re a full-fledged fanboy or just an Apple admirer, we’re sure you’ll see something click-worthy in our list of all things Cupertino.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Okea

Reviews: Google, Mashable, iStockphoto

More About: apple, gadgets, List, Lists, tech

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Why Nutrisystem Is a Branded Social Networking Giant

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 07:33 AM PST

Everyone knows the secret to weight loss is diet and exercise, but increasingly there’s another component as well: social media.

As the big weight-loss firms gear up for New Year’s, typically their busiest time of year, some are emphasizing the size and scope of their online support networks. For other marketers, the homegrown social networks for Nutrisystem and Weight Watchers will no doubt spur envy: The former claims about 3 million people while Weight Watchers has 2.3 million. Both networks are only about three years old, and both brands have thriving communities on Facebook as well.

While 3 million or so is a drop in the bucket compared to Facebook’s 500 million-plus, it should be noted that Walmart, for one, tried and failed to create its own private social network. These days, most brands set up communities on Facebook instead. Notable exceptions include Procter & Gamble’s BeingGirl.com, which gets about 2 million visitors a month and Carnival Cruise Lines, which hosts a forum called Funville that boasts about 128,000 posts. Other private social networks are on a smaller scale. For instance, Kraft’s Philadelphia Cream Cheese recently created a social network of about 30,000 women.

Chris Terrill, the chief marketing officer for Nutrisystem, says there’s a reason why social networks catering to consumers in weight-loss mode work so well. “It’s a natural part of the dieting process,” says Terrill. “People get in a lot of trouble when they try to force a social network when there’s no reason to congregate.” In contrast, on Nutrisystem’s network, consumers often look for support, recipes and tips to help them through their weight loss regimens. The company estimates that about 50% of its customers now include social media in their diet plans in an effort to stay accountable.

Weight Watchers, meanwhile, employs editors to help answer questions and create activities. For instance, a recent challenge to lose five pounds drew 15,000 participants, says Theresa DiMasi, vice president and editor-in-chief of WeightWatchers.com. Weight Watchers also has rolled out iPad and iPhone apps to help its followers through their diets.

“However they access us isn’t important,” says DiMasi. “We just want to provide support.”

Sarah Hofstetter, senior vice president of emerging media and brand strategy for 360i, says most brands are better off using a Facebook page to corral fans. Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem, she says, are atypical because support networks are such a big part of their brands. “If they don’t find a way to replicate that online, they’re going to lose out,” she says.

Although private social networks provide a wealth of data about consumers’ activities and preferences, another plus for the companies is that the networks provide a controlled, real-world environment where consumers can check out the diet plans and see what people are saying about it. That proof point is underscored in a new Nutrisystem campaign that features actual users offering testimonials in grainy digital video. Terrill says the emphasis on real results is important since he’s noticed a shift in which consumers are more skeptical about advertising claims and tighter with their money. “It’s a post-recession mindset,” says Terrill. “People are saying ‘I want to take a hard look at everything.’”

Reviews: Facebook

More About: advertising, MARKETING, Nutrisystem, social network, weight watchers

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Mashup Combines This Year’s Top 25 Songs [VIDEO]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 07:17 AM PST

DJ Earworm is out with his annual "United State of Pop" mashup, which features the 25 most popular songs of the year (according to Billboard magazine), and, we have to say, it forms one pretty cohesive jam.

Featuring songs from pop stars like Ke$ha and Katy Perry, this mashup certainly isn’t for everyone (including this humble author), but we have to admire DJ Earworm’s (a.k.a. Jordan Roseman’s) mashup chops.

Check out the video above and let us know: What were your favorite songs of 2010?

More About: Billboard, mashup, music, video

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This Morning’s Top 3 Stories in Social Media, Tech & Business

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 06:39 AM PST

Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. We're keeping our eyes on three particular stories of interest today.

SEC Probes Trading in Private Companies Including Facebook & Twitter

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun investigating the trading of shares of privately owned companies, including Facebook and Twitter.

HTC Thunderbolt Photos Leaked

Photos of the HTC Thunderbolt, the first LTE phone to land on Verizon, have been leaked ahead of CES.

Groupon Raising Up to $950 Million in Funding [REPORT]

Groupon has filed for a Series G funding round that authorizes it to raise up to $950 million, according to a new report. If the report is accurate, Groupon's post-money valuation would be somewhere between $6.4 billion to $7.8 billion.

Further News

After celebrating the inclusion of 100,000 apps in the Android Market just two months ago, it appears the Market has now unofficially broken the 200,000-app barrier.
Scottish scientists have built a 1,000-core processor, claiming it will run 20 times faster than today's chips while using less power.
A new survey from Rasmussen Reports reveals that just one in five American voters want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the Internet, placing their faith instead in free market competition to protect the Internet's U.S. users.
HP has slashed the price of the Envy 13, suggesting a new ultrathin laptop may debut at CES.
SCVNGR has teamed up with teen clothing retailer American Eagle for a New Year's fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59
Reviews: Android Market, Facebook, Internet, Twitter, iStockphoto
More About: facebook, first to know series, groupon, htc thunderbolt, SEC, twitter
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SEC Probes Trading in Private Companies Including Facebook and Twitter

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 05:58 AM PST

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a probe into trading with shares of privately owned companies, including Facebook and Twitter, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Services such as SecondMarket have offered trading with privately owned stock for several years now; Facebook’s valuations that are circulating around have mostly been based on these trades. However, even a privately owned company has obligations to disclose some financial information in certain cases.

According to the SEC’s Q&A, even if a company has not registered a securities offering, it “must file an Exchange Act registration statement if it has more than $10 million total assets and a class of equity securities, like common stock, with 500 or more shareholders; or it lists its securities on an exchange or on Nasdaq.”

With huge funding rounds received by companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and most recently Groupon (though not yet officially confirmed), it’s hard to imagine that they have less than 500 shareholders, as big funding rounds are often comprised of smaller investments by multiple investors. Furthermore, companies such as Secondmarket are in a bit of a gray zone, but one could easily argue they’re a trading desk like any other.

The probe is at a preliminary stage, the WSJ reports, but if the SEC finds irregularities in private trading in any of these companies, they could ultimately be forced to go public, just like Google did in 2003.

This could have enormous implications for companies such as Facebook, which has been toying with the idea of an IPO but never really committed to it in any foreseeable time frame. Furthermore, it could impact future funding rounds for companies such as Groupon and Twitter.

Thanks to Grant Robertson for his help in preparing this post.

[via WSJ]

Reviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter

More About: facebook, private, SEC, trading, twitter

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American Eagle Teams with SCVNGR for New Year’s Promotion

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 05:03 AM PST

New Year’s Eve in Times Square is turning out to be a testing ground for location-based marketing efforts with Facebook Places and now, SCVNGR.

The latter is working with teen clothing retailer American Eagle on a New Year’s program aiming to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. The push goes live today with an American Eagle billboard in Times Square that asks consumers to complete challenges on SCVNGR in order to raise cash for BBBS. Such challenges include “2010 was…” in which respondents are asked to describe their year, “Spot the Eagle,” which requires them to snap a picture with the eagle on the Times Square billboard and “What’s your resolution,” which asks for 2011 resolutions.

For every completed challenge, American Eagle will donate $5 to the organization, a figure that SCVNGR will also match for a total of $10 per challenge.

The effort is the latest for SCVNGR, which most recently ran a mall-based Black Friday challenge with Coca-Cola giving away $100,000 in gift card rewards. SCVNGR claims to have about 500,000 users and is on track to hit 1 million in early 2011.

Meanwhile, SCVNGR’s not the only location-based service running a program in Times Square this New Year’s Eve. The Times Square Alliance, which coordinates the ball drop, is running a billboard at One Times Square for Facebook Places. The organization wants attendees to check in at the event just for fun. SCVNGR and Facebook Places aren’t competitors per se. The former integrated with Facebook Places earlier this year.

More About: american eagle, MARKETING, scvngr, times square

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Americans Don’t Want the FCC to Regulate the Internet [STATS]

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 04:37 AM PST

A new survey from Rasmussen Reports reveals that just one in five American voters want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the Internet, placing their faith instead in free market competition to protect the Internet’s U.S. users.

Rasmussen asked 1,000 likely U.S. voters, “Should the Federal Communications Commission regulate the Internet like it does radio and television?” Only 21% of those polled responded affirmatively, while a whopping 54% stated that they opposed FCC regulation of the Internet. One in four said they were not sure.

According to Rasmussen, the Republicans and independent voters surveyed, “overwhelmingly opposed FCC regulation of the Internet,” while Democrats were more evenly divided on the issue.

When asked whether government regulation or free market competition was a better mechanism to protect Internet users, 52% chose free market competition, while only 27% said government regulation was the best option. Again, Republicans and independents chose free market competition by a wide margin, but a plurality of Democrats said regulation was the answer (46%). Part of the reason for their choice was because the majority of likely U.S. voters polled (56%) say the FCC would use its authority to promote a political agenda, while only 28% disagree with that assertion.

We Need to Find the Net Neutrality Balance

We’re not surprised by the results of the Rasmussen poll, but here’s one reason why we believe they’re opposed to FCC regulation:

“The issue has attracted little public notice. Just 20% are following news of the net neutrality regulations Very Closely. Another 35% say they're following it Somewhat Closely.”

Net neutrality is a complicated subject filled with many factions and lots of nuances that can only be found in the detailed government paperwork the FCC and the courts have been generating for the last few years. Last year, the FCC stepped in to mandate net neutrality for the web. Internet activists cheered the move, but U.S. courts ruled that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to make such mandates.

The FCC skirted around the issue by making Internet lines subject to the same rules as telephone networks, but work on net neutrality slowed down. Then Google and Verizon made its controversial open Internet document, which proposes that different rules should apply to wireless networks.

The FCC wasn’t happy with Google and Verizon for essentially going over its head, but eventually the FCC approved an Open Internet Order that included many of Google and Verizon’s proposed rules. Now the FCC’s authority to regulate the web is being questioned by Congress and the issue could easily make its way back to court.

No wonder the vast majority of the American public aren’t paying attention; how can anybody be expected to follow all of these developments when they have a work and family life to manage? It’s a classic case of rational choice theory.

As we’ve written before, without net neutrality regulations, Internet service providers (ISPs) could have free reign to discriminate against the transmission of certain types of data, like video. Here are some of the potential worse case scenarios just to get started.

Excessive government regulation can stifle innovation, but a lack of intervention could turn the Internet into a wild west where Comcast, Verizon and other ISPs create fast tracks for some content while making it impossible for Internet users to access other websites. We need to find the right balance of net neutrality regulation that keeps the web open but doesn’t restrict the impressive innovations that have contributed to the rise of Facebook, Google and thousands of web startups.

Reviews: Facebook, Google, Internet

More About: democrats, fcc, net neutrality, Rasmussen, republicans

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