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  1. English Premier League: The Social Media Season

    May 19, 2012 by admin




    The English Premier League is arguably the world’s most popular sports organization, and this season saw explosive growth off the pitch in the realm of social media.

    Manchester City snagged its first English title in 44 years last weekend to cap off another dramatic EPL season. To recap how the league developed digitally this year, Mashable hunted down some stats. We also consulted Sean Walsh, whose blog Digital Football is a leading source on the intersection between English soccer and social media.

    “EPL clubs have been criticized in the past for their out-of-date approach to social media in comparison to the youthful and creative tactics employed by U.S. franchises in the NBA and NFL,” Walsh, who’s interviewed the digital directors of several top European clubs over the past year, told Mashable in an email. “But the 2011-2012 season has seen the rise of social media in ‘the beautiful game,’ and Premier League clubs have finally begun to invest in it.”

    Walsh says EPL clubs added a total of more than 17 million Facebook fans over the course of the season. In total, the league has almost 60 million Facebook likes — all the more impressive when you consider England’s total population is just over 50 million people.

    So far, both the league and its individual teams have a much stronger presence on Facebook than on Twitter, where clubs count a combined following of less than 4.5 million. But the EPL’s presence is growing rapidly on Twitter as well as Facebook — Walsh counts a 126% increase in followers league-wide since last season.

    SEE ALSO: How Social Media Is Changing Sports [INFOGRAPHIC]

    Premier League side Chelsea was also involved in a piece of Twitter history recently. Its win over FC Barcelona in last month’s Champions League semifinal set a Twitter sports record of 13,684 tweets per second, eclipsing the previous record set by the most recent Super Bowl. Chelsea takes on Bayern Munich in the Champions League final this Saturday, so we’ll see if it can make Twitter history again.

    Liverpool, meanwhile, became the first Premier League team to promote itself using Pinterest. The team stocked boards with historic photos, fan gear, old uniformas and memorabilia. Pinterest has become one of the newest ways sports teams around the world are seeking to leverage social media.

    Among Walsh’s favorite individual digital EPL moments this year: Manchester City launching a YouTube partnership taking steps toward integrating fans’ in-person and social media experiences; Queens Park Rangers owner Tony Fernandes using Twitter to ask fans which players they wanted the club to acquire; and midfielder Joey Barton using promoted tweets to apologize to fans for being thrown out of a match.

    How do you think English soccer stacks up to other pro sports in leveraging social media? Let us know in the comments.

    Image courtesy toksuede, Flickr.

    More About: Facebook, sports, Twitter

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  2. Facebook’s IPO: Who Got Rich

    May 19, 2012 by admin

    Mark Zuckerberg

    Zuck, who owns 503.6 million shares, is now worth $19.14 billion, though his personal fortune surpassed the $20 billion mark several times.

    Click here to view this gallery.

    OK, so Facebook’s IPO may have seemed like a lot of sound and fury for 23 cents, but there will still doubtlessly be some celebrating in Menlo Park Friday night.

    That’s because a lot of Facebookers got fabulously rich on Friday. True, it probably would have been an even more festive occasion if the stock had hit the $54 that Twitter had predicted, but Facebook’s measly gain on its first day of trading was still worth $115.7 million to Mark Zuckerberg.

    Here’s why Zuck and some other big Facebook investors still have cause to pop the Champagne.

    Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AUDINDesign

    More About: bono, Facebook, facebook ipo, Greylock partners, mark zuckerberg, sean parker

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  3. Top 10 GIFs of the Week

    May 19, 2012 by admin

    1. Ringing the Bell

    It was a big week for Facebook, which rang in the Nasdaq bell from its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Facebook shares started trading at $42 each on Nasdaq around 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning, under the symbol “FB.”

    Click here to view this gallery.

    This week awarded us a colorful new collection of GIFs. Here’s a look at Mashable‘s picks for the top GIFs of the week, everything from the Facebook crew to a Donna Summer tribute to a dog/bunny combo.

    SEE ALSO: Top GIFs of the Week — May 10

    Which GIF is your favorite for the week? Let us know in the comments below if we missed any good ones.

    More About: Facebook, features, GIFs, mark zuckerberg, tumblr

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  4. Facebook Is Worth More Than McDonald’s and 4 Other Giant Brands

    May 19, 2012 by admin




    Facebook closed its first day of public trading valued at $105.19 billion, making it worth almost exactly as much as PepsiCo, which is valued at $106.5 billion.

    At more than $100 billion, Facebook doesn’t quite make it into the leagues of Coca-Cola, worth $167 billion, or Wal-Mart, worth $212 billion. Nor does it yet compete with tech giants Google, worth $196 billion; Microsoft, worth $246 billion; or Apple, worth $496 billion.

    However, being the largest Internet IPO in history does get you somewhere. We’ve rounded up five companies you probably perceive to be enormous, which are now worth less than 8-year-old Facebook.

    SEE ALSO: 6 Reasons Why the Facebook IPO Fell Flat

    Take a look at these smaller-than-Facebook companies. Are you surprised by how big Facebook is compared to these other companies? Sound off in the comments.

    McDonald’s

    Worth $91 billion

    Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shaunl

    Click here to view this gallery.

    What Is an IPO?

    What exactly is an IPO? What are the risks to a company in going public? What are the legal requirements?

    If you find the business terms and market lingo confusing, check out our explainer video, which breaks down an IPO in plain language.

    Image courtesy of iStockphoto, woraput

    More About: brands, Facebook, facebook ipo, networth, valuation

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  5. Which TV Shows Are Getting the Most Social Buzz During Finales Week?

    May 19, 2012 by admin




    Mashable’s mRank is presented by Samsung’s SMART cameras. Simply shoot your image and share it instantly on your social sites, using built-in Wi-Fi. It’s the camera for how we share pictures today.

    How I Met Your Mother - 600CBS’s hit show How I Met Your Mother not only brought in strong ratings this week for its season finale, it also raked in significant social buzz online in the first half of the week, according to mRank, Mashable’s social media chatter-tracker. However, buzz at the end of the week belonged to American Idol, which trimmed its contestant pool to the final two on Thursday.

    With many TV series wrapping up their seasons with explosive finales this week, viewers have been turning to the social web to post reactions and discuss the latest plot advancements. Leading the pack in social buzz is How I Met Your Mother, whose season finale not only welcomed a new baby but also gave more details as to who Barney (played by Neil Patrick Harris) will marry.

    Other strong social buzz performers during the first half of the week included The Big Bang Theory, The Voice, Bones, Game of Thrones, WWE Raw and American Idol.

    Mashable’s mRank leaderboards track the most buzzed-about TV shows across the social web. mRank’s technology analyzes certain terms — in this case TV show names or words associated with a certain title — and creates a leaderboard based on the volume of conversation around that show on Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Mashable has leaderboards for various events and topics — from movies to music — and more will pop up for events, such as the Olympics, in the future.

    Although reality TV show The Voice dropped from first last week to the sixth most-discussed earlier this week, its finale was held a week prior to many other finales. Fans of the show took to social networks to react to the crowning of Jermaine Paul, Alicia Keys’ former back-up singer and the mentee of country star Blake Shelton, as “the Voice.”

    The top ten also featured Mad Men (despite its lack of a season finale), newcomer series The New Girl and perennial favorite Dancing with the Stars. Meanwhile, Saturday Night Live — which is the 14th most-discussed show online — received a lot of buzz earlier in the week when former cast member Will Ferrell re-joined the team to host the season wrap-up. In addition, a clip of celebrities from the show’s digital shorts returned on Saturday night to celebrate the series’ 100th sketch, with the help of Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Natalie Portman and Michael Bolton. The video went viral and initiated a lot of online chatter.

    Toward the end of the week, American Idol shot up to the top of the mRank list, pushing How I Met Your Mother down to the ninth spot. If early buzz for American Idol’s finale is any indication, we suspect it will be back on top yet again next week.

    Other strong performers toward the end of the week include Bones, Criminal Minds, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Game of Thrones.

    mRank 5/16/2012
    mRank TV

    mRank 5/18/2012
    mRank TV - May 18

    mRank presented by Samsung

    Mashable’s mRank is presented by Samsung’s SMART cameras. Simply shoot your image and share it instantly on your social sites, using built-in Wi-Fi. It’s the camera for how we share pictures today.

    More About: features, mashable, mrank, social tv, the-voice

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  6. Google Further Integrates Google+ Profiles Into Gmail [VIDEO]

    May 19, 2012 by admin

    Your Google email account is changing — it’s getting even more social.

    A new Google update will make “people front and center in Gmail” — or rather the people you know who signed up for Google+.

    These updates will further integrate Google+ — the search engine’s social network — into Gmail. Now when users search for an email address, contact information from Google+ profiles will show automatically. This means Google+ profiles are pushed to the forefront including profile pictures, emails, chat prompts and phone numbers. This could be a solution for Google+’s lackluster user engagement.

    SEE ALSO: Google News Gets Deeper Ties to Google+

    A company product manager Itamar Gilad described the new personalized changes in an official blog post.

    “These updates are helping us to provide a more consistent, beautiful experience across all of our products,” he wrote. “Quick access to contact details will be rolling out to everyone today. To take advantage of circles and more in Gmail, you’ll need to join Google+.”

    Google+ circles are also finding their way into your email. You’ll be able to filter messages by circles of friends. To see how, watch the video above.

    Updates like these are a part of Google’s master plan to incorporate Google+ into all facets of the company’s products. Google unveiled Google Search Plus Your World in January.

    Do you think Google+ is an effective directory? Tell us which social network you turn to for contact information — for friends or strangers.

    Thumbnail courtesy of iStockphoto, franckreporter.

    More About: gmail, Google, google search plus your world, Google+

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  7. Former Yahoo COO Who Almost Bought Facebook Shows Up on IPO Day

    May 19, 2012 by admin




    Back in 2006, Facebook was only a shadow of the company it would become, tech giant Yahoo was attempting to buy the social network for $1 billion — and Dan Rosenweig was the man who got Zuckerberg’s handshake on that offer.

    Rosenweig the Chief Operating Officer of Yahoo from 2002 to 2007 — Facebook founder to acquire the company — an offer which Zuckerberg accepted at first, but declined after Yahoo lowered the price.

    “I’d like to think I was way ahead of the curve of most people, because they only had four million users and zero revenue and I did offer them a billion dollars,” Rosenweig said during a brief conversation with a group of journalists in the parking lot of Facebook HQ before heading off to a scheduled interview.

    “I assure you as ahead of the curve I thought I might have been, I don’t think anybody would have imagined all of this,” he said shortly after Facebook’s stock went up for sale Friday.

    Zuckerberg reportedly accepted Yahoo’s $1 billion offer with a handshake. Yahoo’s stock tumbled shortly after, and the company lowered its offer to $850 million — an offer which Zuckerberg refused. Yahoo had reportedly separated into two camps on the issue, one that believed in the future of Facebook, and another that thought a $1 billion investment in a network that was currently making no money was unwise.

    SEE ALSO: Facebook Opens at $42, Valued at $116.6 Billion

    Rosenweig built a relationship with Zuckerberg during the time Yahoo was considering the acquisition, and impressed him with his forward-thinking. When most people were still thinking about building single applications, Zuckerberg was thinking about building a platform.

    “He was talking about a platform before platform was cool,” says Rosenweig. “He had a vision for connecting people of all kinds.”

    At the time, Facebook was only available to college students — and only allowed them to connect to students at their own school.

    “He had pretty big ambitions, and I think it’s pretty clear he was way ahead of everybody –- and still is frankly.”

    Rosensweig described Facebook’s move to Menlo Park as representative of a rebirth in the area. “When I moved here 10 years ago this building was Sun Micro, and it’s sort of the changing of guard. Menlo went from Sun Micro, to being sold to Oracle, to now resurrecting it as Facebook.”

    SEE ALSO: The Early Hours of Facebook HQ on IPO Day

    Would Facebook would be following in the footsteps of the building’s previous tenant 10 years from now and moving out? “My guess is only if they need a bigger building,” Rosenweig said. The number of developers growing up today would only help grow companies like Facebook in the future, he added.

    “It’s an absolutely wonderful time to be in Silicon Valley … A lot more of these companies are generating revenue. A lot more are generating profits. That wasn’t the case 10 years ago.”

    More About: Facebook, facebook ipo, ipo, Yahoo

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  8. Facebook HQ on IPO Day, As Seen on Instagram [PICS]

    May 19, 2012 by admin

    firewheel

    “Hacking NASDAQ”

    Click here to view this gallery.

    While the rest of the world was relegated to watching Mark Zuckerberg ring the NASDAQ opening bell online, Facebook staffers turned the late night and early morning event into an all-out party at their headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

    Mimosas were flowing, house music playing, and just about every Facebook staffer was recording the occasion on their mobile devices — and not surprisingly, given the recent acquisition, they favored Instagram.

    We’ve collected the best of them in the gallery above. How do you rate the Facebook staffers’ Instagram skills? Which snapshot is your favorite? Let us know in the comments.

    Facebook shares started trading at $42 a share on Nasdaq around 11:30 a.m. Friday morning under the symbol “FB.” At the beginning of trading, Zuckerberg was worth $21 billion. Currently, the stock is trading less than a dollar above the IPO price of $38.

    Thumbnail photo courtesy of Zef Zikolla, Facebook

    More About: Facebook, facebook ipo, instagram

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  9. Facebook IPO: No Sizzle, No Fizzle

    May 19, 2012 by admin




    Nasdaq Facebook IPO 600

    On its first day as a public company, Facebook‘s stock closed at $38.23 a share.

    That’s up $0.23 a share from its IPO price but down from the stock’s opening trading price of $42.

    The stock, which trades on NASDAQ using the symbol “FB,” was supposed to enter the market at 11:00 a.m. ET. Instead, it was delayed by more than 30 minutes, reportedly due to overloaded demand on NASDAQ’s systems.

    Some analysts have remarked that the trading delay ultimately hurt Facebook’s opening day.

    SEE ALSO: 6 Reasons Why the Facebook IPO Fell Flat

    While many are quick to point the finger at Facebook’s relatively flat performance as a sign that the company has “failed,” we think Twitter’s Director of Platform, Ryan Sarver put it best:

    I love how analysts are saying “facebook disappoints on it’s opening day”. IT’S WORTH $105B IN 8 YEARS!! Nothing disappointing about that

    — Ryan Sarver (@rsarver) May 18, 2012

    In the comments, let us know your thoughts on Facebook’s opening day performance.

    Thumbnail photo courtesy of Zef Zikolla, Facebook

    More About: Facebook, facebook ipo

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  10. Facebook Acquires Gift-Giving App Karma

    May 19, 2012 by admin




    Fresh off its first day on the Nasdaq, Facebook has acquired another company: Karma. An app for “in-the-moment gifting,” Karma lets you send everything from a bottle of wine to a fuzzy teddy bear to friends via SMS, email, and Facebook.

    The way Karma works is pretty simple. Using the app, you can browse through a virtual storefront to pick out a gift. Karma has partnered with companies including with Hulu, Gund, MoMa and Spotify –- so there’s a pretty decent selection of gifts.

    Once you’re found the perfect gift, you can create a virtual card and send your present to your recipient via text, email, or a message on his or her Facebook wall. As the person receiving the gift, you can choose to accept it -– and provide Karma with an address where you would like your gift shipped -– or you can trade the gift in for something else in Karma’s store. You can even choose to give the monetary value of the gift to charity.

    Mashable met with Karma CEO Lee Linden in March. At the time, Linden said that the majority of the gifts sent from the app were actually done via SMS.

    “The average response rate for an SMS gift is less than 60 seconds,” said Linden. “Email is four to five hours. On Facebook, it’s a day.”

    SEE ALSO: Need to Send a Gift But Don’t Know the Address? Karma App Can Help

    One interesting aspect of the app is its Facebook integration. Karma reads through messages on your Facebook wall, and alerts you to specific events where you might want to send a gift. For instance, if a friend was receiving several “Congratulations!” messages on his or her wall due to the birth of a new child, Karma would let you know.

    “We’re thrilled to announce that Karma has been acquired by Facebook.” Karma execs said in a blog post. “The service that Karma provides will continue to operate in full force. By combining the incredible passion of our community with Facebook’s platform we can delight users in new and meaningful ways. As we say…only good things will follow.”

    More About: App, Facebook, facebook ipo, karma

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