How Do You Access Facebook?

According to a recent article by The Guardian, four out of five Facebook users log on daily using their smartphone or tablet. Did you know that 24 million people use Facebook every day? Which means that 83% of those people are using Facebook on their mobile. Have a look at How do we spend time online (Infographic) to check how facebook dominates other sites!

Mobile Growth:

The use of mobile phones is growing faster and faster than ever before. There has been a massive shift towards mobile phone use and people are accessing the internet on their phones on a daily basis.

How do you access information on the web? What do you use? The chances are you are accessing websites whilst shopping, on the train, at work or waiting in line at your local coffee shop. Your mobile phone is a pretty important piece of kit. It is what connects you with the world, it is what enables you to find out what is going on in the world of social media and the greater world that is out there. It links you to friends, to family, you can check your bank balance on it, transfer your rent and even check the latest football results.

You can update your Facebook or your Twitter to share your opinions with the rest of the world. You can inform the world of your pending nuptials whilst you are busy being proposed to and you can take a photo of what you ate and where and load it to Instagram in a matter of seconds.

Your mobile phone is a powerful communication tool that is more than just your ability to chat to your friends or to text them as to where you want to meet them.

But is your phone insured? Do you have mobile phone insurance? Have you just come down off your mobile-phone-buzz and thought of what would happen if you lost your phone or if someone stole it?

If your mobile phone is an essential part of your life, an extension of your body and a vital part of who you are, then it is of paramount importance that you have it insured. Mobile phones can be costly if they are not insured. And, if your phone is lost, broken or stolen, it also means that you could be without your phone for a long time.

By insuring your phone you are making sure that you are never really without one. Mobile phone insurance can be the difference between being lost and missing contact with your friends to having a new and replacement phone within a matter of hours. Have a look at Protecting Your Mobile Phone.

Your mobile phone is a key part of your daily life. Whether it be for work, personal use or both, can you really imagine being without your mobile phone?

Well, if that is the case then isn’t it high time you had your mobile phone insured? From cracked screens and lost phones to stolen phones and unauthorised calls, you will want to make sure you are covered.

And, it starts from as little as the cost of a loaf or bread. Go on, use your loaf.

Author Bio:

Bill Turner is a techie at heart, loving the rate at which gadgets come out and how helpful they are, his home is stuffed full of the essential gadgets.

Read more

How To Make Best Use Of Social Media

We live in the 21st century when our lives are more and more defined by an online presence. Whether it be a Facebook account in which you share every little bit of information about your life or whether you need to update your daily activities every minute by posting on Twitter, social media is an integral part of our lives. As a company, this huge online world, is an area that can be exploited and used to improve your business in many different ways.

A study of the average age distribution across social networks would make interesting reading for any business as you can plot where to market your product and whether it is worth it. If, for example, you only sell hearing aids and your best customers are the elderly, then maybe social networks wouldn’t be useful for your business as the study shows only 3% of users on social networks are over 65. But if a recruitment company is looking at finding someone between the working ages of 17 and 65 then you can market to a whopping 81% of all Facebook users and amongst the millions, get your perfect candidate.

For more information on using social media in business then see our infographic.

Read more

10 Of The Best Ways To Connect With People In The Digital Age

The modern world is a place more connected than it has ever been in all of human history. The sheer number of options for communication and message diffusion available to us as individuals, groups, companies or organizations is an absolutely unprecedented kaleidoscope of technological innovation. What’s more, all of these communications options have become cheaper and more portable than ever before in history.

Thus, because of this, anyone from a goat herder in Mexico to a taxi driver in New York City to a socialite in Europe can access almost anyone else on Earth and spread their message to a large audience of digital contacts in just minutes. This can be used for things as simple as chatting with friends or it can incite whole revolutions and riots in repressive countries. All of this is possible thanks to the range of technologies described or represented below.

10) Hotmail, Yahoo email services:

Email itself is slowly dying in favor of other, more up to the minute communications mediums but the original warhorse email services such as Yahoo and Hotmail keep chugging along with just under 600 million users between the two of them. While their interfaces are in many ways deeply lacking as opposed to the power of Google’s Gmail, the inertia of being the first two major providers keeps them popular and as far as basic communications between friends and casual contacts is concerned, they’re not too bad.

9) Gmail:

The king of all the email providers, Gmail is a free email service run by Google and, while similar to Yahoo and Microsoft’s Hotmail (now called Live Mail) it’s interface and connectivity options are so much better. Add in a very effective anti-spam filter and the ability to connect with other highly used Google services, and it’s no wonder that Gmail is now the preferred choice for many professionals in all of their business or work related email needs. Gmail used to be the smaller of the three major email services but has now overtaken both Yahoo and Microsoft Live Mail with nearly 500 million users of its own.

8) WhatsApp:

The WhatsApp mobile device communication app is essentially a text messaging service that can be downloaded for free on yop of the existing SMS capability of your smart phone. However, unlike your existing provider, it’s free to use for the entire first year that you own it and costs less than $20 USD per year for every year after that. By using the power of 3G internet connectivity to send messages, WhatsApp lets you communicate quickly and easily with all your mobile contacts without running up your mobile minutes or phone contract costs.

7) Google Drive:

Another Google Service to make the list; Google Drive is the Cloud storage and transfer app that comes built right into your Google email (Gmail) account and into other Google services such as Google Apps. Drive isn’t really anything much different from what services like DropBox offer, except that its integration with any Google account means that you can use it to easily create collaborative document and data editing group accounts for yourself and other Google using partners. This is indeed very useful and great for business connectivity.

6) DropBox:

Simple enough: Open an account, download the app to your devices (along with its 2 GB of free storage space) and use it to quickly and easily share documents amongst your devices or send large files to your friends and coworkers by simply offering them a DropBox link that they can download from. A powerful cloud storage/sharing tool that lets you and others connect through shared data.

5) GoToMeeting:

A fairly powerful online video conferencing platform that’s very easy to use and very cheap as well. While GoToMeeting is possibly not the best solution for major business needs, it’s great as a small business and collaborative video calling service. Simple enough: you open an account (the first 30 days are free as part of a trial offer) set up a meeting platform on the GoTo website and invite as many as 25 other people to participate in the meeting through their own special access link at scheduled times that you’ve set in advance. No login is necessary for attendees and you can set meetings as often as you like.

4) InterCall:

InterCall is a perfect solution for real business connectivity in the digital age. Unlike other services such as Skype and Tango, or even GoToMeeting, the services provided by InterCall are designed for real corporate quality video, audio and telepresence meetings that give you access to a diverse range of different meeting formats, prices and styles. Their video conferencing options can be set up so you either set up and run a meeting with your own equipment and use Intercall to run the connection, or you can give them complete control of everything and simply focus on holding a digital meeting quickly and easily.

3) Twitter:

The Twitter social media site may seem overly simple –writing 150 character blurbs about what you’re doing or how you feel and maybe sharing a link inside them—but with this fairly basic range of communications options, this social app has been used to topple governments, coordinate mass rallies and protests and bring together large numbers of friends or connect celebrities directly with their followers. Twitter is much more powerful than it would seem.

2) Skype:

Skype is the oldest and most famous of the video calling apps. Now copied by other extremely similar products such as Apple’s FaceTime and Tango or oVoo, Skype is free, easy to use and very effective when it comes to visually interacting with friends and family over any sort of distance. You can use the Skype video interface from your PC, laptop or mobile device and even make calls to mobile or landline devices with it at discount rates.

1) Facebook:

Who doesn’t know what Facebook is all about? With over 1 billion users, this is now the world’s absolute most popular social network, and it’s a great tool for staying in touch with friends, family and even customers through fan pages and business pages. You can use Facebook for just about any sort of basic digital communication including video chat through their built in video platform.

Image Credit: Kromkrathog.

Author Bio:

Stephan Jukic is a freelance writer who generally covers a variety of subjects relating to the latest changes in white hat SEO, marketing, marketing tech and brand promotion. He also loves to read and write about subjects as varied as the idea of a location-free business, portable business management, and strategic marketing and advertising tactics. When he’s not busy writing or consulting, he spends his days enjoying life’s adventures either in Canada or Mexico. Connect with Stephan on LinkedIn.

Read more

Recording Your Every Move

How do you use your Smartphone to communicate? Do you prefer to text or Facebook your friends? Or are you a fan of sending you message out to the world via Twitter?

If we follow in the footsteps of our ‘celebrities’ we might choose Facebook to post pictures of ourselves to show off our best bits. If words are more your thing, then Twitter is a great medium to tell the world your thoughts and all in 140 characters or less.

Celebrity Tweeters:

We watched Will-i-am on the first series of The Voice tweet about contestants. It was an on-going commentary of his thoughts about them.

Across the pond, Kim Kardashian uses her Twitter feed to pass on tips that are subsidised by advertising. She can make $10,000 for one tweet. We’d all have a piece of that if we could get it!

Billionaire Donald Trump spends a lot of time on Twitter ‘warring with pretty much everyone’ including the writer of Modern Family, Danny Zuker; he referred to Zuker as a ‘moron’. Nice!

Another famous ‘loose cannon’ is actor Charlie Sheen who uses it as a platform to rant too!

As singer Minaj uses Twitter to hurl insults; one of her targets has been fellow American Idol judge Mariah Carey.

Whether you chose to use Twitter as a war zone or would rather just share your opinion on daily life is your choice of course. We rather think etiquette is better demonstrated without the public abuse.

Immediacy:

Smartphones make tweeting a favourite pastime that allows tweeters to connect with others. The immediacy of this social platform is appealing and the fact that any message you put out there goes to your whole community – there is nothing private about it.

Visual presence:

While you can add images to your tweets, Facebook is more visual. You can give your friends a photographic tour of your life – where you are, who you can see, what you’re just about to eat and more.

Social media really is about sharing some of your most personal moments. We’ve all seen entries from friends as they give birth or minutes after haven’t we?

Keeping it real and ... safe:

It’s a whole new way of way of communicating in the here and now. It’s strange too – nobody really cares what you’re having for breakfast, lunch and dinner but many users feel compelled to tell everyone.

However you choose to use your Smartphone, it’s obvious from most user’s habits that it’s a very important device. It is easier to capture every waking minute than a traditional diary or blog. It involves physical input but usually in sharp, short bursts. It’s perfect for exhibitionists or narcissists who like to see pictures of themselves everywhere.

If you feel like your right arm has been cut off if you leave home without your Smartphone, then the thought of losing it or having it stolen must invite nightmares.

Obviously you will do everything to ensure that your phone is always close at hand – in fact you’re probably using it most of the time. Adding the precaution of phone insurance is a really good back-up plan.

Author Bio:

Rob Rudd is just a little bit incredulous at the nonsense that celebrities spout via social media. He enjoys writing for technology and lifestyle websites.

Read more

Social Media - Great Way of Communication

Most of the people today with internet access use social media in some form or the other. It changes the way people and organizations communicate or interact with others. But despite of its popularity, most people have a very limited knowledge and understanding of the scope and utility of Social Media in its entirety. A phrase being tossed around a lot today but it can sometimes hard to answer what it is?

Social Media! it is in use today as one great way of communication, where people across the world and from various professions, races, cultures and religions meet. It allows users to share content, information, opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives or even resources, tool widely use today that foster interaction, discussion and community via the internet.

Social media can take many forms, including images, text, video, and audio. Some include blogs, podcasts, wiki, message boards and blogs. It consists of billions of people’s buzzing minds, relating and connecting to each other by just a simple tap of few keys. Like a waterhole for a thirsty brains that never dries up. While the tools of social media are easy to use, the rules of the road are not necessarily intuitive. It’s a new communications landscape out there, with tremendous opportunity but also a lot to learn, waiting to watched or visit or read or blogged.

There are tons of social media platforms these days and it may hard for some people to catch up with the ever-changing lingo, in many ways is experimental; it’s not however, completely unproven and it actually a waste of money if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s essential to understand that it is simultaneously a great opportunity.

Social media facilitates open communication and enhance information delivery and discovery. Everyone can find new people, communicate to their loved ones all over the world and meet their friends. It allows people from the different geographical location to share and express their views and meet in a single point, or at the same time promote products globally. Many will experience the broadness of connectedness and knowledge through social media use, technological literacy, opportunity to widen business and can give attract attention to your site, product or services.

Social media has a character of its own; there is nothing that would be taken for granted or be assumed. There is no “one hat fits all” kind of a solution. In fact, there are certain aspects of social media that apply to everyone, but they can at best be termed as guidelines or best practices. Social media are a learning process. Ultimately it all boils down to understanding, gathering relevant information and then analyzing it to tweak your activity, be it online or offline.

Img.Credit: freedigitalphotos

Author Bio:

Derar Barqawi, online marketing specialist at Almond Solutions. I am also an active member on Domadeed.

Read more

The Emergence & Efficiency of LinkedIn

Using social media to promote a website, business, cause, or group is no new feature, but many organizations have struggled with finding the right recipe of properly reaching their specific market with success. Many individuals have come up with lists upon lists of tips, tricks and strategies on how to create noticeable ROI through proper use of these popular platforms. Certainly, there are ways to become a social media savant; it has been done, but there is also something to be said about the product and/or service that is being offered…maybe the real key is not the secret recipe for posting the right things at the right time to interest groups of people, but rather using the appropriate social campaigns for what you have to offer. That being said, some may be surprised at some recent trends in the virtual world.

Facebook:

Everyone uses Facebook, plain and simple. Recently breaking through the one billion-user ceiling, it is indisputable that Facebook is the leading social media giant of the world today. People use Facebook for everything from photo sharing to business promotion, to catching up with friends and relatives; it certainly is an all-encompassing platform. The drawback to Facebook is that it has a laid-back, informal aura that makes it difficult to convert views into customers unless the product/service offered is similar to that of Facebook’s personality. Furthermore, the company must successfully be interactive with their fans, meaning that these users (who have already shown invested interest in this product) have to be able to have some sort of input, compete for recognition, or be offered giveaways in order for a Facebook campaign to create significant waves.

Twitter:

The magic behind Twitter is two-fold: first, people and companies love it because it allows them free advertising along with quick ideas, facts and opinions about their favorite topics, teams, celebrities, brands and people; second, Twitter has become so popular that they don’t even have to spend a single advertising dollar to promote themselves. Everyone promotes Twitter for Twitter. There is hardly an event, commercial, or program on television not sporting its own Twitter Handle. On a micro level, in regards to convenience and usability, Twitter is genius because a quick blurb can bring you anywhere in the “Twittersphere” where the more, in depth content is located. On a macro level, a drawback to Twitter is that it can certainly be overwhelming for a user because of the sheer volume of tweets flowing into a virtual space at any given time. A not so small example of this is the Super Bowl this past February: the game average was 4,064 tweets per second, and that isn’t even the highest on record!

Linkedin

One of the younger Internet successes of the past few years is quickly and quietly taking more and more of the professional piece of social networks. Founded for the exact purpose of conducting business and creating professional relationships through online networking, LinkedIn has carved its own path in the realm of social media. Though they have much fewer users than Facebook, LinkedIn can still boast an impressive number of users: over 225 million. Mind you, LinkedIn isn’t aimed at anyone who feels like signing up; it is specifically targeted towards business professionals and students looking to enter into business. Furthermore, LinkedIn is now the top IPO over Facebook according to an article on phys.org. LinkedIn also had a higher success rate during their opening trades, but also recorded a much steadier momentum throughout their trading. LinkedIn not only supports personal profiles that act as online resumes, but also looking for new jobs as well as discussing major business issues. The table to the left from emarketer.com shows the unrivaled popularity among those in financial professions who use social media tools specifically for business. Lastly, LinkedIn provides a platform more appropriate for B2B companies whereas Facebook caters more to the B2C companies that need consumer interaction in order to generate revenue.

Choose Wisely:

In today’s world, which is run by technology, it is almost required for all businesses to have some sort of online presence. This could be a website, a strong social media following, or simply strong customer service through an email/newsletter system. What is important is that each entity chooses the path that is right for them; the mistake here would be trying to force a business into social media fame. Some types of products and services simply aren’t cut out for that method of exposure. This does not mean that just because your company or product may not be the next Facebook success story that it is impossible to hold a considerable share of the market. It only means that you must go about building your brand in a different manner, this is where LinkedIn rules over the others. The honed course of catering to business professionals and their needs is what helps people of all professions network, find jobs, seek input and even possibly find business partners and/or investors. LinkedIn is the businessperson’s version of Facebook and it doesn’t look to be leaving anytime soon.

Author Bio:

Scott Cleary is involved with managing the social media and blogging for SysIQ, a global ecommerce company. You can connect with him here on LinkedIn.

Read more

Making Money With YouTube

Previously we have published an article on "Learn How To Create YouTube Videos With These Three Tips For Beginners" followed by that here is an article for you which explains how to convert your videos into money making machine.

Many people have been turning to YouTube over the past few years to make a little extra income on the side. Others, have been able to make a full-time business out of uploading videos to YouTube. Odds are, that if you are good at doing something, and you make an informative video about it, then people will watch.

What Makes A Good Video?

One of the most popular types of videos on YouTube are makeup tutorials. Many people make a living out of filming their makeup habits. Whether it's a makeup tutorial, a makeup haul, or a how-to video, there are so many different types of videos being uploaded every day, and just as many people are watching them.

Other types of popular videos are pregnancy blogs, day-in-the-life-videos, video diaries, and music videos - such as cover songs, karaoke songs, or ones which have their lyrics posted along with the song.

Monetization Counts:

Once a YouTube channel earns subscribers you can begin to monetize your videos. For each person who clicks to watch your video, they will have to watch a short clip of a commercial before your video begins playing. Each time a commercial plays, you will earn money. The more subscribers you have on your channel, and the more people who watch your videos, the more money you can make.

If your channel becomes very popular, sponsors will start to take notice. You many even start receiving free samples from the companies. When a sample is sent to someone who has a YouTube channel, it usually relates to the topic of conversation. Many sponsors will send you free items and ask you to give them a brief mention in your video, or even ask you to do a full review.

Once you have gained sponsor attention they might even pay you for your services. If you refer enough people to their company, they will give you a percentage of credit for every new customer gained.

Now, its important to remember when creating a YouTube channel that you must own all of the information you are sharing with your viewers. You can't include any music that is copyrighted, or protected by its owner. Also, your videos will have to be original and not copied from any other source.

Share On Social Media:

Image credit MyBlogGuest.com

Another great idea is to share your YouTube videos over social media. This will help you to gain new subscribers and viewers. You might even think of hosting a giveaway. By offering something to your viewers, you can ask them to like and subscribe to your videos in return for an entry into the giveaway. You may also ask them to share your videos across social media as a bonus entry, which will help you gain even more subscribers. You could host a giveaway once every month or so - this will keep your audience coming back to your channel in hopes to win something for participating.

When you have acquired a large viewing audience, YouTube may even approach you to be featured on their front page. This will showcase your channel to millions of YouTube viewers world-wide. As your fan-base grows, so will your income.

It doesn't take much to get started earning money from YouTube. All you basically need is a camera, some good lighting, and a great topic to talk about, or teach others how to do. It's also important to be comfortable talking into your camera. If you aren't able to explain exactly what you are doing in your video, then others might not be able to follow along. Your video should be interesting and keep your audience entertained at all times. Lastly, remember to have fun!

Creative Commons image source.

Author Bio:

Ryan Simms is the owner of www.flvto.com. Be sure to check stay up to date with Flvto by viewing our fanpage on Facebook.

Read more

Why Do We Love YouTube So Much?

Ah, YouTube! It seems everyone knows this site. In fact, it’s even become its own search engine and even those who are not highly tech-savy have heard of the site and in most cases, have even seen some videos on it. We can safely say that people love YouTube but then we ask “Why?” What is it about this site that makes it so popular?

Well, that's a great question based on the addictive nature of the popular site. Why DO we love YouTube so much and why are so many people viewing, uploading, sharing and rating videos on the popular site?

It could be that we get instant videos at the tip of our fingers or making it’s because of the wide variety of content that’s shared. It’s easy to use and it allows you the platform to make and share your own videos as well as watch those of others. In fact, this is why this site was originally created. It is a product of necessity and for that reason alone, it’s easy to see why so many people love it. But there’s more…

Social Times brings us The Top 5 YouTube Vloggers and Why People Love Them which gives us some insight into what makes YouTube so great. By watching their videos, people get to know these vloggers on an intimate level. It can be a bit like having a favorite TV show but then actually being able to post comments and chat with your favorite stars.

Using YouTube for Your Videos:

If you want to use YouTube for your own videos, then you can create an account for free and then begin uploading. You will get your own channel and you can use a custom design to personalize your channel to your needs. Some people will cheat YouTube views so they have a more popular-seeming account or channel. This is because they want to get more people to like their videos and channel by making it appear more popular.

Other users don’t care about this at all and may only use YouTube to share family videos long distance, to express themselves or to create How To content. It’s really about what you want to gain from the experience and whatever you feel like posting videos about. This is part of why people love YouTube so much- you have freedom and control to do nearly anything you want, provided you follow the rules.

Using YouTube to Watch Videos:

Now if you’re not looking to make your own videos right now, you can still gain a lot from YouTube since you can use to watch videos and even Download youtube videos. It’s completely free, user-generated content. Many famous artists, musicians and performers will put some of their content up for free as well so you can listen to music and watch music videos among many other things.

You can learn to do just about anything via YouTube videos. So again, this is just one more reason people love the site so much. What are some reason that you love YouTube?

Author Bio:

You can learn more about YouTube and how to get more likes from Olivia Johnson, a video and social media fan and teacher.

Read more

3 Great Facebook Alternatives

Maybe you’re tired of the the ticker. Or the timeline. Maybe it’s because your parents constantly check your profile. If it’s not any of these then you’ve probably had it with the constant stream of ads that are specifically tailored to target you. Because let’s face it: we are a bit tired of Facebook. It’s time to unlike them and chose a different social media platform.

Here are three great alternatives:

3.) MeetMe

According to their website you should join as it is “fun, friendly and free!” and currently boasts more than 90 million users MeetMe is different from Facebook in the sense that it is a place to meet new people rather than staying in touch with friends you already know. MeetMe was founded eight years ago under the name myYearbook by two students. On the site people use a virtual currency with which they can send gifts to each other: lunch money. You can earn lunch money by playing Flash games on the site. On MeetMe you’ll find the chance to instant message your new friends, ask them to rate your appearance and play games like truth or lie.

2.) Nextdoor

Nextdoor is a social network platform that specifically targets a special geographical area. Their website informs us that “when neighbours start talking, good things happen.” You will be able to only get in touch with people that live really close to you. Upon registering you need to fill in your address. Once this is done you’ll get a list of people living nearby who are also using Nextdoor. The website hopes to build a stronger neighbourhood by helping neighbours connect so that they can inform each other and share local information.

1.) Google +

This will not come as a surprise to many, but the best alternative to Facebook is Google +. G+ is the second biggest social network site in the world. With 500 million users, it surpassed Twitter in January this year. Where you share with your friends on Facebook, on Google + you share with your circles. The most striking feature is Google hangouts: a place where you can invite people from your circles to join a video chat. Other features are games and instant messaging. In a ‘community’ you can invite people to share information as you would do with a group on Facebook. Users can see what plussers talk about most in the ‘what’s hot’ section.

These are some Facebook alternatives that are definitely worth checking out. Do you know which one you want to sign up on next?

Author Bio:

This guest post is written by Rens van der Windt, a digital marketing executive from London. One of his clients is Intralinks more than a VDR, a secure document storage provider.

Read more

Social Media – Making Our World Even Smaller

There was a point in time where hearing from friends or knowing the latest news stories happened to be more of a rare treat as opposed to something that you could constantly check. It wasn't until social media and networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and others took off along with the use of smart phones that we are continually connected to everyone we know and follow. This trend of social media has helped us not only remain connected but makes the world we live in much smaller.

How is social media making our world smaller?

One of the most interesting parts of social media has to be the fact that most of us have a smart phone that is connected to these networks all day long. It makes it very easy to quickly make comments on news, stories, share photos, give followers video clips, and be part of the conversations that are going on. It's easy to become part of a conversation with people that you may or may not have met before interacting with other people constantly. It not only makes it easy to talk with friends and family but people who live in other nations that you share interests along with.

Is this kind of connectivity a good thing?

While there are complaints about people being too addicted to devices like the stereotypical teenager on the smart phone or even those who fall for the misinformation that is on social networks at times, this connectivity is merely an outlet for people to express who they are and what they think. Some of it is great while some is not. All in all, being connected like this is something many enjoy.

This type of connectivity allows many of us to stay informed about various news, stories, local events, popular projects, charity initiatives, family issues, and the lives of friends. For many, this can make it so much easier to keep up with what is going on in an otherwise busy world.

How are people staying connected?

Many are either going directly to the social media sites, using smart phone apps, following blogs, or even using websites that allow them to consolidate all their feeds and interests in one spot. One of these that is fairly interesting is called Dwibbles that will literally learn what you read the most so that the most relevant information will be right there on the page which is easy to read and access.

If you haven't checked out social media and networking sites, it might be something that you could find to be interesting. Since it does keep us connected and make the world a bit smaller by interacting with others, it's something fun and valuable to look into.

Author Bio:

Eric Santos is a blogger, problem solver, and entrepreneur. Eric is the Co-Founder of Dwibbles, and the CEO of Soshowise. Eric received a B.S in Entrepreneurship from CSUF. Eric has served as an Account Manager for the survey software company Decipher, and have managed accounts for clients such as eBay and PayPal. Eric has done some social media consulting in the past.

Read more

Social Media: 5 Things You Didn't Know Your Employer Could See

With the Internet and social media, things are starting to change. Today, employers can see a lot more than you want them to. Some of what employers can see depends on your privacy settings, but other things can easily be inferred. Do you know what your boss can see on your social media profiles?

Religious and Political Views

Image via Flickr by pbyrne

Unless you specifically tell your settings to only allow friends to see your religious and political views, potential employers can see this information. There is controversy around this, due to the legal ramifications it can cause for businesses. If someone is turned down for a job after Facebook is consulted, it could be argued that religious or political views were used as a discriminating factor.

What Groups You are In

Take a look at the groups you are a part of in your social media pages. Your employer may not appreciate if you are a part of a group called "I hate my job… screw this place!" Whether you are looking for a new job or trying to keep the one you currently have, make sure you are only in workplace-friendly groups if you are concerned about your employer checking on your social media profiles.

Who Your Friends Are

Image via Flickr by dan taylor

Are you friends with someone with a 'reputation'? Whether they are famous or simply are known for something they have done, someone with a well-known name on your friends list may not be a big deal to you, but it may be to an employer. If so, keep in mind that the boss can pull up this information. They can see who your friends are, and that can be good or bad for you. This doesn't mean you have to change your friends, just be aware of any potential problems that may arise.

Pictures You Post Publicly

Most people forget to make their pictures or albums private. Because of this, most images online are available for anyone to see. This includes social media accounts. When you post pictures of doing dangerous or illegal things, drinking and partying, or any other pictures you simply wouldn't want your boss to see, remember that they can see these pictures unless you specifically set them up to be private.

Are You a Family Person?

Image via Flickr by kippster

Look at your profile picture. This is public to everyone, no matter how private the rest of your profile is. If you have a picture of your kids, an employer is going to know that you have a family. If you have been working for the company for ten years, they probably know this. However, if you are job hunting, potential employers may not. And realistically, you may not want them to. Consider your profile picture, and make sure it is something you are comfortable with employers seeing and making judgments about.

Make sure that your online presence is what you want it to be. With Reputation.com YouTube videos, you can understand the steps you can take to clean up your profile and show the world what you want them to see.

Read more

Social Media Places Greater Emphasis On Password Security

Social media websites like Facebook are often populated by hackers and scammers. 

Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter are accessed by millions of people each day, making them a prime target for scammers and hackers alike. Some consumers have already experienced the unsettling feeling of having their accounts breached, while others may undergo similar events in the future.

The key for anyone who accesses social media websites and other online accounts is to have proper security in place. Business2Community's Andrea Eldridge recently indicated that people should have effective passwords to protect their various interests. These credentials should be between seven and 10 characters and include different punctuation, numbers and symbols to make them more complex.

Consumers should avoid using identical phrases for all of their respective accounts, because if a malicious party gains access to someone's Facebook password, they may try to access banking and shopping data with this information, Eldridge explained.

Eldridge also noted that a password manager is another way to keep sensitive credentials safe from hackers. These solutions make it possible for people to stop worrying about remembering potentially dozens of different phrases for their accounts. Instead, these tools use advanced algorithms to generate complex passwords for a person's email, banking information and other sensitive material, ensuring safe browsing anywhere.

Facebook in particular can be a breeding ground for scammers. Eldridge explained that criminals often entice users to click malicious links with the promise of prizes like iPads if they install a certain application. Such false promises can result in exposed account information if people are not careful. Social media is a platform that can connect people with their family, friends and colleagues. However, with so many people participating in such activity, hackers and scammers will continue to use the same services, but with malicious intent.

Read more

Tips For Getting More Twitter Followers

The world has greatly reduced into a tiny global village where much advancement has taken place in the field of Internet Technology. Gone are the days when people advertised on banners and other common methods. Now it is another version where people make comment and give their adverts on the internet. There are many advertising sites over the net. Many sites offer the services in unique style. It is easier to advertise on the net. One of the means people are getting their product sold is by use of social forums such as twitter and face book. Let's look at some of important tips one may apply in twitter to win followers.

Use of good language:

Good language will appeal to the followers. In most cases, people would like to get more views from those who know how to talk and write good language. They tend to read good commends on a catching topic. Therefore diction is very useful in establishing a comment on twitter which requires fans to follow and learn much of the posters' goods and services. Proper use of words attracts more followers on twitter and other social forums.

Making nice and beautiful adverts and comments:

The poster has to use comments that attract the attention of the readers. Boring comments often carry less magnitudes of the information thus attract few people as followers. Remember, in the case of adverts, the more the followers the better the chances of getting more clients. It is relevant to have the right information to post that has attracting elements for the readers to follow.

Introduction of sweet topics:

Sweet topics in forums attract many followers. It is the topic that avails the channel for discussion of the person others follow and the followers. Boring topics for discussion get fewer comments meaning that less number of twitters follows the comment. Ways of making sweet topics is by introducing humor and funny stories that make twitters enjoy following. For instance, topics on celebs carry large number of comments. The more the comments the more the number of people get to know the subject of the matter. By doing this the person gets easy time to buy twitter followers.

Motivating followers:

Some people use the method of awarding their followers points and gifts to those who take much of their time following them as a way of motivating the followers. Business oriented minds have it that the more the customers the higher the rate of sales. To meet more customers, the owner of the business has to advertise efficiently. On twitter, most twitters follow celebs more than other ordinary people. For better advertisement, then one may use celebs in winning more twitter followers. Many have followed others because they tend to learn something from them. Tweets that lack educative messages do not attract a number of learners.
It is important for one to join twitter. Joining twitter and getting followers is one and different things. On many people on twitter have different reasons and motives for joining it. It is then necessary for one to identify his or her audience and post what they would like to hear.

Author Bio:

Roman is the owner of one of the leading social media companies that gives the chance to buy twitter followers over time for the growth of the business campaign. The agency was created no more than two years ago and has risen to surprising heights in this short time span.

Read more

Music@Twitter: Discover great Trending Music

Music.twitter.com

If it comes as a surprise, Think twice. The Huge impact of Social Network “Twitter”, like a global consciousness externalized, helps us see cluster of people (groups) talking about same things, “Trends” and no algorithm like analyzing music waves can ever see “Gangnam style” flying through the charts.

Trends:

Obviously, you follow bands, music groups on twitter. It helps you find the trending music, and songs on twitter.com

Play:

Will let you play, right through the webpage, it has integration with iTunes, and music services like Rdio, Spotify. Most Amazing Part, it makes webpage a thinking music player, another layer of real intelligence and music sense added through an algorithm.

How to Download:

Starting from 18^th April, this App is available,

• You can download Twitter #music from the App Store for your iPhone.
• Enjoy the web version here: music.twitter.com
• Not available for Android Phones.

Let us know about your experience with the Twitter Music App for iPhone, so that we can with your suggestions dig more deeper into it, and see how it affects your life, and catches on with you.

Author Bio:

Joshua Logan, is tech-writer. Inspired by the flux in creativity and technology, he feels, a need of missing art of rhetoric, and clarifying and simplifying lot of tech jargon, and influencing people to make right decisions. You can connect with him on Logan.

Read more

Latest Rumors on the “Facebook Phone” – Features and HTC Repercussions!

Heard it right? “Facebook phone” may be coming soon! Android Police, a techie blog, reports of a system dump of the software to be featured on the intended smartphone. There are likely rumors that the phone will be announced on Thursday, April 4th at the social networking giant’s Menlo Park, CA campus. The leaked photos show the purported version of Facebook’s operating system.

The “Facebook Phone” is rumored to be on an HTC handset running a special version of Android designed specifically with Facebook in mind. The traditional Android homescreen is replaced with a custom Facebook application called “Facebook Home”. This app runs on top of HTC’s Sense 4.5 skin and Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2.

What are the features?

Screenshots reveal of a normal-looking Android user interface. But many of its features are not yet usable as its only pre-release build that works for only Facebook employee accounts. The above tech team was able to go into the build.prop file, which lists the specifications that the software works with. This particular build is meant for HTC-made device with the model name “Myst_UL”. This model is available on the AT&T network with 1GB RAM.

The “Myst” also features a 4.3-inch display with a 720p resolution and a 1.5GHz MSM 8960 processor. It's the same SoC featured in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S III and BlackBerry Z10, giving the “Facebook phone” a bit of a mid-range feel.

What can be the repercussions for HTC?

Till now smartphone manufacturer is “quietly brilliant”. Now it wants to attract more customers from the likes of Apple and Samsung by being the manufacturer of the so-called “Facebook phone”. But that will only be profitable to HTC if anybody likes this phone. What if, nobody wants to buy a phone that is tightly integrated with Facebook skin? HTC might have spent a lot of money on a project that may not see actual gains!

What kind of Apps?

If really the phone comes out and makes a big-bang like other smartphones, what kind of apps will be there? Are those going to be Native apps or Mobile Web Apps ? For many years, Facebook founder & CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has defended the Mobile Web’s ability to deliver a consistent user experience across multiple devices with a single development effort. But just like his earlier claims on “Facebook phone” he had to retract on the app developing platform.

According to ReadWrite, 

"Facebook released a completely rebuilt version of its iOS app for iPhone and iPad today, changing a fundamental aspect of the company's mobile strategy. Gone is the Web-centric, HTML5 approach. In its place, Facebook has rebuilt the iOS app using Apple’s native framework. The result? A more streamlined, faster app for the iPhone and iPad."

Conclusion:

The success of Facebook Home will come down to whether it really adds value to the existing Facebook apps on Android. If not, few will buy the HTC Facebook phone and only the hard-core fans of Facebook will install the homescreen replacement. Also OEMs will not invest in deeper Facebook functionality.
But if success does happen, we can see a 7th sense for our social lives. This can be possible by seeing what happens on our friends lives on our Facebook phone homescreens. Facebook can leverage more money and can gain even more control of the ever-more popular mobile experience.

Author Bio:

Palla Ramarao is a Microsoft enthusiast and writes about latest trendy Windows articles on his blog. He is interested in writing about Windows products like Windows 8, Office 2013, Outlook.com, Surface tablet and Tech Tips. He is a Civil Engineer, Software Engineer and Blogger by part-time.  His other interests are social networking, making online friends and participate in blogging discussions.

Read more

Facebook Chat Letters Generator

Hai friends here is an intresting way to amaze your friends by generating the letters in the form of pictures and posting them in the fb chat box. By seeing the above pic you can understand.

What To Do:
Just type the text to be converted into picture, in the Type here field.
Copy the codes generated in the Use this field and paste it on the fb chat box and feel the magic. :)
You can Preview the final picture on the Preview field.

Don't Miss:  Send Images On Fb Chat Box!

Type here: Hello

Use this:

Preview:

Read more

Beaware Of Viruses On Social Networking Sites!

Facebook and other social networking sites can be great tools to help you stay connected with friends and family but beware! Just because the url says Facebook does not necessarily make it safe to do all it has to offer. Increasingly people are getting infected from viruses and malware installing games, quizzes, and other rogue apps from social networking sites. The viruses or malware spread by posting to your friends wall and soliciting them to install it as well.

The best plan of action is to use these social networking sites without installing any 3rd party games, apps, or quizzes. This ensures that you will be protected from most threats. However if you have a computer that is used by everyone in the family and you have teenagers that might not follow these simple rules then it is important to have security software to block these threats from entering your computer.

More and more people are using Facebook and other social networking sites at the workplace which increases the risk of spreading viruses at the workplace. Many businesses have had to block Social networking sites altogether to stop the infections and lost productivity to these services.

Security programs such as Microsoft Security Essentials can help stop the viruses and malware before you get infected instead of having to remove them after the damage has already been done. Malicious Software Removal costs are higher after you have been infected.

Behavioral steps you can take to avoid getting a Virus or Malware. Avoid Facebook quizzes and games that can give you a Virus or Malware. Stay away from sites that look shady or want you to install something to run if you are not sure of how legitimate they are.

Do not open attachments even from friends unless you are expecting a particular file from them. Many times the virus will attach itself to your contact list and send emails out to everyone appearing as if they came from you. The best rule of thumb is to never open emails that look like they are from unfamiliar people.

Stop using and downloading anything from peer to peer networks these services are loaded with viruses and malware. Use the latest Firefox or Google Chrome browsers they help to keep viruses and malware out of your computer much better than Internet Explorer.

If the virus or malware you have does not let you install or download anything then boot up your computer in safe mode to allow you to download and install the proper virus removal and malware software. Instructions for booting your computer into safe mode are listed below.

Read more