Hashtagging Comes to Facebook
The social media site takes another page from Twitter's book.
(The Root) -- There's now an actual reason for people to use hashtags on Facebook: As of Wednesday, hashtags on Facebook are clickable, giving their use an official purpose. In addition to clicking on Facebook hashtags and being taken to a stream of related posts, users can also click hashtags from other platforms, like Instagram.
Could this be an attempt to keep Facebook from going the way of Myspace by staying technologically trendy? Twitter didn't invent hashtagging, but it definitely popularized it, and sites like Tumblr, Instagram and Google Plus use them as well. Facebook also recently changed its "subscribe" feature to a "follow" button, similar to Twitter. There are also more reported changes to come.
Whatever the implication, I'm just glad that there won't be people needlessly hashtagging things in Facebook posts. I look forward to not having to yell, "JUST GO TO TWITTER!" at my screen anymore.
Read more at the Verge.
Remember Twitter's Music App?
One month after its launch, #Music seems poised to go the way of the dodo.
(The Root) -- If you're surprised to hear that Twitter launched a music app for the iPhone and the Web last month, you're not alone. The app, #Music, seems to have slipped under the radar of many Twitter users, and now, one month after its launch, it looks as if the app will soon be a memory.
The Verge reports that #Music recently fell out of the top 100 iPhone/iPad apps, bested by more popular music apps like Spotify, All Access and Last.fm. The website speculates that #Music's struggle to impress lies in the fact that it is "doing so much less than those services." To listen to anything beyond a snippet of a song via #Music, users have to turn to Spotify or Rdio. In short, the Verge says, "#Music cares more about data than it does its people."
This potential smudge on Twitter's record won't leave a stain, however. Social media giants such as Twitter try new things on a wing and a prayer all the time. Best-case scenario: #Music takes off and dethrones Spotify as a preferred streaming-music service. Worst-case scenario: #Music bombs and fades into oblivion, and Twitter is still Twitter, superhuge and wildly successful.
Read more at The Verge.
Teens Flock to Twitter
A recent study shows that Facebook is being abandoned in large numbers.
(The Root) -- Remember when you had to have a college email address to get a Facebook profile? Those days are long gone, as evidenced by the scores of high schoolers obsessed with the social networking site. But it seems the tide is turning again as a study shows that more teens are leaving Facebook and moving to Twitter.
The study, orchestrated by the Pew Research Center, revealed varied reasons for the migration. Some named the increased presence of parents and adults on Facebook, while others said that the site was simply "too much drama."
Writer Cliff Watson has another theory: He thinks that kids are leaving Facebook because they don't need it. Literally.
Facebook works for adults, he argues, because it puts them in contact with old classmates they haven't seen in a while, allowing them to catch up and stay in contact with people they don't see often. This is something teens do every day in school, making the constant immersion in Facebook boring and empty.
The Pew study shows that black teens may be beating their white counterparts to the punch. According to the study, black teens are "substantially more likely to report using Twitter when compared with white youth" (39 percent vs. 23 percent). Some other very interesting facts about how black youths use social media were unearthed: By a margin of 23 percentage points, black teens are "nearly twice as likely ... to be Facebook friends with celebrities, athletes or musicians" as their white counterparts, and "more likely ... to say that they post fake information to their profiles."
Read more at CNET.com.
Details of McCree Trial Hit Twitter
The "no shame in my game" judge gets put on trial for misconduct.
(The Root) -- The Detroit judge who famously declared "no shame in my game" is back in the hot seat. Judge Wayne McCree originally caught the public's attention after he was caught sending nearly nude pictures to a married bailiff. The bailiff's husband found the picture and went public with it. When questioned about it, McCree quickly owned up to the picture, boasting that there was "no shame in my game!" The video soon went viral.
Now McCree is being tried for misconduct, thanks to an alleged romantic affair with a litigant. Geniene La'Shay Mott admitted to having sex with McCree several times, and previously claimed to be pregnant with the judge's child. Iironically, Mott and McCree met when he was presiding over her child-support case stemming from a previous relationship. McCree is also accused of "colluding with [Mott] to determine the punishment delivered to the father of the child for not making timely child=support payments." McCree admits to some wrongdoing and believes that he should be sanctioned for not recusing himself from Mott's case once the two became intimate.
Mandi Wright of The Detroit Free Press live-tweeted the trial today. Check out some of the juice below.
LaVerne McCree says she was afraid of mistress who came to her marital home. #judgemccree @freeplivewatch live @freep #Detroit
— Mandi Wright (@DetroitMandi) May 21, 2013
@detroitmandi: Mott wasn't going to get abortion unless McCree agreed to divorce wife says LaVerne McCree. @freep @freeplive #Detroit
— Mandi Wright (@DetroitMandi) May 21, 2013
"I lusted after this woman" Judge McCree @freep as he describes relationship with mistress @freep
— Mandi Wright (@DetroitMandi) May 21, 2013
Judge McCree had to block mistress phone from his wife and daughter's phones. @freeplive @freep #Detroit
— Mandi Wright (@DetroitMandi) May 21, 2013
Read more at MLive.
Who Are the World's Social Media Prudes?
A study measures which countries share the most information online, with surprising results.
(The Root) -- In these days of oversharing and TMI online, it may surprise you to know that Americans may not be as reckless online as we think.
Private research company Ipsos OTX recently conducted a survey in 24 countries measuring how much information individuals share online, "including status updates, feelings, photos, videos and links." Respondents describing their sharing as involving "most things" or "everything" averaged 24 percent among all 24 countries surveyed. In America, that number is a modest 15 percent; Saudi Arabia proved to be the most TMI-sharing country of all at 61 percent, and the country was named the second-most "Twitter-happy" in the world. India and Indonesia trailed Saudi Arabia at 53 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
These numbers may seem a bit surprising -- Americans have a bit of a reputation for baring it all, from advertisements to skin-baring celebrities. The Middle East, on the other hand, seems much more conservative, often requesting that U.S. performers cover up before giving concerts.
The data further suggest a connection between a person's tendency to share online and level of education -- the more learned you are, the more you tend to share.
Read more at Marketing Charts.
