When we started this project in November 2010, Mashable had slightly more than 300,000 Facebook fans and about 10 million monthly readers. Since then, our vibrant Facebook community has grown by nearly a half million people to about 800,000, and we’ve more than doubled the amount of people who read our site every month to 25 million monthly readers.

From all of us to you: Thank you for being a part of the Mashable family. We’re so thrilled that you all, at least in a way, get to spend every day with us at Mashable HQ.

A big thanks to Social Print Studio for working with us throughout the process and coordinating the installation.

We’ve shared some photos of it being installed, as well as a few close up shots. Let us know if you spot yourself or someone you know!

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/U1yTxiLdvj8/

His “I Am A….” series features Raskind fully committing to a specific character — be it a cat, an elf or a turkey. Dancing is usually incorporated, and the character is chosen at the request of his followers. He then films himself as the character in the middle of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, one of the state’s largest public institutions.

“If I say I’m a frog, I can be a frog,” explains Raskind. “YouTube kind of gives you that constant ability to be anything you want. We can create anything. I just wanted to be everything — it’s a fun way to live life.”

The series has since been taken to more populated areas, including Times Square and high above the clouds with a “snake on a plane” bit during his 13-hour flight from Israel. The public reaction is often exactly what you’d expect.

“Every single video gets the oddest reaction. When I was a crab, there were a lot of people who just stopped in their tracks, like, ‘What is this person doing?’”

Raskind has been featured on The Daily What for his dancing turkey antics, and an animated GIF was tossed around Reddit and Tumblr, after a cop played along with his cat performance and pet him on the head. He was recently acknowledged on The Ellen Show for his submission to “Ellen’s Dance Dare.”

The YouTube veteran has been making videos for about five years. Between working 40 hours a week as a server, and part-time at a marketing company, Raskind shoots two to three videos a week — which, with filming, editing and promoting, he says is similar to another 40-hour job. After five years, Raskind says his hard work is finally starting to pay off.

While other more viral videos receive hundreds of thousands of views, Raskind finds his continuity to be his most valuable asset.

“There are so many YouTubers that get so lucky and so many viral hits. They make that one thing, and it gets shared by the right person. Then, they they’re like, ‘I’m going to be a singer!’ But there are a lot of people who work really, really hard at YouTube and I personally kind of pride myself in doing it all of the time.”

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Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/5k3LLOWtptg/

For the uninitiated, Pinterest is a curatorial site that calls itself a “virtual pinboard,” which allows users to capture and organize images from the web.

A recent study from Shareaholic shows that the budding network now drives more referral traffic than Google+, Linkedin, and YouTube — combined. That’s pretty amazing considering that the site is still invite-only.

If you’re looking to join, all you have to do is click “Request an Invite” on Pinterest.com and enter your email address. But after you do that, here are some ways you might be able to get in on the fun more quickly.

1. Get yourself out there. Chances are you’ve got friends in your existing networks — Facebook, Twitter, Google+ — who are on Pinterest and would be more than happy to hook you up. Or you could try asking in the Mashable comments sections. We’ve seen lots of users that are happy to invite people just for fun.
2. Be secure. We don’t recommend posting your email address all over the Internet, so make sure you consider who might be able to see it before asking someone you don’t know to invite you in a public forum.
3. Be cautious. We haven’t yet seen a large scale Pinterest scam going around (if you’ve heard of one, let us know), but in the past, sites such as Google+ have been susceptible to scams involving fake invites. Be cautious when you click something from an address you’re unfamiliar with.
4. Enter our contest! We’ve giving away invites. See below to find out how you can enter to receive one.

---

How To Enter The Contest

---

• In the comments below, tell us how you’d use Pinterest. We want to see some creative responses!
• Be sure your email is included in your Mashable Follow account by visiting the settings tab on your profile and adding your email address to the email field if it’s blank. Please do not post your email in the comment thread below.
• Submit your answer by Monday, Feb. 6, noon ET.

Need some inspiration? Check out our Associate Editor Lauren Indvik or Features Writer Stephanie Buck.

We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

BONUS: How to Improve Your Pinterest Experience

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Just as you would curate your personal brand across other social networks like Twitter, decide what topics you’re most interested in, and then dedicate yourself to those spaces. People will be more likely to follow rich, full Boards than sparsely populated Boards.

If you have time to dedicate your Boards to a super specific niche, go for it! Fashion director for Marie Claire, Nina Garcia, separates each spring 2012 fashion trend into its own Board.

Drag and drop Pinterest’s Chrome browser extension onto your Bookmarks bar. That way, every time you come across a cute pair of shoes or a kickass motorcycle, you’re able to click “Pin It,” choose an image (left), attach a description and add the Pin to one of your Boards.

When you create your Pinterest account, you can choose to connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts, along with your personal website. Not only do the account widgets appear below your profile bio, but you can also choose to share your Pins across the networks, or to embed them onto your website.

You have the choice to add contributors to your Board by editing a selected Board and then adding a Pinterest account. Keep in mind, however, that you have to be following at least one of the user’s Boards before adding them as a contributor.

When you choose to Like a Pin, it will appear in a separate feed from your Boards. You may choose to keep a Like list for several reasons.

I keep a folder of Likes for those random Pins I encounter that make me laugh or pique my interest, but to which I wouldn’t dedicate a whole Board. For instance, I don’t have Boards for tattoos or kitties, but I Like them nonetheless.

You may also choose to make your Like section an unofficial wish list that friends or family members can browse for gift ideas.

Similar to Twitter, mention users you follow by typing “@” in front of their user names. Add the mention either to a Pin/Repin description or to a comment. The user will receive a notification.

Add a “$” or a “£” to the Pin description and Pinterest will automatically add a price banner to the photo. The Pin will then appear in the Gifts category. Within the Pin, remember to link to the website where fans can purchase. Just remember to remove the Pin once you’ve sold out!

Along with the basic Pinterest Pin and Board functions, you can also take a picture with your iPhone, add a location and Pin via mobile.

To find Pinners with similar taste and interests, seek out the users behind your favorite pins. Then look at the users that Pinner follows. As of now, Pinterest doesn’t have a suggested users tool, so in the mean time, you have to do your own heavy lifting.

Another way to find interesting Pins or Pinners is by going to the Popular category to discover trending Pins. However, be prepared to encounter a wide variety of Pins. (A fork bracelet next to a bubble project?)

Or to narrow down the search, go to the Everything category and search by topic (i.e. Women’s Apparel or Geek). When you see a Pin you like, view that Pinner’s other Boards, who they follow, and so on.

One of the curious but potentially awesome things about Pinterest is your ability to follow a Pinner’s specific boards, instead of her entire content output. Most of the time, I take a quick survey of a Pinner’s taste and decide which Boards I relate to best. Then I only follow those Boards, so as not to get bombarded by irrelevant Pins.

Once you start combing the Pinterest feeds, you’ll encounter repeat Pins that have gone viral. Currently, there’s no way to filter out repeats just yet.

Therefore, the best way to get more eyes on your profile is to add new Pins as often as possible. Fresh content is guaranteed to get more original Pins.

Go to pinterest.com/source/mashable.com to discover all the Pins that originated on our site. Once you’re done taking a peek at our content, type in any website to see whether anyone has pinned from it.

Go to pinterest.com/source/mashable.com to discover all the Pins that originated on our site. Once you’re done taking a peek at our content, type in any website to see whether anyone has pinned from it.

On Pinterest? Follow Mashable to check out our favorite infographics, tech news, internet memes and digital culture!

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/fcLK9KdyMHo/

When it comes to higher ed, there are not only opportunities for digital learning, but digital marketing too. Some schools have taken the reigns on both sides, with mixed results.

SEE ALSO: 5 Free Homework Management Tools for the Digital Student

The infographic below takes a look at how schools have fared with social media over the last few years — what platforms are best, where they’ve succeeded, and the challenges that lay ahead.

Does your alma mater use social media effectively in the classroom and in the recruitment office? Share your social ed story in the comments.

Infographic by onlineuniversities.com.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, YinYang

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/4vs3kdKOH50/

I’ve been on Facebook for 2,561 days, having joined during the first year of its existence and my first year of college.

As the world’s largest social network turns 8 years old today, millions of people will reflect on the impact Facebook has had on their lives, however big or small that impact may be.

My Facebook experience mirrors yours in many facets.

We’ve changed our relationship statuses, sometimes more than we can remember. We’ve flipped through our tagged photos, every once in awhile untagging the ones we now deem unfavorable. We’ve seen friends’ last names change, with their marriages followed by offspring. We’ve said goodbye to fellow Facebook users, our friends whose Walls — and now Timelines — have become digital memorials. We cried. We smiled. We tell our stories.

Just shy of its second birthday on Feb. 4, 2005, Facebook saw me register for an account on Jan. 30.

Back then, Facebook was only for college students. I was 18, living in a dorm at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. I didn’t own a computer or a laptop, and smartphones as we know them today didn’t exist, so I accessed Facebook on campus computers.

Facebook became a hobby, something I would check every so often and not every day like I do now. But as more faces jumped onto the service — first high school students, then anyone over 13, then my mom (Hi Mom, I hope you “Like” this story!) — I began to rely on it more. I replaced my physical scrapbooks, which I routinely updated in high school, with an online database of memories: 161 photo albums and 28 videos.

SEE ALSO: Turn Your Facebook Timeline Into a Movie

In 2006, a year after Pete Cashmore introduced the world to Mashable, Facebook unveiled Notes. I used them as my first crack at blogging. Since then, I’ve used Notes to showcase my celebrity look-a-likes in 2006, reveal some intimate thoughts about turning 21 and listening to Kelly Clarkson’s “Sober” in Milwaukee in 2007, as well as describe my encounter with a suicidal man while living in Phoenix in 2009.

Notes ignited content sharing on Facebook so much — and so early on — that media organizations began opening their eyes to the site’s potential to bring more readers to their stories. Being in journalism school, this piqued my interest immensely. Facebook capitalized on that revelation by launching a Share button just months after Notes came out. Early adopters of the feature such as The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and The Onion continue to reap the benefits of social sharing and the significant referral traffic it attracts.

A year later in 2007, early signs of Facebook trumping MySpace as the go-to social network surfaced. I never really got into MySpace, but the chatter about this topic among friends who avidly used it became frequent and intense. Again, Facebook pounced on this opportunity to dethrone MySpace as social king with a redesign, which involved ditching its trademark “Facebook Guy” logo.

That same year, the first rumblings of a possible Facebook IPO made their way into headlines. CEO Mark Zuckerberg squashed the rumors, but on Feb. 1, 2012, Facebook filed for a $5 billion IPO. Zuckerberg in 2007 wanted to focus on development, and then along came a mobile version of Facebook, specifically for iPhone.

2008 was the year Facebook unleashed its Chat feature, expanded its global reach by adding more languages, and overtook MySpace based on monthly unique visitors. For me, Facebook Chat eventually pushed aside my other instant-messaging applications. A major redesign then merged our Walls and Mini-Feeds.

Facebook rolled out Usernames in 2009, allowing us to sign up for custom URLs (here’s mine). In 2010, a new Feature called Facebook Messages let me create an @Facebook.com email address. Facebook Messages integrated my email, IM and text messages into one inbox.

Just last year, my Facebook experience began to transform tremendously. First, Facebook Chat gave us voice-calling capabilities and Skype-powered video chat. Then, I enabled the new Subscribe feature, which allowed anybody to subscribe to my personal profile and see anything I share publicly. And most notably, some of our profiles evolved into Timelines (see the changes in the gallery below).

SEE ALSO: Facebook Reveals 2011?s Most-Popular Status Trends

Somewhere in between all of those changes, I sent virtual Gifts, I Poked some of you, I cringed at the ads that first appeared in 2006, I scoured the Marketplace for any gems, and I used the apps developed within the open-source Facebook Platform.

Now it’s election year 2012, and politicians more than ever are using Facebook and other tools to grab our attention and sway our votes. If social networks could run for office, I’d vote for Facebook because of all the things I just mentioned.

Together, we’ve grown. Happy birthday, Facebook. Good luck, Zuck and the gang. Thanks for enriching my life.

What are your fondest memories of using Facebook? When did you join the social network?

BONUS: How Your Profile Has Looked Throughout the Years

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Back in the days when The Facebook was only available to select networks, the News Feed didn’t exist. Users hopped between profiles like this one.

With the September 2006 launch of Facebook’s News Feed, user profiles contained mini-feeds that displayed user activity.

While not a huge year for profile redesign, users began to interact more with each other’s profiles — remember Facebook Gifts?

Users were able to add application tabs to their profiles (e.g. Bumper Stickers). Facebook also introduced the Publisher tool bar, which allowed a user to publish a status update, photo or link to his profile.

A new kind of user profile, Pages launched in 2009. Users could “become a fan” of a Page (until 2010, when they could “like” a page) to see that individual’s or business’ updates in their news feed.

Late in 2010, Facebook launched a new profile that, up until this week, remained pretty much unaltered. Users took advantage by getting creative with the new photo banner at the top of the page. Also, Facebook told you what friends/fans you had in common in the upper right-hand corner of each page.

As of Sept. 20, Facebook’s new ticker has the ability to follow a user around to every page, including profiles. The company also introduced a “View As” widget in the upper right-hand corner that allows a user to preview how others see her page.

Announced Thursday at Facebook’s f8 conference, the new profile will act like a virtual scrapbook, featuring important milestones that have occurred since your time on Facebook. Compared to the evolution of the social network’s profile thus far, this redesign appears the most significant.

While not a huge year for profile redesign, users began to interact more with each other’s profiles — remember Facebook Gifts?

Users were able to add application tabs to their profiles (e.g. Bumper Stickers). Facebook also introduced the Publisher tool bar, which allowed a user to publish a status update, photo or link to his profile.

A new kind of user profile, Pages launched in 2009. Users could “become a fan” of a Page (until 2010, when they could “like” a page) to see that individual’s or business’ updates in their news feed.

Late in 2010, Facebook launched a new profile that, up until this week, remained pretty much unaltered. Users took advantage by getting creative with the new photo banner at the top of the page. Also, Facebook told you what friends/fans you had in common in the upper right-hand corner of each page.

As of Sept. 20, Facebook’s new ticker has the ability to follow a user around to every page, including profiles. The company also introduced a “View As” widget in the upper right-hand corner that allows a user to preview how others see her page.

Announced Thursday at Facebook’s f8 conference, the new profile will act like a virtual scrapbook, featuring important milestones that have occurred since your time on Facebook. Compared to the evolution of the social network’s profile thus far, this redesign appears the most significant.

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/PDgXvwB-U1c/

Were you too busy this week to read everything on Mashable? Maybe you’ve been planning your Super Bowl party, or maybe you were figuring out how to buy a piece of Facebook (don’t get your hopes up). For whatever reason you missed our digital media resources this week, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered with our weekly features roundup.

Take a look at what you missed: We have a list of users rocking Pinterest, a rundown of the presidential candidates’ stances on tech issues and tips for what to do if your website gets hacked. You’ll find YouTube‘s most-shared ads for January, unique urban farming projects and ways to update your Facebook Timeline without annoying all of your friends. We even have a real-life Facebook wall at our New York headquarters!

Take this weekend to relax, watch some football and use this list to catch up on our best resources in no time.

Editor’s Picks

• Digital Marketing: 7 Tips for Generating Fresh Ideas
  Interested in sparking some creativity? Here are some tips to get your ideas flowing.
• The Future of Food: 11 Unique Urban Farming Projects
  Cities around the world are becoming hot beds for urban farming. We look at some compelling ideas in Japan, the UK and the U.S., from personal projects to multimillion dollar innovations.
• What Are the Presidential Candidates’ Stances on Important Tech Issues?
  Mashable took a look at the five remaining 2012 presidential candidates for president to find out where they stand on important technology issues.
• Mashable’s Real-Life Facebook Wall is Here
  Mashable‘s real-life Facebook wall can now be seen in our New York City headquarters.
• Facebook IPO: The Complete Guide
  Does the complexity of Facebook’s IPO filing have you down? Look no further than our comprehensive guide to the big event.

Social Media

• 21 Must-Follow Pinterest Users
  Scoot through our gallery to discover some of the most popular curators on Pinterest, the hottest social circuit on the web today.
• 10 Hysterical Political Parodies on Twitter
  There are countless parody accounts on Twitter, but the most entertaining may be the political parodies of public officials around the world.
• Meme Machine: Top 5 Viral Hits of the Week
  Here are the top 5 Meme Machine hits, looking at the five most hilarious viral topics spreading across the web this week.
• How to See When Someone Unfriends You on Facebook
  Would you like to know when someone “unfriends” you on Facebook? We’ve found a tool to help.
• How to Fill Out Facebook Timeline Without Annoying Your Friends
  Some users don’t want to broadcast every life event they add to their new Timeline. Here are some tips for quietly completing your profile without annoying your social network.
• Top Twitter Photos from the 2012 Presidential Campaign
  Republican Presidential candidates have documented their journeys to the Florida primary with photos posted on Twitter and Instagram.
• 20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]
  Which TV shows generated the most buzz on social networks this week?
• 10 Giant Things Less Valuable Than Facebook
  Facebook is now valued at $100 billion. What else in the world is worth that kind of money? We found 10 incredible examples.
• 10 Pro Tips for Writers Using Social Media
  Six well-known writers, who are experts in personal branding, share how to use social media to push yourself forward in the writing industry.
• How to Get a Pinterest Invite
  Here are some tips for getting a Pinterest invite. We’re offering to give away some of our own, too.
• How Higher Education Uses Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]
  As social media becomes more integral to students’ lives, educational institutions are finally catching on, and catching up. Here’s how colleges and universities are leveraging social in the classroom and the recruiting office.
• 7 Tips for Planning a Wedding on Pinterest
  Here are 7 simple but effective tips for planing a wedding on Pinterest, from which boards to create and whom to follow, to leveraging your findings while you shop.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable‘s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business Marketing

• How To Avoid Hiring The Wrong Person For Your Startup
  Looking to fill a gap in your startup team? Make sure you’re not hiring the wrong person with these five quick tips.
• 5 Privacy Tips for Location-Based Services
  LBS-based businesses that want to avoid becoming future legal or media targets need to identify appropriate privacy updates.
• 6 Ways to Give Your App a Leg Up on the Competition
  How can you ensure your app gets time in the spotlight and the attention it deserves? Try these six tips.
• 4 Sales Tips for Enterprise Software Startups
  If your startup sells enterprise software, today’s environment can be tough. Try these four tips to learn from and acquire more customers.
• YouTube’s 20 Most-Shared Ads in January [VIDEOS]
  From last year’s Super Bowl to the upcoming big game, here are the 20 most-shared ads from January, 2012.
• How to Make Your Company More Social
  Take advantage of the opportunity to foster your company’s social media skills and community in general. Learn how to get everyone on board.
• What to Do When Your Website Gets Hacked
  Every organization is now in the business of protecting its own data. If you are targeted by hackers, there are a few steps you can take the mitigate the damage.
• Facebook IPO: How Will the Social Network Be Affected? [POLL]
  After the $5 billion Facebook IPO, we want to know how you think the social network will be affected.
• Why Context Is King in the Future of Digital Marketing
  Digital marketers must pay attention to the context in which they are reaching consumers if they have any hope of keeping up in the digital ad age.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable‘s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech Mobile

• 4 Inspiring Examples of Digital Storytelling
  Today’s artists are creating interactive, multimedia experiences where the audience can actively reshape the stories themselves.
• 10 Tips and Tricks for the Facebook iPhone App
  Try these 10 handy hints to become fluent on the Facebook iPhone app.
• The 10 Most Blatant Design Ripoffs in Social Media
  In social media, original web design is hard to come by, but some sites are bigger copycats than others. Here are the 10 worst offenders.
• How to Prepare Your Social Game for Massive Growth
  Social games, especially those on Facebook, can grow like wildfire. Make sure your data architecture is prepared for the traffic surge.
• iPhone 4 Voice Control: Commands, Tips and Tricks
  The iPhone’s “Voice Control” functionality is a useful tool if you know how to use it correctly. Here are some best practices.
• 8 Things You Should Know Before Building a Mobile App
  Here’s (almost) everything you need to know before you get started on your own app — and what I wish I knew before I got into the game.
• Tablet History: 14 Devices That Laid the Groundwork for the iPad
  For many people, Apple’s iPad is a magical device that appeared out of thin air. The iPad, however, is the culmination of decades of advancements in a variety of technologies.
• 5 iPhone Twitter Apps that Do More Than Just Tweet
  Learn how you can expand your Twitter capabilities using these handy iPhone apps.
• How Tech Can Prepare You for Extreme Weather
  Learn how to use mobile technology and social networking to prepare for and cope with unusual weather events.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable‘s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, johnwoodcock.

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/-X6w3cpMgSA/

The Recording Academy made the decision to invest in social and digital media several years ago (you can read Mashable’s past coverage of the 2010 and 2011 campaigns) and the organization and its awards show are now seeing the dividends. Big time. The latest trends in social TV and second screen experiences are in direct alignment with the road Grammy has been traveling for years.

We spoke with Evan Greene, Chief Marketing Officer of the Recording Academy, and he told us the strategy around the 2012 Grammys was to put mobile and digital at the forefront of the project. That means the campaign and the show itself were designed with the digital and mobile attributes in mind from its inception, not tacked on at the end. As someone who has been beating the drum of making social and digital a part of the creation process from beginning to end, this is great to see.

Grammy Live and the Second Screen

As in years past, the cornerstone of the digital Grammy experience is around Grammy Live. Grammy Live is a three-day webcast of special Grammy events, red carpets and parties, designed to bring fans behind the scenes and close to all the action.

Although CBS (Grammy’s broadcasting partner) doesn’t stream the awards themselves online, Grammy Live is available as a second screen experience during the event, giving additional insight and tidbits into what’s happening, views from the crowd and access to backstage areas.

As Peter Anton, executive producer of Grammy Live pointed out in our conversation, Grammy Live was actually the first major second screen experience designed around an award show — and this was before the iPad!

Of course, now that the iPad is here, it makes sense to extend the Grammy Live experience to other devices. In addition to viewing the experience at Grammy.com, users can also interact with the experience in the Grammy Live app for iOS [iTunes link].

This year, Greene told us, the Recording Academy worked hard to make the Grammy Live app a perfect extension of the website itself. CBS was also heavily involved this year, both in helping craft the app and in giving Grammy Live official on-air callouts and integration.

Not only does the Grammy Live app give users access to the photos, videos and articles available at Grammy.com, it also features Grammy trivia, the ability to guess who will win at the 54th Grammy Awards and the ability to listen to a streaming radio station of Grammy nominees. One of my favorite features of the app is that it also includes a database of past winners, as well as nominees for the 2012 awards. During the show on Feb. 12, those listings will be updated in real time.

The app also lets users browse tweets from various Grammy accounts and hashtags, and of course, access the full Grammy Awards experience before and during the show itself. The app is optimized for iPhone and iPad, and is one of the best apps we’ve seen for an awards show.

The Campaign: We Are Music

For the fifth consecutive year, the Recording Academy teamed up with TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles for the awards show campaign. The team created a robust campaign with print, outdoor, digital, mobile and television components centered around the theme of “We Are Music.”

The genesis of the campaign was formed around the emotions and social experiences that music brings out in us all. The agency TBWAChiatDay wanted to capture the way music moves us as humans and wanted a way to help visualize that emotive experience.

TBWAChiatDay always likes to push the technical boundaries in the digital aspects of its campaigns, and this year was no different. The centerpiece is a microsite that lives at Wearemusic.grammy.com. This site was developed using cutting-edge web technologies (in this case, Flash 11 Stage 3D) to create robust real-time 3D visualizations that are modified based on what music is playing in the background.

Users can select their own mix of songs (powered using Rdio‘s library API) and add in their own photographs to create their own unique visualizations. Users can then share these visualizations with others using Facebook or Twitter. The effect is insanely cool and I encourage you all to visit the site and see it for yourself.

Creating a robust and cutting-edge desktop experience was important, but the agency also wanted to have a powerful mobile component. Enter the We Are Music iPhone app [iTunes link]. This app helps bring the visualized experience to mobile devices.

In the mobile app, a user’s own music library is used to power the visualizations. Users can also provide their own photos or take one within the app. The app then creates customized experiences based on the music, and also uses the camera flash on the iPhone 4 and 4S to create special pulsing experiences (you can shut this off if you don’t like it). Up to 15 users on the same WiFi or Bluetooth network can even share their experiences with one another.

It’s a super cool app and again, it’s cutting edge. The technology team relied on some of the newest features in iOS 5 to take advantage of these tools. What I like about this app — as with the Music Mapper from the 53rd Grammy Awards, is that the app and microsite can still be enticing and fun even outside the context of the awards show.

The TV spots TBWA/Chiat/Day crafted around the campaign have already made the rounds on YouTube. The Grammy artists profiled in this campaign include Adele, Foo Fighters and Bon Iver. All the spots have style, but the ad with Skrillex is notable because they outfitted the artist in a motion-capture suit to get the liquid movement effect.

Check it out:

Staying Social

Of course, no modern digital campaign strategy would be complete without a big focus on social media. For the 54th Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy is putting Grammy everywhere and engaging with the community of music fans across social platforms.

In addition to the Grammys Facebook Page @TheGrammys Twitter account, the Grammys are also active on:

• Instagram — Photo contests were held for the first month of the campaign
• Tumblr — The Grammy team held a contest asking users to blog about what artists have influenced them.
• Foursquare — This profile includes historical tips about venues that have hosted the Grammys as well as locations of studios where Grammy Winning albums were recorded.
• GetGlue — GetGlue is offering exclusive stickers not just for checking into the awards, but for checking in to the artists nominated for the Big Four awards.
• YouTube
• Google+

What made me really excited, however, was to see how The Grammys embraced digital music services. Grammy and Pepsi teamed up to create a custom Pandora station that includes Best New Artist videos and Grammy winners and nominees in 12 different genres. Next week, Grammy will also roll out its official Grammy Spotify app that will let users listen to all past Grammy winners in four major categories. The Spotify app will get more categories in the months ahead.

What this strong commitment says to us is that the Grammy Awards aren’t playing around with social, the team gets it.

Mashable will be at the Grammy Awards live on Feb. 12, 2012 and covering the digital action from the ground. Let us know what you think of the digital campaign for the 54th Grammy Awards in the comments.

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/hbDKbugJ9gg/

Using a special algorithm developed by our partners/wizards at social media search engine Skylines, we’ve taken the most popular hash tags and found the most widely shared pictures within.

There weren’t a tremendous amount of big events going on this week, so our astute curators made a special effort to take the most amusing and interesting pictures and subjects that resided in the top 100. Even so, there were slim pickings this week. C’mon Twitter users, you can do better than that — share some blockbuster pics next week!

If you’d like to know more about the selection process, see the full results from Skylines.

If you missed them, here are last week’s Top 10 Twitter Pics.

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/NY2-g0O6BBg/

SEE ALSO: Facebook IPO: Reactions from the Social Web (and Zuckerberg)

Still not sure what all of this means? If you haven’t already had a chance to read the document, we’ve embedded it below. For a breakdown on everything you need to know about Facebook’s IPO, read further.

Facebook S 1

Inside Look

Within the document, some huge numbers about the company were revealed — from 845 million active users, to 2.7 billion daily likes and comments.

After initial news of the filing broke, a more extensive look at the document reveals hard evidence of the company’s business, growth, competition and a bit about what’s in store for the future. Certain terms, such as “advertising” and “mobile” appear more than 100 times throughout.

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As we learned by reading the S1 document, Facebook relies heavily on advertising for revenue. “Advertising” comes up 123 times, matched only by “Mobile” (also with 123 mentions). Interestingly, Facebook is not really making much money from mobile but still considers it a key component for future development.

It should come as no surprise that “Capital” (111) and “Expenses” (110) were second-most mentioned terms. This is a financial document after all, and never have Facebook’s profits, losses, expenses and gains been spelled out so clearly. “Revenue,” by the way, had 214 mentions (more than any other word we analyzed), but “Profit,” a sometimes uncomfortable word in an S1 document, was only mentioned 12 times. (“Revenue” was left out of the Word Cloud image from Wordle because it would have overwhelmed the image).

Image courtesy borman818

Facebook’s intention to build its social network into a true platform has never been clearer. The phrase “Facebook Platform” gets 44 mentions and most of them with “Platform” capitalized. Facebook defines the Facebook Platform as, “a set of development tools and application programming interfaces (APIs).” Facebook is sounding more and more like an Operating System.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, -Oxford-

Here’s the good news: 35 mentions of “Privacy” means Facebook is serious about it. The bad news is that the majority of those mentions revolve around the risk that screwing up privacy (by Facebook, its partners or through external perceptions of it) could pose to Facebook’s business.

From the document: “We have in the past experienced, and we expect that in the future we will continue to experience, media, legislative, or regulatory scrutiny of our decisions regarding user privacy”

Facebook later dives into its privacy practices and all the ways in which it lets Facebook users control it:

“Privacy and Sharing. People come to Facebook to connect and share. Protecting user privacy is an important part of our product development process. “

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, IvelinRadkov

Okay, we get it, Farmville-maker Zynga is an important part of the Facebook story. It got 24 mentions in the S1 and many were about all the money Zynga and its virtual currency program brings into the giant social network — 12% of Facebook’s revenues! Oddly “Virtually Goods” are mentioned just six times.

It’s now quite clear that Facebook considers Google its chief competitor. Yes, the document notes how Facebook competes not only online with Google and Google+, but with other offline entities. Yet, no other digital brand receives even half as many mentions. Twitter, by contrast, is mentioned just twice. If I were Dick Costollo, I’d be a little miffed. Apple and Microsoft also had just two mentions a piece.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, andrearoad

Timeline, one of Facebook’s most recent and arguably biggest, innovations has 13 mentions. The feature, which allows uses to organize their Facebook activities in chronological order is clearly a highlight of 2011 and will play a critical role as it spreads across Facebook’s user base throughout the early part of this year.

The founding member/investor and former company President retains stock voting rights but his one mention pales in comparisons to Zuckerberg’s 113.

Image courtesy JD Lasica, Flickr.

Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss have maintained that Mark Zuckerberg broke a verbal contract with them and stole their idea for Facebook. They have lost virtually all the legal battles surrounding the issue. So, perhaps, we should not be surprised that they did not even warrant a mention as one of the many “Risks” (29 mentions) Facebook might face in the future.

Image courtesy Inquisitr

Image courtesy borman818

Facebook’s intention to build its social network into a true platform has never been clearer. The phrase “Facebook Platform” gets 44 mentions and most of them with “Platform” capitalized. Facebook defines the Facebook Platform as, “a set of development tools and application programming interfaces (APIs).” Facebook is sounding more and more like an Operating System.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, -Oxford-

Here’s the good news: 35 mentions of “Privacy” means Facebook is serious about it. The bad news is that the majority of those mentions revolve around the risk that screwing up privacy (by Facebook, its partners or through external perceptions of it) could pose to Facebook’s business.

From the document: “We have in the past experienced, and we expect that in the future we will continue to experience, media, legislative, or regulatory scrutiny of our decisions regarding user privacy”

Facebook later dives into its privacy practices and all the ways in which it lets Facebook users control it:

“Privacy and Sharing. People come to Facebook to connect and share. Protecting user privacy is an important part of our product development process. “

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, IvelinRadkov

Okay, we get it, Farmville-maker Zynga is an important part of the Facebook story. It got 24 mentions in the S1 and many were about all the money Zynga and its virtual currency program brings into the giant social network — 12% of Facebook’s revenues! Oddly “Virtually Goods” are mentioned just six times.

It’s now quite clear that Facebook considers Google its chief competitor. Yes, the document notes how Facebook competes not only online with Google and Google+, but with other offline entities. Yet, no other digital brand receives even half as many mentions. Twitter, by contrast, is mentioned just twice. If I were Dick Costollo, I’d be a little miffed. Apple and Microsoft also had just two mentions a piece.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, andrearoad

Timeline, one of Facebook’s most recent and arguably biggest, innovations has 13 mentions. The feature, which allows uses to organize their Facebook activities in chronological order is clearly a highlight of 2011 and will play a critical role as it spreads across Facebook’s user base throughout the early part of this year.

The founding member/investor and former company President retains stock voting rights but his one mention pales in comparisons to Zuckerberg’s 113.

Image courtesy JD Lasica, Flickr.

Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss have maintained that Mark Zuckerberg broke a verbal contract with them and stole their idea for Facebook. They have lost virtually all the legal battles surrounding the issue. So, perhaps, we should not be surprised that they did not even warrant a mention as one of the many “Risks” (29 mentions) Facebook might face in the future.

Image courtesy Inquisitr

However, there is one thing missing — Facebook did not include how many shares it plans to sell, or the price, but that information will be added before it hits the market, likely this May.

The several-hundred-page document is some heavy reading, but Facebook also used illustrative screenshots and diagrams to explain its business mission and how it plans to raise $5 billion.

Salary

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pulled in a base salary of almost $500,000, and COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO David Ebersman both made $300,000 each.

However, these executives are earning a lot more than just their base salary. Sandberg was the highest-paid employee at Facebook in 2011, raking in a total of $30.87 million when you include stock awards.

Zuckerberg’s total earnings were $1.49 million — $700,000 of which was in costs related to private plane use “chartered in connection with his comprehensive security program and on which family and friends flew during 2011.”

However, since he owns 28.4% of the company, he is worth significantly more. Zuckerberg’s salary will fall to $1 annually, starting Jan. 1, 2013.

If Facebook manages to raise the $5 billion, it will be on a shortlist of biggest tech IPOs of all time, and Zuckerberg’s net worth will skyrocket.

Advertisers and Partnerships

Facebook announced it generates a “substantial majority” of its revenue from advertising, more specifically from its partnership with Zynga. The gaming company contributed 12% of Facebook’s $3.71 billion — that’s almost $500 million.

SEE ALSO: Facebook IPO Reveals How It Made $3.71 Billion in 2011

The gaming company’s dependence on Facebook as a source of revenue has been commonly viewed as a risk for Zynga investors. But the Facebook filing shows just how interdependent the companies really are.

Some have claimed that online advertising — which is due to surpass print ads in the U.S. for the first time this year, according to eMarketer — is the real reason behind Facebook’s IPO.

Risk Factors

Risks with advertisers and partnerships are a few things that could “materially and adversely affect” Facebook. As required by law, the filing included a list of 35 things that could kill the company.

Ten big ones are below.

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“Decisions by advertisers to use our free products, such as Facebook Pages, instead of advertising on Facebook.”

“Loss of advertising market share to our competitors.”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, travelif

“We fail to introduce new and improved products or if we introduce new products or services that are not favorably received.”

“There are changes in user sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our products or concerns related to privacy and sharing, safety, security, or other factors.”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, domin_domin

“We are unable to manage and prioritize information to ensure users are presented with content that is interesting, useful, and relevant to them.”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, travelif

“We fail to introduce new and improved products or if we introduce new products or services that are not favorably received.”

“There are changes in user sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our products or concerns related to privacy and sharing, safety, security, or other factors.”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, domin_domin

“We are unable to manage and prioritize information to ensure users are presented with content that is interesting, useful, and relevant to them.”

The comprehensive assessment includes potential issues, such as competition from Google, Microsoft and Twitter, as well as other social networks that may not even exist yet. The company also brings up common concerns of users, such as changes in U.S. government laws that would restrict access or bugs giving access to private information.

Social Mission

Within an honest assessment, there was also a letter from Mark Zuckerberg to potential shareholders that emphasized Facebook “was built to accomplish a social mission.”

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By law, when the company officially goes public later this year, it is then obligated to create more value for its shareholders. This brings up the future of the company — where Facebook is headed five or ten years from now. It’s something yet to be fully grasped.

However, as we have previously noted, “Stocks perform over a long haul; not over days, but over weeks, months, years.” Although it’s much too early to know what the future holds for a public Facebook, this could potentially take social networking to a more professional level, outside of the “bubble.”

How Does Facebook Compare to the World’s Biggest IPOs?

Note: The proceeds are recorded in actual dollars at the time of public offering, and are not adjusted for inflation.

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Headquartered in Detroit, MI, GM owns Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC.

Proceeds: $23.1 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Flickr, Crouchy69

This commercial bank of China provides corporate and retail banking products and services, and ranked 141st in global Fortune 500 companies in 2010.

Proceeds: $22.1 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Hwangxiheng

Based in China, the ICBC provides financial services to 4.12 million corporate clients and 259 million individual customers.

Proceeds: $21 billion

Year: 2006

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, ???

AIA is a major insurance company based in Hong Kong.

Proceeds: $20.5 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Terence Ong

Visa is a global payments technology company that specializes in digital currency replacements.

Proceeds: $19.7 billion

Year: 2008

Image courtesy of Flickr, Håkan Dahlström

NTT Mobile is one of Japan’s leading providers of mobile, data and multimedia services.

Proceeds: $18.1 billion

Year: 1998

Enel Green Power is an international corporation focused on renewable energy.

Proceeds: $16.6 billion

Year: 1999

With total assets valued at $7.57 trillion, NTT is a Japanese telecommunications company.

Proceeds: $13.7 billion

Year: 1987

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Lover of Romance

German Deutsche Telekom is the leading telecommunications company in Europe and also owns T-Mobile.

Proceeds: $12.5 billion

Year: 1996

Based in China, the bank offers financial services in 31 different countries.

Proceeds: $11.2 billion

Year: 2006

Image courtesy of Flickr, Taylor McConnell

Dai-ichi is one of the largest life insurance companies in Japan.

Proceeds: $11.2 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Wiiii

Russian-based Rosneft is a hydrocarbon, petroleum and petrochemical discovery and production company.

Proceeds: $10.65 billion

Year: 2006

ATT is the second largest wireless communications company in the U.S.

Proceeds: $10.6 billion

Year: 2000

Image courtesy of Flickr, masck

Based in Australia, Telstra is one of the country’s most widely used telecommunications companies.

Proceeds: $10.2 billion

Year: 1997

Based in Palo Alto, CA, Facebook is social networking service made up of over 800 million users.

Proceeds: Estimated $10 billion

Year: projected April 2012

Image courtesy of pshab

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, East Japan Railway Co. is the largest passenger railway company in the world.

Proceeds: estimated $9.9 billion

Year: 1993

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Cassiopeia_sweet

Image courtesy of Flickr, Crouchy69

This commercial bank of China provides corporate and retail banking products and services, and ranked 141st in global Fortune 500 companies in 2010.

Proceeds: $22.1 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Hwangxiheng

Based in China, the ICBC provides financial services to 4.12 million corporate clients and 259 million individual customers.

Proceeds: $21 billion

Year: 2006

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, ???

AIA is a major insurance company based in Hong Kong.

Proceeds: $20.5 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Terence Ong

Visa is a global payments technology company that specializes in digital currency replacements.

Proceeds: $19.7 billion

Year: 2008

Image courtesy of Flickr, Håkan Dahlström

NTT Mobile is one of Japan’s leading providers of mobile, data and multimedia services.

Proceeds: $18.1 billion

Year: 1998

Enel Green Power is an international corporation focused on renewable energy.

Proceeds: $16.6 billion

Year: 1999

With total assets valued at $7.57 trillion, NTT is a Japanese telecommunications company.

Proceeds: $13.7 billion

Year: 1987

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Lover of Romance

German Deutsche Telekom is the leading telecommunications company in Europe and also owns T-Mobile.

Proceeds: $12.5 billion

Year: 1996

Based in China, the bank offers financial services in 31 different countries.

Proceeds: $11.2 billion

Year: 2006

Image courtesy of Flickr, Taylor McConnell

Dai-ichi is one of the largest life insurance companies in Japan.

Proceeds: $11.2 billion

Year: 2010

Image courtesy of Wiiii

Russian-based Rosneft is a hydrocarbon, petroleum and petrochemical discovery and production company.

Proceeds: $10.65 billion

Year: 2006

ATT is the second largest wireless communications company in the U.S.

Proceeds: $10.6 billion

Year: 2000

Image courtesy of Flickr, masck

Based in Australia, Telstra is one of the country’s most widely used telecommunications companies.

Proceeds: $10.2 billion

Year: 1997

Based in Palo Alto, CA, Facebook is social networking service made up of over 800 million users.

Proceeds: Estimated $10 billion

Year: projected April 2012

Image courtesy of pshab

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, East Japan Railway Co. is the largest passenger railway company in the world.

Proceeds: estimated $9.9 billion

Year: 1993

Image courtesy of Wikimedia, Cassiopeia_sweet

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/FQaMLAxv_ac/

Facebook users receive more comments, messages and likes — the hugs and high-fives of social networking — than they give, according to a new study.

The Pew Research Center’s Internet American Life Project study, which looks at Facebook activity of users over a one-month period, shows that users Like content on their News Feed about 14 times, while their content is Liked about 20 times. Users send about nine personal messages and receive 12.

This discrepancy exists because certain “power users” dominate one kind of Facebook action. Meaning everyone has friends that excessively tag photos, send messages or “like” things all the time. Others obsessively “friend” people.

“Power users” — specializing in one of the activities describes above — make up between 20% to 30% of the Facebook population.

SEE ALSO: Will the IPO Change Facebook Forever?

“The striking thing is that there are different power users depending on the activity in question,” says Keith Hampton, the study’s lead author. “One group of power users dominates friending activity. Another dominates Liking activity. And yet another dominates photo tagging.”

The research was conducted by a national phone survey targeting adults and teenagers in America who use Facebook.

This adds to a long list of things we learned about Facebook after the company filed its long-awaited initial public offering. This news sheds light on how users use the $5 billion-dollar company.

Tell us in the comments if this study accurately describes your Facebook dynamics.

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/SocialMedia/~3/4Njd_KGMZUc/