Reviews

Social Media's Six Billion Dollar Man Knows How To Shop For Deals

Andrew Mason, the Six Billion Dollar Man!

by Ron Callari

Wunderkind 29-year old entrepreneur Andrew Mason figured how to inject hysteria into his Groupon model of Internet bargain hunting. Exclusivity and short-order inventories were the key. Not only has it attracted 33 million subscribers and the attention of top line investors like Digital Sky Technologies, this week the founder enters the stratosphere with an inconceivable offer of $6 billion by search giant Google to acquire the social media buying site.

2 comments

Social Media Service For Hotels & Airlines Adds Arrival, Concierge & Loyalty Components

Flip.to, Social Media Service for Hotels & Airlines!

by Ron Callari

Flip.to's social media and marketing service for the travel industry is broadening its platform with the addition of "Arrival," "Concierge" and "Loyalty" components. As an international operation, Flip.to has been customizing innovative services for boutique hotels, airlines, airports and destination restaurants around the world.

3 comments

If Google Can't Be Social, How Can It Thrive In Social Media?

If Google Can't Be Social, How Can Thrive In Social Media?

by Ron Callari

Google has had more than a hard time developing a social network that could compete in the same stratosphere as Facebook. With reports of a world Internet user base of about 1 billion and over 20,000 employees, it's hard to understand why the search giant can't figure it out? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact, its staff hasn't learned to play nice?

3 comments

Celebrities Experiencing Digital Deaths In Social Media Fundraiser For AIDS

by Ron Callari

Social Media has long been known for its involvement in charitable initiatives. Among them is Causes, a Facebook application which is very popular among non-profits. Noted proponents like Corey Szopinski, Jane McGonigal and former Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes all come to mind regarding the work that is being done, associated with what is referred to as the Good Web.

Flattr, Social Media's Online Tip Jar Might Save Its Pirate

by Ron Callari

The 32-year old Swedish entrepreneur Peter Sunde, while suffering the slings and arrows of a business model condemned by the courts has created yet another social media site that actually pays starving bloggers for their content. Found guilty of online music piracy and copyright infringement and about to face a jail sentence and millions in damages, The Pirate Bay co-founder is also the master-mind behind Flattr, an altruistic site that monetizes content via the kindness of readers.

1 comment

Twitter, Facebook, Google & Apple TV: Social Media Transitioning To Small Screen

by Ron Callari

With social Media so pervasive today, it's captured the imagination of Hollywood moguls in treatments for the big screen. With movies exploring the origins of Facebook, and a Google movie under development by Groundswell Productions, is it any wonder that the Internet giants would also be thinking about adapting to the small screen and integrating with desk top computers and mobile devices as well?

2 comments

Social Media Handles Baggage Handlers With Touchy-Feely iPods, Foursquare & Loopt

by Ron Callari

Location-based social networks have seized (pun intended) a contentious issue affecting travelers at airports this holiday season. Starting with the infamous "day before Thanksgiving" travel onslaught, both Loopt and Foursquare have found ways to relate to the we-rub-you-the-wrong-way security guards and their new frisk-first-ask-questions-later policies.

1 comment

Social Media Homeboy Wants Homepage Advantage

by Ron Callari

The blogosphere is cyberventilating once again with the recent news that Facebook is making a rather aggressive push to integrate with browsers to become your homepage. For years, Google has held that coveted honor by many of us - but in the ensuing war for the next decades' dominance of the Internet, Facebook appears to be storming the search giant's Bastille, sort of speak.

Social Media Entrepreneurs & Garfield Fans Star In Graphic Novel & Comic Strip

by Ron Callari

This month a graphic novel and a cartoon strip offered walk-on parts to social networkers and cartoon fans. In an era that blends the real and online worlds, it's a natural fit to have someone's caricature or actual photo introduced into a comic or illustrated narrative. In the case of "Facebucks & Dumb F*cks," and "Garfield," it allows these intellectual properties to interface with the public in a very personal way.

2 comments

All The News That's Fit To Touch - Murdoch & Jobs Join Forces

All The News That's Fit To Touch - The Launch Of The Daily!

by Ron Callari

In the last year, a good number of legacy newspapers have adapted to digital distribution channels, namely the iPad. Most recently the Washington Post joined the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Financial Times and the New York Times. But like an old habit that's hard to quit, they all maintained a printed version of the paper.

New Social Media Seasonal Holiday Created By Groupon

by Ron Callari

As one of the first and most popular social buying sites, Groupon differentiates itself once again from its competitors by establishing its own holiday. The fact that it begins on the Monday prior to Thanksgiving and continues through Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa might smack a bit like overt commercialism, but with deals up to 90 percent off, I think a lot of seasonal shoppers are going to be celebrating "Grouponicus" this holiday season.

1 comment

Will The Social Media Bubble Follow The Financial Crisis?

by Ron Callari

Are Internet bubbles on a 10-year cycle? Like the economic booms and busts that have occurred over the course of last 30 years, similar Internet peaks and valleys seem to follow suit according to John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. He refers to them as "waves" and it appears that we are currently transitioning from a simmer to a slow boil presently.

1 comment

Does The Social Media WUPHF.com Start-Up Have Merit?

Does the Social Media WUPHF Start-Up Have Merit?

by Ron Callari

When the fictional desk jockeys at Dunder Mifflin on the TV show The Office start moonlighting on a Web 2.0 start-up, the mayhem and laughs that follow at first glance seem to overshadow the potential business model they are lampooning. Because if one were to look closer at the premise for temp Ryan Howard's social network idea, you might see its merit.

Social Media Analytics Apps Are Topped By Twitter's Own

Twitter's New Analytics Package To Launch!

by Ron Callari

Analytic applications for Twitter are too numerous to count - and probably one of the reasons Twitter has waited so long to launch their own. Finding the right tool that distinguishes signal from noise is not an easy task. Klout, Omniture and Twitalyzer were a few of the existing analytic apps that did not make the final cut. Trendly, on the other hand seems to have fit the bill.

3 comments

Social Media Under Electronic Gag Order By The Good Wife & President Clinton

The Good Wife, President Clinton & Loose Tweets!

by Ron Callari

The power of a blogger's mobile input, the import of a Facebook status update and the ability of a tweet to report in real-time have been called 'off limits' by a judge and an ex-president this week. As perhaps, a sign of the times, there soon may be barriers as to where and when you can engage in user-generated content. In two separate cases this week, precedents might have been set as to just how social Internet users can be in public places.

Will Social Media & Google Search Merge Into Semantic Web?

by Ron Callari

While this week's big news is Facebook's new messaging system and how how it will become Google's Gmail killer, I think the bigger story is how other Internet enterprises are taking Google's core business of Internet search to another level. If the next iteration of the Web is Semantic Technology, why isn't the Big G focusing on the future and what it does best. Today's skirmishes in Web 2.0 are small stuff compared to the bigger battle of Web 3.0 domination.

Social Media Takes Anti-Social Networking PATH With Napster Founder

by Ron Callari

Social Media's 'Wisdom of Crowds' originated based on the premise that consensus on any topic would surface if there was a large enough pool of voters. It was the medium's democratic core that attracted people in large numbers to networks such as Twitter and Facebook. At this juncture, is there any possibility that the pendulum could swing back to a more intimate interaction with our follow man? One of Napster's previous co-founders seems to think so.

2 comments

Social Media Video Chat Advances With Web Site Widgets & Enhanced Security

by Ron Callari

Chatroulette, while adding to the growing interest in video chat technology has been unable to divest itself from some of human nature's baser instincts. However, it has inspired others to build out the video conferencing platform to develop business models that are now appealing to a much broader audience for business, special interests and branding purposes.

1 comment

InventorSpot's Top Ten iPad Kickstands You Can't Find At The Apple Store

by Ron Callari

OK, so, you've made the big investment. You've depleted your savings account or cashed in on one of your 401Ks to purchase your very own iPad. And while you like the idea of holding your coveted device in your hot little mits, it would be nice at times to go hands-free. However, if the thought of investing one more cent in accessories is causing you heart palpitations, InventorSpot has sought out some inventive new ideas for making make-shift kickstands - almost free of charge.

Social Media Holiday Gifting Goes Virtual With Facebook Gift Cards

by Ron Callari

With the online gift card industry reaching all time highs, according to a report released by Javelin Strategy & Research, gift card sales will rise from $1.6 billion in 2009 to $5.8 billion in 2014. With that kind of growth is it any wonder that Mark Zuckerberg wants a piece of that action for his social network Facebook?