Facebook Set To Release New Photo Messaging App

Facebook is reportedly developing an in-house version of the Snapchat mobile app, the self-destructing photo messaging service.

Snapchat, a unique photo messaging service which has grown in popularity over the last year, allows its users to choose a time limit on how long their photo messages appear in the recipient’s inbox.

Normally, the photos last a matter of seconds before they are permanently deleted from the sender’s phone, the recipient’s phone and the Snapchat servers.

Facebook currently has four unique apps: Facebook Mobile, Camera, the recently updated Messenger and the self-branded Instagram.
If Facebook’s new app doesn’t catch on, they could feasibly purchase Snapchat, just as they acquired Instagram in September. It would, after all, be far less expensive than Instagram’s $735 million price tag.



Facebook’s decision to move into the self-deleting photo messaging market comes only a fortnight after Om Malik reported that Snapchat, which delivers around one thousand messages a second, is about to receive a rumoured valuation of $50 million after Benchmark Capital’s $8 million venture round.

“We haven’t heard anything from Mark [Zuckerberg] about a Snapchat clone,” said Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel in response to the news. “We’re big fans of Instagram and the Facebook platform and we look forward to watching Mark continue to innovate and grow his company.”

Do you think a photo messaging service like Snapchat is a good investment for Facebook?
Leave your comments below.

New Facebook Privacy Settings Rolled Out To Users

New privacy and sharing settings will be distributed to Facebook users by the end of the year.
A Facebook release has said that: “We continue to strive toward three main goals: bringing controls in context where you share, helping you understand what appears where as you use Facebook, and providing tools to help you act on content you don't like.”

The sharing platform has released a preview of some of the new options that can be seen in the menu.
Privacy settings could previously be found under different menu paths but will soon all be organised into one place called Privacy Shortcuts.
A new looking Activity Log will let users see more information on their personal data, their photos and all sorts of details regarding their Facebook activity.



A Request Removal Tool has been put into place so that users can ask for photos they disapprove of to be taken down by the person who uploaded them.

If a user should choose to hide something from their Timeline, Facebook will notify them if the content may still be shown in news feeds, searches, or anywhere else on the site.



Also, Facebook apps will have to make two separate requests to gain access to your personal information and post it to your Facebook account.
All users should be seeing these changes by the end of 2012.

What do you think about the privacy updates? Have you had any issues before?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below

Facebook Search Bar Can Take You To Specific App Centre Categories

The Facebook search bar now searches for App Centre categories which will lead users straight to those particular sections of the App Centre.

The ability to do so doesn’t seem to have been available since the introduction of the App Centre in June, but Facebook has since introduced a search option within the App Centre which gives users the ability to finds apps by using keywords such as “sport” or “games”.

Only recently has a discovery been made of users being able to use the main Facebook search bar to find specific App Centre categories.

The search bar allows users to go straight to the “games” or “mobile apps” sections and will show different app categories such as action games, card games, puzzle games, photo apps, lifestyle apps and many more that can be found via the main search bar.

The search bar is generally used for Facebook users to find other people, pages and to get around the site. For instance, users can navigate quickly to their photos, notes, friends lists, Help Centre and others.

Adding App Centre categories to the search bar could point more users towards the App dashboard with it already getting 220 million visitors per month.

Are you glad that you can now access the App Centre via the main search bar?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below

Vimeo Launches New iPhone Application

Video sharing site Vimeo has released a new version of its iPhone application, what differentiates this one is that it has been created entirely by Vimeo staff.

Vimeo, one of YouTube’s main rivals, has released two iPhone applications before, but they have scrapped both in favour of designing a new one entirely from scratch.

Vimeo favours videos from independent artists and creators, and vice versa: a large number of indie filmmakers prefer Vimeo as their video sharing site of choice, having adopted the name “Vimeans”.

The original Vimeo iPhone application attempted to recreate Vimeo’s desktop interface on the mobile device, ending up over-complicated and cluttered. Vimeo’s new application has a simplified tab format, with easy navigation between channels.



“It’s totally reimagined to be awesomer, sleeker, more beautiful, way more awesome, and also much, much awesomer. The smarter, more intuitive design makes uploading, browsing, and sharing ridiculously easy”, says Vimeo of their new application.

When first loading the application, a scroll-down video feed takes up the majority of the screen, with a login banner at the top and tabs at the bottom.

The tab bar contains five buttons: Feed, with the list of videos from the Staff Picks channel, Explore, which has a search bar and a list of channels, Watch Later, which displays all the videos you have bookmarked for later viewing, and Me, which saves all your uploaded videos and liked videos.

The upload button takes prominence on the tab bar, however, with Vimeo’s intention to encourage users to upload their own creations.

Despite the simplification of Vimeo’s interface, the application has actually been upgraded with new features: users can pause uploads and share videos as soon as they have been uploaded.

What do you think about Vimeo’s new iPhone application?

Facebook Messenger Now Available in Your Firefox Browser

You can now chat with your Facebook friends anywhere within Firefox without having to open Facebook itself.

A new Firefox feature allows Facebook Messenger to show up at the side of your browser window. The integration allows users to see which of their friends are online and chat with them as you would from your Facebook profile, regardless of whether the website is open in your browser window or not.



This integration hopes to help keep you up to date with what’s happening on the social network without needing to constantly be changing between tabs to do so.
The new feature will also allow users to see their notifications when comments are made on posts and when they are tagged in a photo.

The new release is the first application of Mozilla’s new Social API and Facebook is the first to take advantage of the service.
The API now gives other social media platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn the chance to benefit from the feature as well.

To try out the new Firefox Facebook integration, download the most recent version of Firefox and then turn the feature on via Facebook.

What do you make of this new update? Do you think it will help?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below

Link Your Google+ Page With Your YouTube Page

Users will soon be able to link their YouTube page to their Google+ page using a channel name as your Google identity.
Google have been allowing YouTube users to use their Google+ profiles on their YouTube channels for months, using their real names rather than old YouTube account names.
They will continue to develop new engagement features that can take the best of both worlds from YouTube and Google+.

David Boyle of Google says: “While using a full name from a Google+ profile might work well for a creator who wants to build their brand as an individual, this simply doesn’t work if you don’t want a full name on your channel.”
“If you run a channel with a name like BlueXephos or VlogBrothers, you should create a Google+ page (as opposed to a profile) with that name.”

Google has been beta testing the option with a number of channels and will become available to all creators in the coming weeks.

What are your thoughts on the link between these two sites?

Google+ Now Supports Android App Links On Stream

Users are now able to post applications onto their Google+ streams, with a direct link allowing friends to download the apps on their mobile devices.

The update comes in the same week as Google Play’s release on the major European markets. So far, music and movies are available in France, Germany and the UK, but Google has promised to release the service in more countries over the next year.

When a user pastes the application URL in their stream a thumbnail appears automatically, along with an ‘Install'/’Buy’ button. When a friend clicks on the button the corresponding page loads and a prompt box appears asking whether the user wishes to install the app on another device.
The update makes it far easier for brands to keep their followers informed of new apps or improvements to existing ones.

What do you think of the Google TV and Google+ updates?

How Twitter Affected the Presidential Election

Barack Obama has been re-elected as President of the United States of America and social media sites, especially Twitter, have had a monumental influence on how voters may have made their decision.
Twitter seemed to be the most commanding social media platform for debate with over 70% of election talk coming from there over the few days preceding the election. Facebook contributed just over 18% with Tumblr and other blogs filling the remaining percentage.

President Barack Obama currently has over 22 million Twitter followers, more than ten times the amount Governor Mitt Romney has at slightly under 2 million.

As Obama was re-elected for four more years in the White House, Twitter erupted in setting a new tweets-per-minute record of 327,000. This is put into context when compared to the previous record of 116,00 which was set when the Spice Girls reunited in the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The Twitter Sentiment score also showed a general positivity towards Obama and some inconsistency towards Republican candidate Mitt Romney.



The sentiment is calculated by a collection of mentions and tweets gathered directly towards each candidate’s twitter account. If the score is higher, the tweets were more positive than any other terms mentioned on Twitter, almost like a percentage score.
At about 8pm Eastern time, Obama’s sentiment rose steadily to 89 while Romney’s dramatically dropped to a low of 18.

Numbers of tweets and followers however does not guarantee success or even calculate how many were even going to vote. But the use of the social media platform was instrumental in spreading campaign messages and expanding a following.
President Obama’s celebratory tweet then went on to pass the 500,000 retweet mark, making it the most retweeted post of all time.



What did you make of the candidates use of Twitter leading up to the election?

Thunderclap To Help Commemorate Remembrance Sunday

The Royal British Legion says that it is to become the first UK organisation to use social media in an effort to encourage people to mark two minutes silence on November 11.

The message, "I'll be remembering the fallen at 11 o'clock #2MinuteSilence #LestWeForget," will be sent out via Facebook and Twitter simultaneously at 09:00 GMT on Remembrance Sunday.
With the UK’s estimated 10 million Twitter and 33 million Facebook users, the charity is hoping that thousands will take part in sharing the message.

The message hopes to remind the general public the morning of Remembrance Sunday to pause at 11:00 GMT for two minutes in the memory of the men and women who have lost their lives.

Helen Hill, the head of remembrance at The Royal British Legion, said: "We hope to create the largest ever show of online remembrance by using the communicative power of social media to remind millions of Britons that they have a very personal opportunity to honour the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice."
The act of observing a Two Minute Silence began in 1919 after the Armistice at 11am on November 11, 1918 at the end of the First World War.

It has become the largest annual demonstration of public support for any cause in the country.

Will you be taking part?

ShadowMe App Lets You Pretend to Be Someone Else on Twitter

Ever wonder how your friends keep posted on the coolest viral videos and articles? Ever wonder how your favorite reporters and pundits stay in the know?

Well, now — as the saying goes — there’s an app for just that.
It’s called ShadowMe [App Store link], and is now available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users, but only if you’ve already upgraded to iOS 6.

And what does ShadowMe do, you ask? Essentially, it lets you lurk Twitter as if you’re someone else. You’re able to see exactly what another user sees in his or her Twitter feed, receiving updates and news from all their favorite follows. It works equally well for a big-name celebrity — pro athletes who seem to only follow teammates and scantily clad women, for example — or simply a close friend.

“While ShadowMe is especially useful for people who need an introduction or education on Twitter, the app also enhances the Twitter experience for even the most active users by enabling them to shadow avid Twitter users, depending on interests or events,” Keith Savitz, co-founder of the app’s parent company, Tendy Apps, said in a press release. “Twitter newbies get quality content, not overwhelming quantity, and all users get the engaging, informative, entertaining social TV/second screen experience.”

While we haven’t yet gotten a chance to test out ShadowMe and can’t vouch for its functionality or ease of use, the idea does strike us as a very, very cool. It has the potential to be a powerful tool for content discovery, as well as insight into how your favorite follows use Twitter.

Is ShadowMe cool or creepy? Let us know what you think in the comments.

How to Use Facebook and Twitter Without the Internet

As Hurricane Sandy makes its way up the Eastern Seaboard, many are without electricity. Without power you could lose your access to Internet via Wi-Fi and, potentially, access to mobile networks. If that happens, how can you still post on Facebook and Twitter to let your friends and family know that everything is fine? Or ask for help?

You can use good-old text messages.

To tweet, first you need to enable your mobile phone on Twitter.com, so do it now while you can. Go to your Twitter homepage, then to “Settings” and then “Mobile.” Insert your cellphone number under “Activate Twitter text messaging,” and then you’ll have to text “GO” to the number 40404.

Once you’ve done that, you should receive a text message telling you that your phone is now activated. You should also see new settings on the webpage that allow you to enable or disable text notifications.
Now, to tweet, just write a text and send it to 40404.

To find out more about how to use other Twitter functionalities without an Internet connection, check Twitter’s official guide.


If you’re more of a Facebook fan, worry not. You can update your status via SMS as well and the social network also gives you the ability to subscribe to your friends’ updates and even use Facebook chat. Again, to access these functionalities, you first need to link your mobile phone to your Facebook account.
Log into Facebook.com and go to your “Account Settings,” which you can find under the arrow next to your name on the top bar. Then go to “Mobile,” introduce your number and click on “Activate Text Messaging.” You’ll have to select your country and your carrier. Once you’ve done that, follow the instructions on the screen and text the letter “F” to the number 32665.

Finally, you will receive a confirmation number on your phone. Insert that number on the page. You should then receive a text message that will confirm that your phone is activated.
Now, to update your status, you simply have to write it in a text and send it to 32665.

Photo credit: Mashable composite, photo courtesy of iStockphoto, SimmySimons.

Is Pheed the Next Big Thing?

A rise in popularity among celebrities has meant that new Social Media site Pheed has sprung up from nowhere to possibly be the next big thing.

Forbes calls the self-funded start-up, ‘Twitter with a business plan’, the idea of Pheed is to share content in all formats, including audio, video and photo. Influencers such as celebrities can then share content for free or share for a fee, therefore giving fans a more exclusive and higher quality piece of content.

Celebrities that have jumped aboard the Pheed train so far include, Miley Cyrus, B.O.B and Paris Hilton. The site has only been live for a couple of days but already gathered a huge celebrity following, though it is still to be seen how fans will react and whether they will be willing to pay for the exclusive content.

The key to this site surviving is celebrity endorsement and impressive content to keep users coming back. Try it out.

Twitter header image: How one picture can make all the difference

Introduction

If you haven’t tried it yet, you need to make careful consideration of adding a header image to your Twitter profile. Much like the Cover Photo on Facebook Timeline Pages, the header image injects a much needed amount of personality to your page, making it that much more attractive and easy to read.

In your profile page, the header image frames your profile picture, Twitter username, your listed name, and the description you’ve made of yourself. It’s another way to personalize user owned accounts. For corporate Twitter accounts, it is an aid in optimizing that real estate.

A few things you need to note for readability’s sake

The text is centered in the middle of your Twitter account. You’re better off using an image that has no details in the middle.

Furthermore, the font they went with does not come with its own shadow or outline effect to make it appear on top of whatever background. In other words, you have to avoid backgrounds with bright or mixed colours so that it stays readable.

Twitter layouts are different on mobile, with iOS and all the different implementations of Android to deal with. When Twitter launched this feature, it coincided with the release of updated iPhone and iPad apps, so those devices integrate the header image. However, the iPhone also changed the dimensions of the header image and the profile picture slightly. If you can double check how it appears on your and your friends’ smartphones, you should get their help.

Of course, the header image does not appear on third party apps like Hootsuite. The header image is not a replacement for your profile picture, so you still need to have a profile picture that will stand up on its own.

Some users inventively arranged the header image in such a way that the profile picture can align with the header image perfectly, Unfortunately, this effect is lost in mobile devices, so I find it hard to recommend this.

Generally, you are best off picking header images that are not particularly detailed, that will look good irregardless of the screen size you are viewing it in, and will appear attractive irregardless if the scale changes between it and your profile picture.

The picture dimensions

The picture needs to be under 5 MB
The ideal size is 1252 x 626, but at the very least, it should not go below 700px
I personally think you should decide what to do with your Twitter page, but if you want advice on making it look good;

Choose an image that will match your background.
Choose an image that will match your profile picture.
If you’re scared to screw it up, Twitter temporarily still allows you to remove the header and revert to the old layout.

How to add/replace your header image

1. From the Twitter toolbar, click the gear icon and choose settings. This will bring you to the Account page

2. From the Account page, click on Design. This will bring you to the Design page

3. From the Design page, scroll down and look for the “Customize your area” section.

4. Click “Change header” and proceed to add or replace the header image.

5. Finally, click “Save Changes”.

Some personal tips

Of course many people made up their backgrounds using Photoshop or GIMP, but most of us don’t know how to use that, so what do you do? Use Flickr, Wikimedia Commons or Google Image Search to find pictures in large dimensions.

In fact, desktop backgrounds can be easily reappropriated to the 1252 x 626 dimensions of the header image, but you have to remember that the image will be considerably shrunk. Try to find pictures at a ratio of 2 to 1.

Match the header image colors with the profile picture colors. This may appear self evident, but it is worth noting if you have a hard time picking a picture.

If you are not a professional, you do not have to try too hard. Get a simple picture that will reflect your identity. Take a picture of flowers, robots, a close up of your PS3, a landscape, whatever. Just remember the guidelines I’ve noted above and you should do fine.

If you are a professional, yes, when you make the jump you will want to invest in getting an illustrator to make you a good header image. Remember that profiles without header images use the old layout, which is not as great, but still looks OK.

If you are a graphic designer and you have not tried this out yet, get off your butt and do this. There is no end of templates and free tools out there to help you make your own header image.

Finally: A Confession

I have personally known about the header image for a while now and I have purposely made the decision not to add a header image. Why? Because I’m OK with the old layout. On a personal level, I do not feel like I have extra time to seek out or make a picture for that purpose, but even on my days off, I still do not feel like it.

So remember, at the end of the day, the header image is an optional thing. Twitter has played around with different ways of making the profile page look better, and as time goes on, we may see future changes making this one obsolete. We might even lose header images after a while.

If you do use Twitter for business, you should take the effort to add that header image. It is not so much an obligation as it is an opportunity. A really easy opportunity to brand your Twitter account, and one that is not as intrusive as Timeline was for Facebook.

What do you guys think of the header image? Would you make the jump? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

How Social Media Can Benefit You

There are many different ways in which you can use social media to help bring attention to your company and the products and services that you offer. Many times companies don't know how to successfully include social media into their existing marketing plan; what we are going to do is to help you understand the different ways in which social media can help your business grow.

· Become More Visible - Using social media as part of your marketing plan is a great way to increase the awareness of your business. By creating a fan page you are inviting the public to visit your page and discover everything that you have to offer.

· Bring In More Traffic - Participating in some type of social media is an excellent way to help increase the amount of traffic that your website sees. By providing fans or followers new and interesting information on upcoming product releases you are awakening their curiosity and they are more likely to visit your website to find out more. While they are there investigating the new products, they may also decide to make a purchase.

· Increase Your Likability - Becoming active on social media websites is a great way to provide your business with a face and personality. Visitors who see this are more inclined to trust your company over another because they are now able to develop a connection with your brand. It will also give your business a sense of caring for the public and what they think about your products or services.

· Invite Interaction - Your fan page is a great resource when it comes to discovering how the public views your business or products. You can also ask your fans what they would like to see you develop next or if they have any problems with any of your existing products. You can obtain a lot of valuable information by inviting your fans to interact with each other or even you.

· Target Your Marketing Efforts - Creating a fan page is also a great way to focus your marketing efforts to specific groups of customers. You are also able to promote any specials that you are currently running. You may also want to create specialized discounts that are only available to fans of your page.

Social media has created a new avenue that wasn't available in past years. You are now able to reach thousands of people with one simple update to your page. This allows you to create targeted marketing plans that are geared towards your online activity. If you haven't already embraced the age of social media, the time has come. By not actively participating in social media you are missing a great opportunity to grow your customer base.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7331847

9 Social Media Fun Facts to Shock or Maybe Just Awe

The following stats are based on information about Social Media usage in the United States.

1. Almost 1/2 Of Twitter Users Are Democrats
Twittercrats find this #Debatable? This is compared to approximately 30% of the U.S. of the population being Democrats overall. 

2. By Far, Facebook Still The Most Addicting
Stalking has never been more fun! 23% of Facebook’s users check their account at least five times every single day. 

3. More than 1/2 Are Getting Social
Still awkward in public? Sure, but our fingers can clickety-clack away with “Don Draper” esque poise and sophistication. Americans (12 and up) could push 75% Social Media usage within the next 5 years. 

4. Nearly 3/4 Aren’t “Checking In”
Most Americans still think they need Gym shorts for Foursquare. In fact, while only 3% have claimed to checked in this year, it is even down from the year before. The concept of “checking-in” will probably soon be replaced by “Opting-in” to share location data. 

5. Only over 1/4 Are Following Brands on Facebook
After all the work Businesses and Brands put into reaching the Facebook audience, there is still a lot of work to be done to reach out and incentivize and audience to like and participate with Facebook pages. 

6. Nearly 1/4 Are using Social Media Several times a day
There aren’t many things people do every day, but Facebook and Twitter make the list for many. 

7. Almost 1/2 Say Facebook has an impact on what they buy
As compared to last year, Facebook’s influence on purchasing has doubled. For Twitter, on the other hand, buying influence ranks somewhere between 1-5%. 

8. 3/4 of Twitter are posting their own Tweets
Followers, Groupies and Disciples have turned into active participators up from only 50% updating their statuses in 2010. 

9. Over 1/2 of people have used Facebook on a Mobile device
While over 50% of users have used their Mobile devices to access Facebook, over 1/4 use them regularly to see their feed, post, share and like.


Research Via Jay Baer

5 Ways to Manage Your Google+ Community

Google+ can play an essential role in your social media strategy, but if you are not managing it properly then you will not see the results you hope for. The time and energy you put into sites like Facebook and Twitter should also be divided into your Google+ community if you expect to have any success with it.

You might only have a small community, but it is still important to be actively engaged if you want to grow your following and get your brand's page to pop up more often in search results.
Here are five ways that you can form a better strategy for Google+ so that you can start bringing in the benefits of being an active member of that social community.

Stay on Top of Notifications
When you sit down to check your social media each day, make sure that you are going through your notifications on Google+. You will see who has shared your posts, added you to their circles, shares a post with you or mentions your company in a comment or post.
If they share something you post, thank them. If they share something with you or leave a comment, take time to read it and respond. If they added you to their circles, find a circle to add them to on your end.
Do a Search for Your Brand and Keywords

Another way to stay on top of your Google+ community is to keep an "ear" out for what people are saying about your brand and the industry in general. You can do a search that will bring up results of pages, posts, people and hangouts that contain your search terms. You can also filter it down so that you only get results from Google+.

Get the Ripple Effect
Google+ Ripples were introduced in 2011 and can show you how your Google+ posts are spread through user sharing. The ripples of any public post can be viewed by clicking on "View Ripples" on the drop down-menu. You will see who has shared your content and how the content is being spread. This kind of insight into what posts are being shared most often can help you know what type of content you should be focusing on to get the most benefit.

Talk About Other Brands and People
Like you, other businesses and entrepreneurs are looking for any mention of their name on Google+. To help get noticed, mention other people and brands in your posts. Link to other blogs, business owners, community members, etc. Those people and businesses will get a notification that they were mentioned. There is a good chance that they will reciprocate, leave a comment, +1 it or another beneficial action.

Set Up a Hangout
Google+ makes it easy to interact with one another and even gives you the option for some face-to-face chats with a Hangout. These offer great opportunities to have a Q&A session with customers or clients or have a casual chat with people who share similar interests.
Google+ is an important part of social media and shouldn't be overlooked. As you start to become more involved with the community, you will be able to see great growth and an increase in your brand awareness.
How have you made sure that your Google+ community is getting enough attention? What is your routine for managing your page?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7296153

YouTube Expands Original Content With New European Channels

YouTube has expanded its roster of original channels with new, global channels from France, Germany, the UK and the US.
The new channels will cover a variety of topics, including sports, music, comedy, news, animation, local cuisine, health and wellness. So far, YouTube has launched 100 original channels; the new additions will bring this number to 160.

In the UK, for example, “Fast, Furious & Funny” is covering cars; in Germany, “Motorvision” will cover the same topic. The UK will have four sports channels, covering cycling and football among other topics. In France, a channel called “X-Treme video” is dedicated to extreme sports; in Germany, it will be “Boneless.”
You can see a list of all YouTube original channels here.

In a blog post, YouTube also shared some stats on its original programming. According to the company, the top 25 original channels are averaging over a million views weekly, and 800 million viewers are watching 4 billion hours of content every month — up from 3 billion hours earlier this year.
Furthermore, the number of subscribers has doubled year-over-year, and YouTube partners are reaching the 100,000 subscriber mark five times faster than two years ago.

5 Better Ways to Network on Twitter and LinkedIn

Social media is like a professional cocktail hour — a way to connect, share and interact with others beyond the confines of your cubicle. But now, it feels more like an epic college kegger — the kind where you find yourself wandering in a sea of red cups, the clamor of rowdy partygoers drowning out any real conversation and eliminating the chance to forge relationships that don’t involve tacos at 3 a.m.
So, how do you bring that party back down to a reasonable size, and actually connect with people you want to talk to? Half the battle is being able to sift through the noise. Here are a few easy ways to identify and jump into the right conversations with the right people for you and your professional interests.

1. Find the Authors of the Content You Read
Who are the social influencers in your area of expertise? Identifying these people is particularly useful in seeking out great conversations. One of the best places to start is the blogs or websites you go to for content. Check out the authors — people who contribute to online publications usually have a social presence, too. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter, and take the time to let them know what you think. Comment on their articles or blogs, then take it a step further and tweet some feedback. Giving a compliment with some added insight on the topic goes a long way.

2. Become an Author Yourself
There’s no better way to join the conversation in your field than by writing on the topic — either on your own blog or for industry publications. Not only will you have something to readily share and discuss on your social networks, you’ll likely have people in your field reach out to you with comments and ideas of their own.
If you don’t consider yourself a wordsmith, stick to what you know. Think about what questions you get asked most often about what you do, and write down your thoughts. Once you get started, you’ll be surprised how much you truly have to say.

3. Leverage Twitter Keyword Searches
Twitter can be a great source of information, but it can also be one of the “noisiest” places on the web. So a great way to find people, filter tweets and join a conversation is to search for keywords related to the topics in which you are interested. For example, if you work in social media, the most obvious place to start would be a keyword like “social media.”
It seems simple, but this isn’t a perfect science, and it requires some trial and error to see which keywords get you the results you want (for example, you might try “social media marketing” or “Twitter marketing”). Play around with different versions, and join the conversation when you find something of interest. Reply to people’s tweets and give your feedback or comments. Did someone link out to an article and give her opinion? Tell her that you agree or disagree and why.

4. Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn groups are great forums for career-related discussions — members often share articles, ask questions and start online conversations with each other. Do a quick group search on LinkedIn, and you’re likely to get a long list of niche groups within your field. That said, do your research to make sure that any group you’re looking at is a good fit for your goals and interests before you request to join. (If you work in healthcare marketing, for example, a general marketing group might not be the best fit.) If the group is open (vs. invite-only), take a look around at the discussions and members to get a feel for the content and makeup of the group and see if it’s a good fit.

5. Meet the People Who are Looking at You
Even if you haven’t upgraded your LinkedIn account, if your settings allow others to see who you are when you look at their profiles, you should be able to see who’s looking at yours. Scan this once a week and take a peek at who has viewed your profile.
When it’s appropriate, connect with these people, thinking about why they might have taken the time to look at your profile. Are they in your field? In your community? A recruiter? Reaching out to engage in conversation not only shows you’re paying attention, but also shows you’re open to forming new professional relationships.

Why You Shouldn't Over Post on Facebook

As social media professionals, I believe this is one of the two biggest struggles we have both with our clients and with our bosses, the other being actually what to post, but that is a completely different topic.
More is not always better when it comes to Facebook. Ignoring the fact that most fans never return to a page after they like it, people get frustrated and annoyed by constant posts. Worse than that: now you, the social media professional, has to come up with a large amount of posts. When posting three or more times per day, most of those post are worthless with little value to the fans.

This is a graph from Jeff Bullas' article 10 Powerful Tips to Increase Engagement on Facebook:

Here are some great stats from an article from the social business:

One-to-two posts a day is more effective than fewer or more posts per day. One or two brand posts receive 32% higher “like” rates and 73% higher comment rates compared to posting 3 or more times a day.

Engagement is highest when brands post four to five posts a week. Posting one to four times a week produces 71% higher user engagement than five or more posts in a given week. Posting less than that, does not maximize your opportunity to target your fans as often as possible.

Clients may think the easy to fix to a low level of Facebook engagement is more posts, this will never work. Content is king. Visually appealing posts get more engagement, along with questions and discounts.
In short, be sure to experiment with what you post and the times you post. You may be surprised to see when you are getting the most engagement.
If you’re having a hard time with social media marketing, seek consultation from a social media agency to create a plan or manage your networks.
How often do you post on your social networks, and what results have you seen? Let us know in the comments.

Facebook Groups Adds Dropbox Integration

Now if you want to share files with friends via Facebook Groups, you can do so via Dropbox.
“When the owner of the file makes updates, those updates will also be shared back to the group. And, just like other posts to Facebook Groups, people can like or comment on the content,” a Facebook representative told Mashable.
Since edits are shared directly back to the group, the functionality could be ideal for group projects where several people need access and the information is constantly changing.
Dropbox and Facebook also see the feature being used to share things like videos of a birthday party with your “family Group,” or class notes with a study group you have on the social network.
Documents, photos, and videos can all be shared from your Dropbox account onto your group’s wall, and all of that content can be viewed via web as well as on a smartphone or tablet.
Facebook rolled out file sharing for groups in May of this year. With the feature users can upload file types up to 25MB in size, excluding music and executable (.exe) files.
To get started using Dropbox with Facebook you just have to click the “Add File” button on your Group’s page and then link your existing Dropbox account (or create a new one).
The new feature will start gradually rolling out to Facebook users Wednesday.
Do you have the new Dropbox functionality in groups yet? Let us know what you think of the new feature in the comments.

Tumblr Passes Pinterest in Unique Visitors

Having recently surpassed MySpace in terms of traffic, Tumblr is moving up the list of the most popular social networks in the world.
Between July 2011 and July 2012 Tumblr’s monthly unique visitor count increased by 100% to 26.9 million, as Marketing Land reports.
This puts Tumblr, the five-year-old microblog founded in New York, neck and neck with Pinterest which collects more than 23 million uniques a month, according to statistics from Site Analytics which tracks how many visitors sites collect in the U.S.
In July, Tumblr collected 6.7 million mobile visitors and 24 million search visits.
In May, Tumblr broke into comScore’s list of the top 50 U.S. web properties, edging out Target and Discovery Digital Media for spot 47. The top social network on the list was Facebook at number 4 with 159 million unique visitors for April 2012.
Tumblr currently hosts 74 million blogs and 31 billion posts. It collects about 100,000 new blogs every day.
The top social networking sites in the world in terms of visits are Facebook (7 billion), Twitter (182 million), Pinterest (104 million) and LinkedIn (86 million), according to Experian Hitwise.

The Winklevoss Twins Are Backing Another Social Network

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, best known for their disputed role in the creation of Facebook, are backing another social network, this time for professional investors.

The twins have sunk $1 million into SumZero, a social network created by Divya Narendra in 2008, according to The Wall Street Journal. Narendra allied with the Winklevosses in their fight against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the claim that he stole the trio’s idea, which eventually became Facebook. The battle, dramatized in the movie The Social Network, resulted in a $65 million settlement for the Winklevosses, though they have unsuccessfully sought further damages.

SumZero describes itself as “the largest online community for hedge fund, mutual fund and private equity professionals,” and has users from funds including Greenlight, Pershing Square and Weiss Asset Management. The site caters to employees on the “buy side” from mutual funds, hedge funds and private-equity firms. The site bars those from the “sell side” such as Wall Street banks.

The twins, who have since starred in a Wonderful Pistachios ad that poked fun at their image, told the WSJ that they are back in the game. “The band is back together,” Tyler Winklevoss told the publication. The news comes after the pair announced the creation of a venture capital firm back in April.

Apple Kills iPhone 3GS, Makes iPhone 4 Free

With the launch of the iPhone 5, one familiar Apple product is being retired: the iPhone 3GS.

During its product announcements Wednesday, the company announced that the iPhone 4 would be taking the 3GS’s place as a free phone with a new two-year contract, pushing the earlier handset out of Apple’s handset lineup.

The 16GB iPhone 4S is now $99 with a new two-year agreement, with the iPhone 5 taking top billing at $199 for a 16GB version of the phone.

Removing the 3GS from its lineup means all of Apple’s new iPhones are now able to run on both CDMA and GSM carriers. It also means that AT&T, Verizon and Sprint all now have a free iPhone model to offer customers.

The iPhone 5 sports a number of enhancements from Apple’s current lineup of phones including a larger screen, faster processor, and support for LTE data networks.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 will happen on Sept. 14, with the phone expected to be released on Sept. 21 in the U.S., Canada, Japan, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Quick 5 tips: How To Create Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign

If you are planning a new marketing strategy for your business and you have no idea how to start or what path to follow that will be successful and cost effective, you should go for the social media marketing. Most of the major brands as well as small companies are using this medium to promote their products & brands on social media. Social Media is considered to be the best and most effective way of communicating and addressing your target audience in an efficient manner.

You don’t have to be a marketing genius to setup any social media campaign, it’s a simple process if followed correctly.

Here are the five steps that will help you to create and implement a successful Social Media Campaign.

1- Select your Platform:

First of all you need to decide which social platform works best for your campaign.You need to know which social platform is more preferable and most suitable according to your nature of business and where the desired audience is availablei.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest etc.

Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are widely used and preferred for marketing for B2C services. On the other hand, if you are in B2b services then LinkedIn is more suitable according to your needs.

2- Target Audience

You should have the idea of what kind of audience you are targeting. It includes all the demographics (e.g. gender, age, education) and in order to get a true understanding, you must need to examine more socio-graphic information on how consumer interact with the social media. This could include the information such as (which websites do they visit regularly, which is more interesting for them). In addition to this information, an effective campaign needs to center around what value the company will be bringing to the consumer.

3- Implementation

Once you are done with the identification of an appropriate platform, you should start working on the idea and start decorating your business page, put some beautiful images which will attract users to company’s profile. Your presentation and content are the two things that gives a strong impression on the users. Put some notes about company’s back ground and setup a profile that will describe the nature of your brand and its services.

4- Engage Your Audience

In social media, it is easy to attract a consumer to join a campaign (e.g. ‘like’ a Facebook group or follow a Twitter stream). However, it is much harder to get a consumer to actually engage with the campaign and remain connected. The consumer needs to see that there is value with theengagement in order for them to continue to follow the execution and becoming more invested in the campaign. Choose your post wisely so it does not backfire on your brand, always try to post something that will trigger the user to get engage itself in the discussion and generate their interest

5- Evaluation

After specific time of period, evaluate your performance in order to determine how successful your campaign is and what impact it creates among the users and your consumers. The most important metric is to know how it works out for your business and how it helps you to create an image among the consumers and other users.

Above are just some basic tips for a successful social media campaign, although it seems very simple and easy and they are, but in order to get the right result you must understand the true power of social media before step in into it.

20 Tricks to Make Facebook Better

Facebook is by far the largest social network on the web. While Mark Zuckerberg has made plenty of great calls in its design, the site — and the way people use it — isn’t as streamlined as it could be.

These 20 tips, tricks and tools will give help take your Facebook experience to the next level. From simple settings options you may have overlooked, to browser plug-ins dedicated to making the social network even better, you’re sure to find something on this list that will make your Facebook time even more addicting than it already is.

Tweak Your Facebook Settings

1. Appear Offline to Certain Friends

By opening your Facebook chat window, clicking the settings icon in the upper right corner and then navigating to “Advanced Settings,” you can customize your chat experience by appearing offline to certain people on your friends list. This tweak will be especially helpful for those of you with chatty acquaintances who like to talk your ear off when you’re online.

2. Reposition Your Timeline Photos

When uploading a new photo, it might not always appear on your feed the way you intended. Particularly long or wide photos have a tendency to be cropped awkwardly, but you can fix this rather easily. By clicking “Edit Photo” from your Timeline page, you gain access to a “Reposition Photo” option. Using this tool, you can move your photo around the preview window so that it appears as you intended.

3. Add Photos to Your Worldly Travels

If you’re a fan of Facebook’s “Places” feature, you can very easily decorate it with pictures to show off your various activities all over the world. On the main Places page, simply click “Add Photos to Map” and start tagging away! If you frequently upload photos directly to your Facebook profile using a mobile app for iPhone or Android, you might find that your map is already pretty well populated.

4. Easily Hide App Notifications

By going into your account settings, navigating to the “Notifications” tab on the left side of the page, you can browse the applications that have permission to populate your news feed. If find that a friend has spammed your feed with an excessive number of app notifications, simply deactivate the offending app. It’s easier than breaking off the friendship.

5. Upload Photos in High Resolution

Sometimes you’ll find that a gorgeous photo you wanted to share with your friends appears tiny and blurry after adding it to your social network profile. Remedy this by going into your Facebook albums and, before uploading a photo, click the “High Quality” box.

6. Use the “View As” Option to Tweak Your Appearance to Specific Friends

Knowing what your friends can see on your Facebook Timeline is an invaluable tool to ensuring your virtual reputation stays intact. From your Timeline page, click the settings icon next to “Activity Log” and then click “View As.” From here you’ll be able to see what specific friends see when they visit your page.

7. Download Your Entire Facebook History

Ever wanted to browse your entire Facebook profile at once — including every status update you’ve ever submitted? Facebook makes it easy. Under your Account Settings page, a small link will appear at the very bottom of the options list. Click “Download a copy of your Facebook data” to begin the process of securing your entire archive.

8. Forward Your Facebook Conversations

Having to repeat yourself is annoying in day-to-day life, and it’s even more of a bother when online. Rather than copying and pasting directions or instructions to multiple people, click the “Actions” tab at the top of any Facebook message thread to access the option to forward it to others. Ta-da! No more double-talk!

9. Turn Chat Sign-in Off by Default

Can’t stand endless chat when you’re simply browsing your status updates? No problem. Click the settings icon in the main Facebook chat window, and click “Turn off chat” to have all future messages sent to your inbox, rather than pop-up in realtime on your screen.

10. Use Facebook to Design Your Business Card

If you’ve put a lot of work into making your Timeline page reflect exactly who you are, consider using it as a pre-designed business card. Clicking the “About” link — located under your name on your Timeline — lets you browse your social network details. In the Contact Info window is a small business card icon that will direct you to Moo.com, where you can customize a Facebook-flavored business card and place an order.

Web Tools That Optimize Facebook

11. Analyze Your Facebook History With Wolfram Alpha

For the most comprehensive breakdown of your entire Facebook history, Wolfram Alpha can’t be beat. Simply type “Facebook Report” into the main search bar, approve the app’s use of your Facebook data and wait for the system to break down your history. Once it’s finished, you’ll be treated to a seemingly endless number of graphs and data points showing your update history, most-liked photos and much more.

12. Schedule Facebook Updates With Sendible

Believe it or not, thieves are big fans of Facebook. By finding out when you’ll be away from your home, security experts believe would-be robbers target those who go on a Facebook hiatus. Sendible — an application that allows you to schedule updates even when you’re not near your computer — can keep your online persona active, even when you can’t.

13. Use Twitter to Update Facebook

Sometimes you just don’t have enough time to keep all your social networks up to date, but thankfully Facebook and Twitter play nice together with a little tweaking. Head to the Twitter app page on Facebook to begin the process of syncing your virtual social lives. After authorizing the Facebook app via Twitter, all your tweets will appear on Facebook as status updates.

14. Export Your Facebook Calendar to Your PC

Make sure you don’t miss any important events by exporting your Facebook calendar to either Microsoft Outlook or Apple iCal. Head to your Facebook calendar (located under the “Events” tab on the Facebook navigation bar) and click the settings icon. Click “Export,” and then choose either your Facebook birthday list or upcoming events. Your desktop’s calendar app should launch immediately, making the process even more streamlined.

Chrome Extensions for Facebook

15. Facebook Photo Zoom

Using this extension, you no longer have to click on the photos in your news feed in order to view them in full size. Simply move your mouse cursor over the image thumbnail and the larger version will pop up right in front of you. You can even adjust the zoom by moving the mouse back and forth over the photo itself. It’s like magic.

16. Revert Facebook Photo Viewer

If you’re not into real-time photo zooming, this extension turns back the clock on your Facebook’s photo feature. Rather than displaying pictures in the new “Theater” layout, photos will appear on their own pages, complete with the full comments section and “Like” options.

17. Facebook Chat Notifications

Have you ever left a Facebook tab open on your web browser and missed an urget message from a friend? This handy plugin produces a pop-up window on your desktop to notify you when someone needs to chat, ensuring you never miss an important bit of info.

Firefox Add-Ons for Facebook

18. Like the Page

If you’re a Firefox user, you can use this add-on to instantly share any web page they come across, even when the site doesn’t have a built-in Facebook share button. A small “Like” icon will pop up at the bottom of every browser window, and all it takes it a click to share your find with the world.

19. FB Purity

This plug-in returns your Facebook to an earlier day, back when spammers and useless clutter wasn’t a hinderance to your browsing habits. You can hide any type of notification you wish, including birthdays, relationship updates, tagged photos, links and much more. You can make your social experience as simple as you wish.

20. Facebook Auto-Logout

Do you hate it when you accidentally leave yourself signed in to the social network, only to come back to missed chat messages and anxiety over whether someone else was browsing your digital life? This handy add-on will automatically sign you out of your Facebook windows if you’ve been inactive for too long, ensuring that nobody can snoop your info.

Twitter Launches Certified Products Program

Twitter launched a new certified products platform Wednesday. The program is initially launching with three verticals Twitter says are “based on the needs we see from partners every day” — Engagement Products, Analytics Products, and Data Reseller Products.

“With this program, we’ve identified areas where we see huge demand for innovation on Twitter’s platform, Twitter representative Seth Binderngel, said in a post on the company’s developers blog.

“We’re launching today with 12 partners, and this is just the start. If you have a unique product that fits in at least one of the product verticals, solves a market need and has the potential for a large impact, please get in touch,” he added.

The 12 partners launching today are Attensity, ExactTarget, HootSuite, Mass Relevance, Radian6, Sprinklr, SocialFlow, Crimson Hexagon, Dataminr, Topsy, DataSift, and Gnip.

Twitter recently launched API restrictions that prevent third-party developers from accessing large amounts of Twitter’s data at once. Under the new rules, once a third-party app has 100,000 users it has to contact Twitter and get permission for additional access so its user-base can grow, or begin to work with Twitter directly. Existing third-party apps at the time of the announcement earlier this month can double their existing user base before having to contact Twitter to continue.

The company also limited the number of API calls that can be made each hour, making it difficult for some existing service – such as those who want to pull real-time analytics – to function.

If you’re a developer and would like to apply to be part of Twitter’s new verified products program you can do sohere.

Google+ Custom URL’s made available

In a welcome change to Google’s social network, steps have been taken to finally introduce what they are branding ‘vanity’ (custom) URL’s.

The move will eventually see the removal of the elongated, and difficult to remember, URL’s, which irritatingly involve many numbers. In place of this, one’s URL will be a plus sign followed by their desired name. So for example, instead of BBC News having their current URL (https://plus.google.com/107045876535773972576/posts) it could quite simply be google.com/+BBCNews. This will make it far easier to share and discover sought after Google+ pages.

Already some of the major companies and celebrities on Google+ have been handed these custom URL’s (+davidbeckham, +TOYOTA and +hugoboss to a name a few). Google Product Manager, Saurabh Sharma, has noted however, that these custom URLs will initially only be applied ‘to a limited number of verified profiles and pages’. He continues to promise that they will be available to more brands and individuals in the future.

Judging by the comments to Sharma’s post, this is something many Google+ users have been craving. Most significantly it seems that many companies have been seeking this change to help increase their visibility and ease in sharing their page, not to mention the fact that it looks far more professional.

The time frame for this change has not been specified and it appears it could take a while to verify those who require custom URL’s. Nevertheless, it is a step by Google to bring their network in line with competitors Facebook and Twitter, who have offered this service for a while now. It proves Google are still investing time and advancing their social network despite it having faltered against competitors. Still there remain many companies who question whether a Google+ account is worth the effort as the ‘social give and take’ is far less than comparable sites. If anything though, this move should benefit businesses as more may potentially join the site looking to boost traffic and visibility.

3 Ways to Simplify Online Marketing

Technology makes the magical possible, but it’s also making marketing complicated. With ad exchanges, hyper-local targeting, and endless mobile options, it’s easy to get tangled up in an alphabet soup of advertising technology. Just one look at Terence Kawaja’s ad-tech landscape induces tears of empathy for over-marketed-to marketers. Basically, the time for simplification is here.

Simplicity is what consumers want, what marketers need, and what standard-bearers such as Apple and Google have shown as the way forward.

What did Steve Jobs do when he returned to Apple in 1997? He simplified the product line and, by extension, Apple’s whole business. That worked out pretty well.

The same goes for Google. Every once in a while the tech giant cuts products to move forward with new offerings. Sure, some of their initiatives — say, wind energy or self-driving cars — may seem to come out of left field. But Google’s basic promise to consumers is to develop products and services that help them organize and navigate the world in a better, geekier way. (I’m talking about you, Google glasses.)

We need to learn from these examples. When advertisers obsess over brand impact, and agencies insist on slicing and dicing every impression, it’s hard not to wonder if we’re focusing on the wrong things. For all the efficiency we’ve gained with the burgeoning of ad tech, we’ve lost a lot in the way of simplicity. Keeping marketing simple — delivering compelling ads and content that consumers actually want to engage with — could take the industry a long way toward improving performance for both brands and consumers.

Here are three rules that brands can follow to simplify their marketing for everyone involved.

1. Put Consumers in the Driver’s Seat

Let’s move away from strategies and metrics that aren’t really relevant for branding. Brands always look for some kind of number and stat to justify their online spend — CTR, view-through, attribution, “likes.” Does that make sense at all? Did brands worry about measuring the impact of a full-page spread in Vogue back in the day? The issue is over thinking the numbers and not thinking enough about advertising in the interest of consumers.

Give people choice, control, and relevance in their experience. Don’t put a roadblock between anyone and the story, images, or video they want to see. Create intriguing, value-add experiences that are relevant to the page, that make users want to click, view, and engage. Make it user-initiated and easy to start and stop engagement. Instead of real-time bidding (RTB), how about trying real-time relevance?

2. Get in the Content

We’ve seen a recent surge in attention for the “native ad,” sponsored content, and branded-content meme. But it’s really nothing new. Ever watch soap operas on TV? Those started out as radio broadcasts that were literally created by consumer packaged goods companies. Since the dawn of digital time, we’ve known that the traditional ad concept had to change and that brands needed to move into the content-creation business and get their content seen.

But what if your stellar campaign assets are part of the one-third of display advertising that, according to comScore, goes unseen due to banner blindness? Even if you have awesome, entertaining, useful branded content like Red Bull or Unilever, you still need to surface it. How will your brand’s content be discovered by consumers who have literally zillions of content channels to choose from?

Focus your attention where consumer attention is focused: in the edit well online, on mobile, and on the tablet. Surface your content through advertising technology that gets you in the words and images where a relevant, immersive brand advertisement or content experience will really make an impression with consumers.

3. Simplify Your Strategy

Instead of doing one thing on mobile, another on tablets, and something else on desktop, consider putting mobile at the center of the design process, then refining and customizing everything from there.

Brands can now respond directly to how consumers interact with all kinds of devices. In an era where we swipe, expand, and share an ad or useful brand content, it isn’t enough to rely on the same old creative approach. Brands need to leverage their great assets with amazing creative executions in high-impact, exciting ways that are native to devices, contexts, and formats.

So let’s leave the purchase funnels behind, and stick with these three simple rules. Chances are people will thank you with ever-coveted, ever-elusive, real engagement.

Google+ Begins Rolling Out Vanity URLs

Google+ is introducing vanity URLs, allowing users to further customize their profile pages, the company announced Monday.

The vanity URLs are short, easy-to-remember web addresses that link directly to a member’s profile or page on Google+, according to a blog post by employee Saurabh Sharma.

The new addresses will be markedly different from their current format. Right now, each user is identified by a long, uniquely assigned number string that looks something like this: https://plus.google.com/107341475998486822497.

Sharma, a product manager at Google’s San Francisco office, says the personalized addresses will be “available to people and pages worldwide,” but did not specify an exact date.

“At first, we’re introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time, we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals,” he wrote in the post.

Sharma adds that the URLs will make it easier for users to find profiles on the social network.

Reaction to Google’s announcement has largely been positive, with some users commenting that this customization is a long-awaited addition.

In the past, vanity URLs were only available through third-party applications, such as Gplus.to. The app lets you create a short URL for your Google+ page, so you can easily share your profile with friends.

For now, only celebs like David Beckham, Hugh Jackman and Britney Spears, as well as popular brands Hugo Boss, Toyota and Delta have gotten specialized addresses. Google+, unsurprisingly, already has its own vanity URL. Not a boldface name? You’re out of luck — at least for the time being.

Google+ follows in the footsteps of other social networks that offer this feature, such as Facebook and Twitter.

http://mashable.com/2012/08/14/google-plus-vanity-urls/

RIP YouTube iPhone App, 2007-2012 — Why You Won’t Be Missed

Back when the iPhone first launched, there was a joke about the YouTube app on it. One nerd, or tech reviewer, would describe it as a “dumbed-down YouTube experience.” To which another would shoot back: “is that even possible?”

Well, here we are, five years later. YouTube the service has gotten a whole lot stronger and smarter in so many ways (as well as a whole lot dumber in some of its corners — something which turns out to be exceedingly and eternally possible).

But the iPhone app, even transplanted to the iPad, has stayed exactly as dumb as it always was. It’ll find the YouTube content you want a third of the time, if you’re lucky. They should call it YouRoulette, because you never know what a search might bring.

No wonder iPhone users in the know long ago switched to simply going to m.youtube.com on Safari, where a lot more stuff is available. When I heard about that fix, I was mad as hell at myself for all the wasted time on the app.

And from whom did I hear it? From YouTube staffers themselves. Even they didn’t believe in the thing.

So it’s really not such a bummer to hear Monday’s news — Apple has dumped the YouTube app from the next iPhone/iPad operating system, iOS 6. It’s ostensibly because “our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended,” according to an Apple spokesperson.

I’m sure it has, but I’m also sure Apple couldn’t be more relieved about that. This is a company that cares about great design, about stuff that just works, and the YouTube app was never that. It was so hobbled, it reminded me of the awful old WAP mobile web browsers that Apple effectively destroyed with the iPhone.

I’m also sure it’s just a coincidence that Apple is distancing itself from Google in general, for example replacing the Google Maps app in iOS6 with its own (called, confusingly enough, Maps). If you want the Google Maps iPhone app, chances are you’ll have to download it again — though what we don’t know is whether you’ll be able to make it the default for maps.

We do know that Google is working on a new YouTube app, according to the same Apple source. We’re still waiting for confirmation from YouTube.

Regardless, we’ll soon see the end of an app experience so poor, it couldn’t have made the iPhone look worse if the Android team had planted it there.

You’ll notice it’s one of the few original apps you can’t actually delete on your iPhone? Consider it deleted now, and good riddance.