Facebook Redesigns Continue With Timeline: Community Managers Be Ready

Yesterday Facebook posted another major announcement to its blog.  The long tested redesign of Timeline is beginning to roll out.  The new look of Timeline will give users a place for all the things they care about.

As you can see, the Facebook clean-up continues.  The rich media look that they recently featured in the preview of the News Feed redesign carries over into the cleaner two column look of Timeline.  The about and interests of users will be far more prominently featured to the left of the Timeline posts.  This area of the Timeline will offer users a great deal of flexibility to show off the things they care about the most.  Be ready to see bibliophiles showing off the books they’ve read while film buffs feature the movies they’ve watched and look forward to seeing.

The impact that this change has for Facebook marketers is 3-fold.
  • Graph Search will have greater depth and breadth of information to display.
  • Advertising will benefit from more complete user identities.
  • Community Managers will find more information about the people they connect with.

First of all, as the changes finally start rolling out, there will be the usual outcry from the average users about how much they dislike the fact that Facebook is changing AGAIN.  It always happens.  But, the vitriol always causes a portion of their friends to take the time to log into the full desktop version to see what all of the fuss is about.  That is where the next batch of data collection will begin.  As soon as a user lands on their redesigned space they will be prompted to update and customize.  BINGO!  Fresh info.

Immediately, Graph Search benefits from all of the fresh updates.  Search will be better able to tell users where their friends have been, what they like, and other stuff that could lead them to your marketing presence in Facebook.  Make certain that your business is ready to be optimized and searchable.

The influx of fresh user data will give savvy advertisers even better targeting buckets to mine for optimum ROI.  Just think how much better your geographic targeting will be when massive numbers of Facebook users update their current locations.

Finally, for those really super smart community managers, this will be a boon to better understanding the people they interact with on behalf of a brand.  Although you can count on many users to take the time to play with new features, few will delve deep into their privacy settings.  Most of the information that will come out of the redesign will continue to be publicly visible to any other Facebook user logged into the network, including page administrators.  It won’t be difficult at all to click the link to your most active community members and find out more about the music, locations, and activities that they enjoy the most, and then use that information to improve your page content and engagement.

What are your thoughts and concerns about all of the changes coming to Facebook this year?

Image Credit: Facebook

Big, Beautiful Photos Of The New Samsung Galaxy S4


No, that isn’t the Galaxy S3 you’re looking at. That is Samsung’s upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S4, pictured in the wild and detailed for all to see. As revealed in the pictures from the Chinese site that managed to secure the device, the phone will include a few new TouchWiz features we hadn’t heard about (like S Pen-free preview functions), as well as confirming many of the hardware specs:

Samsung Galaxy S4
  • 7.7mm thick
  • 138g
  • 4.99-inch 1080p display
  • 13MP camera
  • 1.8GHz Exynos 5410 Octa core CPU with 533Mhz PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 16GB of storage and expandable micro SD card slot

Now unless Samsung pulls a fast one, this is exactly what you can expect to see at tomorrow’s unveiling in New York. What do you guys think? Real? Fake? Disappointed? HTC One killer?

Everything You Need To Know About The Samsung Galaxy S4


Samsung is going to announce its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S IV, next week. This is a really big moment for Samsung. It has successfully transitioned from being some boring phone maker to one of the premier brands in the world.
 samsung galaxy note
The S IV could be its peak, or it could be the next step on the path to world domination. It all depends on how good the phone is. Since you're probably curious about what Samsung has in store, we've summed up just about everything you need to know about the phone in this post. Click here to learn everything about the Samsung Galaxy S IV →

Google Glass Will Be Able To ID Someone In A Crowd, Based Only On That Person's Clothes

A new technology designed specifically for Google Glass could identify you solely based on your fashion sense. InSight, which is partly funded by Google, recently unveiled an app for analyzing the clothes and accessories people wear to later identify them, Paul Marks of New Scientist reports. Sure, there's already facial recognition, but clothing recognition can help you identify someone even if they have their back to you. The app creates a "fashion fingerprint" of what a person is wearing by taking photos of people as they use their smartphone. It then creates a file called a "spatiogram" to document colors, patterns, and other design elements from a person's outfit. Used in conjunction with Glass, you would easily be able to locate friends in crowded area, like at a music festival, for example. But once someone changes their clothes, Insight can no longer identify that person. That means the fingerprint is only good for a day or so, but at least it protects a person's long-term privacy. The system works 93% time, based on some early test results. InSight was developed by Srihari Nelakuditi at the University of South Carolina, along with fellow professors from Duke University.

These Computer-Generated Women Look Real

RoartyOver at 3D graphics blog CGTrader, they've rounded up an eclectic collection of computer-generated images of women for International Women's Day.
 woman 3D model Dan Roarty The Blue Project
Some are humorous and cartoony, but some are borderline photorealistic.
We've gathered some of the most impressive displays 3D graphics for you here.

Google Maps Might Be Banned In Germany Over A Patent Dispute


The German courts are on the point of banning Google Maps over a patent dispute with Microsoft.

A judge in Munich has told Google and its subsidiary Motorola Mobility that he is inclined to hold them responsible for infringing a key mapping patent, it has been reported.

The patent refers to “a computer system for identifying local resources”, according to patent expert Florian Mueller.

Google has been unable to convince the court that the patent does not apply to the technology used in its mapping services.

Microsoft is seeking - and very likely to obtain, according to Mr Mueller – an injunction against the Google Maps service.

In order to comply with the likely injunction, Google would have to disable Google Maps from all computers using a German IP address.

It would also have to stop shipping the Google Maps Android app and only distribute web browsers in Germany only if they used internet filters to block access to Google Maps.

Microsoft originally only sued Motorola Mobility and its German subsidiary over the distribution of the Android app. It only engaged Google as a defendant after Motorola executives denied knowledge of how Google Map servers operated.

In order to maintain the service, Google would have to pay royalties to Microsoft for the Microsoft intellectual property that it uses for its maps. Samsung, HTC, LG and other makers of Android devices have already recognised the patent applying to the Microsoft technology and taken out licensing agreement.

The report comes as Google is accused of “arrogance” in the UK after it apparently ignored requests for privacy and published photographs of their homes from its Street View service. 
 
 More than half a dozen homeowners in Surrey asked the web giant not to post images of their properties online after it introduced Street View to Britain in 2009 over fears they could be used by burglars. Google duly blurred the pictures, only to republish fresh, unblurred ones later.

In separate news, it has emerged in a company email that Motorola Mobility is to cut more than 10 per cent of its workforce as Google moves to streamline its mobile phone business.

Google bought the loss-making Motorola for $12.5bn last year, its largest ever acquisition.

Social Media is an Important Part of Your Marketing Mix, but Not the Only One.

Social media marketing is not a replacement for other marketing tactics and we highly recommend that you continue to do what has worked for you in the past.

Traditional marketing activities that still work for you, like advertising in a newspaper, sending direct mail and attending networking events, are still essential.

However, for most, social media marketing is now a critical component of an effective marketing strategy.
In fact, social media marketing works best when combined with other marketing activities, especially email marketing.