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Tweet-A-Beer Lets You Buy Drinks for Twitter Pals | Thursday, March 08, 2012 10:48 PM | Brian Anthony Hernandez |
| Buying someone a drink in person is a nice gesture, but buying someone a drink via Twitter is, well, not something you do often. Online networking app Tweet-A-Beer hopes to change that and make paying for other Twitter users' drinks more of a habit. The web tool officially rolls out at South by Southwest. Here's how it works (flip through the gallery below for a visual tour): Tweet-A-Beer uses Chirpify -- an ecommerce platform that lets you buy, sell and donate money -- to sync your Twitter account to your PayPal account. You can safely send beer money in $5 allotments. Oregon-based agencies Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and tenfour brewed the app for public consumption in six weeks, just in time for SXSW where networking is known to stem from quaffing alcoholic beverages. Users have already bought more than 500 beers to incite in-person meetups or wish SXSW attendees good luck. For example, I sent $5 to Mashable colleague Sarah Kessler, who will be at SXSW reporting on all things dealing with startups. I personalized my transaction with a message, which was tweeted to my followers after I hit, "Send Beer Money." The app also allows you to add your current location and a meeting location to drink beers together. Pay @sarahfkessler $5 for a beer on me - Enjoy SXSWi! Hope you find the next big startup â-º bit.ly/yin0PZ #tweet_a_beer â?" Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) March 8, 2012 Another Twitter user shows some love for a SXSW-goer: Pay @mattmcginnis $5 for a beer on me - Since I can't make it to SXSW, I guess I can buy ... bit.ly/z79al1 #tweet_a_beer â?" kdagg (@kdagg) March 6, 2012 "Given how large the conference is, the best way to track where the hottest spots are and where to meet up face-to-face is via Twitter and location-based services," Kent Hollenbeck, Waggener Edstrom senior vice president of global corporate communications, told Mashable. "Weâ?Tre launching it at SXSW Interactive festival -- itâ?Ts the perfect venue to help foster real-life connections." SEE ALSO: 7 Hot Apps to Watch at SXSW | 6 Ways to Up Your Networking Game at SXSW Waggener Edstrom will also introduce at SXSW a Windows Phone 7 app called News of the Day, which displays a real-time stream of top news and topics as well as trending stories on Twitter. Last year at SXSW, the company launched Hot Spots, an app that showcases popular hangouts in Austin. |
ACLU Sues School For Punishing 12-Year-Old Over Facebook Comment | Thursday, March 08, 2012 9:07 PM | Alex Fitzpatrick |
| Can a school district punish a student for making derogatory comments about staff members online? Not according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Minnesota school district and sheriff's office. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court, the ACLU claims a 12-year-old student was disciplined by administrators of the Minnewaska Area School District after she posted on Facebook that she "hated" a hall monitor who was "mean" to her. In an interesting twist, Facebook's sign-up policy requires users to reach 13 years of age before they are granted an account. We reached out to Facebook for a comment on the matter, and we'll update this post when we hear back. According to the lawsuit, the girl's principal decided that the Facebook post constituted "bullying." As punishment, she was given detention and made to apologize. She then posted another comment, saying that she was annoyed someone had shown her first comment to school officials. This second comment contained off-color language. The school district's response? "She was given an in-school suspension and was prohibited from attending a school field trip," according to the ACLU. The young girl's struggle with her school district didn't end there. The ACLU's lawsuit says that the girl was later forced by a school administrator to hand over her Facebook and email login information after she was accused of chatting online with another young student about sex. The ALCU said that a local police deputy was present while administrators searched through her online chat record, and that the student's parents were not informed of the search before it occurred. None of the posts or emails the school district found offensive were posted from a school computer or on school property. The ACLU claims the punishments were a violation of the student's First Amendment right to freedom of speech and Fouth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. "Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the school house gate," said Charles Samuelson, executive director for the Minnesota branch of the ACLU, in a statement. "The Supreme Court ruled on that in the 1970s, yet schools like Minnewaska seem to have no regard for the standard." SEE ALSO: Dad Shoots Daughterâ?Ts Laptop Over Facebook Post/a> Do you think the school district was right to punish the student for her posts or ask her for her login information? Sound off in the comments below. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Clicknique |
Peyton Manning Fired, Fans React on Twitter [CHARTS] | Thursday, March 08, 2012 8:54 PM | Sam Laird |
| One of the NFL's star quarterbacks, Peyton Manning, was cut loose by the Indianapolis Colts after 14 seasons of signal-calling brilliance this week. And, as is the norm these days, the major piece of sports news made a huge splash on Twitter. Manning fans used the social network to pay tribute; fans of other teams used it to lobby for what Manning's next destination should be; and many Colts fans used Twitter to direct anger and frustration at team owner Jim Irsay for letting the franchise icon go. But how exactly did the conversation break down? Mashable was provided a detailed analysis of the chatter by the Indianapolis-based social media research company Fizziology. The numbers reveal some interesting reactions and trends. After ESPN's Chris Mortensen broke the news on Tuesday afternoon via Twitter that Manning and the Colts would part ways, the quarterback's name was mentioned 48,147 times on the network over the next hour. Irsay was mentioned over 5,000 times, and Andrew Luck -- the Colts' presumed first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft -- was mentioned just over 3,600 times. It's also interesting to see how the conversation morphed on Twitter as the story developed. About 18 hours after Mortensen's report, Irsay and Manning held an emotional press conference to wrap things up. Between the time the news broke Tuesday and the press conference ended Wednesday, Irsay faced a deluge of negative sentiment on Twitter. Negative sentiment made up 48% of all Irsay-related tweets, while 37% were neutral and just 6% were positive. The conference did help quell the overall rage toward Irsay, however. In the several hours after it ended, positive sentiment ran at 16% of all tweets, while negative and neutral sentiment decreased to 43% and 33%, respectively. For Manning, positive sentiment ran at 40% before the press conference and increased to 59% in the hours after it ended. While Irsay managed to decrease negative sentiment toward him by 5% with the presser, it's surprising to see how the negative feelings shifted. Before the press conference made things official, negative mentions of Irsay broke down like this, according to Fizziology: 52% general anger, 27% negativity about the decision itself, and 21% about Irsay's character. After the conference, negative Irsay sentiment was just 41% general anger and 24% decision-specific. But the amount of tweeters who posted critical mentions about Irsay's character swelled to 35% of all negative sentiment. Now the question becomes where Manning will play next season. According to the post-presser Twitter stats, it's a tie between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. Each team grabbed 24% of the chatter over Manning's future, while the San Francisco 49ers were just behind with 21%. The Washington Redskins had 17%, and the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings 7% apiece. Check out the gallery below for Fizziology charts that paint a fuller picture of how Twitter registered this week's Peyton Manning drama. Thumbnail mage courtesy of cmannphoto |
'American Idol' Judge Turns To Pinterest After Sparkly Pin Ignites Buzz | Thursday, March 08, 2012 7:17 PM | Brian Anthony Hernandez |
| American Idol veteran judge Randy Jackson fittingly used Pinterest to react to the heavy online buzz surrounding the sparkly beaded pin he wore during Wednesday's live show. Jackson and his team, who are making a bigger than usual social media push in Idol's 11th season, noticed during the episode's first commercial break that Twitter chatter centered on his fashion accessory. In a tweet (see below) to me during the episode, Jackson called the adornment a "Betty Boop" pin before plopping an image of it on social bookmarking site Pinterest, which he says he loves because he can "create separate boards for each subject, and the ease of sharing and re-pinning." His Pinterest post responded to viewers and gave them a chance to win it on Facebook. @BAHjournalist Glad you guys like my Betty Boop pin! #idol— Randy Jackson (@YO_RANDYJACKSON) March 8, 2012 On Thursday, Jackson told me Pinterest is a "great way to show off my fashion to my fans" and that he got the pin from designer Dennis Robinson II. "Everybody is talking about (Pinterest), so I wanted to be on it," Jackson told Mashable. "When I saw how much buzz the pin was creating, I figured it would be a great way to showcase my Pinterest page." So found out that our first Vonray atrium customer Randy Jackson wore vonray's Taboo Swarovski pendant on Am instagr.am/p/H5eFu7HvU8/— Dennis Robinson II (@DgArt85) March 8, 2012 @YO_RANDYJACKSON got his hot pin at @AtriumNYC in Soho - designed by VonRay @DgArt85 #Fashion #Style #Trend #Exclusive twitter.com/AtriumNYC/statâ?¦— AtriumNYC (@AtriumNYC) March 8, 2012 Wednesday's performance show marked American Idol's 400th episode. Like other judges on rival singing contest shows The Voice and The X Factor, Jackson is looking to engage the burgeoning social TV audience. Randy and his fellow judges have stiff competition in the social media sphere. In November 2011, former Idol judge What do you think of Randy Jackson's use of social media? Is his pinning a big win for Pinterest? |
Why Some Musicians May Not Own Their Social Media Followers | Thursday, March 08, 2012 7:15 PM | Max Blau |
| Max Blau is Paste Magazine's multimedia editor, where he oversees all audio, video and photo content on the website. He is also a freelance writer, photographer and videographer. Follow him at @MaxBlau or check out his blog. When fans communicate with their favorite musicians on Twitter or Facebook, they rarely ask, "Who owns the social relationship?" But for artists and labels, this conversation happens daily -- and it may drastically change in the near future. Take the legal dispute between Noah Kravitz and Phonedog, a phone review site and Kravitz's former employer. Kravitz had been tweeting from Twitter handle @Phonedog_Noah during eight months of his employment. After leaving Phonedog, the company sued Kravitz -- $2.50 for each of the 17,000 Twitter followers he'd gained while employed at the company. In other words, $340,000. The legal battle between Noah Kravitz and Phone Dog remains unresolved, but the outcome will likely set the tone for future social media ownership disputes, particularly for artists and musicians. SEE ALSO: Lady Gaga the First to Hit 20 Million Twitter Followers Practices for ownership of Twitter followers, Facebook fans and other social media connections have yet to be widely established in many industries. And when it comes to the music industry, social media ownership policies have only recently begun to take shape between artists and labels. How Indie Labels Respond After speaking with several independent labelsâ?T social media representatives, I've determined most labels' roles are twofold: consulting and later supporting. Jason Fisher, director of new media for Anti- and Epitaph Records, coaches artists on best social media practices. He help his artists maximize their social media presences, in hopes of converting interactions into additional revenue streams. â?oWhenever we first sign an artist, we typically do an in-depth analysis of their current social media presence, looking at analytics and results from previous campaigns,â? wrote Fisher in an email. â?oFrom there, we meet with the artists, where we discuss this data, their concerns, restrictions, ideas and needs, which we use to build a social media strategy tailored to their specific needs.â? In developing a tailored strategy, independent labels remain involved, so long as the artists are comfortable. Vagrant Recordsâ?T head of new media, Jeremy Maciak, says this approach has been adopted in many cases for both established and emerging acts. â?oItâ?Ts parallel on both sides," says Maciak. â?oWhen a team is established, we work with their management to find out just whatâ?Ts comfortable with ourinvolvement, being an admin at all. Ifâ?¦they are comfortable, then we become a passive participant and help design certain contest tabs, certain band Pages.â? For instance, indie band The Hold Steady had already gained a following before joining Vagrant. Since signing to the label in 2006, the band has released two records that have benefitted from the labelâ?Ts social media support, which includes designing tabs, BandPages and occasionally posting content. Vagrant's participation, however, remains at the bandâ?Ts sole discretion. â?oWe know that the most personal voice a band can have is via Facebook or Twitter. We respect that,â? says Maciak. â?oNothing is ever done without management or band approval. Our active involvement is always subject to approval.â? Balancing Act For Karlie Justice, social media manager at Yep Roc Music Group, the ideal relationship is striking a balance among artist, management and label involvement. In her experience, the label should build the sites and share access with all parties involved. Then, allow artists to post â?opersonality-driven updates,â? such as, songs they enjoy or their opinions on current events. Publicists and managers can then handle informational posts regarding tour dates and sales information. It completely varies by artist, says Justice. â?oI'd say a lot of the younger artists who have grown up with social media are a little more protective over their feeds. In this case, we'll usually send â?~post requestsâ?T to them to work in when they're able. We're always fine with this setup, because these are normally the artists who engage really well via social media.â? No matter who does what on a bandâ?Ts Twitter or Facebook page, the foremost priority is that followers feel as if they have a direct connection to the artist. Similar to websites and email newsletters, the more actively an artist can engage fans, the more likely fans will positively respond. Itâ?Ts why Bloodshot Recordsâ?T Jenny "JP" Pfafflin prefers her artists to truly own their social media accounts. In her experience as the Chicago-based labelâ?Ts new media publicist, it simply lends to a more authentic social experience. â?oIt maintains the artist's own â?~voice,â?T" she says. â?oIf Justin Townes Earle wants to bitch on Twitter about how electronic cigarettes are banned on planes, so be it -- it's a lot more truthful than some company line.â? Each of these four label employees unequivocally stated that social media is about the artists -- itâ?Ts an extension of their voices, thus, they should own it. By helping a band understand and execute best practices, the labels will likely see improved sales down the road. But if an artist chooses to leave a label, it's important to let him keep control of those assets. â?oFor us, the artists own their own social media accounts, though weâ?Tre heavily involved in all of them," says Fisher. â?oWhen an artist leaves our labels, they are welcome to take their social media accounts and any other contact lists with them." â?oWe donâ?Tt meddle in that,â? adds Maciak. â?oThe band retains ownership of that, and if they ask us to leave, we completely oblige.â? Why This Approach Isnâ?Tt Commonplace Many musicians sign record contracts with independent labels that offer favorable terms across the board, which often address social media. Looking at major labels, however, itâ?Ts not always clear whether artists can retain access to these social relationships, should they choose to walk away from a major label. Music industry veteran George Howard, who has served as Rykodiscâ?Ts president as well as Carly Simonâ?Ts manager, sees striking similarities in the way musicians' websites were handled more than a decade ago. â?oThe precedent here is the management of artist websites, where labels did manage sites,â? he says. â?will acquire all of your information and use it forpurposes.â? Despite the changes in the way artists communicate with their fans, he notes that information still reigns. While the music industry is often concerned with ownership of master recording, possession of these social relationships is increasingly becoming a valuable commodity that major labels seek to control. â?oI have been aware of contracts that do dictate that thereâ?Ts some ownership retained,â? Maciak recalls of some major label contracts. â?oI have been made aware of some contracts out there that are pretty binding.â? A representative at Universal Music Group declined to comment for this article, while Sony Music did not respond to our interview request. Without a legal precedent for social media ownership in the music industry, itâ?Ts unlikely that labels already operating in this manner will change their practices. Many indie label representatives stress that artists must understand the importance of their social connections. Both artist and label should be on the same page: Establish who owns the connections on specific social media sites, and understand best practices from the get go. After all, says Howard, â?oCurrency is connection.â? Images courtesy of iStockphoto, Vesnaandjic, Soyhan |
How NFL Legend Warren Sapp Tackles Social Media | Thursday, March 08, 2012 7:04 PM | Sam Laird |
| Warren Sapp spent 13 years as one of the NFL's most talented, verbose and entertaining players. The intimidating mountain of a defensive tackle played in nearly 200 career games, registered nearly 100 regular season sacks and made seven Pro Bowls -- numbers that may well lead to a Hall of Fame induction. One season, he even caught two touchdown passes. Since retiring in 2007, Sapp's outspoken and gregarious nature has made for a smooth transition into media. He's currently a commentator for both the NFL Network and Showtime's Inside the NFL, and has a number of other projects in the works. But Sapp isn't just successful in traditional broadcast media. He's also huge on Twitter, where he appropriately goes by the handle @QBKILLA. Sapp has amassed nearly 750,000 followers since joining the social service at the coaxing of NFL Network colleague Rich Eisen. He's religious about replying to fans, and has a whopping 87,000 tweets to prove it. Last month, Sapp was recognized for his social savvy with an Excellence in Social Media Award at Gravity Summit's annual sports and entertainment conference. More recently, Mashable gave Sapp a call to talk Twitter, football, media and how he merges all three. Q&A with Warren Sapp You have always been a big personality, so you're a natural fit for social media. How'd you get into Twitter? About five years ago when I first started at NFL Network, Rich got me on. He helped me out a lot -- told me I had to actually put a picture up, things like that. Then Rich showed me how to check my mentions and I saw all the people talking to me. I was gone for the next two weeks just talking to people, and from there it was on. You obviously like it now. Why? It gives me a chance to interact with fans and it takes down an absolute barrier. It's something I never had the same chance to do because where else would you do it? Everybody's there and it's an open dialogue. Do you have any keys to success? Things you try to make a point of doing or avoiding? I'm not idly tweeting. These are almost all replies, not "I went for a swim, it was great." And I try to be consistent more than anything. When this bounty thing came up, you can't duck that. I had to defend 13 years of playing the game, it was unbelievable. All the things you can call me, being a liar isn't one of them. I'm big and bold, but not dishonest. You've managed to stay very relevant to sports fans despite being retired for several years. Has social media played a role in that? It's great to build my brand -- that and the two TV networks I'm on every week. Post a photo or a video, if that's the best way to share something. Just build your brand to where it has the most tentacles. The Gravity Award was crazy for me, because I'm just banging away with people, having a good time, but to be recognized for it was great. When you were playing, social media didn't exist in the same way it does now. How does that impact pro athletes today? It gives them a platform and a medium with which to say something. Sometimes it can be to set the record straight, sometimes they make a fool of themselves. So you have to be smart. I had to tell a buddy one time that every time you press Send you're making a press release. Who are the best current NFL players to follow? I actually don't follow many football players. I wouldn't get my news from them because, in the business they're in, they're the last ones to know. I've been in locker rooms the past 20 years, so that's the last thing I'm reading unless someone brings it to my attention. Give me the GM or the player personnel guy. I want the decision makers, not the news on the ground. Now a couple questions for Mashable's football fans. Who's one player you never got to play with that you wish you had when you were in the league? And if you got to pick one current player in his prime to anchor a defense with you, who is that player? For players I never got to play with, it's Bruce Smith. For anyone still playing, give me Ray Lewis in his prime. If you get me in tip-top shape and him in tip-top shape, it'd be just like the old days in college. Ray Lewis could learn some things from you on Twitter. Do you guys ever talk social media? Nah, we just talk about fishing and our kids. We're old school, so when we get together we don't talk too much about texting and Twitter and all of that. Check out Mashable's recent sports-related Q&A's with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Amy Jo Martin. |
International Women's Day 2012 Tweets Flood the Twitterverse | Thursday, March 08, 2012 6:08 PM | Kate Freeman |
| The Twiterverse has spoken, and it's really excited about International Women's Day. Search for "International Women's Day" on Twitter and the tweets don't stop pouring in -- "Happy International Women's Day" is the third most-trending topic on Twitter. There are tons of the expected, "Happy International Women's Day!" tweets and many insightful ones calling for change or reflecting on womens' accomplishments. There are a few insensitive ones saying women should get back in the kitchen or asking why there is no "International Men's Day," but such diversity of opinions is expected from any mass social network. InternationalWomensDay.com says this year's theme is, "Connecting girls, inspiring futures." And the entire month of March is Women's History Month. The first International Women's Day was celebrated on Feb. 28, 1909. Organized by the Socialist Party of America, the day paid tribute to New York garment factory workers who had protested unfair conditions. International Women's Day grew into a national holiday and was a vehicle to protest World War I in some parts of Europe. Many organizations use today to stage peaceful protests or raise awareness of issues facing women and their communities. Whether you use the day to reflect on the past or focus on the future, here are some of the most clever, thoughtful or funny tweets about International Women's Day and Women's History Month. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, RomanOkopny |
LinkedIn Announces Women-Only 'DevelopHer' Hackday | Thursday, March 08, 2012 4:26 PM | Emily Price |
| Thursday is International Women's Day, and LinkedIn is celebrating by announcing the DevelopHer Hackday, a competition encouraging female engineers to collaborate on software projects. Scheduled for June 30 and July 1 in Mountain View, Calif., LinkedIn's 24-hour event is open to students, enthusiasts and professionals. The company has created a DevelopHer Hackday LinkedIn Group where people can pitch ideas to other participants and build groups for the contest. â?oLinkedIn has a number of very passionate women engineers, including a few hackday masters," LinkedIn Principal Software Engineer Yevgeniy Brikman told Mashable. "We wanted setup the DevelopHer Hackday to encourage more women to get involved with tech. We hope it will help them develop their engineering skills and get a chance to network with and become inspired by other terrific women in engineering." At hackdays, which typically last anywhere from a few hours to a week, people create new usable pieces of software or improve upon an existing idea. Finished projects are then presented to a panel of judges -- or just the others participating in the event -- and a group winner is often selected. â?oEverything starts with a seed of an idea, maybe something that fulfills a personal need or something huge that can shake up an entire industry," says Prachi Gupta, Senior Software Engineer and Hackday Master at LinkedIn. "You do some quick research to make sure it hasnâ?Tt been done already and put together a team, which means you have to go out and sell your idea to prospective teammates.â? The event resembles LinkedIn's internal hackdays, where employees every month are encouraged to work on any project they are passionate about. Some of the products currently on LinkedIn and LinkedInLabs originated as hackday ideas. In addition to the internal hackdays, the company has previously held a other competitions, including a Veterans Hackday and an Intern Hackday. LinkedIn promises to make this particular event special with "yoga and meditation sessions for those dancing neurons, delicious food, killer prizes, and most importantly, sharing 24 hours with some of the smartest women in Silicon Valley." What do you think about a women-only hackday? Are any of you considering participating? Let us know in the comments. |
#MashSXSW: Show Off Your SXSWi Photos on Mashable | Thursday, March 08, 2012 3:54 PM | Meghan Peters |
| Chock full of people, panels and parties, SXSWi is an event to document. There's no doubt attendees -- some of the most digitally connected folks out there -- will be fully loaded with the latest technology to do so. We want to be a part of your favorite moments. Stop by our Mashable House at Buffalo Billards and the Mashable Food Truck on 5th and Brazos to pick up some Mashable stickers; then stick them in the most memorable places you visit and take photos. Tweet your pictures with hashtag #mashsxsw and they may be featured in a slideshow. Whether you're planning to attend a full slate of speaker sessions or looking to find the best food truck in existence, we want to see and share your SXSWi experience. We look forward to your photos! |
YouTube Reveals Its Pick of the Non-Profits for Next Cause Summit [VIDEOS] | Thursday, March 08, 2012 2:28 PM | Zoe Fox |
| YouTube has chosen the first class of 20 non-profits to participate in its Next Cause program, a day-long summit in San Francisco that will teach non-profits best practices on the social video platform. YouTube chose organizations, it believes, are already making an impact for good on the world. Next Cause, the latest phase of the NextUp Program, aims to give non-profits the tools to best tell their stories through video. "The organizations come from big cities and small towns across the country from Illinois to Colorado to Texas to California and many work all over the world," YouTube spokesperson Jessica Mason wrote Mashable. "They also work on a variety of issues from animal abuse to homelessness to international poverty alleviation to childrenâ?Ts health." YouTube says the organizations were chosen for their prior commitment to the YouTube platform, passion for improving their use of online video and potential to use video to drive action. You can also watch all of the videos in a YouTube playlist. Below is a complete list of the organizations chosen for Next Cause. Autism Speaks Children's Hospital Boston IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare Sunlight Foundation BuildOn American Heart Association CARE American Foundation for Equal Rights Malaria No More The Humane Society of the United States The Pablove Foundation COTS - Committee on the Shelterless Durango Discovery Museum Save Mount Diablo Art Resources in Teaching breakthrough Per Scholas The Supply Born Free USA The Lazarex Cancer Foundation What do you think are the most important things for non-profits to remember when creating videos? Let us know your favorite tips and tricks in the comments. |
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