Is Facebook replacing newspapers?

It wasn't a long time ago when Facebook updated its algorithm, in order to promote high quality articles and reduce the reach of low quality memes. As it seems, this was only the beginning.

According to Co.Design, Facebook is experimenting with a new font for article headlines, which makes it look a lot more like a newspaper.

'Social Media in 2014' ebook now on Amazon!

2013 has been a significant year for social media and we definitely have many things to remember. Milestones have been reached, records have been broken, and we’re now welcoming 2014, trying to predict what the future holds.

We might not have any magical powers to predict the future, but it gets easier if you monitor several social networks during the last years to predict their performance on the coming months.

Thus, after reading a lot about social media during the past years, I created an ebook with a short review of the past year for each social network, along with my estimates of the year ahead. 

'Social Media in 2014' is short and informative and addresses anyone that uses social media, either for personal or professional reasons. From casual Facebook users to business owners that want to leverage the online presence of their business, anyone can benefit from a part of it.

Social Media Trends (coming up)

Just when we left 2013 behind, there's a transition that we need to embrace in the best possible way. And this also occurs to social media. Every year brings significant changes in this ever-changing field, which means that what we knew during the past year might change really soon.

That's why it's good to have a review of what to expect and what to improve, before it's too late.

Coming up very soon!

Social Media Predictions for 2014 (survey)

Image Source: Sofiaperesoa

What does the future hold for social media? How will social media management change during the next 12 months?

In the era of fast and constant changes, 12 months seem like a big period to be predicted. However, if you have studied 2013 in more detail when it comes to social networks and their performance, you can make at least a few initial predictions on the changes to expect.

Facebook algorithm update: do we see what we really like?

Facebook has announced during the week an update to their algorithm that defines what is shown on our News Feed. According to their press release, their new focus is on high-quality content, leaving behind photo memes, and call to action posts.

Many of us were confused with these recent changes, since it’s not clear yet why Facebook decided to focus on the quality of the news sources. However, since we’re playing with their rules, we should become familiar with the update, in order to maintain a good Facebook presence.

Thus, as of now, Facebook will ‘promote’ articles from reputable sources on the News Feed, while it will slightly ‘ignore’ photo memes and low quality content.

And here comes the question: “How do you define quality?”

When was the last time you visited the homepage of a website?

Social networks have significantly changed the way we consume the news and this also has an effect on our news sources.

How many homepages do you visit every day to read the news? You might have a couple of favorite websites that you check from time to time, but in general, do you need to visit a homepage to read the daily news you want?

Post-IPO Twitter: will it lose its identity?

Source: nymag.com

Twitter has gone public and a new era has just started. The problem begins though when it should actually now reach the wider public. There was a big comparison this week with the Facebook IPO time, with many people being unsure on whether Twitter can really make it big.

It's good to evolve and seek to reach a bigger audience, but are you really capable of doing it? Most of us know that Twitter is very useful for being updated on important news almost in real-time, but we still admit that it hasn't reached the popularity of Facebook, not even close (which isn't necessarily bad for all of us that hate something when its goes big). How does it evolve then from now on?

What's really (left) on your mind?

Facebook is asking you every day "what's on your mind", while Google is always there for you, for everything that is not on your mind. After the constant use of both of them, you can't help but wonder, what's really left on your mind nowadays?

Facebook, Google and the Internet in general, have signficantly affected the way we think, and the way our mind works. When Facebook is asking 'what's on your mind', we feel an urge to answer, which leads to a brand new status update.

Facebook: Are you the customer or the product?

'If you're not paying for something, you're not the customer; you are the product being sold.' -- Andrew Lewis, under the alias Blue_beetle, on the site MetaFilter

 In the era of social media, we all enjoy using social networks for personal or professional reasons. Facebook seems like the ideal network. Everyone is using it. Communication gets easier than ever, borders have disappeared and the world feels closer to you. You're even more excited by the fact that everything is in your own hands for free, without paying for its use. Is it so? Is it really free?

The Internet effect on Generation Y (a.k.a Millennials)

WHO are they (we)?

Generation Y, or Millennials, is referring to the demographic of people born between the '80s and the early '00s. It mostly refers to teens and young adults and is considered the most tech-savvy generation. Most of them grew up along with the Internet and this makes them an interesting generation to study on the use of social media.