Facebook wants alternatives to like, but maybe the Open Graph needs adverbs in addition to verbs — in other words, ways to qualify the relationship between two objects.

Read the rest of this entry »

Zynga has a sky-high implied valuation, and it could wind up being worth much more upon going public. But now isn’t the time for it, as the attendant risks outweigh the hype surrounding the leading social gaming company.

Here are five reasons why Zynga needs to wait before going public.

1. Second Quarter Results Stink

Despite gains in previous quarters, the most recent quarter showed a 95 percent drop in earnings. That’s greater than anything one could blame on Facebook initiating its 30 percent revenue share from Credits.

2. Market Volatility

While this year started off strong for IPOs, potential issuers and banks have been pulling deals amid more recent volatility following Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt.

3. Google Plus Isn’t Enough

While it’s probably shrewd of Zynga to diversify onto mobile platforms and Google Plus, it will take a long time for significant revenues to come in from these additional sources.

4. Bigger Upside Later

Even if Zynga could go public in this market, it would fetch a higher valuation by waiting until markets calm down a bit.

5. Facebook Isn’t Going Public

It might make the most sense for Zynga to follow’s Facebook’s cues with respect to the capital markets.

Readers, when do you think Zynga should go public? If you want to read more before you can answer that question, click here to check out an article on Social Times.

Even though we’ve told you how to get Facebook’s timeline right now, so far the people who are using it appear to be technology enthusiasts and developers.

Read the rest of this entry »

The new Facebook news feed has practically erased from users’ homepages all brands that don’t buy advertising.

Check it out for yourself: Scroll through all of the posts on your feed. Do you see any brand posts?

Most likely, you will not see one single post from any brand you’ve liked — even a brand that you have interacted with regularly over the past 18 months!

Facebook has apparently decided that any brand relationship –- engaging or not, regardless of your past behavior – is not desirable in the news feed.

This has completely eliminated Facebook as a source of traffic for my website, Unicorn Booty, which provides news aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities.

It used to be the number one source — to the sum of 10,000 to 20,000 visitors a day — and now it’s barely even registering.

We have worked so hard for our 65,000 Facebook likes, and our page was seeing an average of 800 daily interactions (likes and comments) on our posts.

Now, with the updated news feed algorithm, we are seeing that number halved.

We have spent 18 months nurturing and cultivating our community on Facebook by creating memorable, compelling and ultimately shareable content on the social network.

Our hard work has paid off with an extremely active community that treasures our posts and looks forward to each and every one.

In fact, when we do not post on our regular schedule — around ten posts per day, our community always asks, “Where have you been?”

So, rather than being prized by Facebook, why are they punishing us — a brand that has taken the time and consideration to cultivate and nourish a thriving Facebook community – by removing our updates from our engaged fans’ news feeds?

These people love our content, and have opted to receive it in their feeds.

And while I understand Facebook’s desire to heed user discontent with marketing messages in their feeds, the company should also respect the desire for relevant content served to them in the format and place of their choice.

And what about all of us who’ve spent chunks of their marketing budgets building these communities?

Facebook is biting the hand that feeds them not only money, but content.

We are the people that add value to the social network. We are already fueling Facebook as a content consumption destination. We are a brand that people have a relationship with.

We are a brand that people want to see in their news feed. Why deny that to people? Why deny that to us?

We have followed the rules, and built a thriving community on your platform, and you have pulled the rug out from beneath us.

It’s not fair, and it’s also not what your users want. Punish the unengaging brand pages, the ones that are clearly misunderstanding the platform — and reward the brands that are making Facebook an even more powerful content consumption platform.

Facebook, what say you?

Guest writer Nick Vivion is co-founder of Unicorn Booty.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg made no mention of pages during his keynote today at the company’s annual conference.

Read the rest of this entry »

If the only thing Facebook launches at this week’s f8 developer conference is a new media player, I’d be disappointed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Facebook’s place at the top of the standings when it comes to online display advertising revenue would seem to be fairly secure, since it will reportedly overtake Yahoo this year, if it hasn’t happened already.

Read the rest of this entry »

People who search the web for the word Facebook are slightly older yet less affluent than people who search for Google Plus.
Read the rest of this entry »

A recent ad by Nivea for Men erupted in a hot debate over racism. Several people have had strong opinions about the ad, thus leading to Nivea ultimately making a total of six apologetic statements on its Facebook page by August 18.

Read the rest of this entry »

Outside of my second, more shadowy career as a Facebook and Twitter commentator-slash-gadfly, I also manage social media marketing campaigns for a wealth of international clients.
Read the rest of this entry »