Recent events, tragic and triumphant, emphasize the social web’s role as a central source for disseminating breaking news. But getting the facts right continues to be a challenge, and a solution requires cooperation and technical innovation. Read more »
If you’re looking for the latest video clips from your favorite sports, you might soon find them on Twitter. The social media company has solidified a deal with ESPN that will let users check out the action via Twitter video clips. Read more at GigaOM »
We are used to thinking of a “mass media” market made up of large newspapers and TV networks as the normal state of affairs in media, but what if that was just a historical anomaly? Read more »
Twitter says it doesn’t have any interest in hiring reporters or performing other journalistic functions — but regardless of whether it does so, it is still a powerful media entity and one that grows stronger by the day. Read more »
Spotify has acquired the music app Tunigo, which helps users discover Spotify playlists and browse music and music-related news. Read more at GigaOM »
Whenever a breaking news event leads to errors on Twitter, critics suggest that the service needs some kind of built in correction or editing mechanism — but adding one would not only be complicated, it would also be unwise. Read more at GigaOM »
News site The Root has rolled out a page that shows the most popular tweets and trends among black Americans, who are heavy Twitter users. Read more »
The Twitter account of the Associated Press has been restored nearly 20 hours after it was suspended following a hacking incident. But, as of Wednesday morning, 95 percent of its followers are missing. Read more at GigaOM »
Financial markets briefly plunged after hackers took over the AP’s account and reported a disaster in Washington. Read more at GigaOM »
Twitter’s love affair with television seems to know no bounds — two recent deals with BBC America and Comedy Central will bring video clips inside users’ streams, and more such deals appear to be in the works. Read more »
A new deal with a large ad-buying firm will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over a multi-year period, the Financial Times reports. Read more at GigaOM »
Jelly, the still stealthy new company from Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has nabbed a top Twitter engineer as its new CTO. Read more at GigaOM »
While both Twitter and Reddit have come under fire for distributing incorrect information about the Boston bombings, mainstream outlets have done so as well. In a real-time news environment, having more sources is ultimately better. Read more »
News of the Boston bombings spread instantly on Twitter — and do too did scammers and opportunists. Should the company do more to stop these people? Read more at GigaOM »
Flattr’s Twitter micropayments venture, where people could leave tips for ‘favorited’ tweets, is over. But as that tie-in got shut down, Flattr enabled tips for YouTube videos. The system also works on Instagram and SoundCloud. Read more »
Ad.ly is a social media ad agency that provides brands with celebrity endorsements. To come up with a more steady revenue stream, it’s turned to offering analytics. Read more »
An early blogger and startup founder who had recently launched a new business focused on health and fitness, Allen Stern passed away last week and was remembered by his friends and blogging colleagues. Read more »
The U.K.’s legal deposit rules, which require publishers to submit copies of all publications to national and other major libraries, have been updated to cover everything from blogs to tweets. Read more »
Film critic Roger Ebert talked about how much Twitter meant to him as a form of conversation, and his enthusiastic use of it as a way to connect with readers is a lesson to journalists of all kinds. Read more »
The financial company Bloomberg says it will add Twitter to its platforms now that the SEC has given a green light to companies to use social media to announce market moving news. Read more »
Have you checked out Vine recently? Legendary pop artist Prince has, with his record label filing a copyright notice with Twitter regarding videos on Vine. It seems like the general public might be giving Vine a serious look. Read more at GigaOM »
A research firm has revised its 2014 revenue predictions for Twitter to nearly $1 billion. The upwards revision partly reflects Twitter’s ability to solve the mobile marketing puzzle. Read more at GigaOM »
Twitter has teamed up with Turner Broadcasting and a startup to provide short video highlights from the NCAA March Madness games, showing again how the company is interesting in a variety of multimedia options. Read more »
Content creators no longer need to brandish a Flattr button in order to receive micropayments through the service. All that’s needed is for a Flattr user to ‘like’ their video, tune or tweet. Read more »
A lot of die-hard RSS users are upset that Google has decided to kill off its Google Reader service, but for me Twitter and other platforms based on social news are far superior to any RSS reader and have been for some time. Read more at GigaOM »
Google Reader is one of the top-three tools I use to do my job — and Twitter and Flipboard aren’t good substitutes. Read more »
Twitter is reportedly getting ready to launch its own social music discovery app on iOS. The app has been built by the team behind the music site We Are Hunted. Read more at GigaOM »
Is picking Twitter accounts to follow the same as picking which cable television host to trust? Journalists who’ve reported from the Middle East and relied on Twitter to receive their news say maybe. Read more at GigaOM »
“Friend” has a new meaning, “Web site” should be avoided, and some tech concepts still lack words. A panel at SXSW Sunday discussed how language is changing in the digital age. Read more »
Facebook is making changes to its news feed in order to try and filter content better for users, while Twitter continues to provide a largely unfiltered experience. Which one is better? That depends on how you use it. Read more at GigaOM »
Companies like Johnson & Johnson have long encouraged consumers to spread the word about their products. These marketing campaigns are taking on new twists in the age of social media. Read more at GigaOM »
Twitter’s new advertising API is just part of an ongoing seismic shift in the way advertising works online, where algorithms and self-serve networks are taking over from traditional ad buying and further destabilizing the media industry. Read more »
New CEO Marissa Mayer launched a redesigned version of the Yahoo homepage on Wednesday, but the site’s new features seem like a lukewarm rehash of the company’s old portal strategy and imitations of what Facebook offers. Read more at GigaOM »
The head of the research lab at the New York Times says the newspaper has launched an advertising product called Sparking Stories that allows advertisers to insert ads into specific content that is trending on Twitter. Read more »
Burger King got a nasty social media surprise on the President’s Day holiday when someone took over its Twitter account and announced the company had been sold to its rival. Read more at GigaOM »
Twitter’s ad operations are growing rapidly but not all brands and marketers understand them or are convinced of their value. This may explain why Twitter hired Jeffrey Graham as director of ad research. Read more »
Twitter is said to be looking at acquiring Bluefin Labs, which would fit the trajectory that the real-time information network has been on for some time. But is cozying up to traditional TV the only future for Twitter? Read more at GigaOM »
In our age of the dual television and smartphone screen, watching Twitter during live events has become intertwined with the actual watching of the broadcast itself. You can always DVR a show for later, but experiencing the Twitter jokes as they happen is something else entirely. Read more at GigaOM »
PBS showed quick social media instincts on Sunday night with a tweet inviting people to ditch the “Blackout Bowl” for some British drama. Here’s how it happened. Read more »
Twitter has been expanding the idea of what a tweet consists of for some time now, and has just added the ability to include short video clips. But is the service at risk of losing the simplicity that once made it unique? Read more at GigaOM »
