Twitter opens up polls to everyone
If you’ve been wondering which candy your Twitter followers prefer — Red Vines or Twizzlers, — the social networking company has your back. Starting today, the micro-blogging service is rolling out its poll feature to iOS, Android and on Twitter.com. Now users can embed two-question ballots into their tweets. Each poll is open for 24 hours and all votes are secret. So, no one will know about your secret love of Twizzlers when you live in a Red Vines family. When the poll does expire, everyone that participated will receive a push notification of the results. Those alerts could compel users to launch Twitter for something other than a 140-character tirade about the new Star Wars trailer and that’s exactly what Twitter is looking for.
Twitter has been adding more and more features and upgrades to the network’s ancillary components. Direct Messages have become full on groups without a character count. Quotes now shares full tweets without killing your 140-characters. While Moments was launched as a way to help new users figure out who and what to follow and give them a daily reason to launch the app. Polls, like the rest of these improvements, are an enticing way to create more interaction on the network beyond retweets and favs.
And because everyone wants to be part of the winning team, there’s a good chance sharing a poll with like-minded friends will become a way to assure a voter’s choice is the winning one. It probably won’t happen on your question about which Enterprise captain is the best (it’s Picard), but for large brands and Twitter, it’s another way to get users to use the service.
Source: Twitter
Dear Veronica: How can I make an app?
This week, we’ve got a great range of questions from you! We kick things off with a few more ways to use an old Microsoft Zune from you folks, as well as suggestions from the audience for a guy trying to kill some time during renders.
Plus, our special guest today is Brett Rounsaville, the creator of Mission: Pic! He talks about ways that you can create an app of your very own. We also get into the topic of social media anxiety, and how to be social without all the stress.
Remember to keep sending those questions to me via email, or on Twitter with the hashtag #DearVeronica!
Twitter announces plans to layoff 8% of its global workforce
Newly confirmed Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, has wasted no time in implementing his plans to streamline the company, with today’s news that up to 336 employees would be culled from its 4,100 strong global workforce.
The layoffs are expected to cost around $10-20 million in severance costs and an additional $5-15million in restructuring, and are mainly concentrated in the company’s product and engineering sections. It would appear that other sections may also be in line for trimming down, with the company’s CEO stating that the rest of the company would be streamlined in parallel. Jack Dorsey said this in a letter to employees:
“We feel strongly that engineering will move much faster with a smaller and nimbler team, while remaining the biggest percentage of our workforce. And the rest of the organization will be streamlined in parallel.”
Twitter is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings later this month.
Source: Reuters
Come comment on this article: Twitter announces plans to layoff 8% of its global workforce
Twitter is cutting up to 336 jobs to ‘streamline’ its workforce
Those rumors of new Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey cutting jobs were unfortunately true. The social network has announced that it’s axing up to 336 jobs, or about 8 percent of its total headcount. Dorsey argues that the move is necessary for a “streamlined” roadmap where Twitter focuses on fewer but bigger features, such as Moments. Most of the cuts will affect the engineering division, he says, since the company believes that a “smaller and nimbler” coding group would be more effective.
This kind of reduction hasn’t really been seen at Twitter before, but it won’t come as a shock given how much Dorsey’s stance differs from that of former CEO Dick Costolo. While Costolo more than doubled Twitter’s employee ranks in the past two years as he experimented with new ways of making ad money, Dorsey had already been talking about refocusing months before he became the permanent CEO. And that back-to-basics strategy may be necessary. Twitter is improving its finances, but it’s not adding many new users in the process — there’s a concern that it’s simultaneously losing its sense of direction and running out of steam. As horrible as job cuts may be, they could get Twitter back on track.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu]
Made some tough but necessary decisions that enable Twitter to move with greater focus and reinvest in our growth. http://t.co/BWd7EiGAF2
— Jack (@jack) October 13, 2015
Via: TwitterIR (Twitter)
NFL complains, Twitter shuts down Deadspin and SBNation accounts
Copyright laws are a complex beast. One person’s fair use is a content owner’s reason to shoot off a DMCA takedown notice. Gawker Media’s sports site, Deadspin and Vox Media’s SBNation both found that out today when their Twitter accounts were suspended after continuing to post GIFs of NFL-owned content. The @Deadspin account has since be reinstated while SB Nation’s account (@SBnationGIF) is still unavailable. Gawker Media executive editor Lucy Donohue confirmed via Twitter that the notice concerning the suspension from the social media site was from the NFL. Earlier reports indicated that MLB was also involved, but that turned out to be untrue.
RE: @Deadspin: per the notice from Twitter, it looks like it’s the NFL.
— Lacey Donohue (@laceydonohue) October 12, 2015
The rumors are true: Someone tipped off Twitter about our plans to tweet a photo of Roger Goodell’s tiny, dismal penis at 6 p.m. Eastern
— Samer (@Samer) October 12, 2015
Two important announcements: @Deadspin is back and fuck the Patriots.
— Lacey Donohue (@laceydonohue) October 12, 2015
Both publications routinely posts GIFs of important moments in NFL and other sporting events. It’s something the NFL apparently frowns upon. Gawker’s social media strategist, Terron Moore, said the site received 18 DMCA takedown notices from the NFL before today’s suspension.
@petersterne 18.
— Terron Moore (@Terr) October 12, 2015
Before the account was reinstated, ESPN sports pundit Keith Olbermann was temporarily hosting Deadspin’s tweets on his own account.
So, @Deadspin IS going to take me up on my offer after its account was suspended. TFN this is @Deadspin via KO.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) October 12, 2015
We have reached out to Deadspin, SBNation, Twitter and the NFL about this article and will update when they reply to our queries.
Source: Deadspin
Trends Today: the social media world of #hashtags (App Review)
In today’s world of technology, we are able to communicate faster than ever. A simple #hashtag, like, or comment can help keep us informed of all that is happening around us. Unfortunately, it can also mean we may miss something important we want to know. With the Trends Today app, you can now keep up with all the top stories in one spot.
Overview
Trends Today is an app that opens you up to a world of #hashtags. It allows you to see top trending stories on five of the most popular social sites: Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and Vine, all in one location. Other social sites are planned to be added with future app updates.
You can also receive notifications of new trends, though I didn’t seem to have that happen too often. You can turn off notifications in the Settings menu if you prefer not to receive them. This is also the only settings option you will find. It would be nice to have different theme options and the ability to select what social sites you want to see in the app.
Features
Each site will have its own tab. I found this made it very easy to navigate between the different social sites. For Twitter and Facebook, lists are generated by trending topics. Once a topic has been selected, you will see the different tweets and posts on that topic, from which you can click on to read, comment, or share. You can also view posts by most recent or most popular. The Reddit tab will be organized by trending posts, instead of by topic,and Instagram and Vine will show thumbnails of the trending photos and videos.
Other features include a built-in web browser, so there is no jumping out of the app to view a post, and the ability to see what is popular worldwide, or by selecting a specific country. The current list of countries is USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and India.
Setup
When you first open the app, you will be asked to select which country you want to view posts from. You can change this, later, by clicking the menu button, at the top left of the screen, and selecting whichever location you prefer.
From the same menu, you can choose to create a profile as well. This is not required, nor is it clear as to what it’s for. Skipping the registration will not hinder your viewing experience, so I would just skip it.
When you select a post, you will be taken to the social media’s mobile site. To like, share, or comment, you will have to sign into your respective accounts. However, with Vine and Instagram, these will not open in the browser, instead, you’ll be taken to your default browser, or the app. You can view the pictures and videos, but there is no sign in option, so you cannot like or share within the Trends Today app. Hopefully, the developer will change this in future updates.
What we liked
- One app to view trending posts from multiple social sites
- Easy navigation
- Built-in browser
What could be better
- Needs more social sites, like Google+
- Sign in options for Instagram and Vine
- Options to select which sites you want to be displayed
Summary
For any of you who have multiple social media accounts, Trends Today is a great way to keep you up-to-date with the trends of each one. So, browse, comment, and #hashtag away with Trends Today.
The post Trends Today: the social media world of #hashtags (App Review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Twitter’s returning CEO is reportedly planning layoffs
Twitter’s ‘new’ permanent CEO only took the reins five days ago, but he already appears bent on cleaning house. Sources for both the New York Times and Recode understand that Jack Dorsey is planning layoffs that could start as soon as October 13th. While it’s unclear how many people will lose their jobs, Recode understands that this is part of an attempt to streamline an engineering team that has become “bloated.” Tipsters had already claimed that Twitter was freezing the expansion of its San Francisco headquarters, but Dorsey would be taking that cost-cutting to a new level.
The company isn’t commenting on the rumors. However, job cuts wouldn’t come as a surprise. Although Twitter is improving its bottom line, there’s purportedly a sense among insiders that the firm’s programming team is bigger than it should be given the company’s growth. Twitter has doubled its headcount in the past two years, but has ‘only’ added 50 percent more users — it’s not getting a great return on its investment. Whatever the reasons, the layoffs would be consistent with Dorsey’s very public desire for greater focus at a company that’s seemingly willing to try anything and everything in the name of making money.
[Image credit: Justin Tallis/AFP Photo/Getty Images]
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: Recode, New York Times
Twitter is bringing more video advertisements to your timeline
The monetization and sponsoring of videos on Twitter — through Amplify — just became even easier for publishers as there is now a dedicated place for them to upload videos. Advertisers choose the categories that they want their advertisements to be attached to before Twitter matches videos with appropriate pre-role ads. Publishers then earn the majority of the advertising revenue through an automated revenue sharing system. This strategy aligns Twitter closer to Facebook and other services that take advantage of pre-roll ads since they cannot be avoided.
Brands already working with the new Amplify offering
Source: Twitter
Come comment on this article: Twitter is bringing more video advertisements to your timeline
Get ready for more videos (and ads) in your Twitter timeline
Along with becoming more user friendly, Twitter’s next big change is focusing on videos and ads. Now, instead of being limited to the mobile app, users can upload video from their desktop computers straight to the website. In turn, Twitter is cranking up its advertising initiative ‘Amplify‘ for more YouTube-like pre-roll ads on premium videos from partners like the ones shown above. At a conference held in New York today, Twitter also announced that it will add a GIF generator and allow Periscope to play within the timeline. So if you’re wondering why you’re seeing a whole lot of moving content in your feed, it’s because publishers are now able to easily monetize their work.
Your phone shouldn’t have all the fun. Videos can now be uploaded to Twitter via web! 🎬 https://t.co/4Q4rpzUmPh pic.twitter.com/AdqK2U9SRQ
— Twitter (@twitter) October 8, 2015
Source: Twitter
Twitter’s goal for the next year is to be simpler and easier to use
With the introduction of curated Moments, it’s clear that Twitter is trying very hard to not only keep its existing userbase, but also to make its product easier to use, especially for newcomers. At the Code/Mobile event in Half Moon Bay, Twitter’s SVP of Product Kevin Weil confirmed that vision by saying that the next 12 months will be about making the product simpler for casual users. This, he says, won’t be good for just new folks, but will also improve the utility and functionality of Twitter for everyone. One potential way for Twitter to do that would be to increase the 140 character limit in tweets, which was a rumor floating around last week. While Weil wouldn’t comment on it, he did say “We’re not shy about changing something that’s at the core of Twitter.”
There are some issues with Twitter that Weil says are difficult to change. Responding to a question from the audience on whether we’ll be able to edit our tweets in the future, he said that’s a difficult thing to implement, because of Twitter embeds and retweets potentially messing that up. But he was a lot more positive about improving DMs, or Twitter’s direct messaging. On building more utility into DMs, he said “We have some great ideas. Stay tuned.”
And as for whether Twitter will ever be sold? “Twitter is a force in the world,” he said. “It’ll remain an independent company.”
AIVAnet 