Each week the Carrot crew comes across a few articles that are worth more than just retweeting. Internally, we find, share, and discuss them. We strategize around the latest news and develop the best ways to positively impact the interwebs as we know it. Below you’ll find a list of those news stories and breakthroughs we thought were important, monumental, surprising, and thought provoking this week.
The Rise Of Social Distribution Networks
John Borthwick, CEO of Betaworks, addresses the rapid shift in social distribution online and how he believes this represents an important change in how people discover and use information. “Today there seems to be a new distribution model that is emerging. One that is based on people’s ability to publicly syndicate and distribute messages — aka content — in an open manner.” This is a must read.
Twitter for Business: Four Ways Companies Use Microblogging
CIO writer C.G. Lynch discusses four distinct ways businesses tend to use Twitter: product pushing, community outreach, how-to and service questions, and humanizing the head honcho. He highlights the importance of being real, personable, and relationship-oriented.
Don’t Fight The Stream: Facebook And FriendFeed Redesigns Are Paying Off
Discussion of how Facebook’s recent adoption of real-time activity streaming as its primary UI was the right decision. Since the redesign unique visitors have increased considerably month-over-month.
Google Launches Search Options, Declares Real-Time Search Biggest Challenge
Explanation of Google’s new “search options” feature and its capabilities. The hardest unsolved problems in search are also discussed: finding the most recent info, assessing which results are best, etc.
Twitter Passes NYT, WSJ in Unique Visitors
Twitter is useful, fun and a little addicting. When you start getting your news from it, game over. “While there’s a lot of reasons to visit Twitter online, it’s essentially a place to learn about what’s going on in your world.”
Beyond Clicks And CPMs: A Look At ‘Engagement’-Based Ad Deals
A look at what engagement-based ad deals may entail and why they are big deal for brands trying to connect with consumers in the social web. “Time Spent” will play a big role in standardizing measurements for engagement, as the more time a user is on a page, the longer they are seeing and possibly interacting with a brand’s image.
The Top 10 Sites and Browsers for Kids and Teens
“With child safety being an important parental concern for online activity and the potential for massive marketing to kids and teens, a plethora of sites, browsers, software and tools have emerged.” This article lists the top sites and browsers out there for kids and teens – a great resource for any brand attempting to target the audience.
5 Lessons Celebrities Can Teach Us About Facebook Pages
The recent redesign of Facebook Pages has enabled celebrities and brands to better engage their fanbase and build out virally. This article takes us through 5 lessons we can learn from celebrities who are currently leveraging Facebook to build their personal brands up and increase their following. In the eyes of the >carrot crew, this piece is spot-on – the celebrities have seen great results following our similar guidelines.
