Courtesy of designtaxi.com

The Beginning of The Humble Hashtag

No-one knows who invented the hashtag, but we know that it was around BEFORE Twitter brought it into the public eye. They were first used on IRC networks to label topics and groups. Chris Messina, an open source advocate first introduced the idea to Twitter users, by mentioning that they should use the pound symbol (#) for groups.

The hashtag quickly shot to fame after its inclusion in the high profile #sandiegofire news event, when wildfire tore through California at the time. In order for fellow tweeters to see Nate Ritter’s posts, they needed to stay on his hashtag channel. The rest was history.

Interesting Points About Hashtagging

Today, hashtagging is one of the most prolific and fun ways of describing content online. Hashtags are a way to describe a mood, to predict an event, and even to chat about a specific location. They are easily the most efficient crowdsourced means of organizing disorganized content on any social network online right now.

This is why the hashtag is not just a Twitter thing anymore. In fact, you’ll see hashtags being used on Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Tout, Tumblr and perhaps even Facebook in the coming days. Because organizing content helps people find it, hashtagging has just become one of the most important lessons you can learn as a small business owner.

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When you know how to accurately hashtag your content, you’ll get more traffic and interactions from it – which usually amounts to more sales. Hashtags are also becoming a form of keyword property like a domain address. The better your hashtag keywords, the more people instinctively use them or search for them on your networks.

Hashtags like #ilovenewyork are very general, but because of the millions of people that use this hashtag every day, it’s an incredible hashtag to use in marketing messages. Similarly, hashtags have temporal value, meaning that they are connected to real-time events, and can cause massive surges in traffic to your sites if you know how to use them. The recent hashtag #bostonmarathonbombs attracted tons of traffic.

Of course this begs the ethical question – is it alright to use tragic news events for marketing purposes? I believe if you do it with sincerity and grace, there’s no reason why a tweet here or there can’t help you with your Twitter marketing goals. Many businesses sent out tweets, offering their condolences to the families of the people that died. There is nothing wrong with that. However, direct marketing is distasteful and should be discouraged.

“Get 20% off product X with these explosive savings at brand X! #bostonbombings”

This kind of tweet is unethical, and will contribute to the devaluation of your brand online. Are you starting to see how important hashtags are becoming to small business marketers?

How To Use Hashtags For Business

This brings us to the question – how do you, as a business owner, learn to use hashtags to improve your business – across all participating social networks?

The easy answer is that you will have to integrate a hashtag strategy into your current marketing campaigns. Hashtags are universal now, and that means you need to start treating them as a dominant form of sourcing traffic from social networks.

According to RadiumOne, 58% of all social media users that participated in their survey, use hashtags on a daily basis. More than 70% of these do it from their mobile phones.

Courtesy of blog.laptopmag.com

• 40.7% of people said that they used hashtags to communicate personal ideas or feelings
• 34.1% of people said that they use it to follow relevant categories and brands that they’re interested in
• 14.8% of people said that they use hashtags to redirect audiences to external web content like videos, articles and links
• 10.4% of people said that they use hashtags to promote social or corporate events

You can use hashtags in any of the following ways:

• Use hashtags to curate content
• To find conversations about your brand, book, or persona
• To meet important influencers in your niche
• To join in on conversations about relevant topics
• As research tools when creating content for your blog or marketing materials
• As a news archive tool
• To check out what the competition is doing
• To see how the competition is chatting with their audiences
• To organize and run live events like Twitter chats and meetups
• To source social proof from relevant fans and experts
• To find great guest bloggers for your blog
• To find more people to add to your network (fan base growth)

The Coming Facebook Hashtag

There still seems to be some confusion about hashtags online, with many memes coming out and going viral on sites like Facebook. There will always be resistance to change, but those in the ‘know’ understand that this progression is actually good for everyone. It means that soon, you’ll be able to find conversations on Facebook that interest you and join in.

Courtesy of newsey.es

Whether this will further muddy their lack of ‘privacy’ is another matter. All hashtagging is public of course – it’s an indexing system. Luckily you’ve taken your first step to becoming a small business owner that knows how to properly use hashtags in their daily strategies online. For the early adopters, only growth and success will follow.

I recently noticed a survey on Facebook where they were asking fans to provide feedback on their search functionality. Will hashtags be the new search system Facebook adopts? What do you think?

Courtesy of twitter.com

What is Twitter For Business?

Twitter is a very large, very prominent social site, but they are also acutely aware that many of the business people on their platform, have no idea how to use it properly. As a result of this inability to adequately market on Twitter – bounce rates are higher, and owners are choosing to market more on the ‘easier’ platforms like Facebook and Pinterest.

Twitter for business is their solution to this concern. It will function like the Facebook blog, and Allfacebook.com, which is the total resource site for all things to do with the social network. Business owners will be pleased to find simple-to-use tutorials that provide powerful tips and advice, which will help them gain followings and sell on Twitter.

The Homepage Structure

Twitter’s slogan ‘grow your business, 140 characters at a time’ is splashed across their homepage, with a button that invites you to begin advertising right away. This is clearly part of Twitters strategy to increase the reach of their advertising networks. Twitter for business is therefore a learning resource and a promotional step up for Twitter.

• The site will improve Twitter’s ad revenue, as it teaches people how to effectively use their advertising options.

On the homepage, Twitter promises that they’ll help you master the basics, build your community and market on Twitter. They don’t
disappoint.

Courtesy of Twitter.com

The Basics Area on Twitter For Business

The basics area on the site introduces you to Twitter and why you should be using it. Twitter cites the main reasons as, growth, learning, listening and connection. There are several other Twitter for business areas in this basics section that teach you:

• Twitter glossary of terms and functions (tweet, mention, hashtag etc)
• It tells you who is on Twitter and what they talk about
• According to Twitter, 94% of Twitter users want to hear about your discounts
• This section discusses Twitter mobile, and how 60% of fans use it
• You’ll learn how to establish your brand personality
• How to tweet daily in an organized fashion
• How to write star-quality tweets that work
• How to use photos, videos and other content on Twitter for business
• The best practices to use, how to measure them and how to secure your account
• Click on what kind of business you are for more in-depth tutorials

The Build Your Community Area on Twitter For Business

This section shows you, the business owners, how to make the right impression with your profile, and how to engage your initial audience. From creating a stunning profile, to building your fan base, attracting followers and integrating your efforts – there’s a practical section for you to read on this powerful new learning resource.

Twitter also recommends that you work with others, and educate your employees to work with Twitter to increase your reach. On nearly every page, there is a small section pushing the Twitter for business advertising options.

Courtesy of Twitter.com

The Marketing With Twitter Section

On Twitter for business, you’ll find the ‘marketing with Twitter’ section that takes a closer look at more advanced Twitter strategies and practices. From targeting, to working with analytics, running promotions and executing marketing techniques – you can figure out how to do it all here on the platform.

The most interesting section here was about scaling. I find that in business, companies always find it difficult to grow after they have reached a certain number on their social networks. This section introduces some fresh ideas about TV and Twitter, and how 95% of conversations about TV happen on the platform. It’s well worth reading.

You can also move onto the promotional section, where Twitter will teach you how to engage your audience with events, launch products on Twitter, how to use incentives, and finally – how to create exclusive deals that will drive your overall results. It’s all very clever, and very nicely done. I would recommend sifting through this resource, even if you’re a pro.

The Ad Products Section

There is a section that explains their advertising products in more detail, though the entire site really pushes businesses to use this service that they offer. I find myself feeling like Twitter for business is half about learning and half about selling.
This section will take you through each form of advertising (promoted accounts, promoted tweets etc) along with the analytics potential and pricing for each service.

Courtesy of Twitter.com

The Success Tab and Blog

Twitter for business has also included a success section, as social proof that their ads and platform can really help business owners earn more money and gain more social reach. They haven’t really touched on using Twitter Vine yet, as it’s still so new – so watch out for an addition on this at a later point.

If Twitter can figure out how to integrate advertising and Twitter Vine on their platform, they just might be able to break through the glass ceiling and really skyrocket their ad revenue. Search the Twitter for business success section to hear all about brands making Twitter work for them. Otherwise check in at the blog for the latest news and updates.

The Final Say on Twitter For Business

All in all, the videos are great, the content good and the experience is worth a go. Advanced users will find these resources interesting but shallow, as they are geared towards a novice market. However, I would suggest checking it out anyway. Don’t let the pitch fool you though, this is Twitter trying to push advertising on their users. It’s not a bad thing, but be prepared to see it for what it is.

What did you think of the new Twitter for business page? Is it useful?

Courtesy of queensquill.com

#1: The Super-Powered About Us Pages

Creative companies are using Twitter Vine to add looping videos to their ‘about us’ page on their websites. They tell their brand story in snippets, instead of simply using boring old words. The result is an SEO boost, a traffic increase and a much lower bounce rate. What more could you want from new marketing method?

#2: Product Showcases and Sharable Content

An image of a product can only do so much, but Twitter Vine lets you showcase the product in all of its glory. Include something really interesting about your product and show something exciting, or useful. An example may be to showcase your new juicing machine, along with the best recipe result ever – like a trademark smoothie.

Courtesy of business2community.com

#3: Get Your Product Fans Posting with Hashtags

Whether you own a hair salon, or sell gadgets off the internet, Twitter Vine can be one of the most powerful methods of social proof ever created. Get your fans and friends to take Vine videos and post them on Twitter under your brand hashtag, and on your Facebook page. People love user-generated reviews and tutorials.

#4: Show Your Customers The Human Side of Your Business

If there are ever events, workshops or conferences where your employees are all together making a difference – use Twitter Vine to show your fans and customers how awesome you are. This puts a human face on your business and encourages repeat sales. You can also take Vine videos of each employee to showcase who they are on your website.

#5: Use Twitter Vine as a Portfolio Snippet Tool

Entice your potential clients to buy from your company by using Twitter Vine to take snippets of your services or products – and send it to them as portfolio ‘sneak-peeks.’ A wedding company for example, might send a Vine video of the table decorations they’ve done from the last few weddings they were involved in. Instant sales tool!

Courtesy of Twylah.com

#6: Feel Good Formulas For Additional Sales and Traffic!

Everyone loves a good story, and I’m sure your business has many. Tell them by using Twitter Vine videos and posting these on your social media pages. You can also illustrate how to enter a competition that is based on one of your social media pages. Businesses all over the world are joining in on this 6 second extravaganzas.

On Twitter right now you can enjoy many creative, and business-based Twitter Vines, brought to you by the big brands online. It’s time you, as a small business, started capitalizing on this virtually free application that can do so much for your brand. A Vine today could mean an additional 1000 hits tomorrow, so get moving!

Join our Twitter page here!

Have you tested Vine yet? How do you use this app to improve your business?

Courtesy of pepperscraps.com

Who is Kristi Hines?

There are people that live in the background, but really deserve to be in the spotlight online. One of these people, is Kristi Hines. She blogs for sites like Social Media Examiner, Kissmetrics, Search Engine Journal, Wordtracker and Search Engine Watch.

Her own blog, Kikolani.com, is about blogging and being a professional content producer. Kristi Hines is also an avid social media expert, and knows a lot about marketing on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The Twitter Tools and Strategies You Should Be Using

According to Kristi Hines there are several tools and strategies that you can use to improve your results on Twitter. Twitter strategy is notoriously difficult, especially for a novice business person online. Act on these excellent tips.

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• Use Bit.ly to track your Twitter links, to see how many people click on them and when. That way you can measure the impact of each tweet effortlessly.

• Kristi Hines loves Buffer, an excellent tool to hit the internet and the smart way to publish your tweets. Use buffer to schedule your tweets and use their incredible analytics system which helps you determine the reach and impact of your tweets.

• If you have a team of people working on your Twitter page, use a tool like Hootsuite or Cotweet. They allow multiple users to work off the same dashboards, creating, organizing and scheduling tweets. They also have nice analytics to use there.

• Do you struggle to get content to your fans? How about creating a newspaper for them in one click? All you have to do is add your Twitter account, and it will curate tweets for you in certain hashtag categories. Great extra for your fans.

• Kristi Hines also likes SocialOomph, another Twitter tools that simplifies the chaos of using Twitter. Secure your page, use link shorteners, create, schedule and track keywords. Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner uses this tool.

• Simply taking the time to select the right tools to use on Twitter can rapidly improve how you run your account. Kristi Hines endorses many of the same tools as Jeremiah Owyang and Seth Godin.

Courtesy of kikolani.com

There is a real strategy behind which tool you choose. Some focus on tracking, while others are more concerned with the art of tweet creation. Play around with the different tools mentioned here, and decide which one will suit you best.

Like Kristi Hines, I’ve tried Tweetdeck, Buffer, Hootsuite, Bit.ly and a number of other tools. At the end of the day you have to choose one main tool. For small businesses I would recommend using Buffer, as an up and coming management tool.

Join our Twitter page here!

What Twitter tools do you use on a daily basis?

Courtesy of virtualsocialmedia.com

Twitter is For The Birds

What makes a Twitter marketing campaign successful? I would say the combination of Twitter users, a highly interactive account and real life returns, leads or business from your page. All three of these elements need to be what drives your strategy.

Step 1: Research The Many Bird Types

The first step in your ultimate Twitter marketing strategy is to do your research. For some reason, many businesses forget to perform this vital function on an ongoing basis. Be like the bird watcher that is preparing for a trip. Research the accounts that you want to be like or outdo – and don’t be afraid to take note of specific strategies you’d like to try.

Tip! To find Twitter followers be like a bird watcher that preps for a big trip. The more you know about your competitors, the easier creating an engaging account will be.

Step 2: Twitting Marketing Diversity Tools

In the realm of bird watching – without binoculars, a camera and map systems – you’ll never find certain bird species. It’s the same on your Twitter account. If you don’t have the right tools, you’ll never attract any followers or engagement. Make sure that you find and use the most appropriate Twitter marketing tools for your niche.

Tip! Use the new Twitter app ‘Vine’ to capture 6 second looping videos that you can then use to market products, services or extend your brand reach.

Courtesy of inblurbs.com

Step 3: Use Third Party Sites

How do you find the birds you want to photograph? Easy! With maps. On Twitter, you can choose to use the basic search function, but honestly –third party apps and sites make it easier for you. Use sites like TwitterCounter Search, Listorious and Twellow to become part of the right Twitter communities.

Tip! Half the struggle is following the right people, or reaching out to the right networks. Do this daily by finding a few new birds in the Twitter forest, and your account will thrive.

Step 4: Automation and Personal Contact

When you have your page ready, you’ll need to decide how to run that Twitter business page. No effective Twitter accounts can run manually all the time. You must create set content that you can schedule in a management tool like Tweetdeck. This set content will become the core of your Twitter marketing strategy. You should still post 70% fresh content each day.

Tip! Split the content into 70/30 – 30% scheduled content, and 70% new, fresh and responsive content. Much of this should be talking TO people, not at them.

Courtesy of virtualsocialmedia.com

Twitter marketing is about patience, long term results and consistency. Even if your messages aren’t that strong, what matters most is how you approach and connect with people. Bird watchers know everything they can about each type of bird – you should know as much about your followers, to deliver a better profile experience!

Check out our Twitter page here!

Can you name one Twitter marketing practice that you use all the time?

1. Richard Branson @richardbranson

Courtesy of virgin.com

A business man that needs no introduction, Richard Branson of Virgin fame has a Twitter business account that outshines most other company accounts. Known for his engaging social interaction, Richard is the king of conversation on these platforms. Gain access to awesome business tips, and exclusive photos and videos on his page.

With 2.9 million followers, this is clearly one of the best Twitter accounts online today. Engage with Richard using the #askrichard hashtag or gain insight into the world of big business with his great links and tips.

2. Guy Kawasaki @guykawasaki

Courtesy of peterfaur.com

If you’ve never heard of him – Guy Kawasaki is most famous for being one of the original Apple marketers, and for helping to found Alltop, the online magazine rack. He’s also written several bestsellers on online business and is full of nuggets of information. His Twitter business account is busy and popular.

With 1.2 million followers and a decent Twitter marketing strategy, Guy uses video, images and news aggregation to keep his account active. To date he’s published over 110k tweets and likes to automate his Twitter account to find Twitter followers.

3. Anita Campbell @smallbiztrends

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Voted as one of Forbe’s Top Influential Woman For Entrepreneurs, Anita Campbell is also the CEO of Bizsugar and a vibrant tweeter. Her Twitter business account is maintained daily with fresh, relevant news and she posts some very interesting opinions and links. Anita also takes advantage of the media functions, and uploads exclusive images here.

With a respectable 92k followers to only 16k tweets, you could learn a thing or two from this Twitter business account. Pay special attention to how she reports instead of selling. This leaves it up to the fan to decide whether to click or not.

4. Steve Case @stevecase

Courtesy of forbes,com

Steve Case is the founder of AOL and a business powerhouse. Even though his Twitter business page is simple and stock standard, his INFORMATION is what matters. Get up to date news on his page and interesting tips, tricks and opinions on the business world.

With an impressive 568k followers to only 15k tweets, Steve utilizes the Twitter business functionality for images – with a fair sized image gallery on his profile. All in all, it’s a straight laced, no-frills account that focuses on the content to work.

5. Tony Robbins @tonyrobbins

Courtesy of success.com

Tony Robbins makes the Twitter business list because of his elegant profile. Of all of the accounts here, Tony understands the importance of branding and dynamic design. Look at his superb use of the background image, his videos and images as well. He uses his Twitter page to inspire business people, AND to chat to them – often retweeting and sharing.

With 2.2 million followers to 3,577 tweets, this is an excellent Twitter business account to follow for any business owner.

That’s it! Our top 5 list of Twitter business accounts that we love. You should follow them immediately to stay inspired, and to learn how to use your own account properly!

Join our Twitter account here for more!

Which Twitter business accounts do you enjoy? Leave the handle here and tell me why!

Courtesy of slate.com

#1: Have a Custom Page

If you want to find Twitter followers in your niche, then you need a great looking Twitter page. Invest some time and money into your design, your logo, your icons – and focus especially on your background. When people check to see who you are, they should be able to find out in a matter of seconds. Keep those Twitter ethics in mind!

#2: Find Twitter Followers Via Directories

The internet is full of quality directories like Twellow and WeFollow, where you can discover the most applicable people to follow in your niche. Sometimes all it takes is a friendly hello and for you to follow their account. Then they will follow yours (as long as you’re relevant). Directories are a great place to find business contacts, friends, mentors or peers.

#3: Run a Twitter Contest

It sounds cliché, but Twitter marketing contests do work! Simply put together a nice prize for the winner and create a catchy hashtag. The bigger the prize the more followers you’ll get. You can also offer multiple prizes and be sure to keep it exclusive to Twitter. Find Twitter followers by adding general contest hashtags to these posts.

#4: Discover Twitter Online

The easiest way to find Twitter followers is to explore certain niches or hashtags on Twitter itself. Twitter often recommends some great people for you to follow. Alternatively you can click on a Twitter business account you admire and see who they follow. Sometimes the best people are hidden away in these more mainstream accounts.

Courtesy of get-social-fans.com

#5: Be Highly Interactive

The first thing real Twitter users look for is to find Twitter followers that actually interact with them. Be sure to interact regularly with your Twitter users, chat with them – share stories and advice with them – anything to get the discussions or comments moving forward. That way when new users check on you, they’ll see that you are an active user.

#6: Authentic, Regular Posting

Nothing is easier than posting on Twitter every day, and it’s something you must do if you’re trying to grow your following. Find Twitter followers by adding at least 4-5 pieces of new content to your account daily. Consistency is really the key to a successful Twitter page.

#7: Live Tweeting For Followers

Host special ‘live tweet’ events where you and your followers add event details or up-to-date news on your page as it happens. Going to a niche seminar? Keep your Twitter fans in the loop by tweeting all about it.

#8: Use Tweets in Your Blogs

You may have noticed that I sometimes use Tweets as social evidence in my blogs. You can do this to boost the number of people flowing from your blog to your Twitter page! Find Twitter followers by adding tweet evidence to your blog posts.

Courtesy of productsreviewsblog.com

#9: Be an Authority

I know it’s been said a lot but if people know who you are they will follow you. Write an ebook, podcast or webinar and brand it with clickable links to your Twitter page!

#10: Use Hashtags Properly

Learning how to properly use hashtags will help you find Twitter followers ethically. Notice how other people use them on Twitter and be specific. Never more than 3-4 in one update!

Use these 10 tips to find Twitter followers online. You don’t need to PAY for followers, and it’s an unethical practice that has no real value. Do the right thing!

Join our Twitter page right here!

How do you ethically collect Twitter followers?

Courtesy of 1000heads.com

What is Twitter’s Vine App?

A while ago Twitter made the bold move and purchased a video clip company called ‘Vine.’ As you can imagine, these video clips are very short, almost like tweets are to the written word. Short looping videos can show special animated moments – a step further than a single frame image. The internet said, ‘it’s a new way to use video in social media.’

Twitter’s Vine app was definitely well received. It was placed for free on the iTunes app store, available for download to the iPhone or iPod Touch. Vine isn’t your ordinary video app – it actually punctuates what you are filming – grabbing small snippets of movement and then auto-generating these mixed images.

People have been having a lot of fun with Twitter’s Vine. Then the porn arrived.

Courtesy of gadgetian.com

How Porn is Destroying Vine For Everyone

What was supposed to be the ‘ace in the hole’ that Twitter was looking for, is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare – because of the internet proclivity for porn. Twitter’s Vine should be available for everyone to download, but now it has an uncharacteristic 17+ age rating which will almost certainly stunt the progress of this funky little video sharing app.

Along with porn, the popup that warns off under seventeen’s also warns of intense sexual content, nudity, drugs, tobacco, alcohol and violence. It seems that pure video smut is ruining Twitter’s Vine for everyone.

Now you could say that this age rating will increase the downloads that it gets – but this may not be true. With the wide public outcry against the ‘porn-addled’ Vine, users are concerned about Twitters sudden influx of live porn. It seems as though Twitter’s Vine has revealed just how much the service is used to sell sex to people.

A few weeks ago the problem came to light when Twitter began to censor images in an attempt to curb the porn influx. The day that Twitter’s Vine was released at the app store, users started taking these short clips of ‘body parts.’ Many users weren’t amused.
Then something terrible happened!

Human error caused a particularly hardcore porn video clip to appear as an ‘editor’s pick’ on the site. Twitter had to endure the tragedy of having its investment pulled from the featured section on the App Store.

Twitter and Vine: A Match Made in Heaven?

Perhaps the Twitter boys were too hasty with this decision. Twitter’s Vine has done nothing but open up a can of worms that has made the now secretive, ugly world of internet porn a headline again in the social blogs. Still – the idea has merit, like Pinterest first did when it started. There’s no doubt that short looping clips of video is social progress.

It caters to the every growing ‘short attention span’ of the online public. For businesses, it presents a whole new way to market to your Twitter fans. Twitter’s Vine has enormous potential for improving your profile, selling your products and services on the platform and getting more fans to follow your account.

Courtesy of auckland.concreteplayground.co.nz

The best thing about Twitter’s Vine is that it’s instant. Use it to:

• Show short, 6 second techniques
• Products from all sides
• Products or services in action
• The location of your business
• A snapshot or teaser of an event
• Use Twitter’s Vine to film creative business clips
• Make 6 second adverts that run on your Twitter page!

Twitter Users Had This To Say

@Lisidesign – “I don’t mean to hate, but I’ve already trained myself not to click on #vine links…”

@icebox500 – “@vine (nothing personal) a lesson in how to blunder a launch #vineporn.”

While most of the feedback has been good, with many businesses and individuals taking to Twitter’s Vine, there are red flags being raised. It’s time Twitter did something about Vine’s rising popularity in the wrong online areas.

Will you use Vine to enhance your business profile online? Or does the porn scare you away?

Courtesy of fstoppers.com

Instagram Is Selling Your Photos, Your Children and Your Soul!

Okay, so maybe not your children or soul – but the online reaction would have you believe otherwise. How DARE Instragram sell photos that are yours? Facebook has made them evil! Suddenly this ‘quit’ Instagram campaign – oops – I mean rumor was everywhere.

It began with a few well connected people wondering about Instagrams terms of service, and the wording therein. Then suddenly, a dam of knowledge burst on Twitter – every second person was saying ‘quit Instagram’ or ‘stop using it’ and ‘go back to Flickr.’

Courtesy of ibnlive.in.com

Some of the more entertaining #Quitinstagram Tweets:

@KJ_Bedford – How To Download Your Instagram Photos and Kill Your Account #quitinstagram

@Jfjellner – F*ck you Facebook!! You ruined instagram!! #quitinstagram

Courtesy of Twitter.com

What The Terms of Service Really Says

Poor Instagram in an attempt to earn some money from its users, placed some language in their terms of service and privacy policy that indicated that they could sell users photos if they wanted to. Or use them in advertisements – which is really an invasion of privacy.

Imagine seeing your half naked body splashed all over the internet on an Instagram ad? There was a debacle over paying for the use of Instagram. I mean come on people – why can’t we pay a little to use a great service? The Instagram people insisted it was a mistake and they changed it immediately.

INSTAGRAM will never sell your photos without your consent or without compensation – in short they will never just take and use your photos!

Your personal info will be used to help them target you for ads though. But who cares? Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the entire social media world do this already! You have to as a social media app or site if you want to make money and stay successful.

If you want to delete your Instagram account click here.

The Sneaky Twitter Fueled Quit Instagram Campaign

I’m not saying Instagram didn’t publish those terms of service or policy changes. But I think Twitter fanned the flames – A LOT. Interestingly enough Twitter has been working on a secret photo editing app for themselves lately, and a LOT of tweeters
mentioned going back to Flickr because it’s just been revamped.

Courtesy of macworld.co.uk

Is Twitter aligning itself or even buying Flickr? I can definitely see that match up, and the new Flickr app, many are saying it beats Instagram hands down. It’s guerrilla marketing and every app for themselves out there.

Plus it would make sense as Flickr has lost many of their fan base to Pinterest and are going the same way as the old MySpace. A Twitter-Flickr alliance could definitely put them both back on the playing field, giving Facebook and Instagram a run for their money.

The Moral of The Story

Be suspicious when you haven’t read the terms of service yourself, or investigated news like this on your own. Twitter’s terms of service and privacy policy says almost the exact same thing – but no-one is tooting on about their Twitter images. Always take online gossip with a pinch of salt, and find out the truth right here on SMMU.

For the official Instagram response click here.

Don’t stop using Instagram! They won’t steal your images!

Did you love today’s post on Twitter and Instagram? Then share it please!

Do you think Twitter ensured the viral outbreak of this negative publicity for Instagram? Their loss is Twitter’s gain!

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The Twitter VS Instagram Debacle

It was just another day on Twitter, when Instagram users noticed that their hipster-cool photos were buggy and on the fritz. Now, no more Instagram photos will be allowed on Twitter – ever, ever again. Is that true? What’s up?

SMMU Theories on This Bold Twitter Move

• It’s no secret that Twitter is becoming bolder than usual, and it’s developing its own photo filter app that will be used on the site. Much like Facebook has Instagram now, Twitter will launch a competitor, and they really want users to use their option over the incredibly popular Facebook option. In theory a good move, but I’m not sure if I’d bet against an app like Instagram.

• Twitter is a little bit sore about the fact that Facebook outbid them to GET Instagram several months ago – $1 billion was a hard bid to beat. At the time, both companies knew that the future of social relied on image communication. Twitter also blocked Instagram users from using its data to find friends.

• The Twitter creators are in the process of launching and developing 2 new concepts – Medium and Branch. Both will use images as a central part of the attraction of the core concepts. It has to be planning ahead by Twitter.

• Twitter itself is becoming a massive photo sharing site, with people attaching images to their tweets. The potential is huge for expansion…if only they had a great photo app.

• Essentially Instagram wants people to interact with images on their app and on Facebook, and Twitter wants the same for their upcoming editing software.

Courtesy of globalpost.com

Word on The Street and on #Twitter

The internet has its own opinions as we all well know – and people are FURIOUS about Twitters sudden Instagram ‘ban.’ Users can still tweet about their Instagram photos, but they can’t view them on Twitter anymore. It really messes with people’s profiles. Imagine if Instagram photos are the core of your business, and now that’s over.

Many, many people shared their opinions on Twitter:

@hipsterrunoff – I feel bad 4 all those ppl who wasted time integrating their #instagrambrand with their Twitter brand. *Retweeted 82 times.

@Cinemaduo – So goodbye #Instagram hello #twitter photo filters. Just FYI a good photo stands alone without any filter

Courtesy of digitaltrends.com

How Do I Get Around The Twitter Ban?

Twitter users are ‘getting around’ the Instagram ban by using Michael Schonfeld’s Chrome-based InstaTwit extension. With some clever URL jiggery-pockery this extension ignores the new ban, and allows you to post Instagram URLs and images – all day long if you like.

Will Twitter’s answer to Instagram be any good? We’ll find out and let you know!

Otherwise, what is your take on this Twitter VS Instagram debacle?