Flappy Bird is Coming Back!

Flappy Bird may soon arrive… again.

By now we all know the story. Flappy Bird was the number one app for most of January and February 2014. It became a craze, and people lost their minds trying to play the game. Flappy Bird became so successful it brought reportedly brought in $50,000 a day in ad revenue. But then its creator, Dong Nguyen, rather abruptly took the popular game off the market. Nguyen said that Flappy Bird would never return, stating he couldn't handle the pressure from its irate game players.

 It seems that Mr. Nguyen spoke too soon. This past Wednesday, in an article on mashable.com, Samantha Murphy Kelly wrote that the Twitter account of Flappy Bird's creator had some buzz-worthy activity. Responding to his followers, Dong Nguyen wrote in several replies that he is re-releasing Flappy Bird and it "will not be the original game [but] a better one." The cryptic game developer, when asked for a release date, tweeted only that the game would be released soon.

I think the entire ordeal surrounding Flappy Bird is overdone. We've all heard about the game repeatedly, and I think part of the hype was the fact that Flappy Bird was taken down at its peak. Even if Flappy Bird was truly taken down for the reasons asserted by Mr. Nguyen, it's a brilliant marketing strategy. Taking away the most popular game in the iTunes App Store at the height of its popularity doesn't make people disinterested - it makes them more determined to play the game. Now, this 'new and improved' version of Flappy Bird has to be spectacular. It has to blow everyone's mind because we're all expecting it to live up to the hype that was placed on its infuriating predecessor. It seems Flappy Bird’s reign of frustration isn’t done quite yet.

Too Many Hashtags

We all know what  a hashtag is. Most of us probably use them on a daily basis with our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts. I personally use them all the time.

Social Media is growing and companies are using it as a way to promote their brands. One would think that the more hashtags used on a post would draw more attention but this is not the case. According to the social media marketing company Socialbakers, the more hashtags on a brands post, the less engagement it receives.

Hashtags are meant to group together topics that are related. I think to many hashtags may take away from what the main point of the post is about. This may be why there is less engagement when too many hashtags are used.

An article posted on March 22, 2014 on mashable.com shows a chart created by Statista that shows how hashtags affect a brands audience engagement. The article can be found here
http://mashable.com/2014/03/21/facebook-hashtags-brands/

Everyone is a Reporter-The Ukraine

Anyone can be a journalist or news reporter these days, all they require is an internet connection. Through an article posted on mashable we are currently finding that when it comes to the political crisis in the Ukraine, social media is providing immense amounts of information. Twitter has provided the world with images of the crisis, but YouTube has provided more than 90,000 videos in relation to the crisis.

These videos have been uploaded since Feb. 1, and they represent 82% more videos than were shared to the service over the previous two months. They also give a look at the mayhem in the streets with unfiltered eyes. More than 200,000 people watched Espreso TV’s live coverage of protests in Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev. Furthermore, the YouTube videos and live streams have reached more than 25 million views between them.

Tom Sly, YouTube’s global head of news partnerships said in a statement, “YouTube is critical to giving people access to immediate and unfiltered information about what's happening on the ground from multiple perspectives…Eyewitness reporters, traditional broadcasters and new made-for-digital news organizations are playing a big role in moments such as the protests in the Ukraine and Venezuela to enable information to reach more corners of the world via YouTube."

I think that the people involved in the crisis or those that have access to information about it, including video should unquestionably share it with the world on any medium they have. News coverage is a business be it print or video, and as such they often have slants and don’t provide proper coverage or filter the information before it reaches the general public. When individuals share their findings there is less chance for bias or slant especially if it is just a live stream of chaos. 

Physical printed media may be making a comeback, knock on wood.

    Social media and everything online is the future, right? Well, according to this TechCrunch article from December, Instagram is thinking of taking a step back in time and offering their own printing services to transfer your favorite square, filtered snapshots onto physical "things" like paper, wood, glass, or canvas. This service is currently available from other websites, but not directly through Instagram. The problem with our recent online lives is that much of the stuff we create calls the cloud or hard drive home. It is rare if any picture taken on a iPhone makes it to a glossy or matte photo print that is safe from something traumatic that may happen on the inter-webs. 

Printing Instagram photos can also be a huge money-maker for the Facebook-owned company during holidays and birthdays. There is undeniably something more personal than tagging someone in a photo online, or writing them a message on their Facebook wall, or an e-card, and it is a physical card with a picture and a hand-written message. Around these times of the year, a picture capturing a special moment can be mailed to someone on a card, or make the picture the gift itself on a piece of glass or wood. This is a huge opportunity, not just for Instagram, but for any social media website who can find a way to make their intangible product a physical reality.   

The Perfect Bracket

An incredible way to personal brand a company can be through advertisements, billboards, as well as sporting events. For instance, March Madness receives enormous amounts of popularity, recognition, and of course, money and a lot of it. Well, one rich man and one rich company teamed up and created a little twist to the NCAA bracket. If one can correctly choose the winner of all the tournament's games, then one will win a billion dollars. 

First, create a Yahoo account and be one of the first fifteen million contestants to enter. After completing your bracket, sit back and enjoy the tournament. Sounds easy, right? Well, a math professor at DePaul University, Jeffrey Bergen told USA today that if you know something about college basketball, your odds are one in 128 billion. Quite frankly, this seems impossible. Since 1998, there have been over 30 million entries in ESPN's competition and none turned out perfect. So, if the chances are so ridiculous, why is Warren Buffet and Quicken Loans creating this opportunity?

Well, Warren Buffet did this for his own personal pleasure. He wanted to be creative and develop an impossible competition for fun. He told ESPN's Rick Reilly, "I just sat right in that chair and I did the calculations. Took me about 10 or 15 minutes. I hope I did it right." This challenge seems literally impossible. However, Quicken Loans is awarding the top 20 contestants a $100,000 prize. 

Quicken Loans teamed up in attempt to personal brand. Before people even can begin their bracket, they must fill out a questionnaire or survey developed by Quicken Loans to broaden their target market and get their contact information. In other words, a big company name participated in the development of the competition in order to gain popularity, publicity, and ultimately, money. 

For more information about the contest or challenge, please click on this link. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/03/16/why-you-wont-win-a-billion-dollars-with-warren-buffetts-bracket-challenge/

Steve Case, Predictions of the Internet

This thursday American Online Chairman Steve Case reflected on the history of internet and it's future. Case started AOL in 1985, when it was launched only three percent of households had access to internet and they averaged one hour of weekly use. During this time internet users were charged for each minute of network use, and it was illegal for the general public to have access to internet.

More than a decade later the internet has grown substantially due to the creation of the World Wide Web. Case stated "our world is arguably more peaceful, more prosperous and better connected as a result of this global medium that breaks down walls and builds connections." The question, however, is what will happen next.

Case based his prediction off of Alvin Toffer's book The Third Wave. Toffer's book discussed the progression from the agricultural wave to the industrial revolution and then predicted the creation of the "electronic" revolution. Case believes that we are experiencing the third wave of internet companies. The first wave of the electronic revolution occurred during the 1980's and 90's. This is when the internet was being built and connectivity began. It was at this time that AOL carried more than fifty percent of internet traffic in the U.S. Once companies began building services on platforms such as Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape this marked the second wave. From here the second wave companies developed such as Google and Amazon. Then the social media revolution took hold, as well as the creation of apps.

Lastly this leads us to the third wave. Case believes that the third wave will be about integrating the Internet, meaning it will become increasingly invisible. This will create even more opportunities, especially for health care, education, and government services. Collaboration and alliances will be at the heart of this wave. Case believes entrepreneurs will have to learn to work with governments, and governments will be able to weigh in on issues like security and privacy.

Read the full article at Mashable.com

Make social media work for you: finding job openings.

Social media sites are a great way to pass the time, share events,
photos and thoughts instantly, but is it possible to make these time
warp sites actually productive for professional growth? Absolutely!
 From Twitter to Pinterest and Tumblr to Facebook, there are creative ways to network and find jobs that match what you're looking for.

Job searching has changed an incredible amount in the past years as social media sites grow in number, popularity and user friendly interfaces. Gone are the days of scouring the newspapers and circling ads in the Pennysaver. Mashable.com recently released an article with tips and tricks to better networking for open positions. View their article here.

Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, LinkedIn and Pinterest, are some of the big names in social media today. Use that to your advantage! Because these sites are among the most popular, the possible reach your network can extend is endless. Put some thought into each profile you create on these sites too. It's important to consider who has the potential to see the information. As much as we all would like to think that we can assert privacy over our online lives, it isn't always guaranteed.


Of course with the popularity of these sites it's important to make yourself shine and show your unique attributes. Not surprisingly, mashable.com has an article for that too. Make sure your resume is the most up-to-date and relevant to the position you're looking for. Use this article to help create your perfect your resume.

Good luck!