Daily Bits

Social Networks

The Dating Game Goes Social

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The Dating GameRemember that TV show which helped singles meet the person of their dreams? Quirky and funny, The Dating Game was one of the most popular TV shows in the old days. If I remember correctly, The Dating Game was even franchised in different countries. Not much has changed in the face of dating in that people are still on their own quests to find their perfect match. If anything, dating has merged with technological developments, creating new options.

Everyone knows about online dating and how it has become a viable alternative for many people. 3G Studios, a Reno, Nevada-based developer, has introduced a new element into the equation: a dating game that can be played with real people via social networks. Surprising? Not really. Silly? Probably.

The format of The Dating Game is not totally different from the TV show. A game will have a bachelor, or a bachelorette, seeking a date. There will be three potential dates who remain anonymous until the bachelor/bachelorette makes a decision. He or she will be asking personal questions which each of the contestants must answer. After several rounds, the person seeking a date will make his or her choice and gets to go on a date with the winner. Of course, the date may either be virtual or for real, depending on the people involved. The game is available for Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster – among others. (So people still do use Friendster???)

This new game raises a lot of questions, one of which is with regard to security. The developers deals with this issue by allowing avatars instead of photos. Personally, I think that if someone wants to play a dating game using his or her social networking account, then security would probably not be an issue for that person. Then again, if you take a look at that screenshot above, you might have second thoughts about playing the game.

In any case, if you are single and you find yourself having nothing to do this weekend, grab The Dating Game for free. Or you can read a book. That’s probably more productive.

The Ultimate Guide To Blog Promotion

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In the time it takes you to read this sentence, 3 new blogs will have come into existence. There can be no doubt that the world wide web in general, and social media sites in particular, are becoming more crowded and more competitive every second.  The result?  Standing out from the crowd is getting harder and harder.

Social media marketing is both necessary and extremely challenging. Blogs are an integral part of SEM, but simply building one isn’t enough. You need to get people to read what you write!

That being said, there are myriad resources that have become available which can help you promote and measure the success of your blog. Below you will find a definitive guide to some of the best resources online.

Overview of Blog Promotion

Promoting Your Blog

Some sweet, simple and easily actionable tips for blog promotion from Google itself, although we also love their disclaimer: “This is in no way a science or guarantee; it’s simply a few suggestions with which many bloggers have found success”. If you know little to nothing about blog promotion, it’s a good place to get an idea of the basics without getting overwhelmed.

21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic

SEOmoz offers some great, detailed advice for bloggers who want not just more traffic but better, more targeted traffic. There’s a lot here to help diagnose why your blog might be fledgling, and what to do to remedy the situation. [Read more…] about The Ultimate Guide To Blog Promotion

Where Do You Update Your Facebook Status?

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facebook addict
At work? In the living room while watching TV? In bed?

I don’t know about you, but I am online pretty much throughout my waking hours. I have a convenient excuse reason, too: I work online! I am not addicted to the Internet. Neither am I addicted to Facebook. It just so happens that I need these tools for work. Just because I update my status all the time does not mean anything. I’m not like those people who update their Facebook status from – you guessed it – the loo!

Where is this coming from? I just read a press release from AIS Media, a digital agency that recently conducted a survey on where people usually update their status on Facebook; that is, where they are physically located when the access their Facebook accounts.

I don’t know what they were thinking, but they did ask a very personal question in the survey: “Do you ever use Facebook on your mobile device while you’re in the bathroom?”

I suppose the survey was anonymous as, according to AIS, 27 percent of their respondents answered yes. Of those who answered yes, 54.4 percent were women while 45.6 percent were men. More so, those who do use their mobile devices in the bathroom to update their Facebook status mostly fell in the 30 to 49 age category.

AIS, being focused on social media marketing, had some pretty important-sounding conclusions:

While it may seem humorous to survey people about their Facebook usage while in the bathroom, the results underscore the proliferation of consumer social media usage and their strong need to stay connected. For businesses and brands, social media offers an opportunity to engage potential customers like never before.

They’re probably right, but I think it means one thing: we need to get a life. (Ooops, did I just say we?)

Twitter’s 2010 in Review: Justin Bieber, the iPad, and Android

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If Google has Zeitgeist 2010, then Twitter has its own review of the year that is almost gone. Twitter recently released the top trending topics on 2010, and if you want to know if you were “trendy” this year (or if you have nothing better to do), you might be interested at poring over the lists.

It may be hard for technophiles to swallow, but there are only two technology-related topics in the overall trending topics list, and they are at the bottom five! Yeah, we have to face it – for some people, the world does not revolve around the iPhone and other gadgets. We can be thankful, though, that these two (Apple iPad and Google Android) still ranked higher than Justin Bieber. Seriously now, if Bieber had ranked higher, I would be doubting the quality of tweets! (Then again, the data does not say whether the tweets are positive or negative.)
Overall Trending Topics

Narrowing the trending results a little bit, here is the list for trending topics in technology. Now it really is not surprising that Apple has practically hogged the list, is it? I am surprised, though, that Call of Duty Black Ops has made it to number 5. If the reaction of friends are anything to go by, the game is really something else, but I thought that the New Twitter would have ranked higher.
Tech Trends

There are other subtopics listed – check them out at Twitter Year in Review.

Jumo: More than Social Networking

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chrishughesEven before I read the details about the newest social networking site in town, I was already feeling positive about the whole idea. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I immediately took notice of its charitable goals.

You have to admit, social networking sites are fun and easily fill up idle time, but at the end of the day, their worth in real life might be up for discussion. With this new site that Chris Hughes has set up, things just might have a better impact.

Called Jumo, the site is primarily aimed at building connections between individuals and non-profits or charitable organizations. Charities will be indexed and people can find – or browse – these entities, as well as evaluate them.

In case the name Chris Hughes seems familiar but you just can’t quite put your finger on it, let me point you in the right direction. He is actually one of the co-founders of Facebook and is also known for having been the director of online organizing for Barack Obama’s campaign back in 2008. It is not a surprise that he is the guy behind Jumo, is it?

I have to be honest – I am wondering if Jumo will actually result in people giving more to charities. If you think about it, Facebook offers its own venues for giving, but how many people actually give to charities via this venue? I wonder if Jumo will be able to take things one step further and result in tangible donations for those who are in need the most.

One question: would you sign up for Jumo and be more active in giving because of it?

Friendster to Make a Comeback?

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Friend what? For sure, a considerable number of people still remember the “good old days” when Friendster was THE social network to be part of. However, actually admitting to being active on Friendster these days is something that I will not expect of a lot of people. For one reason or another, the popularity of this social network just spiraled downward – a fate that is not altogether alien to social networks.

I did read on the BBC today, however, that the people at Friendster are not giving up. The fact is that, while Facebook is the undoubted leader in the scene, Friendster is still alive. In Asia, especially, this platform is doing quite well. Friendster users in countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia are actually as many as Facebook users, believe it or not.

Having said that, experts believe that Friendster can get back on its feet. Last year, in December, MOL Global bought Friendster. MOL Global is known in Asia as the number one online payment solutions provider. With that kind of entity backing Friendster up, the site has actually grown in some ways.

Its interface has been changed to suit the times. Applications have been added, and games have been integrated. These changes could very well be what Friendster needs to draw the attention of users once again.

Today is the first time that I logged in to my Friendster account for a year or so, and lo and behold, my account is still alive! Even more surprising, my friends seem to be quite active. If their behavior is any indication, then perhaps Friendster will indeed make a comeback. Then again, if more people are like me, then I fear that Friendster has no hope at all.

Have you logged in to Friendster lately? What do you think? Will we be hearing more of Friendster or will it simply suffer a drawn out death?

Photo via PinoyAmbisyoso