Photo Uploads Coming To Foursquare

SFGate.com Business Insider writer Nicholas Carlson, reports that photo uploads are coming to Foursquare.

I love posting pics on Facebook, but I’m not sure if I would be as apt to put photos on Foursquare. If I could share pics through something like TwitPic, however, I may enjoy doing that and see how it could integrate with Foursquare easily.

[Foursquare CEO] Dennis [Crowley] didn’t tell us when to expect the new feature.

It might be a while. We get the feeling there’s white board somewhere at Foursquare HQ with a list about four feet long of features Dennis’s team is planning to build.

If we were designing a photo tool for Foursquare, we would build it to integrate with Facebook’s photos application. It would be fantastic for Foursquare’s growth if users were able to upload geo-tagged photo-albums to Facebook through the Foursquare app.

Read more on SFGate.com here.

Facebook CEO: “We’ve Made a Bunch of Mistakes”

Facebook CEO: “We’ve Made a Bunch of Mistakes”

What? Zuckerberg is admitting they made a mistake concerning Facebook’s repeated privacy changes? No way!

In his first comment since the privacy controversy of recent weeks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that the company “made a bunch of mistakes” and wants to “get this stuff right this time”…Today’s concession isn’t a public apology; rather, Zuckerberg replied to a private e-mail from tech enthusiast Robert Scoble, who then requested permission to reprint Zuckerberg’s response on his blog.

Zuckerberg’s reply has some merit to it: Facebook wants to respond to the dust-up with a product fix. Rather than simply telling users what he intends to change, he’d rather go ahead and make that change.

Check out Pete Chasmore‘s post on Mashable for Zuckerberg’s full reply.

Posted using ShareThis

Foursquare Gets Mainstream Exposure on “The Today Show”

Foursquare has scored itself another partnership, this time with NBC’s The Today Show. Foursquare users who head to 30 Rock this summer for the Toyota Concert Series on Today will be able to check in, earn badges and compete for mayorships. The Today Show has its own branded Foursquare partner page that you can also visit to get music tips and other assorted information.

Check out the show clip and Christina Warren‘s full post on Mashable.

Social Media STATS

Erik Qualman‘s update of his excellent “Social Media Revolution” video includes some great stats, especially for business-owners debating on whether or not they need to get involved with social media.

For example…

34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands.

Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.

People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them.

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements.

Check out the updated “Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)”:

We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.
~@equalman

Coming Soon: Twitter Business Center

Earlier today, Mashable confirmed with Twitter that they have begun beta testing with what they are calling the “Twitter Business Center”.

Basically, this new business center will allow businesses to utilize the power of Twitter even more so than they currently do. Features include customizable profile pages, the ability to add a “Verified Account” badge to their profile, extra preferences to help reach customers, and multiple contributors (think HootSuite Team).

Check out the article from Mashable Co-Editor, Ben Parr.

4 Ways Foursquare Can Improve Your Workplace

I found the following post on Mashable this morning and shared it immediately because it has such valuable information for businesses regarding the power (and persuasion) of social media networks like Foursquare… Hours later I’m just now editing my initial share to include a little blurb and my own thoughts. 😛

4 Ways Foursquare Can Improve Your Workplace

It’s amazing how fast a social network can catch on. The most recent example is Foursquare. Co-founder Dennis Crowley recently announced they added almost 100,000 users in the ten days following SXSW. You might be tempted to write it off as a fad, but remember: Twitter started in a very similar way.

For those of you not familiar with Foursquare, let’s start at the beginning. It’s a location-based social network that combines your friends, location and status, meaning it allows me to tell my friends where I am and what I’m doing. The interesting thing about Foursquare is that this happens in a pseudo-game format. When I check-in at places, I get points. After multiple check-ins, I get badges. And I can see how many points I have in comparison to my friends.

While many are talking about the benefits of Foursquare as a marketing tool, don’t forget some of the same concepts can be applied to the internal workforce…

Posted using ShareThis. Read more of Sharlyn Lauby‘s post here on Mashable.

I think Sharlyn’s ‘4 Ways’ are beneficial for any business wanting to get more involved with their employees, customers, and of course the world of social media:

1. Orientation – for students or company employees (old and new)
2. Making Work Easier – for engaging your customers
3. Recognition – I’m the Mayor of 27 places and I love it!
4. Morale – positive work environments = more productive workers

For more workplace tips and great advice, follow Sharlyn on Twitter: @hrbartender

Social Media Achievement

Obviously I am obsessed with all things social media, otherwise this blog would not exist. Well, I am happy to say that my obsession has finally paid off because {big announcer voice} ebasedBOB’s Social Media Marketing Blog has made it on to Alltop!!!! That’s right, my lil’ ol’ blog actually made it on to Alltop’s list of “Top Social Media News”! Go ahead, take a look for yourself, or do a search for ‘ebasedBOB’ and you’ll find me listed under ‘Social Media’. Pretty cool, huh?

Confirmation that I kick ass!

Social Media Targeting Local Businesses

Following in the footsteps of both Foursquare and Google, Facebook is now sending their own window decals to local businesses to display, so their patrons will ‘Like’ them.

Mashable Associate Editor, Jennifer Van Grove blogged yesterday about Facebook’s latest local marketing effort:

This first step toward serving local businesses is an extremely smart maneuver very much like Google’s Place Pages offering. Also, the day that Facebook correlates your physical location in the real world with their local business Pages does not seem too far off.

Jenn goes on to say that “Facebook’s more than 400 million userbase and the value of an instant Fan will make [this] offering especially appealing to local business owners.”

I know it’s important for local businesses to brand themselves on the big social media networks such as Facebook, as well as on the up-and-comers like Foursquare, however, how many social media window decal do local businesses need?

If your business is not on the social network bandwagon yet, it’s not too late. Let our internet marketing specialists help you devise a social media marketing plan!

Countdown to OAuthcalypse

Mashable Co-Editor, Ben Parr, recently posted about Twitter’s upcoming move to turn off basic authentication for apps…

In 9 weeks, 3 days and some change, Twitter will turn off basic authentication for apps, making OAuth the only way to connect to Twitter applications. The Twitter API team has even launched a countdown to what it calls “OAuthcalypse.”

Currently, there are two ways to connect to apps: basic authentication, where you provide your username and password to a third party, and OAuth, which allows you to connect to apps without giving away your account information. As part of a move to make Twitter more secure and stable, basic authentication will be removed on June 30th. Apps will no longer be allowed to ask for your username and password.

You can continue reading Parr’s post on Mashable here.

I’m happy to see that Twitter is focusing on making its platform more secure. With Facebook’s recent ‘Instant Personalization’ feature and Blippy exposing users’ credit card information, at least one social network is working with us to be secure online.

Most Marketers Use Social Media, But are New to It

The SocialMediaExaminer is a great website I have just recently come across. The following excerpt is taken from their 2010 Social Media Marketing Report, as discussed on MarkertingCharts.com…

A majority of marketers are using social media in their marketing efforts, but most have only been using it for a few months or less, according to a new survey from SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Nine in 10 Marketers Use Social Media
Findings of the “2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report” indicate that nine in 10 marketers (91%) are currently using social media as part of their marketing efforts. Small businesses were slightly more likely to be using social media.