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News, insight and tips from the social web.
The Hoop blog covers the evolving digital landscape, social media, mobile communications, content marketing and also includes 5 top finds and Fish on Friday. Feel free to make comments.
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Fish on Friday with chips. »
We enjoy fish n chips (Slaughtered Lamb today as it happens) like many in the UK. This week saw the announcement of the contenders for Fish n Chip shop of the year.
To maintain these traditions (and the fish stocks) we have to cure our national obsession with cod.
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Fish on Friday applauds award. »
Good news for fish this week, as The End of the Line won the Puma Creative Impact Award. The Oscar-nominated film invites the viewer to imagine the very real possibility of a world without fish.
Here's another revolutionary film award winner.
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Fish on Friday pays tribute to Jobs. »
We were big fans of Steve Jobs, head honcho over at Apple, who sadly passed away this week.
It'll take a while but with professional help we'll get over it.
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5 top finds #21 »
It's been a while since our last 5 top finds, but we're back with a bang this week; remembering Steve Jobs, going mad for innovative stickmen, Paypal talking NFC, some truly astounding time lapse images and experiencing zero gravity (on Vimeo).
1. We'll miss you Steve
After his battle with an unusual form of pancreatic cancer, Steve Jobs passed away on Wednesday – the day after Apple unveiled the latest iteration of the iPhone.
We were all a little deflated when Tim Cook announced the 4S and not the iPhone 5 like some of us were expecting, but when Steve died the following morning we understood. Tech evangelist Robert Scoble's post on Google+ says it all – it's well worth a read. And if you're wondering what the image above is, head over to Mint Foundry to find out more.
2. Draw a stickman. No, really
After spotting this the other morning, we spent our entire lunch hour drawing stickmen. We're pretty sure you will too. Head over to drawastickman.com for an idea of what all the fuss is about.
3. NFC is "years away" according to Paypal
We recently wrote about NFC here on the Hoop blog. Paypal recently featured the technology in their latest advertising campaign, but, in a recent interview with TechCrunch, their Director of Communications said "...we don't see NFC as something that will happen very quickly". It's an surprising admission and, from our point of view, a rather disappointing one.
4. Bing.com celebrates time lapse photography
We recently stumbled upon this truly sensational video, after if was featured as a video background on Microsoft's search engine Bing. MSNBC's Photoblog has an interesting write up about some of the photos that feature in 'The Mountain' video.
5. Base jumping in slow motion
We featured a rather hair-raising video in our last 5 top finds, but today, instead of blowing your socks off with insane daredevilry, we'll do it in slow motion. Because everything looks lovely in slomo – even a 6,000ft base jump. Head over to Vimeo to 'Experience Zero Gravity'.
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Search goes social »
What is social search and why is it important?
Google doesn't like Facebook and the feeling's mutual. Both Silicon Valley heavyweights are competing for supremacy and, to start with, it looked like Facebook had won the first round. But we're not writing Google off just yet...
Facebook are without a doubt one of the biggest companies in the technology space. They've got the biggest social network in the world with 800m active users – and they predict they'll be the world's first 1bn-strong network by the end of 2011. Facebook were (and, to an extent, still are) pretty much unrivalled in the social space until Google launched their latest attempt at a social network in July.
Prior to launching their social network, Google rolled out the '+1' this April – which was seen by many as an attempt to compete with Facebook's 'Like' button (which, after being released in April 2010, is currently used on around 2bn posts a day).
Google described the '+1' as:
"...digital shorthand for "this is pretty cool." To recommend something, all you have to do is click +1 on a webpage or ad you find useful. These +1's will then start appearing in Google's search results."
Earlier this week, Google announced that their '+1' button is being "served 2bn times a day", which may not match Facebook's 'Like' button statistics (the 'Like' button is actually being used 2.3bn times a day) – but it's close. This isn't just Google encroaching on Facebook's social space; the '+1' button hints at something bigger.
Google+ has only been open to the public for just over a month, but it's already doubled its user base from 25m to 50m and is growing at 4% a day (with a predicted 2m new users signing up every day). Admittedly, Google+ is quite a way off Facebook's numbers, but Google might not be after Facebook's crown after all. When we first covered the social network on the Hoop blog we said:
"If Google can fit the rest of their portfolio (search, advertising, mobile, video, blogging to name but a few of their other services) into this social venture, they'll have something that none of the other networks have. A truly social all-web encompassing experience."
Google aren't pinning all of their hopes and dreams on Google+ (although it's fair to say it's important to them). The social network will do them well, but it won't ever become their primary source of income. Advertising is, and, for the foreseeable future, will continue to be.
It's the '+1' button that is going to make or break their attempt to become social. Google+ is just a novel way to encourage people to sign up for a Google profile – which then gives Google access to users' social data but more importantly the '+1' in search. A 'truly social' search experience.
Google thinks this is the future; personalised results to each and every search query – with results (paid and organic) ranked using recommendations from people in your social circles.
Because, after all, you're just asking Google a question. And they want to give you the right answer.
So is the +1 button the key to unlocking Google's future; or is social search a flash in the pan? Feel free to leave us a comment below or let us know in via email or Twitter.
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Fish on Friday admits problem. »
Fish stocks across the world are in a terribly unhealthy state. Campaigns we back include: Hugh's Fish Fight (anti-discards), Fish2Fork (sustainable fish restaurant guide) and End of the Line (marine conservation).
And of course some species are more unhealthy than others.
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