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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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5 top finds #26 »
A new logo for London 2012, Facebook's mobile phone is apparently a failure (and it's not even finished yet), Google's take on iTunes, i(can't)Message, chasing deer and chasing investment. It's 5 top finds...
1. 2012 gets a facelift
There was quite a bit of consternation when Wolff Olin's logo for London 2012(™) was unveiled in 2007. We were a little surprised to see the consternation continuing – with an alternative logo being submitted to Logo Design Love just last week (with an accompanying dig at Wolff Olin's attempt). venturethree's version is actually rather good!
2. Poor Buffy's not doing so well
There have been rumours drifting around the internet for years about the possibility of Facebook producing a phone. Or rather Facebook writing the software and partnering with a hardware producer like HTC or Samsung to produce a mobile.
Tech blog AllThingsD recently published a story revealing that FB are actually in the process of producing such a phone running on a HTC handset with souped-up Android. Apparently, according to Inside Mobile Apps, things haven't been going smoothly...
But, on a more positive note, all is apparently not lost. The Wall Street Journal is reporting Facebook are looking into filing their elusive IPO "targeting a time frame of April to June 2012 for an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter" – in which the company is looking to raise $10bn.
Which would value the company at around $100bn...
3. Spinning in control (as long as you live in America)
Google launched their attempt to steal the digital music crown from iTunes (Match) last week. The imaginatively titled (but rather awesome) 'Google Music' lets you upload up to 20,000 of your own tracks to the cloud (for easy listening on any device), share your music tastes via Google+, access your music anywhere and discover new music via the Google Music recommendation system.
Which all sounds great, but it's as of yet unavailable in the UK...
4. To iMessage or not to iMessage
When Apple announced iMessage, their version of Blackberry's BBM service, back at WWDC in June, we all jumped for joy at what we thought would be a (free and) fantastic, SMS-killing service.
But, as is often the way, all is not as magical as first advertised. Entrepreneur Matt Galligan eloquently described what we couldn't. Well worth a read.
5. Chasing deer and rapping for investment
We've two videos in this week's 5 top finds:
1) Benton (no relation to the author, for those of you who were about to ask; who the Sun is reporting is actually called 'Fenton') being admonished – but taking no notice – for taking an afternoon jog with a herd of deer.
2) An intriguing way of marketing your startup and asking for angel investment (but it seems to work).
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, #Benton, Buffy, facebook, Google+, iMessage, iPhone, London 2012, Mobile, Music
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Are group messaging applications a riot? »
After riots blazed across England last week, we take a look at how group messengers and social platforms could have fueled the fire.
The use of social media was applauded during the so-called Arab Spring riots and revolutions for democracy that took place earlier this year. After the English riots, there were calls to disable social media access if similar uprisings were to ever occur again – calls which alarmed technology media all over the world.
How did the riots spread across England so quickly?
In the days that followed the death of Mark Duggan, riots and looting spread across multiple London boroughs and the rest of England – reaching Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham. By the start of the following week, police across the country managed to restore order.
The finger was quickly pointed at Twitter and Facebook, two of the biggest social networks currently in the public domain.
If it wasn't Twitter, who was it?
However, it quickly became clear that another service could be to blame; Blackberry Messenger (BBM); an encrypted (i.e. private) social network found on Blackberry handsets, was apparently being used to arrange the riots. BBM is able to message groups of contacts – vastly increasing its ability to spread messages in a quick and viral nature.
At this year's South by South West (SXSW) technology and music festival, group messaging applications were the social platforms getting the most buzz. Group messaging apps allow users to share data like text and photo updates, their location and SMS updates to contacts without smartphones.
The rise in popularity of group messaging has continued as 2011 has progressed. OS-integrated services like Apple's iMessage (coming to market with iOS5) – with a similar native apps like Facebook Messenger (based on Beluga, a company acquired by FB back in March) coming from Mark Zuckerberg and co are striving to compete with previously uncontested BBM.
If we are to see a rise in the number of group messaging and social services coming to market, will we see a rise in the number of occasions where these services are used for ill rather than good? If so, the British Government sees no reason why they can't shut down social media sites and call in MI5 to crack any encrypted data.
The web is moving towards a more social future, and its users moving towards 24/7 connectedness via mobile devices. Will Western governments echo those of, say, Egypt or China who block access or simply shut the internet down if they don't like how its being used or what's being said? It's surely a painful thought to consider – but one we may have to in the near future...
What do you think about group messenger applications and social networks being used for ill? Will they be the death of free speech on the internet? Let us know via email, Twitter or in the comments below.
Categories: Insight
Tags: Apple, BBM, facebook, iMessage, #Londonriots, Mobile, Twitter
