Mashed Report tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010-05-09://2 2012-09-01T02:00:44Z Movable Type Pro 5.01 Top 10 of the World's Theme Parks Battle for Social Dominance tag:www.mashedreport.com,2012://2.901 2012-08-15T21:40:47Z 2012-09-01T02:00:44Z Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=1
Theme parks operators have a great synergy with social media.... keep coming up with cool stuff for people to play with and they will return billions of dollars in global word-of-mouth advertising. 

According to the Travel and Leisure, the Magic Kingdom is still the world's No. 1 most popular theme park, with more than 17 million annual visitors. The others rounding out the list add up to tens of millions of additional annual visitors, clearly demonstrating just how big the market is when it comes to creating "WOW" experiences for families everywhere. Big experiences equal big returns and if you're not on the pulse of the social media universe, you don't exist as far as today's prospecting theme park customer is concerned. 

Traditional marketing isn't as awesome as it used to be due to the evolution of DVR ad-skipping and online add blocking. Unlike most industries, theme parks have an ability to offset this problem by utilizing social media. Many theme park operators know this and are lucky enough to be in a business that simply needs to create something that people want to talk about and... BAM! A user-generated advertising campaign begins online via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, worth millions that is measurable and much more valuable than any traditional ad dollar spent in the past. 

With this global shift to a more connected society, theme parks are dropping some serious cash into the next best experience for their visitors to chat about. And the reason?... because people want something to enjoy with their families that offers a boat-load of awesome memories that can't be explained lightly, and have to be posted. By this, I mean the only true way to describe the experience requires status updates, pins, tags, tweets, and keeks on any and all social networks so that everyone knows how it felt at every moment of the experience. In a world of "likes" and "comments", the average amount of followers and friends in the social space, the return on the investment adds up quickly for theme park operators.

When you compare the social value created by these online socialites vs the cost of traditional advertising, it's easy to agree that now-a-days, there's a definite advantage to charming the "chatter" with the next best park experience. Justifying a crazy expense on a ride that takes you the highest, at the fastest speed, upside down, while spinning and diving underwater is a no-brainer. With the advancement of mobile technology and total connected people on the planet... the Socialverse has become the premier means of mass-communication for any smart theme park marketer. 

A lame ride can be a deal-breaker in today's world, regardless of how much publicity a park spins. Anyone can quickly conduct research on whether or not the million-dollar, hyped publicity campaign they saw on TV is full of hot-air. In as little as 5minutes, users can read hundreds of status updates from other user experiences, watch actual reactions on YouTube, or scan hundreds of photos to decide whether or not they want to justify spending the lofty ticket price of $70+, or even the extra VIP "Cut-in-line" pass cost averaging another $100+ along with whatever travel costs they may have to spend. 

Is it worth it? Well, if you check out the numbers below, the answer is absolutely! As long as theme parks can continue providing fun-times and freshly-themed experiences for its park visitors, they will enjoy the social perks of the connected world.


1) Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, FL

Annual Visitors: 17,142,000

In 2011, more than 17 million people visited the world's favorite theme park, eager for photos by iconic Cinderella's castle and a turn on rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. "It is what people think about when they think of Disney World," explains Deb Wills, founder of AllEars.Net. A Disney character parade cuts through the park and heads down Main Street, USA, every afternoon, and a fireworks spectacular lights up the sky many nights. The makeover of Fantasyland is the big news for 2012.


Disneyland Park (Photo: Greg Balfour Evans / Alamy)2) Disneyland Park, Anaheim, CA

Annual Visitors: 16,140,000

Disney's original theme park, opened in 1955, comes in a close second to its significantly larger counterpart in Orlando. Disneyland can boast about some of Walt's best original rides as well as the newly revamped Disney California Adventure next door--all the more reason to book an Anaheim vacation.




Tokyo Disneyland (Photo: 2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc.)3) Tokyo Disneyland

Annual Visitors: 13,996,000

Though closed for a full month in 2011 following the tsunami, the 126-acre Japanese Disneyland still managed to pull in 14 million visitors. "It was a little bit surprising how strong this park did in the face of literal disaster," says Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. But maybe locals needed that Disney magic more than ever.





Tokyo Disney Sea (Photo: 2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc.)4) Tokyo Disney Sea

Annual Visitors: 11,930,000

Attendance dropped 6 percent at Disney's unique marine-themed park, whose seven themed areas are replicas of some of the world's most scenic ports of call. Like Tokyo Disneyland, it was closed for a month in 2011 following Japan's earthquake and tsunami.





Disneyland Paris (Photo: Marcos Veiga / Alamy)5) Disneyland, Disneyland Paris

Annual Visitors: 10,990,000

Europe's most popular theme park had a respectable 5 percent attendance bump amid a Continental recession. The park is heralding its 20th anniversary in 2012 with an elaborate nighttime light-and-sound show, a new carnival-style parade, and a meet-and-greet character train.










Epcot, Walt Disney World (Photo: Songquan Deng / Alamy)6) Epcot, Walt Disney World, FL

Annual Visitors: 10,825,000

Disney's futuristic- and international-themed park fell one position last year as its attendance flatlined at 10.8 million visitors. Expect a surge in numbers when the feverishly anticipated major renovation of Test Track is completed this fall. Other top attractions include Soarin' and Mission: SPACE.











Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World (Photo: M. Timothy O'Keefe / Alamy)7) Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, FL

Annual Visitors: 9,783,000

This 500-acre homage to Africa is by far the largest of all Disney theme parks, re-creating a lush jungle area and savanna that is home to 1,700 animals from 250 species. The Expedition Everest coaster and Kilimanjaro Safaris often attract the biggest crowds.





Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World (Photo: M. Jeremy Pembrey / Alamy)8) Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World, FL

Annual Visitors: 9,699,000

Disney's entertainment-themed park claimed the No. 8 spot for the second year running. Much of the credit goes to favorite thrill rides Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, not to mention stunt-filled shows like "Lights, Motors, Action!"





Universal Studios Japan (Photo: Photo Japan / Alamy)9) Universal Studios Japan, Osaka

Annual Visitors: 8,500,000

A chockablock calendar of 10th-anniversary events in 2011 helped secure the No. 9 spot for Universal's Japanese park, which mixes the best elements from its Orlando and Hollywood counterparts and features crowd-pleasing rides (Jaws) and shows ("Shrek's 4-D Adventure"). Watch for attendance to skyrocket when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens in 2014.


Islands of Adventure (Photo: stephen searle / Alamy)10) Islands of Adventure, UniversalOrlando, FL

Annual Visitors: 7,674,000

Catapulting ahead of Disney California Adventure and into the top 10 for the first time has given Universal execs newfound bragging rights. And with an expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the works, don't expect attendance to slacken anytime soon.


]]> It's Official - CoffeePledge Steam Reaches 300K Cups tag:www.mashedreport.com,2011://2.899 2011-05-23T04:30:29Z 2011-05-23T04:32:52Z CoffeePledge broke the 300K cups milestone officially at 5:23pm EST today, with its more than 40,000 user accounts. The world's first social media movement to leverage the coffee industry to fight cancer, is merely in its first 90 days of... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2

"With most internet users utilizing social media routinely every day, the distribution of a simple message can be done without the need for insane budgets," says Aspen Decker, CEO of the Social Good Foundation, "the key is to have a message that is specific, and not too complicated for social users to understand."

With nothing but coffee and ambition fueling the team behind the CoffeePledge, it seems milestones are being passed before they are able to be determined. When asked about what brand of coffee is fueling this innovation, Decker replied, "It's a special blend of social good... only found in special retail locations, to be disclosed during CoffeeWeek 2011."

CoffeePledge's social movement, provides the opportunity for users to pledge to drink at least one cup of coffee during CoffeeWeek, to support the fight against cancer. They are able to select their favorite coffee brands when pledging, to invite them to join the movement. As the total amount of cups pledged increases - so does the buying power of the user base. The goal of the movement is to influence coffee brands by demonstrating a big enough cause-market size of interested coffee-lovers, who want to participate if the coffee brands join.

Decker reports that the social site will be launching within the next week, so stay tuned for our analysis of the social features that will become available to all users.

Learn more about the CoffeePledge and join one of the most innovative campaigns in history: http://www.coffeepledge.org

About the CoffeePledge Initiative:

CoffeePledge -- a program of the Social Good Foundation, a charitable organization -- raises funds to accelerate cancer research, further education and save lives. In the winter of 2010, two Internet professionals whose lives were severely affected by cancer collaborated on a simple concept that could leverage their passion for social innovation, along with the resources of internet and coffee industries to fight the biggest disease in the world.

Co-founders include: Aspen Decker, CEO, whose mother has been fighting cancer for 15 years; and Marcos Arce, CTO. With nothing but coffee and ambition for fuel, the two began their mission to create the world's first online coffee 'buzz' initiative using social media to rally cause supporters for making cancer history together.

CoffeeWeek is currently scheduled for September, 5th-11th, 2011 anyone can buy a coffee, tea or water product, or donate the value of those drinks to the cause at any coffee partner location nationwide. The proceeds from drink purchases will vary by each coffee partner's commitment, however, 100% of all donations will go directly to fighting cancer.

]]> Starbucks is a Growing Brand Favorite on the CoffeePledge Network tag:www.mashedreport.com,2011://2.898 2011-05-23T04:14:29Z 2011-05-23T04:24:33Z As the total cups pledged continue to add up... so do the user requests to add favorite coffee brands to the cause. As of today, 44,000+ users nationwide have pledged to purchase more than 322,000 cups during CoffeeWeek 2011, to... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2

Users have selected Starbucks as one of their preferred coffee brands to drink during CoffeeWeek on more than 280,000 of the total cups, creating an impressive $700,000 in coffee purchasing power at a national average cost of $2.50 per cup.

"We estimate brand favorites will continue building followers," says Aspen Decker, CEO of the Social Good Foundation, "as we recently launched our following capability for users." When asked about Starbucks involvement, Decker replied, "We have invited Starbucks, as well as other brands to join us for CoffeeWeek and look forward to their participation in making history." "For now, we are focused on continuing to build our online and offline coffeebuzz to generate awareness, while coordinating CoffeeWeek events."

Centered around coffee, and fighting cancer... the CoffeePledge Network includes many familiar social network features, such as posting updates, newsfeed, inviting friends, following other users, as well as uploading videos and photos. It also includes a Coffee "Buzz" point system, where users can compete against each other on the "Buzz" leaderboard. There are badges to unlock and specific actions users need to do in order to unlock them. Users are also able to post to Twitter and Facebook from their profile and earn "buzz" points. Uploading Videos and Photos also earn users "buzz" points.

"The idea was not to be a stand-alone social network for users at all" says Decker, "it's to leverage all available tools and platforms of existing popular social networks and have users manage their coffee "buzz" progress from a single interface." "Users can collaborate, compete against each other, and help raise awareness about a great cause at the same time. It's simple and fun. Who said fighting cancer had to be depressing."

Learn more about the CoffeePledge and join one of the most innovative campaigns in history: http://www.coffeepledge.org

About the CoffeePledge Initiative:

CoffeePledge -- a program of the Social Good Foundation, a charitable organization -- raises funds to accelerate cancer research, further education and save lives. In the winter of 2010, two Internet professionals whose lives were severely affected by cancer collaborated on a simple concept that could leverage their passion for social innovation, along with the resources of internet and coffee industries to fight the biggest disease in the world.

Co-founders include: Aspen Decker, CEO, whose mother has been fighting cancer for 15 years; and Marcos Arce, CTO. With nothing but coffee and ambition for fuel, the two began their mission to create the world's first online coffee 'buzz' initiative using social media to rally cause supporters for making cancer history together.

CoffeeWeek is currently scheduled for September, 5th-11th, 2011 anyone can buy a coffee, tea or water product, or donate the value of those drinks to the cause at any coffee partner location nationwide. The proceeds from drink purchases will vary by each coffee partner's commitment, however, 100% of all donations will go directly to fighting cancer.

]]> The World's 1st Coffee Social Network Launches tag:www.mashedreport.com,2011://2.897 2011-05-21T18:11:18Z 2011-05-21T18:15:21Z CoffeePledge officially launched its social network today for its 40,000+ users. The world's first social media movement to leverage the coffee industry to fight cancer, is still in its first 120 days of birth, and is beginning to heat up... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2

CoffeePledge officially launched its social network today for its 40,000+ users. The world's first social media movement to leverage the coffee industry to fight cancer, is still in its first 120 days of birth, and is beginning to heat up the pot of tens of thousands of coffee-lovers world-wide.

CoffeePledge's social movement, provides the opportunity for users to pledge to drink at least one cup of coffee during CoffeeWeek, to support the fight against cancer. They are able to select their favorite coffee brands when pledging, to invite them to join the movement. As the total amount of cups pledged increases - so does the buying power of the user base. The goal of the movement is to influence coffee brands by demonstrating a big enough cause-market size of interested coffee-lovers, who want to participate if the coffee brands join.

The CoffeePledge started off as a pledge-only website to gauge the response from Internet users on the concept. After only two weeks, and more than 50,000 cups pledged by users, the development of the complimentary social network version of the site had been greenlighted and launched a couple months later.

"We are so happy to finally get this beta version launched," says Aspen Decker, CEO of the Social Good Foundation, "we knew we were on to something and didn't want to lose momentum, so we pretty much worked round the clock to get it done."

The CoffeePledge Network includes many familiar social network features, such as posting updates, newsfeed, inviting friends, liking a profile, as well as uploading videos and pics. It also includes a Coffee "Buzz" point system, where users can compete against each other on the "Buzz" leaderboard. There are badges to unlock and specific actions users need to do in order to unlock them. Users are also able to post to Twitter and Facebook from their profile and earn "buzz" points. Uploading Videos and Photos also earn users "buzz" points.

"The idea was not to be a stand-alone social network for users at all" says Decker, "it's to leverage all available tools and platforms of existing popular social networks and have users manage their coffee "buzz" progress from a single interface." "Users can collaborate, compete against each other, and help raise awareness about a great cause at the same time. It's simple and fun. Who said fighting cancer had to be depressing."

Decker and team wouldn't disclose what actions earn the most "buzz" points, but informed us users can find out when they start using the network. As Decker and team continue develop new features for users, they have also begun preparation for numerous offline events during CoffeeWeek, scheduled for September 5th-11th, 2011.

"We are setting up many events in six major markets nationwide" said Decker, "and coordinating the events are the next big hurdle for us. With the help of our wonderful user base and volunteers working round the clock, we are confident that we can reach our offline milestones and make CoffeeWeek a success."

With CoffeeWeek only a few months away, the CoffeePledge team seems to be maintaining high-energy and there is definitely not a shortage of creativity when it comes to the events being planned and social networks being built.

 ]]> Top 10 Tweets While Facebook Was Down tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.895 2010-09-23T22:32:08Z 2010-09-23T22:45:55Z Jacki Semerau http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=55 Facebook crashed on Thursday, September 23, 2010.  With its 500 million + users up in arms, die-hard Twitter users and rookies alike took advantage of the situation.  The humor varied from witty to snarky, from observant to lame.  Many claimed they "didn't care" or made snide remarks about the people who were freaking out. No matter what you personally thought about the Trending Topic "Facebook Down," one thing was for sure: Twitter users came out to play!

Here's my Top 10 Tweets: favorite attempts at 140 character humor regarding the Facebook outage:

10. @ClickWebDesign - Facebook is down, so open a window and shout your status update to the people outside. If they "like" your status, they'll give a thumbs up.

9.  @alqaeda - #facebook is down. Not sure if we did that, but we should claim credit anyway. Hitting the infidels where it hurts, etc.

8.  @MTVClutch - Facebook is down. We can't tell who's hungry or tired.

7.  @billyeichner - Facebook is still down!!! If anyone knows that weird girl I went to camp with, please tell her I said Happy Birthday!!!

6.  @danicrino - DNS FAILURE: Facebook is down which means 9 months from today, many children will be born

5.  @TheDollSays - Facebook users are roaming the streets in tears, shoving photos of themselves in people's faces and screaming 'DO YOU LIKE THIS? DO YOU??'

4.  @Emilburp - When Twitter's down, everyone Facebooks it. When Facebook's down, everyone Tweets it. When MySpace's down, no one cares.

3.  @OPB - BREAKING NEWS: Facebook is down. Worker productivity rises. U.S. climbs out of recession.

2.  @40WattHype - We're holding a benefit concert for all the farmville crops that died when facebook went down...

And my personal favorite...

1.  @soulblend - Wait wait - #Facebook goes down and as soon as its back up they post an opening for a developer - http://j.mp/cUQxEn? #SomebodyLostTheirJob

Other Fun "Facebook's Down" commentaries:

Huffington Post

ReadWriteWeb

Wired

 

]]> Google reportedly courts Hollywood for (more) YouTube movie rentals tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.891 2010-09-20T14:03:08Z 2010-09-20T21:43:58Z Google has been dabbling in streaming movie rentals for months now, but word has it that the search giant wants to plunge into the pay-per-view market head-first. Hollywood, meet YouTube. You may have already seen YouTube's somewhat limited movie rental... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2 Google has been dabbling in streaming movie rentals for months now, but word has it that the search giant wants to plunge into the pay-per-view market head-first. Hollywood, meet YouTube.

You may have already seen YouTube's somewhat limited movie rental store, which opened in January with a handful of titles from the Sundance Film Festival and has since expanded to flicks from the likes of Lionsgate ("Lord of War," "Reservoir Dogs") and ... well, some lesser-known studios. (Ever heard of "Fearless Hyena" with Jackie Chan? Not me.)

But Google's movie-rental plans for YouTube are apparently far more ambitious, with the Financial Times reporting (based on "several people with knowledge of the situation") that negotiations are underway with "leading" Hollywood studios for a wide selection of their latest and catalog movie rentals, the idea being to give iTunes and Amazon on Demand a run for their money.

Talks have been continuing for "several months" but have "taken on greater urgency in recent weeks," the Financial Times claims, with a certain amount of "excitement" on the Hollywood side as Tinseltown execs scramble for new sources of cash in the face of dwindling DVD revenue.

Google -- which has yet to confirm or deny the Financial Times piece -- is supposedly stoking the fire with promises of a "global" streaming rental store driven by its ubiquitous search engine.

The new YouTube rental store could arrive before the year is out, with rentals costing about as much as they do on iTunes and Amazon -- that is, about $5 for new releases, less for catalog titles -- says the FT article. No word on whether HD would be part of the deal, although given that YouTube already supports 1080p streaming, I don't see why not. It also sounds like Google wants to go the pay-per-view way rather than selling subscriptions, a la Netflix and Hulu.

In the background, of course, are hot-and-heavy rumors that Apple is teeing up a slimmed-down, $99 app-friendly revamp of its Apple TV "hobby," while Sony is prepping its (very real) $130 "Netbox" for market.

And then there's Google itself, which made a splash back in May with the announcement of its Google TV platform that would integrate Web browsing and Google search into your TV experience via set-top boxes and Google TV-ready HDTVs. Apps would also be a big part of the Google TV service, Google promises, with the first Google TV-ready products set to arrive in the fall.

Given the impending arrival of Google TV, it makes sense that Google would want a real on-demand movie rental store of its own that would be tightly integrated with its Google TV platform. Then again, it would be a little strange to see a truckload of for-pay video titles on the formerly free-for-all YouTube. (It's already odd to stumble upon the occasional green "rental" tag on a YouTube search result.) Odd, but inevitable, I guess.

• Financial Times: Google plans pay-per-view films (subscription required)

-- Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News. ]]> Tag, You're Here! Opting Out of Facebook Places Tagging Feature. tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.878 2010-08-24T17:44:25Z 2010-08-24T18:19:06Z Jacki Semerau http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=55 Facebook Places was rolled out last week as the new way to check-in and share your location with everyone on your Facebook Friends list.  Did you know that one of the features of Facebook Places is that your friends can tag you at a location?

What does that mean for you?  What if you're not even using the Facebook Places application? 

Simply put, you can be tagged at a location just like you are tagged in a photo or video.  And just like photos or videos, you don't have any control over who is tagging you where...by default.  However, you CAN change your privacy settings to disable friends from checking you in somewhere without your consent.

Here's how:

  1. In the upper right hand corner of your Facebook page, click on "account"
  2. From the drop down menu that appears, click on "privacy settings"
  3. Toward the bottom of the screen, click on "customize settings"
  4. Under the section "Things Others Share," find "Friends can check me into Places"
  5. The default setting is on "enable."  Simply click the drop down box and change the setting to "disable."  (See Photo Above)

You're now protected against being tagged at a location that you either don't wish to disclose or aren't actually at.  I'll be following up with an article that highlights some of the reasons the tagging feature isn't a good idea.  Even if you choose to use Facebook Places (I recommend against it), it's always a good idea to maintain control over when and where you disclose your whereabouts.  Don't leave yourself at the mercy of Facebook spammers, drunk friends, or even well-meaning friends that have a tendancy to post TMI.

If you wish to opt out of Facebook Places altogether, follow the step-by-step directions found here.

Until next time...

]]> Facebook Places: Don't Place Your Privacy at Risk tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.865 2010-08-19T20:23:45Z 2010-08-20T16:03:21Z Jacki Semerau http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=55 While Facebook has busy making a big deal about design changes to Business Pages, they have very quietly rolled out a new geolocation feature that effects all 500 million personal profiles.  Called Facebook Places, this new feature allows Facebook users to check-in and share their exact location with other Facebook users.  Furthermore, once checked in somewhere, a person can see who else is there currently.  Facebook users can even tag friends at certain locations. 

If you're not quite sure where I stand on Geolocation applications, you can read my review of another similiar service by clicking here.  In short, I believe these location based services to be VERY bad ideas. 

Facebook rolled out their new location based service on Wednesday, August 18, 2010, and did so under the radar of most users.  So what's a Facebooker to do?

Opt out!  Protect your privacy, and keep your whereabouts out of the public eye.  If there's anyone you want to meet up with, do so via less public options. 

Here's a step by step outline on how to put your privacy settings on Facebook to keep yourself from out of the public eye:

  1. From your Facebook home page, click on the Account drop down box in the upper right hand corner.
  2. From the drop down list, choose "privacy settings."
  3. The screen that comes up next will look like the photo above.  The "Places I Check In" setting is what we're going to change.
  4. Click on the pencil icon next to "customize settings" (see photo above)
  5. Click on the drop down box that appears to the right of "Places I Check In" (See photo below)


  6. Choose "Custom" and edit to "Only Me" (See Photo Below)



  7. Finally, you'll want to remove yourself from the "People Here Now" option.  It is a checkbox located directly beneath the drop down box you just changed.  Simply uncheck the box. (See photo below)



You're privacy settings will now keep you and your whereabouts safe, private, and away from the eyes of the general public.  As always with Facebook, there are usually a few adjustments after they roll out a new product and/or feature.  As changes develop, I'll keep you informed. 

Until next time...

]]> Former MySpace Chief Van Natta Joins Zynga tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.843 2010-08-17T15:28:18Z 2010-08-17T15:31:11Z Former Facebook and MySpace executive Owen Van Natta has joined online gaming giant Zynga, which produces FarmVille and Mafia Wars.Van Natta will serve as executive vice president of business operations, reporting to founder and chief executive Mark Pincus. Zynga declined... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2
Van Natta will serve as executive vice president of business operations, reporting to founder and chief executive Mark Pincus. Zynga declined to provide additional details.

The company has been in the news recently after signing lucrative deals with Facebook and Yahoo, and obtaining a reported $100 million investment from Google.

Van Natta resigned as CEO of MySpace in February, 10 months after taking the job. The social-networking site has had trouble keeping up with Facebook, which recently reached 500 million users. Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn took over for Van Natta as co-presidents, but four months later, Hirschhorn also resigned.

Prior to joining MySpace, Van Natta was CEO of Project Playlist, which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Prior to that, Van Natta was vice president of operations at Facebook. He left the company in early 2008, several months after he helped broker Microsoft's $240 million investment in the social networking site. Van Natta also served as vice president of worldwide business and corporate development at Amazon. ]]> How to Spot Facebook Scams Like 'Dislike' Button on Facebook tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.842 2010-08-17T15:14:23Z 2010-08-17T15:27:04Z Like many scams on Facebook, the "Dislike" button succeeded because people are gullible. Here's how to not become one of those people. Looking at Sophos' report on the Facebook "Dislike" button, which has reportedly spread virally through the social network,... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2 people are gullible. Here's how to not become one of those people.


Looking at Sophos' report on the Facebook "Dislike" button, which has reportedly spread virally through the social network, I noticed a pattern consistent with several other scams. Recognize these red flags, and you won't be fooled again.




First, it helps to have a pinch of skepticism when your friend posts an uncharacteristic status update. Did your old college drinking buddy just write "OMG Justin Bieber trying to flirt" on his Facebook wall? (Click on the image at left to see what to look for.) For that matter, is "OMG" out of character for your grown friends and family? A little bit of common sense always helps.

Now that you're skeptical, take a look at the Facebook status update in question. At the bottom, you'll see time elapsed since post was written and how it was delivered. So if a post comes from the web, it says "via Facebook." and if it's an update on someone's Mafia Wars progress, it says "via Mafia Wars Game."




With the "Dislike" button, the source is "The Official Dislike Button," and with another recent scam about a student attacking his teacher, the source was "Student vs Teacher." Do these messages really need their own apps for sending out messages? Facebook's "Like" button doesn't have its own app, so a genuine "Dislike" button shouldn't be using one, either.




And a video of "Worst McDs Customer" certainly shouldn't have its own delivery method for status updates, either. (Click the image at right for an example.) Questioning what comes after "via" is especially important if clicking on a link within someone's status update takes you directly to an app installation page.

Finally, some apps will give themselves away by sending you away from Facebook to an external website. The "Dislike" scam, for instance, would send people to sites such as fbdislikeit.info. This is the biggest giveaway of them all. Any time you're sent to an external website to install something on Facebook, use extreme caution and never install anything from a source you don't trust -- especially when the source claims to be "official.

The good news about this particular group of scams is that they aren't that harmful, and you can undo the damage by removing the application from Facebook's "Application Settings" page. But at that point, everyone will know you've been had.

]]> HOW TO: Stop Facebook Photo Tagging Spammers from Bugging You tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.802 2010-08-10T05:21:23Z 2010-08-24T23:11:02Z Have you Been Tagged in Some Random Photo on Facebook? Does it keep happening? You receive a message on Facebook that you've been tagged in a photo, but when you go to look at the photo you discover that... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2 Have you Been Tagged in Some Random Photo on Facebook?

Does it keep happening? You receive a message on Facebook that you've been tagged in a photo, but when you go to look at the photo you discover that it wasn't you at all, but some sort of product, service, or half naked bimbo pushing some link to a scam website?

Exhibit A: The Random Photo of Some Bimbo Pushing a Scam Website.

Trust me, you are not alone. This is a growing problem with the Big Three Social Networks, Facebook, AOL and MySpace. It's a crappy guerrilla marketing effort taking over a lot of Facebook profiles lately and Facebook doesn't seem to have a fast solution to this problem yet. It's so slimy, we hesitate to even mention it here, however, we see so many users on Facebook frustrated and unfamiliar with how to stop it.

Exhibit B: Users don't seem to understand that complaining to the user directly doesn't do anything but frustrate you more.

So, how does this work? According to a wonderful article, I found by Sarah Perez, at ReadWriteWeb,

"Basically, a marketer looking to promote something tags a photo with several of their most influential friends' names. Those "friends" aren't necessarily supporting the given cause, they've just had their name hijacked for this purpose. That tagged photo ends up in the news feeds of the friends of those influentials as if it was a photo of them. After people click through to view it, they discover that it's not actually a picture of their friend at all, but a message in support of some cause, product, or service, or just to piss people off."

Exhibit C: One of the Biggest Spammers on Facebook right now - Kicksbay.com

Kicksbay.com is a scam website that has many online complaints of customers that purchased their supposed official shoes, however, all seem to be knock off fakes. And upon complaining, kicksbay seems to basically steal people's money by not giving refunds, nor responding to people after purchase. So DO NOT PURCHASE anything from this site! And DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION!

It is also almost pointless to fight the company, as the website is based in Portugal, at least according to its hosting location.

Exhibit D: Kicksbay.com main website location information.

 

They also use another sister website that is a copy of the kicksbay website, to get around spamming issues from the kicksbay domain becoming more noticed, but don't be fooled... it is the same. See the hosted location info below to confirm.

Exhibit E: Scriptcut.com sister website location information.

Also, as reported by the great guys at ReadWriteWeb,

"For the marketer, this is an quick way to quickly push a message to wide group of people. Tag 20 friends, and through the friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) network, you could easily reach thousands.

"According to AdAge, photos are an ideal vehicle for marketers for three reasons. Sam Lessin writes, "First, people love them and tend to click on them all the time. Second, they get incredible real estate in news feed. Third, any message put into photos has a strange automatic relevance because it is attached to the name of a friend. Finally, there is a huge curiosity factor as to why a friend is tagged in an image."

"What's worse is that he concludes the article by encouraging people to use this new method of promotion. Yikes! We absolutely hate this idea and hope that Facebook figures out a way to stop this marketing loophole before news feeds get filled with spam."

How do You Fight Back?

So, to help you, and anyone else with the proper way to fight back, we have put together a few steps to remove the spammer, report them correctly to Facebook, and how to avoid this in the future.

Step 1: Report All Photos that you have been tagged in. If you were tagged in one photo of an album, most likely you were tagged in all photos of the album, so check all photos and report all photos of the album to Facebook (See Image Below. Bottom Right Side of Photo, Click the Text to report the photo as spam.

Step 2: Report All Photos that you have been tagged in. Next, to remove your name from the photos, find your name under the photo, and next to your name, you will see (remove my tag) or something similar to allow you to remove the tag. Once you remove the tag, it will no longer appear in your profile, or your wall. Be sure to check all photos in the album and remove tags on them too.

Step 3: Report The Profile to Facebook At the bottom left side of the spammer profile, you will see the (report/block) option. Please click this and follow the steps to report the spammer.

It will pop up a box that will look similar to this shown below. Follow the steps to successfully report the spammer to Facebook.

Step 4: Call Facebook (Optional) Facebook is notoriously slow about responding to spammer problems, however, if enough users start calling and reporting spammers, its possible that Facebook may move on it to shut us victims up.

The only number available is: 650-543-4800 - and there is not an option for spammer reporting, however, I am sure if you picked one that reaches a person, and let them know about the spammer, they would likely look into it to avoid any further wasted call times.

Step 5: Last but not Least.... Check out Who Friends You Not everyone is who they say they are. It is pretty easy to spot these spammer profiles. They mostly have random people on their photos that are not consistent with one face. They tend to use poor English, and they tend to not socialize very much in their profile stream.

Final Thoughts

So, hopefully, this article helped you out and gave you some ammunition to fight the madness. It is very annoying to say the least for everyone. The most annoying thing that I believe are the people who don't do anything about it except complain, so I hope that with this information, you have the stuff you need to fight back. So, please report spammers so we can help Facebook deal with this growing problem and hopefully they will find a faster response mechanism to fight the nonsense.


Spammer List

If you find anymore spammers on Facebook, fake profiles, etc, leave a comment below so you can help others fight the problem. List every spammer you find here so we can continue to report them until they go away or at least we can stay on top of it every time a new one pops up. 


UPDATE:

So, just one day after this article broke, Facebook notifies us of the new feature they added this morning. The new feature allows for much easier spam reporting. You can do it directly from your NewsFeed, as shown here below. So, with enough users following through with spam reporting, it does actually pay off. We will keep updating this article as more info comes in, but please keep commenting in with any new spammers you find, so we can stay on top of the issue.

Step 6: Report from your NewsFeed Button shown here below.  

spamnewsfeed.PNG

]]> Eva Mendes Sex Tape [OFFICIAL] tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.783 2010-08-07T00:30:53Z 2010-08-26T08:15:31Z After many days of speculation and excitement from fans, pervs, and well... let's just say me too... the Eva Mendes Sex Tape was officially released to the public and goes viral. Let's just say it shocked the internet world with... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2
Check this out and let us know your thoughts. After watching it, I just about died.
]]> Apple's Free App Promotion Falls Flat tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.780 2010-08-06T16:10:26Z 2010-08-06T18:54:19Z Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2

A key flaw with Apple's "Try Before You Buy" feature makes it a worthless app promotion. Also in today's App Industry Roundup, we examine more iPod rumors, apps for Lollapalooza and a review of $500 earphones.

App promo needs work

If an iTunes app is free, that means there is no obligation for you to like it or keep it after downloading. If you pay, well, that's another story. Even at 99 cents, a dud is a dud and that's aggravating.

Well, iTunes is now telling users to "Try Before You Buy" in a new section of the App Store. But there's a problem that makes it an absolutely worthless feature: all the apps listed in the "try" section of the App Store are free. Furthermore, the majority appear to be so-called lite versions of games or productivity apps that were designed as trials in the first place.

Now, I'm no marketing genius, but shouldn't we be able to find a few captivating and under-appreciated paid apps that could use such a promotion? (Examples: ProCamera, WordSnake and Flickitty.) Couldn't Apple design this feature so those paid apps 'expire' somehow after a period of time if the person who downloads the app doesn't buy the full version? It is a good idea to shine the spotlight on apps but as it is currently constructed, "Try Before You Buy" is misleading and pointless.

Another day, another rumor

We pointed out a host of fresh rumors in Thursday's report, and here's a new one for today: The next iPod touch will include a front-facing camera to use the FaceTime app, according to MacRumors.com. The post includes pictures from an iPhone parts supplier and "clearly shows a front-sided hole that would leave room for a front-facing FaceTime camera," the site writes. To initiate FaceTime calls on the device (and on the phone-less iPad), Apple will use emails instead of phone numbers, MacRumors previously reported.

Expect a new crop of iPods to be released after Labor Day.

Lollapalooza hits Chicago

If you're going to the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago this weekend, here a few handy apps for your iPhone.

First, the official Lolla app offers a list and schedule of when and where bands are playing. The app includes a map of the venue's stages, an integrated Facebook app to post pictures, and a channel from Slacker Radio that plays music from the acts. That channel is also available on the standard Slacker Radio app, by the way, and is a great listen.

Also, the Facebook portion of the Lolla app includes a "friend finder" feature so you can check out where your pals are at the show and arrange for meetings using the iPhone's GPS to plant a "digital flag" of where you're hanging out.

Second, AOL's Lifestream service is offering a Lolla booth where you can use free Wi-Fi, charge your mobile phone and enter a contest to sit in with interviews of top acts from Lollapalooza. And if you're not going to Lolla, you can use Lifestream to watch streaming content from the show, including live concert footage.

Listen to this

Finally, if you love music, can't make Lolla and have really deep pockets, I heartily recommend the new high-end earphones from Shure. The Shure SE535 Sound Isolating Earphones cost a whopping $500, but the sound is so pure and crisp, music fans will rejoice. In the age of digital music, where we tend to use music more as background noise than an active listening experience, these headphones will make you stop what you're doing so you can just listen.

Here's a review of the Shure SE535 earphones. (And yes, there are much cheaper alternatives from numerous companies, but very few products offer such dynamic sound.)

]]> SeizeTheDay iPhone app good for organizing your hectic life tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.777 2010-08-06T14:25:00Z 2010-08-06T14:42:19Z If your hectic life has you forgetting things that were at the top of your "list," it may be time to think about getting some help. Luckily, SeizeTheDay has been designed to be your polite, if not over-simplistic taskmaster, keeping... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2
SeizeTheDay is free and so easy to use that your 84-year-old great aunt could be up and running on the fly, organizing her Mah-Jong games in no time. The interface is simple and well designed, allowing you to seamlessly add a task and rate it by priority: high, medium or low. After you select a date for your task, you may then add individual or daily reminders (this lists all of the day's items). If you'd like to take it even a step further, you can also add an audible reminder, according to Yahoo News.

Since this app takes a pretty basic approach to organizing your tasks, SeizeTheDay would be the perfect fit for someone who's looking to stay organized with general tasks and who doesn't want to get bogged down with all the bells and whistles that a more complex app like 2Do offers. Here, you get the bare bones of a task-management program and it delivers what's promised. Many will even like the fact that task mastering becomes, dare I say, simple.

But, if you're looking for an app that can offer you more than just the basic functions of keeping tasks together in an organized manner, as in you're seeking the ability to have multiple reminders, recurring daily or weekly tasks, a bill-payment indicator or the ability to sync to the iPhone calendar, you may want to look elsewhere.

However, if you need to stay on top of your game and aren't looking to fork over a lot of cash (or any for that matter), you might have just found the app that will keep you in the know of your own crazed day-to-day life. And for that, you need no reminder. ]]> Jersey Shore-Related iPhone Apps Worthy of a Few Fist-Pumps tag:www.mashedreport.com,2010://2.767 2010-08-05T16:14:53Z 2010-08-05T16:21:42Z Even if most watchers and onlookers are making fun of cast members of MTV's "Jersey Shore" for being catty, shallow, and insert-trashy-(but entertaining)-word here, the joke is on them because these guerilla juiceheads and guidettes have an amazing house... Mashed Report Staff http://www.mashedreport.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2&id=2

Even if most watchers and onlookers are making fun of cast members of MTV's "Jersey Shore" for being catty, shallow, and insert-trashy-(but entertaining)-word here, the joke is on them because these guerilla juiceheads and guidettes have an amazing house in Miami and they're getting paid to be there. You might call this show exploitative on MTV's part, but when all you're looking for is to go tanning, creeping, fist pumping, or cat fighting and someone hands you a golden ticket and the go-ahead to do all these things, does it really matter? When you're looking for a little more "Jersey Shore" love from Snooki, Sweetheart, The Situation, and the rest of the cast, check out these apps to tide you over in between episodes.


MTV's Jersey Shore City Guide (99 cents)


Take recommendations from the crew on restaurants, hotels, shopping, bars and clubs. If you're hungry, Snooki suggests Sushi Samba, and Vinny's a big fan of Ninja New York. And when it's time to go out, try La Pomme and Pacha, frequented by Jenni J-Woww. If you're not already well-versed in the personalities of the cast members, you can read about each one, including their favorite places to creep -- or just eat -- here. And if you're looking for a particular type of spot, whether it's date night or time to rage, MTV's Jersey Shore City Guide app will recommend something with your requested vibe nearby.


My Jersey Shore Name (99 cents)


With the My Jersey Shore Name app, you enter your gender and name, and then give a fist pump (shake of your iPhone) to reveal a series of nicknames to go by during your summer at the shore. As a girl named Jesse, I first got "The Tight End" (wowee!), and then with each additional fist pump, "The Speed Bump," "Tanda Bear," and I stopped at "Jennifer Taniston"--that was enough for me. As a boy named Jesse (just for fun), I drew the names "Nelson Tan-dela," "The Body," "Charles Tan-son," and "The Tan-gent." Just when I was about to confirm that the nicknames that came up were the same no matter what first name you put in, I was proved wrong when the female name Violet turned up the nickname "V-Scream!" Not to mention "The Rack," "The Position," and "The Implication."


Jersey Shore Nickname Generator (Free)


A similar but free version of the My Jersey Shore Name app, the Jersey Shore Nickname Generator requests your first and last name and then includes them both in the name it gives you. On my first try, I scored Jesse "G-Normous" Sposato, then Jesse "Machine Gun" Sposato, which I liked better, though I wasn't sure if I deserved -- or had earned -- such a harsh nickname. Then I got "Hippo" sandwiched in between my first and last name, which I took to be pretty negative, as I had read in a "Jersey Shore" dictionary that a "hippo" is a large, unattractive girl. Talk about a diss. When you get sick of generating nicknames for yourself, pop on over to the Jersey Shore Facebook page via this app and become a fan.


Jersey Shore Party App (Free)


Yet another app where you can generate a nickname. I got "Diamond Girl" on the first shot and stuck with it, figuring this just might be the least offensive nickname I would happen upon. Next, I went to "catch" a fake tan, where the screen sizzled and flashed as simultaneously, a warning that tanning isn't good for you and causes cancer graced the screen. My favorite part of this app was the pickup lines. With lines like "Do you mind if I stare at you up close instead of from across the room?" and "If you were a library book, I would check you out," and a name like "The Situation," how are you not going to get whatever girl you have your eye on? Other highlights are fist-pump-o-meters in glowstick and musical forms. Here, your amount of fist pumps, pumps per minute, average pump force, and calories burned are measured by using either a song or a glowstick. Jersey Shore Party App is loaded, especially for being free.


Jersey Shore Camera (99 cents)


If you want to see what you'd look like as a guido, or you're considering joining the club but not sure how well it suits you, take Jersey Shore Camera for a test run. Start with an existing picture of yourself, take a new one; or, if you want to see how well your friend would fare as a guidette, snag a pic via Facebook. Then, decorate the person in the picture with a series of "Jersey Shore"-esque accessories. Choose from a gold necklace, one with a cross, a container of muscle milk, a bottle of hard liquor, two different pairs of aviator sunglasses, corny printed shirts in short and long sleeves, a dragon tattoo, and more. I have to say, I've now seen what I look like as a guidette, and I'm happy to come out myself on the other side.


iFist Pump: Techno Ringtones (Free)


If you're going to get decked out in "Jersey Shore" gear--fake nails, body parts, lots of bronzer, and mega-muscles galore--there's no reason to stop at your ringtone with the iFist Pump app. Why settle for vibrate when you can shine with "Bring the Noise," "On the Prowl," "Punch, Kick, Stomp," and "Path to Freedom?" Tap on a ringtone to preview, and to get a link to download a ringtone emailed to you, tap on the envelope.

]]>