The true end users of Facebook are the marketers who want to reach and influence us. They are Facebook’s paying customers; we are the product. And we are its workers. The countless hours that we — and the young, particularly — spend on our profiles are the unpaid labor on which Facebook justifies its stock valuation.
It begins
brycedotvc: via @phineasb JazzHate = Winning

brycedotvc:

via @phineasb

JazzHate = Winning

This May or May Not Have Something to Do With a Meteorite State Department Pocket Tweets FTW

This May or May Not Have Something to Do With a Meteorite

State Department Pocket Tweets FTW

William Shatner Answers Reddit’s Favorite Question

I had a serious conversation with William Shatner today about the nature of the social web (I will post the write up on  my blog on Forbes), but here’s a quick snippet from our conversation that was a bit more lighthearted. 

Shatner has been Redditing up a storm lately and preemptively gave this answer to the horse sized duck vs. 100 duck sized horses question: 

So I’ve been reading the AMAs. First off whomever told me on Twitter that they were easier to follow LIED! ;-) They ramble and ramble off on a plethora of bizarre trails.

It seems like it always comes down to this question: “Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?”

My answer: I’m a lover, not a fighter.

Pretty weak right?

Well, I pressed him on the question (i said 1000 duck sized horses), and he gave me a real answer. Listen above.

SoundCloud / Alex Kantrowitz

Facebook is more than a fun place to stalk people: It’s a history of my life, and the basis of my social life. I plan just about every organized social activity on it—in fact, I would have a hard time throwing a party or even just finding things to do on the weekend without it.

This is True

The above quote is pulled from Simone Foxman’s recent Quartz article, “Facebook is a goldmine in the making.” I think Simone nails the reason why Facebook isn’t going anywhere, but both she and her colleague, Chris Mims, who wrote the counter argument, “Why Facebook will never make a significant profit,’ miss what I think will be the main source of Facebook’s revenue in the future, retail. 

Why dabble in a $30 million dollar advertising market instead of tackling a $200 million dollar Ecommerce market? Answer: There is no good reason to. Facebook has already dumped a good chunk of its inventory into an ad exchange, automatically cheapening the rest of its shit ad inventory, but making its remnant inventory easier to sell without a direct sales rep. This is happening as the company takes baby steps into the Ecommerce world. Gifts are just the beginning and, even if not a cash cow right now, remember, Facebook will be sticking around for a while. Sooner or later, Facebook will figure Ecommerce out. 

In 2016, the digital advertising industry is expected to be a $55 million dollar industry while Ecommerce is expected to hit $361 million. If you’re Zuck, the decision as to which one to focus on is easy. We should all expect to see Facebook change to facilitate that move, and yes, they’re going to make plenty of money because of it. 

This Ad is Good, This Ad is Terrible

Pull at your heartstrings, then tear you down with an IE logo. 

brooklynisbetter: Civet coffee? 49 euros/cup. From Sumatran coffee plantations, cat eats and then passes the beans. Only 500 kilos collected each year. Coffee a cat has pooped. Awesome. 

brooklynisbetter:

Civet coffee? 49 euros/cup. From Sumatran coffee plantations, cat eats and then passes the beans. Only 500 kilos collected each year.

Coffee a cat has pooped. Awesome. 

GEEKY I wrote for BuzzFeed for the first time today….The first time I wrote about them was here on Tumblr: What BuzzFeed Is Trying To Do Check out today’s: How to Fake a Great Night Out You listening, Manti Te’o?

GEEKY

I wrote for BuzzFeed for the first time today….The first time I wrote about them was here on Tumblr: What BuzzFeed Is Trying To Do

Check out today’s: How to Fake a Great Night Out

You listening, Manti Te’o?

BuzzFeed

jaredbkeller:

taylorlorenz:

News tweets

I just…I can’t. 

Community managers unleashed!

taylorlorenz

samir.tumblr.com: Social Media Rule 023: Accidentally Fav-ing a Tweet

samir:

This happens often, especially if you use a Twitter client like Tweetdeck. Someone tweets something worth fav-ing so you go to fav it, except for some reason, maybe the column streamed down or maybe you just clicked the wrong Tweet and hit fav without realizing it.

OH NO!

What do you do?…

I’ve been enjoying this series from Samir, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t reblog it. I have been a victim of the accidental fav many times, I like his advice here.