Social Media

The lack of official apps for Windows 8 led to me describing the Windows Store as being like a Bangkok night market -- full of cheap knock offs. Well today Microsoft’s new OS got at least one big official app, with Twitter arriving for Windows 8 and RT.

It’s similar in design to Twitter’s web interface, and easy to use with Home, Connect, Discover, and Me tabs down the left hand side. Photos appear nice and large, and you can swipe to view multiple pictures. As you’d expect the app has a live tile, so you can see who’s replied to you, as well as view notifications for replies and direct messages.

Netflix, the popular DVD-by-mail and internet streaming service, today announced that it is bringing social sharing to your video experience with new Facebook integration -- a feature previously available elsewhere, but prevented here by U.S. law. Now you can no longer pretend to your friends that you really didn't watch that sappy love story last night.

Netflix's Cameron Johnson, director of product innovation, states that "Netflix members in the U.S. can share their favorite shows and movies on Netflix with friends by connecting to Facebook and agreeing to share".

I watched an advert for Microsoft’s new webmail service yesterday. It starts by showing a man changing his job from Deliveryman to Stuntman on the website. Next up, there’s a pretty young woman getting married and locking lips with her partner. Afterwards she uses Outlook.com to change her name from Sarah Jones, to Sarah Jones-Brown, and a female friend emails to congratulate her. The advert ends with a voiceover saying "Get email that keeps your friends information up to date automatically".

I thought it was a decent, if unspectacular, ad that gets its message across well. Then I scrolled down to the comments. And oh my, the bigots were out in force. Because, you see, the woman in the video was getting married to -- shock horror -- another woman!

The storied NFL franchise, the New York Jets, once home to "Broadway" Joe Namath, hopefully has learned a Twitter lesson -- never ask something without fully thinking through the consequences, especially when your fans may be nearing the end of their proverbial ropes. Just ask Microsoft about this.

The organization chose last night, on the eve of free agency, to ask fans for their input on the direction the team should take. I seriously doubt the Jets had any real intention of allowing fans to overrule management, but meant more a fun gesture to make fans feel more a part of the process. The Jets proceeded to ask "Free agency begins tomorrow. The Jets priority should be _________".

There is a lot going on right now down in Austin, Texas. This week the city plays host to the popular SXSW Interactive show -- an idea that began as a music festival and then added technology to the mix. Today BitTorrent chose the location to remove the private tag from its Live streaming service and let the public play with it for the first time.

The service is a Peer-to-Peer live streaming platform that the company says is "for anyone with mobile video or webcams, for anyone in the moment, on the ground, or on the front lines; for everyone with the need to break news or break it down in real time".

Social sharing and video-editing service Givit gets more musical, in an announcement made during SXSW in Austin today. The Givit app is exclusive to iOS and seeks to be to videos what Instagram is to photos.

The new focus is all about music videos or setting moments to music, and iPad, iPhone or iPod touch users shooting, editing and sharing the creations -- straight from the device. "Anyone can now create an amazing music video or reimagine their favorite moments right from their iPhone, adding new clips, sound or transitions and share socially however they choose", Givit CEO Greg Kostello says.

Three days ago, I told you "Suddenly, Facebook looks more like Google+, only better", based on the product launch demos. But seeing is really believing. Photographer Thomas Hawk, whom I've followed online for a long time, has the new FB News Feed. His side-by-side shot of the two social networks is a real shocker. You're not seeing double.

I suppose there are few obvious ways to present big, bold images in the feed and supporting links around them. But this copycatting is something. "Content in the new news feed feels a lot like Google+", Hawk explains. "I’m not saying Facebook copied Google+ here, and imitation is, of course, the sincerest form of flattery and all that, but check out the two content envelopes side by side in the photo...They are pretty darn close".

Microsoft rolled out its Windows 8 version of Bing Desktop in late 2012 and brought with it the cool wallpapers that are a part of the search engine's home page. Now, the company has quietly updated the app with another major feature -- Facebook integration. Without any announcement, version 1.2.113.0 launched, but has yet to find its way to all users.

The app is not all about the wallpaper, though that was my main reason for installing it upon original release. Bing Desktop also lets you conduct searches right from the desktop without opening any browser, as well allowing access to the top news stories, images, video and other popular content.

This week, Twitter’s OAauth keys leaked to Github. So what does that mean? Don’t panic. The consequences of a client application’s key being compromised are not as serious as user credentials being compromised. The risk associated with this breach is that a malicious application tricking you in participating in an OAuth handshake could access the Twitter API on your behalf. Attackers might come up with clever ways to exploit this leak.

In the meantime, avoid using Twitter through any application that you do not trust. If you seem to be redirected to Twitter after clicking a link or through any other means unexpectedly, don’t consent to an application accessing Twitter on your behalf even if this appears to be pointing to an application you trust.

BlackBerry Z10 owners rejoice! Updated LinkedIn and Twitter apps for BB 10 are now available, touting new features and improvements over previous iterations. The update promises to improve the social experience on BlackBerry's latest mobile operating system with "an enhanced tweeting experience and helpful business tools", according to the Canadian device maker.

Let's take them one by one. The LinkedIn app, which has seen the least number of improvements and new features of the two, now allows users to view LinkedIn profiles in full screen mode, search, view and save recommended jobs, chat with connections through LinkedIn Messages and filter news by industries through LinkedIn Today.

Today, the world's largest social network announced a sweeping overhaul to major UI motif News Feed. Photos are bolder -- as are advertisements -- and white space more generous. But the big change is uniformity, as Facebook offers a fairly consistent visual experience across devices. That's a claim Google can't make.

Still, Facebook looks lots more like Google+ -- or will once changes roll out to everyone. That's a good thing. Clutter creep long defines the Facebook user experience, something its rival avoids. Well, so far. But the larger social network isn't copying Google+ so much as acting out of necessity. All that clutter in the browser overwhelms smaller device screens, particularly smartphones. To get similar UI across devices, something had to go -- and come, too.

Funny how little things matter to people. Today Google announced some minor changes to profile pages on its social network, which include much bigger cover photos -- up to 2120 by 1192 pixels and displayed in 16:9 format. The search giant is rolling out this and other tweaks, gradually. If you don't see them already, you will soon.

Visually, Google+ Profiles lay out information in card-like fashion, which starkly remind of those Google Now presents on smartphones and tablets. The motif is particularly striking in new tab, Reviews, which doesn't appear in my Profile. Perhaps because I've written none.

Windows Phone users have many of the apps they need -- though not always the official ones. However, one noticeable service is lacking -- Instagram has yet to release a client for Microsoft's mobile platform. Given that the software giant spent $240 million to purchase a stake in the social network back in 2007, and that Facebook now owns Instagram, that has to sting a bit. Then again, Microsoft writes the Facebook for Windows Phone app, but let's not chuck salt on wounds by going there.

Nokia, the flagship handset maker for Windows Phone, is apparently so desperate to right this perceived wrong that it wrote an app to fill the gap. "Many of you have asked when Instagram will be coming to Windows Phone, and the #2InstaWithLove app was created as a way for you to have your voice heard. The app allows you to take a photo using the classic polaroid filter and automatically adds the hashtag #2InstaWithLove".

Automattic has a new premium WordPress.com option that just might be right for many small businesses and entrepreneurial types. The blogging service today announced a $299 per-year plan that includes your domain (rather than, say, poopydiapersdontstink.wordpress.com); access to advanced design tools and fonts; unlimited premium themes (which otherwise cost separately); photo and video uploads and galleries; unlimited storage, supporting those photos and videos; live support (yes, real people); and no WordPress placed ads (which appear on free sites).

I don't blog personally anymore -- just BetaNews or Google+ posts now -- but still pay a reputable hoster 20 bucks a month to keep my WordPress site and archive active. For $60 a year extra, I could get a whole lot more and all the other benefits the blogging service offers, such as WordPress.com promotion, following and sharing.

I certainly cannot speak for everyone, but for me, Twitter is the go-to news source. Yes, the service does get pwned sometimes, but more often than not, what is reported there is real and ahead of services like CNN. I also use the social network for weather updates and sports news from the beat reporters who cover my favorite NFL team. Twitter is great for this type of information.

However, according to a new report just out from Pew Research, when it comes to public opinion, Twitter leans decidedly to the left. BetaNews is not the place for politics, and I will not opine on what I think of that leaning -- only that the study makes a clear case.