social

Social media self-promotion: The urge, the ick, the outcome

"My agent just sent my book to publishers! Fingers crossed!" That's the status message I just stopped myself from writing on Facebook.

It took all the willpower I've ever had.

In fact, I'm now eating a block of cheese because focusing so hard on not updating Facebook with that status has depleted my willpower reserves. My diet is left defenseless.

I'm 29, and I'm working hard to make a living, to produce something I am proud of, to pay the rent, to scrape some savings together, to make time for love, to eat … Read more

Review: Record short looping videos on your iPhone with Cinemagram

Cinemagram cannot help but get comparisons to Vine. It offers very similar functionality in a very similar interface, but there are a few added features that make it at least worth trying out if you are eager to experiment with as many video creation apps as possible on your iPhone.

Cinemagram looks very similar to most photo/video sharing social networks on iPhone. Open the app and you'll find an option to create your own shared item and menus to navigate the items shared by friends and other users. The home menu by default includes recent and popular shares … Read more

Zynga's gameplan relies on FarmVille, says CEO

Social-gaming company Zynga staked its claim with FarmVille. And now -- when Zynga has been reaping more than sowing -- the company will rely on that same title to restore its ailing operation.

In a Reuters interview published Monday, Pincus said his company is relying on FarmVille 2 to rebuild. The company's revenue jumped to $1.2 billion in 2012, but losses continue to pile up.

A key component to the turnaround plan is to give FarmVille players the same experience on mobile as on desktop.

"The ideal is to make that one seamless experience between Web and … Read more

Twitter's new exec brings IPO experience

Twitter said Thursday it has hired a new head of corporate development who happens to have years of experience with, among other things, IPOs.

Last week, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey said that the company "isn't even thinking about" an IPO, despite months of speculation in the media and elsewhere that the social networking giant is preparing to go public.

And while Cynthia Gaylor, Twitter's new head of corporate development, has plenty of experience with other things, including mergers and acquisitions, it's notable that IPOs were an important part of her portfolio during her time as … Read more

Twitter gives developers new embedded timeline options

Developers got a little more control today over how embedded Twitter timelines appear.

In a blog post Thursday, Twitter said it has made some minor modifications to the way its embedded timeline tool works.

For one, the post said, developers can now choose how many tweets appear, so long as they're happy with a number from one to 20.

Second, Twitter now lets developers decide whether they want a scrollbar to appear on an embedded timeline. Apparently, this is something that people have been asking about. But while Twitter is now enabling those who want to get rid of … Read more

Hooked Up: Check out the set of NCIS with Pauley Perrette and her tech toys

In this week's episode of Hooked Up, Kevin Frazier hangs out on the set of "NCIS" with actress Pauley Perrette, who plays Abby Sciuto, the show's fan-favorite quirky forensic scientist. She talks about her role as the social media ambassador for CBS during "Tweet Week" and how she used Twitter to help keep the Hope Gardens shelter for families open.

Pauley bring hers own tech on set, including the dirtiest Macbook you've probably ever seen, and she shows us some of the fun set pieces in Abby's lab. She also talks about … Read more

Yes, you can tweet from Google Glass

Corrected at 9:30 p.m. PT: Due to erroneous information provided by a source, the original version of this report misidentified the app as an official Twitter app for Google Glass. It is in fact an app produced by a third party.

There's no doubt about it: Google Glass is already being used to send tweets.

For now, however, it's not known for certain that anyone has done so with an official Twitter app for Google's wearable computer. What is known is that LeWeb founder Loic Le Meur has been testing out a third-party app called … Read more

Consolidate your photo libraries with NeroKwik

Whether you're a professional photographer or an amateur food journalist, chances are that you have more than a handful of photos spread across social network sites like Facebook and Google+ as well as smart devices like phones and tablets. With so many pictures in so many places, finding a specific photo can be a chore. NeroKwik offers a welcome solution to this problem. By consolidating all of your images to be accessible from any platform in one app, NeroKwik makes finding, rating, and sharing your photos much easier.

Here's how it works:

1. Install the NeroKwik app on … Read more

Vine adds front-facing camera functionality

Twitter said today that it has updated its stand-alone Vine mobile app to allow users to shoot video with both their front- and rear-facing cameras.

In a blog post, Twitter also said that Vine users now can tag someone in a post, meaning that people can, for example, shoot a video with a friend and add that person's name, or Twitter handle, in the post.

With the old version, users could only use the rear-facing cameras on their iPhones. Also, while it was possible to enter someone's name or Twitter ID in the associated text of a Vine … Read more