Cathy Davidson’s new book argues that we perceive only a fraction of everything going on around us, and this attention blindness ill prepares us for the multi-tasking Internet age. By Casey Schwartz.

In Fathom Analytics' new Relationship Quality Index, the top-rated brands on Facebook tend to be the ones with the most likes. YouTube (48 million likes), MTV (29 million), Coca-Cola (36 million), Starbucks (26 million) and Disney (29 million) make up the top five. But because of other factors, such as engagement and emotion, those brands don't fall in precise order of fan counts.

108,066 people have decided to learn to code in 2012.
Why not you?

Make your New Year's resolution learning to code.
Sign up on Code Year to get a new interactive programming lesson sent to you each week and you'll be building apps
and web sites before you know it.

What most users don’t know is that the new features being introduced are all centered around increasing the value of Facebook to advertisers, to the point where Facebook representatives have been selling the idea that Timeline is actually about re-conceptualizing users around their consumer preferences, or as they put it, “brands are now an essential part of people’s identities.”

I myself have two daughters, a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old, and I've learned from those girls how to be a better man. If I'd had a boy, then there'd be two shitty versions of me. The last thing I need to do is fail twice with two different people: me and my son. But I benefit from an uncomplicated relationship with my daughters--I get to observe how great they are. I'm always learning from them, and they are well-mannered with far better living habits than I have. When I get up in the morning, for instance, they're already dressed, with their teeth brushed and looking nice. I'm not capable of any of that.

It may not be surprising that there's a lingering preference for baby boys over baby girls worldwide. What's alarming, however, is that this global inclination is manifesting more strongly than ever. Historically, when nature is allowed to determine sex all on its own, about 105 boys are born for every 100 girls (and because women live longer, the ratio of people on the planet evens out over time, even tilting slightly toward females).

Within the user-generated content sites, the role and growth of social networking sites has been undeniably overwhelming. Social networking sites (SNS) generate millions of dollars in revenue and advertising, yet little is known about why college students join and participate in these sites, which allow users to create their own content or space. This study adopts survey methodology to investigate the influence of college students' level of Internet self-efficacy, need to belong, need for cognition, and collective self-esteem on their attitude toward SNS. Internet self-efficacy, need to belong, and collective self-esteem all have positive effects on attitudes toward SNS. Furthermore, attitude toward SNS mediates the relationship between willingness to join SNS and (1) Internet self-efficacy and (2) need to belong, and the mediation is only partial between willingness to join and collective self-esteem. The author also draws managerial implications.

With the advent of popular Web destinations such as MySpace and Facebook, online social networking communities now occupy the center stage of e-commerce. Yet these online social networking communities must balance the trade-off between advertising revenue and user experience. Drawing on the sociology and advertising literature, this study investigates the impacts of social identity and group norms on community users' group intentions to accept advertising in online social networking communities. By outlining how this type of group intention could influence community members' perceptions and value judgments of such advertising, this study delineates possible mechanisms by which community members may respond positively to community advertising. The authors test the proposed theoretical framework on a sample of 327 popular online community users in China and obtain general support. Implications for the prospect of advertising in online social networking communities are discussed.

Keywords: Online social networking communities, advertising responses, social factors.

Did you ever have that one friend that was always late to every party, but then when that friend finally arrived the party would change completely for the better? Google is that friend, and the party is display advertising.
At yesterday’s IAB advertising conference, Google executives spent some time talking candidly about where they think display advertising is headed. And it might be worth listening to their thoughts. Even though they came late to the display ad game, they’re still one of the foremost experts on advertising online.


Source: The Future of Display Advertising Is Interactive, Social & Customizable http://www.reelseo.com/google-future-display/#ixzz1Zp3cxadB
©2008-2011 ReelSEO.com Online Video Guide

EMarketer is projecting that Twitter's global ad revenue will reach $139.5 million in 2011, up 210% from $45 million in 2010, the first full year the company sold advertising. Ad revenues are forecasted to reach $260 million in 2012 and $400 million in 2013.

(Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Facebook trotted out a variety of new social networking features in back-to-back announcements on Tuesday, underscoring their intensifying competition for Web surfers.

Relatively speaking, relationships used to be simple. Or at least simpler. Maybe just not as complicated.

Once upon a time your professional relationships stayed in one place, your personal relationships in another, and you controlled where those blurred through. That control is no longer in your hands. Your friends, family, co-workers and clients are all free to mingle and there’s nothing you can do about it. And while you may have lost control over who gets to talk to who, you can still control your own behavior, so let’s focus on that.

Forrester's Social Technographics data classifies consumers into seven overlapping levels of social technology participation. Based on our proprietary Consumer Technographics survey data, we can share with you how social participation varies among your consumers globally and help you plan a targeted social technology strategy. Use this tool to get a high-level snapshot of the social technology behaviors of consumers.

Twitter is readying a new ad product that will for the first time serve up ads to users from company accounts they don’t already follow.

These ads will appear on a user’s timeline; where previously users had to follow, say, @Starbucks to see a Starbucks ad, this new plan will mean users who don’t follow the coffee chain might see an ad for a new sugary drink.