The Heartbleed Bug

Recently there has been an internet hack that has affected about 2/3 of all websites. Heartbleed is thought to be one of the worst security threats to this day. Each site that has been affected needs to correct the problem. Once they have done this you need to change your password. Although it is always safe to regularly change your password everyone needs to change theirs now. Below is a list of social networks that have been affected.

Was it affected?	Is there a patch?	Do you need to change your password?	What did they say?
Facebook	Unclear	Yes	YesYes	"We added protections for Facebook’s implementation of OpenSSL before this issue was publicly disclosed. We haven’t detected any signs of suspicious account activity, but we encourage people to ... set up a unique password."
Instagram	Yes	Yes	YesYes	"Our security teams worked quickly on a fix and we have no evidence of any accounts being harmed. But because this event impacted many services across the web, we recommend you update your password on Instagram and other sites, particularly if you use the same password on multiple sites.”
LinkedIn	No	No	No	"We didn't use the offending implementation of OpenSSL in www.linkedin.com or www.slideshare.net. As a result, HeartBleed does not present a risk to these web properties."
Pinterest	Yes	Yes	YesYes	"We fixed the issue on Pinterest.com, and didn’t find any evidence of mischief. To be extra careful, we e-mailed Pinners who may have been impacted, and encouraged them to change their passwords."
Tumblr	Yes	Yes	YesYes	"We have no evidence of any breach and, like most networks, our team took immediate action to fix the issue."
Twitter	No	Yes	Unclear	Twitter wrote that OpenSSL "is widely used across the internet and at Twitter. We were able to determine that [our] servers were not affected by this vulnerability. We are continuing to monitor the situation." While reiterating that they were unaffected, Twitter toldMashable that they did apply a patch.

There are other companies that have been affected that are not listed above. Click here to see a full list of companies that have been affected. Even if they are not listed as affected it can't hurt to change your password!

Taco Bell Vs. McDonald's

Taco Bell has recently launched their new breakfast menu. On their menu they feature waffle tacos, crunchwraps, burritos, and a few other items. Along with the launch of the new menu they created an ad directed at their main competitor, McDonalds. In the video they found 'real' people named Ronald McDonald to express their approval and love for Taco Bell's new menu. Although the video was tasteful it was still a low blow to McDonalds. In response to their video McDonald's posted via Facebook. Below is an image of the post McDonald's made. 

I think McDonald's handled the situation properly. Although the video was not an attack on McDonald's I think it was smart of them to address the situation. It will be interesting to see how Taco Bell's breakfast menu does in comparison to McDonald's.

Click here to watch the video.

The Selfie Camera

The selfie is now not just restricted to cell phones. You no longer have to worry about unclear selfies because of the quality from your front facing camera. Samsung has launched a camera that is perfect for taking selfies. The camera has a lens that can rotate 180 degrees in order to take the ultimate selfie.

(Image via Mashable)

This new camera called the NX Mini is small and comparable to the weight of smart phones. The camera also has features that allows you to immediately share the photos you've taken. Similar to your phone you can take a selfie on the camera and share it with all of your friends. I think we will begin to see more cameras that are taking the approach to have double functions like the NX Mini. 

March Madness

With the beginning of March Madness only a few days away Turner Sports has recreated the way fans watch. Turner in conjunction with NCAA and others is in charge of creating the app for the event. The application is redesigned following the end of each March Madness in order to improve the application. Turner is aware that people not only watch the games but tune into Twitter and other various forms of social media to stay updated with everything going on.

(Image via Factcodesign)

This year the application updated the bracket function allowing for a zoom function. Along with the bracket they added other things including a map to see where all the Tweets are coming from around the US. They also added an area to see which school is gaining more twitter presence.

The Oscars & Social Media

Social media was buzzing last night with the events of the Oscars. From outfits, to winners all things were brought up on social media. The most talked about thing from last night was the selfie Ellen posted via Twitter. 

Ellen's tweeted selfie surpassed President Obamas image after being reelected in 2012 that was once the most retweeted image of all time. Her tweet received nearly 2.7 million retweets and was rumored to be taken with a Samsung mobile device. Although the phone was not mentioned or captured in the picture I don't think Samsung will regret being a sponsor for the Oscars because of this image. 

Snapchat for Brand Advertisements

With the explosion of social media platforms as a way to create buzz about businesses Snapchat is finally gaining ground. Although Snapchat has been around since summer of 2011, formerly named Picaboo, Snapchat has became extremely popular in the past year. Snapchat is used daily between friends but recently it has been another outlet for brands to gain attention.

(Image Via Mashable)

So how can these brands utilize Snapchat in order to gain social media presence? Below are ways that Mashable recommends for best brand communication. Not many brands are active on Snapchat so now is a good time to get ahead of everyone else and establish a following. 

1. Promote your Snapchat account via other social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

2. Reward your followers (contests, product sneak peak,  coupon codes)

3. Distribute meaningful content

4. Use the "My Story" function in order to reach all of your followers

Say Goodbye to Flappy Bird

Flappy Bird is a game app that launched in late May this past year and has become quite the addiction for many people. Flappy Bird reached the tops of game charts but as of two days ago was taken off the app store. On February 8th the game's developer announced via Twitter that they were taking the game down. The developer said he "could not take it anymore."Apparently the developer is taking down the app because he can not handle the pressure from the success the application is bringing.

 

(Image via Twitter)

There are many people upset about the news of Flappy Bird. Apparently there was an iPhone sold on ebay for about $100,000 that had the application installed on it. Many people believe that this was just a marketing stunt. If you can't live without Flappy Bird here are some other alternative games that you can play. 
1. Ironpants
2. Clumsy Bird
3. Fly Birdie
4. Flappy Wings
5. Fluffy vs Flappy Birds
6. FlappyDoge




Article: http://mashable.com/2014/02/10/used-iphone-flappy-bird-ebay/
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/7-alternatives-now-that-you-can-t-download-flappy-bird/1100-6417631/

Super Bowl Commercial Controversy

Following the Super Bowl yesterday night, Coke's commercial caused an enormous amount of annoyance throughout many Americans via social media. Along with outrage this ad made many Americans proud. The ad was called It's Beautiful and featured many different ethnicity's singing America The Beautiful in several languages. This ad was also the first ad in Super Bowl history to feature a gay couple. Below is an image showing peoples thoughts through Twitter tweets. (Image via BizPac Review)

Watch the ad here.

I personally do not agree with the people that think this ad was un-American. I think one of the things that makes America unique is the many different cultures that are within our borders. It seems that Coke is also standing by their commercial and airing a 90 second version of the same ad during the opening of the Olympics.

Is Social Media Ruining Communication?

We have never been more connected than we are today but we are also more disconnected than we ever have been. Social media allows us to stay up to date with people at the touch of a button but is it causing us to lose sight of old fashion communication?

At dinner at a restaurant this past weekend I looked around to notice that at almost every single table someone was on their phone. Although social media has an immense amount of benefits it seems it's taking over our lives. This past semester I studied abroad in Italy and did not have access to my phone except at our residence. During my time abroad we never sat at dinner on our phones and actually enjoyed each other's company. It was almost a blessing in disguise that we did not have wifi.  With some sadness, I have fallen back to my old ways since I have returned.


25% of smartphone owners can't recall the last time they were apart from their mobile devices, says in article from Huffington Post. This number is only going to increase with time. I think everyone, myself included, needs to be more aware of this because we are slowly losing the deeper relationships we have.

The Pinterest Movement

Although Facebook and Twitter may be the more popular social media platforms everyone (girls) can agree they spend entirely more time on Pinterest. The ever growing virtual pin-board launched in 2010 has become such an obsession in many peoples lives. Pinterest allows you to browse images from hobbies, weddings, and cooking to clothing and DIY projects and pin them onto personal boards. Not only is Pinterest becoming more popular with the general population the retail industry is beginning to see the advantages of using it as well. 42% of adults in the US use two or more social networks so it is important for businesses to be present on all forms of social media.

Both large and small businesses are increasing their presence on Pinterest in attempts to gain sales, but Nordstroms is taking it beyond that. Nordstroms has a "pin" for every single item on their website and determines what items are re-pinned and liked the most. These items on Pinterest are then advertised in stores with a red tag. 

I think the idea of showcasing popular items on Pinterest in stores will cause an increase in sales. The red tags will catch the eye of customers who otherwise would have not noticed certain items. Nordstroms is smart for thinking outside of the box and testing this form of advertising in their stores. I think other retailers will catch onto this and we will begin to see Pinterest being used more.




Articles: 
http://mashable.com/2013/12/30/social-network-demographics-2013/
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nordstrom-is-using-pinterest-2013-7