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Mark Zuckerberg is in Vancouver… to acquire HootSuite? [Updated with Photo]

UPDATE 3: Invoke Media and HootSuite were initially quiet about the rising speculation that Mark Zuckerberg was visiting Vancouver to acquire the social media dashboard. However, after the Wall Street Journal picked up our story, HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes tweeted, "@facebook isn't buying @hootsuite anytime soon."

The last bit—"anytime soon"—is open to interpretation. It could mean they are in the early stages of discussion… or it could just mean it's not happening (ever).

UPDATE 2: The Facebook CEO could very well be in town to discuss acquiring social media dashboard HootSuite, if growing rumours can be belived.

People have guessed numerous reasons why Zuck is in Vancouver, but the most common reason noted across comments (below), tweets, and private messages has been talk of an acquisition. And interestingly, HootSuite is the name that's been floating around as the specific company. Local radio station The Beat 94.5 was discussing this possibility today as well.

It would certainly make sense: HootSuite, born from Invoke Media, is Vancouver-based and also a logical target for Facebook—especially considering the social network company is trying to be more active with acquistions. 

Back in May, semi-competitor Twitter bought TweetDeck for $40 million. 

HootSuite has continually expanded its offerings, adding analytics tools to its roster of services and most recently integrating with LinkedIn.

UPDATE: So far he's been reportedly seen at Gastown on hastings, near UBC in a BMW rental, and at a furniture store with a woman. But it has not yet been confirmed officially why he is in town.

ORIGINAL: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hanging out on the wet West Coast here in Vancouver.

Evidenced online by a Facebook status update (that had location on), Zuck is definitely in town but the "why" of it all is unclear.

Vancouverites were surprised to see the hoodie-clad social network creator strolling down Hastings Street in the historic Gastown yesterday.

Could he be here for the acquisition of a Vancouver startup? Perhaps. Opening night for the Vancouver Canucks? Unless he has a thing for the Penguins—sans Crosby, too—probably not. Maybe he just likes how pretty Vancouver is (although he's a month late on catching any rays).

If you know any details please share them in the comments.

Photo: @Felix_K_

Occupy Wall Street Coming to Canada Sooner Than October 17th?

#occupywallstreet, which is a movement that began out of the radical revolutionary magazine AdBusters grew to over 50,000 protestors in Liberty Square of New York City on the 19th day of protests yesterday.

AdBusters Canada is also responsible for the precedent setting action against the CBC which will enshrine the right of citizens to equal airtime. 

The National Post reported Sunday that the Occupy Wall Street movement will be coming to Toronto, Montreal and Calgary on October 17th. Basically, an Occupy Bay Street for Toronto.

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Facebook founding president Sean Parker joins Twitter, apologizes to Mark Zuckerberg

Most non-techsters will know him as Justin Timberlake in The Social Network.

Sean Parker, cofounder of Napster and Plaxo, is also the founding president of Facebook, which is probably why he's never had a Twitter account.

Until now.

Sean Parker is now gaining new Twitter followers every second (he's gained several hundred while writing this post). So far, he has just one tweet:

Sorry Zuck, I had to do it eventually. (Actually  made me do it.)

Sean has had a Facebook Page for a while with an enviable URL and 30,000 subscribers. We'll see if he continues to maintain or catches the Twitter bug. Either way I fancy he'll fetch a lot more than 30,000 followers.

Silicon Valley's Highest Paying Companies (You'll Be Surprised Who's Number 1)

Where's a good place to make money? If you're in the tech scene, Silicon Valley remains one of the premier spots. The famous Valley is home to such giants as Microsoft and AOL.

But even among the biggies, somebody has to pay the most. Using data from TechCompanyPay, here are the Valley's five highest paying companies based on average employee salary. 

5. Google

Search engine master and maker of Android, this engineer-loving, young and vibrant company pays an average salary of $104,600.

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People are happiest on the weekend (according to Twitter)

People are happiest on weekends, according to data extracted from Twitter.

Cornell University researchers analyzed 500 million tweets from 2.4 million people in 84 countries over a 2 year time span. They programmed an algorithm that determined positive moods (happy, enthusiatic, etc.) and negative moods (sad, anxious, etc.) through keywords.

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Twitter to Double Revenue Next Year

Twitter—which is not a social network—is poised to nearly double its revenue next year, according to a new report by eMarketer.

The real-time information network is on pace to make about $140 million this year (a 210% leap from 2010) and then $260 million next year, an 86% jump. In 2013, Twitter could generate up to $400 million.

The microblogging platform has been slow to monetize but a sustainable business model is finally materializing. However, it is far from globalizing: the report suggests that Twitter will rely on 96% of its revenue this year coming from the U.S. and will still depend on America for as much as 88% of its revenue in 2013.

Twitter has over 200 million users, about half of which are considered "active."

Study: Canadians want to engage with government representatives online

woman on laptop - iStockPhotoYesterday, Fleishman-Hillard released the results of a public engagement survey which revealed that Canadians want to connect more with governments online. Conducted in August 2011 by Vision Critical, the study found that “54% of Canadians would engage more in conversations on government policy if there were ways to participate online.” 

This number was even higher for youth (aged 18-35) at 57%. Youth respondents indicated that they were also more likely to access a government service if they heard about it online – at 46% compared to 37% of overall survey respondents.

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Twitter: 'We Are Not a Social Network'

Michael Abbot, the vice president of engineering at Twitter, spoke at the Mobilize Conference in San Francisco today.

Michael discussed Twitter and mobile, such as how the startup platform is adapting to evolving technologies, namely smartpones and tablets. Twitter is not underestimating the mobile revolution, he said, noting that 45% of tweets now come from mobile devices.

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Google+ cracks 40 million users; membership up 30% since going public

Unofficial Google+ statistian Paul Allen, who has been tracking the social network's numbers since its inception, has suggested that Google+ is now at about 43 million users, marking an impressive 30% growth spurt since the software company's social platform went public.

Google+ became public on September 20th and saw an immediate spike in user signups. Paul believes there were roughly 29 million users on September 9, a number that swelled to 38 million last Thursday morning, just two days after the public launch.

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Does Social Media Curb Or Promote Terrorism And Violence?

This article was originally published on Smedio.

I often say that social media is a powerful monster and with power, comes responsibility. If you use it for constructive means, it pays off. If you don’t get it right, you pay for it. Though it’s hard to believe, social media has been directly or indirectly associated with a large number of incidents related to violence, terrorism and uprisings all over the world.

Whether it’s the revolts in Egypt and Libya, the recent riots in London or the more recent ‘Twitter Terrorism’ in Mexico, social media is now the de-facto trigger for such events across the world. On one hand, it has freed nations from dictators but on the other, it has promoted looting and served as a medium for communal violence.

I don’t think anyone could have imagined that social media would play such an important role in global peace or the lack of it. In this post, I pour my heart out and present my opinion on whether social media curbs or promotes terrorism and violence.

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