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Twitter Unveils Dramatic New Redesign [VIDEO]

Twitter has unveiled a redesign.

Just days after Google totally revamped YouTube, Twitter used that very medium to show off what the popular microblogging platform is apt to look like in the very near future. It's not a complete renovation, but considering how minimally Twitter ever changes (especially when compared to other social networks like, say, Facebook), this is a relatively dramatic move. Focused on an even simpler user experience, plus enhanced accessibility "for all 7 billion people on the planet," this redesign aims to maximize growth potential while re-engaging existing users.

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Watch World War II Unfold in Real-Time on Twitter

One of history's most eventful times is being reborn—or should we say retweeted—in real-time.

Twitter is home to RealTimeWWII, the genius product of Alwyn Collinson's creative mind. A fresh graduate of Oxford University (in Renaissance history), Alwyn concocted the idea of real-time tweeting the events of Adolf Hitler's devastating campaign for world domination.

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Social Media Tips For B2B Technology Marketers

B2B Social WorldThis morning, Environics Communications hosted a panel discussion at MaRS in Toronto entitled “The B2B Social World.” Digital B2B marketing experts from Backup Heros, Wave Accounting, Sequentia Environics, and MaRS sat on a panel to discuss the successes and failures that they’ve faced when using social media to promote their businesses.

The conversation started by identifying the best channels to use for B2B social media marketing. The panellists agreed that Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, and online communities are some of the most effective tools for reaching potential customers and building relationships.

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Guess What? Facebook and Twitter Are Both Better Than LinkedIn at Finding You a Job

LinkedIn, the business-oriented social network, seems like the perfect place to job hunt. Profiles feature resumes, employable skills, references, and it's easy to search for people by company and rank.

So who'd have thought that Twitter, the microblogging real-time information network, and Facebook, the place where you do stupid $#!% and get fired, are both better than LinkedIn at landing you a job?

A new Jobvite study reveals that 16% of Americans got their most recent job because of social media—and of those people, 78% credited Facebook, 42% credited Twitter, and 40% credited LinkedIn.

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Google+ Joins Twitter In Saying That It's Not a Social Network. But Isn't It?

This article was originally published on Smedio.

There’s no doubt that Google+ started on the right note – it came, saw and conquered the hearts of people all over the world. It had the wow factor and it hit other social media networks where it hurts the most.

And then Facebook hit back in style, launching one innovative feature after the other. Google+ responded back by opening itself to the enterprise with the launch of Google+ Pages and critics were back to their usual best – pitting Facebook Pages against Google+ Pages.

But now it seems Google’s had enough of Facebook vs. Google+ comparisons. Google, the world’s leading online search giant, has now changed its standard pitch and is saying that Google+ is not a social network that competes directly with Facebook.

As expected, people have interpreted this announcement in their own ways. Some believe Google is afraid of pitting Google+ against Facebook while others say the online search giant is now planning to market the broader Google+ ecosystem rather than just the social networking aspect.

In my opinion, it’s fair to say that Google+ is much more than being just a social network and here’s why.

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Stranger than fiction: TV show characters live on in social media

Jackie BoyAre you connected to Jack Donaghy, VP of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming at Kabletown, and star of 30 Rock on LinkedIn? What about Erica Strange, star of Being Erica on Twitter?

Donaghy’s LinkedIn profile is pretty accurate to his character in the TV show. He lists his previous employment as “Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming at G.E.,” and “Director of Crisis and Weather Management at Homeland Security.”

He outlines his favourite interests as “songwriting (credits include "You're So Vain"), collecting cookie jars (retired) and overcoming allergies through willpower.” And a few of his fictional co-workers have written recommendations for him.

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Bear VS Beaver: Which Animal Should Represent Canada?

The beaver is Canada's national emblem. But should it be the polar bear?

Toronto-based market research firm Social Media Group has been tracking the online battle between the rodent and the mammal, a very divisive topic. The beaver ruins our other icon, the maple tree, while polar bears have on occasion eaten humans. A fierce debate on Twitter organized itself into #teambeaver and #teampolarbear.

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Social media shifts to a crowdsourcing, crowdfunding and contextual big data combo at X-Summit

Social media was initially perceived to be a conversation between the brand and the customer, but is now shifting towards building platforms for consumers to be social on so that they can draw insights and feedback on what to do next to better serve their customer as was well explained in ING’s crowdsourcing efforts by Andrea Wahbe.

While the latter is disrupting the traditional marketing research agency, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding are now working together to potentially change how big studios choose programming through new services like MobCaster in the entertainment world as explained at last week’s X-Summit conference held by Interactive Ontario.

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Twitter silently rolls out new timeline features [Video]

Yesterday Pinglio founder Patrick Bisch noticed some changes to his Twitter timeline that no one else did.

What appears to be a currently silent, very tiny and/or slow rollout of new features sees the Twitter timeline—which has famously remained simple and true to its roots, unlike Facebook—get some subtle enhancements. First, the reply and retweet icons have been moved from the bottom of tweets to the top. This seems pointles at first but it's actually to pave way for Open, a new feature that allows you to expand tweets to obtain more information.

For example, if the tweet links to a photo or video, you can "open" the tweet within Twitter (that is, you do not open a new window or tab or load a new page). The tweet box expands to reveal the media. It can also reveal threaded conversations (this should come in handy for many) and other activities like who retweeted something.

Pat briefs us on the changes he observed in a short YouTube video.

With calls for blogger and media regulation, can Twitter help to provide context for an older generation?

While bloggers claimed one victory from the Supreme Court of Canada last week as hyperlinking was deemed to not be libel, they may face yet another hurdle in the coming months led by the fallout from the Rupert Murdoch phone hacking scandal and the Quebec Federation of Journalists.

Serious questions were being raised at Thursday night's Canadian Journalism Foundation event about whether or not regulation is needed across a field that includes journalists, reporters, bloggers, or whatever one may be. Simply put, the Internet has made it possible for many to rise above traditional reporters and journalists, and not more so in the age of Twitter. 

It's not the first time the question has been raised, but never has the Internet played such a massive role in media.

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