Call Friends for Free with Facebook’s Messenger App (Mashable)
Now you can call your Facebook friends for free — if you’re an iPhone user, that is. The company has rolled out a new feature in the United States that allows Facebook Messenger app users to place voice calls with friends over the social network using their data connection or Wi-Fi.
We're kicking off our upcoming Social Media Marketing Boot Camp with a special keynote presentation by Ella Chick (left), the digital producer at Anderson Cooper 360°. She'll discuss how the network uses social media for breaking news and leverages social media to draw attention to organizations and causes. Learn more about our program and register here. 
Tumblr Analytics Now Available for Enterprise (SocialTimes)
After a months-long private beta, Union Metrics publicly launched its Tumblr analytics service for enterprise users. Union Metrics runs the analytics, who licenses the data from Gnip and has access to all of Tumblr’s “firehose” data.
Yahoo Plots Alliance with Facebook in New Search Deal (The Sunday Telegraph)
Sources have told The Sunday Telegraph that Marissa Mayer, chief executive of Yahoo, has held discussions with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, about how the two companies can work more closely together. The two Internet giants have already collaborated together on a number of small projects, for example to share Yahoo! news on Facebook, and recently agreed to settle a number of long-standing lawsuits over patents.
Pinterest Introduces Secret Boards (Mashable)
Ever want to pin something on Pinterest, but don’t want the entire world to see what’s catching your eye? At long last, the company introduced on Thursday a new “secret boards” feature which limits visibility to only the creator and any collaborators they may invite.
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Support for Admins: Pages Manager for Apple Updated, Feedback Panel Announced (AllFacebook)
Facebook announced two things Tuesday to aid page administrators: the newest version of Pages Manager for iOS devices is in the Apple App Store, and the site has launched a feedback panel so managers can share what works and what needs to be fixed. This newest version, 1.4, allows users to schedule posts to appear later and promote recent posts to reach larger audiences (provided that an ad or post was created on the computer). TechCrunch Facebook Tuesday began testing its own mobile ad network. Advertisers can pay to target users with ads for app stores or websites based on users’ Facebook data that appears while users are on other apps and mobile sites. The social network told TechCrunch that, similar to its first off-site ad placements on Zynga.com, the goal is to show Facebook users more relevant ads wherever they go, even outside the social network’s own properties. Bloomberg Businessweek By placing ads on third-party applications, Facebook follows competitors, including Google and Apple, in acting as a so-called ad network. The strategy would let it collect part of the revenue generated from mobile marketing and benefit from rising demand for ads that reach the growing number of people who download apps onto mobile devices. The Washington Post Internet titans Facebook, Google, Amazon and Yahoo today will launch a new lobbying association to counter efforts by federal regulators to strap new rules to their industry. The lobbying shop, with four staff members and plans to hire more, has 14 members that include IAC, LinkedIn and Zynga. Mashable A Kentucky teen’s refusal to delete her Facebook account now has her eating her own words — or, rather, her own letters. Paula Asher, 18, was jailed for two days last week after she posted an update on Facebook about hitting another vehicle while under the influence. Read more
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Judge Rejects Facebook’s ‘Sponsored Stories’ Settlement (CNET)
U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of San Francisco, Calif., has rejected Facebook’s settlement of a class-action suit regarding an ad feature that publicizes users’ “likes” of products and services to their Facebook friends but doesn’t pay the users for the endorsements or allow them to opt out. Under the proposed deal, Facebook would have given its users more control over how their “likes” were handled and would have allowed users under 18 to opt out of sponsored stories. Wired Seeborg was concerned that the deal, which provides a $10 million payout to attorneys suing Facebook and $10 million to charity in what is known as a cy pres award “was merely plucked from thin air.” In his Friday ruling, he ordered the parties to provide more information on how it reached that amount. Bloomberg Businessweek Seeborg also said that while it isn’t feasible to divide $10 million among as many as 70 million affected customers, it isn’t sufficient to justify giving that money only to advocacy groups. Lawyers for customers had argued the groups would be “watchdogs” over Facebook. Inside Facebook Facebook is once again the second-largest video site in the United States, according to comScore. The social network saw 53 million unique video viewers in July, about a third of Google’s audience but higher than the number of unique viewers on Yahoo and Vevo. Mashable Google, thanks largely to YouTube, still enjoys a comfortable lead in the race with nearly 157 million total unique viewers. Yahoo users, however, watched more videos — 625 million to Facebook’s 327 million. Facebook users watched an average of 21.7 minutes of video throughout July, while Yahoo users consumed 70.4 hours of video content. Read more
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Webby Awards: Steve Jobs Gets Honored, Full List of Winners (CBS News/techtalk)
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was honored Monday with a Webby award for Lifetime Achievement for his work with the Bloomberg media corporation. The award was presented by Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, who reminded the audience that if it wasn’t for Bloomberg’s contribution to financial technology, we wouldn’t have found out the cost of Facebook stock shares until Monday. CNET Nearly a dozen celebrities, politicians and tech luminaries paid tribute to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at The Webby Awards show. A video featuring president Barack Obama, former president Bill Clinton and others expressing admiration for Jobs, who died last October, was shown to attendees and streamed over the Web. The Verge Actor Richard Dreyfuss gave a strange and oftentimes discursive speech that began with a jab at Facebook and Google. “If you’re going to take our privacy away from us, why don’t you tell us something private about yourselves,” Dreyfus said to an awkwardly hushed reception. “And if you’re going to change our world, why don’t you pay for it, because it’s theft.” USA Today Instagram won Webby Breakout of the Year, Pinterest took home a social media award, and Facebook scored the People Special Achievement for Social Change honor. In addition, Skype won for Best Social Mobile & Apps. For the complete list of winners, visit WebbyAwards.com Read more
