Where are all the cool kids from the Netherlands hanging out online? Hint: it’s not Facebook. This snack-size infographic shows which regional social networks are popular in different parts of the world.
Infographic: The Not-So-Worldwide Webs
Japan
Mediabistro Event
Find out how to use Google Tools to manage social media content and campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an interactive online event starting June 6. Monica Morse (left), head of social & SMB solutions at Google, will familiarize you with a wide range of Google tools such as trends, Google+ and Hangouts. Learn more about our our twelve event speakers and register here.
Organize Your Social Media Strategy with Google
Find out how to use Google Tools to manage social media content and campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an interactive online event starting June 6. Monica Morse (left), head of social & SMB solutions at Google, will familiarize you with a wide range of Google tools such as trends, Google+ and Hangouts. Learn more about our our twelve event speakers and register here. Hulu Japan To Stream Movie Before Theatrical Release For 3 Hours Only
Hulu Plus is trying something new to lure new customers in Japan—on February 19 they’ll be streaming an upcoming Japanese movie, Sougen no Isu (A Chair on the Plains), before its theatrical release on February 23.
YouTube Begins Funding Original Channels In Japan
YouTube’s original channels initiative is heading East. Today on the YouTube Japan blog, the online video site announced that a collection of new funded original channels from thirteen content partners will be rolling out in Japan, starting today.
Mixi Offering New Birthday Gift Service
Mixi, the most popular Japanese social network, is offering a new birthday gift service. A user will be able to send a gift to a friend with minimal effort – you just choose who you want to send the gift to, make the payment and it’s done. The user will receive a message that a birthday gift has been sent from a friend, and they confirm their home address.
Myspace Settles With FTC | 55,000 Twitter Accounts Breached | Memes as Dissent in China
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Myspace Faces 20 Years of Government Scrutiny for Privacy Violations (Mashable) Myspace’s privacy practices will be kept under close watch by a third-party observer for two decades as part of a settlement related to an investigation of the company’s advertising sales strategy, the Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday. The agreement also prevents Myspace from making “future privacy misrepresentations” and requires it to make significant changes to its privacy policy. The New York Times The FTC asserted that from January 2009 through June 2010, and again from October 2010 through October 2011, Myspace transmitted information, including internal identification numbers of users, and their ages and genders, to outside ad networks that served ads to Myspace. Using that information, the FTC said, third parties could obtain the user’s name and other personal information and use a file placed on the user’s computer to view a history of websites the user had visited. AP The settlement is similar to deals the FTC struck previously with Facebook and Google. In March 2011, the FTC settled with Google over charges that it deceived users and violated its own privacy policy when it started a social-networking service called Buzz. In November, the agency reached a settlement with Facebook in which the company agreed to get explicit approval from its users before changing their privacy controls. CNET Myspace was sold by News Corp. to digital-media company Specific Media last June for a rumored $35 million. News Corp. had purchased the social networking site in 2005 for $580 million with the hopes of using it to drive traffic to Fox’s various media efforts. PC Magazine In a statement, Specific Media said it “thoroughly examine[d] the company’s business practices and, where applicable, make improvements” following last year’s purchase. “A major focus of this review was to ensure that Myspace delivered advertisements to consumers in a manner that safeguarded their privacy,” Specific Media continued. Read more
Path Gets More Funding | Foursquare’s Holiday | Klout Dating
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Path Confirms Series B Funding From Redpoint, Richard Branson and Others (AllThingsD)
CEO Dave Morin noted the investors’ commitment to building Path “for the long term,” and said the funding would be used for “international growth and expansion as well as user adoption.” Inside Mobile Apps In February, Path revealed it has passed 2 million registered users, more than half of which had joined since the service relaunched in December as a personal journal app, pivoting from its original vision as a private photo-sharing service. GigaOM Ever since Facebook decided that Instagram was worth $1 billion, there has been recurring talk of Path, another social service being the next big buyout target. And while I am happy for the Path team, I find the comparisons with Instagram unfounded and premature. Business Insider Here’s what’s odd: RedPoint just invested in a startup that is in many ways very similar to Path: Caterina Fake’s new startup PinWheel. Read more
Yankee I Love You — A New Japanese Social Network
The sharpshooters over at Rocket News 24 have uncovered a new social network in Japan called “Yankee I Love You.” Despite the connotations of its name, the network is not about loving American foreigners in Japan, but is rather all about Japanese delinquent youth, who are called “Yankees” in Japan. These are likely some of the images you’ve seen here and there of Japanese people with bleach blonde hair or baggy gangster clothing, and now they’ve got their own network where they can exchange ideas.
2 Japanese Men Arrested for Selling Drugs over Mixi Social Network
When people talk about the legalization of drugs it’s usually followed by a rumination of the idea of ‘drug stores’ like beer stores. What’s less obvious is what would happen online if it was all legal. Even when it’s illegal, people still use the web to sell drugs, and recently two men in Japan were caught using mixi — the most popular social network in Japan — to sell stimulants.
LinkedIn Launches in Japan
Arvind Rajan, head of LinkedIn’s Asia operations, told ABC News that Japan is key market for the company because of its technologically sophisticated work force. LinkedIn hopes that the lessons learned in Japan will ultimately translate into new offerings for the rest of the world.
Japan Giving 10,000 Flights to Social Media Bloggers to Boost Tourism
The Japan Tourism Agency is seriously looking at the potential of social media to help the country’s tourism industry regain visitors after the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear issues. The agency is proposing the country offer 10,000 free round trip tickets to social media users to help promote the country as a safe and exciting holiday destination.
