Facebook Test Makes Comments on Page Posts More Like Web Plug-in (Inside Facebook)
Facebook has given us an update on its latest test for page post comments: in addition to a new option to reply to specific comments, the entire thread will be sorted by an algorithm to put the most engaging comments higher. Page administrators are also able to reply directly to comments via a “reply” option. Mashable This means brand pages in the test, which range from journalists such as Fareed Zakaria and New York Jets player Tim Tebow, include ranked comments based on likes, responses and hides. Page administrators are also able to reply directly to comments via a “reply” option. CNET With the new reply feature, comments replying to the original post are shaded blue, while the comments replying to other comments are in white. It would make it easier to follow a conversation if your friends like to go off on tangents. VentureBeat The threaded and curated approach to comment formatting is a significant improvement to the current cacophonous mess that is Facebook comments, where inane and asinine messages often drown out the best commentary on Facebook page posts. The experimental comment format should help brands better identify the best or most pressing comments, find the fans with an active interest in their products and bury more insipid remarks. Wired Declaring it a “massive fraud” and a “farce,” Facebook is demanding a federal judge dismiss a lawsuit that claims a New York man owns half of the social-networking service. In documents filed late Friday, Facebook noted for the first time that the plaintiff in the suit was arrested last month and has been charged with a multi-billion-dollar scheme to defraud the social-networking site and its chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg through his lawsuit.

Quora Gets Answers for Your Urgent and Mobile Questions by Suggesting You Ask Experts ‘Online Now’ (TechCrunch)
To attract people who need quick answers, especially on the go, Quora is starting to show the online status of the experts it recommends you ask. It could keep that “live” feeling that Quora already offers and pull quick decision questions about topics like shopping or cooking away from Facebook and Twitter. GigaOM Users who don’t want to be targeted with questions can turn off the “online now” feature in their settings, an option the company should be sensitive toward after it received backlash for showing which questions people were reading and viewing earlier this year. AllThingsD In August, Quora started publicly displaying when a user had read a post — not commented on it or upvoted it, but simply read it. That feature was later toned down, though it wasn’t removed.

Tumblr, Photo Blogger Raise $100K for Hurricane Sandy Relief (PC Magazine)
In less than 24 hours, a joint Hurricane Sandy fundraising effort from Tumblr and New York photo blog Humans of New York (HONY) has topped their goal of raising $100,000 for victims of the storm. According to a spokeswoman for the campaign, people are donating an average of $63; more than 1,600 people had contributed as of press time.

In Fight to Protect Free Speech, Twitter Adds First Amendment Pro to Team (AllTwitter)
Free speech advocates find themselves on a precarious perch when it comes to Twitter. And they’ve just hired a First Amendment pro, Nicole Wong, to help even the odds.

What Nielsen’s Acquisition of SocialGuide Means for the Social TV Industry (LostRemote)
Nielsen and NM Incite announced Monday they acquired social TV data company SocialGuide for an undisclosed sum. While it’s big industry news, it’s not entirely unexpected: Nielsen has been ramping up its investment in social data while startups like Bluefin Labs, Trendrr, Networked Insights and SocialGuide have been hard at work creating and trying to standardize a new social dimension of TV ratings.

Mozilla Launches ‘Popcorn Maker’ Tool for Interactive Video (SocialTimes)
The nonprofit software company Mozilla Monday launched Popcorn Maker, a tool that allows users to add their own content to any video. Users can add photos, maps, links, social media feeds and more directly from their browser, according to Mozilla.

GIF Beats Out YOLO to Become the Oxford American Dictionaries’ 2012 Word of the Year (BetaBeat
Two-thousand-and-twelve was the year of the reaction GIF blog, where everyone from law students to editors filled Tumblrs with GIFs meant to capture (and laugh at) the human condition. Now, the GIF has received the ultimate sign of zeitgeisty approval: “GIF” (the verb) is officially the Oxford American Dictionaries’ 2012 word of the year.

Text Messaging Declines in U.S. for First Time, Report Says (The New York Times/Bits Blog)
In countries around the world, text-message traffic has been shrinking because Internet-powered alternatives are becoming so widely used. For the first time, the American wireless market saw a decline in the total number of messages sent by each customer each month, according to a report published Monday by Chetan Sharma, an independent mobile analyst who is a consultant for wireless carriers.

RIM to Unveil BlackBerry 10 on Jan. 30 in Turnaround Bid (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Research In Motion plans to showcase the first two of its BlackBerry 10 smartphones on Jan. 30 and then start selling the devices in February, moving forward with a critical step in its comeback bid. The rollout will finally get the BlackBerry 10 into consumers’ hands after multiple product delays put the phones a year behind schedule.

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Nielsen

“The skyrocketing adoption and use of social media among consumers is transforming TV-watching into a more immediate and shared experience. As TV networks see this phenomenon unfold, they require understanding of the impact of social TV on their programming, ratings and advertising effectiveness,” said Steve Hasker, president of global media products and advertiser solutions at Nielsen in a statement. “Nielsen’s expertise in creating industry standard consumer measurement means we are uniquely suited to establish a deeper understanding of today’s highly-engaged consumers through social TV metrics.  We are thrilled by the addition of SocialGuide to our portfolio and welcome them to Nielsen.”

Nielsen said it plans to integrate SocialGuide’s software and data streams into NM Incite, the hub of the company’s social media measurement and analytics efforts.  A joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey & Company, NM Incite uses social media to provide consumer insights for marketers.

SocialGuide measures Twitter activity for every program aired, in both English and Spanish, across 234 U.S. television channels. The company also has a solution for  identifying and reaching out to the most influential people within a network’s social TV audience.

Update: We learned more about the deal in a phone call with NM Incite CEO Andrew Somosi and SocialGuide founder Sean Casey.

Somosi said his company chose SocialGuide because it was “the most comprehensive player in terms of channels and programs that they cover,” especially the Spanish-language channels. “We were pleased with the rigor that Sean and the team apply” to their analysis of Twitter activity.

Casey said that while the startup had brought in 35 broadcast, cable, and agency clients since launching its SocialGuide Intelligence (SGI) product in May, Nielsen and NM Incite would help move the company toward the goal of “100 percent TV penetration.”

Both execs said they were working together to standardize the core metrics for social TV. According to Somosi, the ratings system of the future will need to measure two populations: the people who are actively engaging on social media and the people who see the activity, but who don’t participate. Current metrics “overlook the second dimension,” he said.

Image by Marcio Eugenio via Shutterstock.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.