First off, Meeker looks at the growth of internet adoption, which is slowing as regions work on new infrastructure to facilitate connection. It's amazing to consider that around 50% of the world is still not connected to the internet, which highlights the opportunities for expansion, but also, the challenges now faced in getting the rest of the world online.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigations aims to acquire access to a social media early alerting tool that will help insiders proactively and reactively monitor how terrorist groups, foreign intelligence services, criminal organizations and other domestic threats use networking platforms to further their illegal efforts, according to a request for proposal amended this week.

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Wish you could follow a couple of Twitter or Instagram users, without setting up an account? Create an RSS feed for them.

RSS Hub is an open source project that creates RSS feeds from a wide variety of websites, including social media pages. You can install this on your own server, but it’s not necessary for most users.

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1. Plan a content strategy and create an editorial calendar for your social channels.
Marketers are sometimes at a loss at what to post on social media.

Successful social media marketing doesn't happen on accident -- there's a strategy in place, just as there is with a blog.

Look at the big picture and come up with social content that will resonate with your audience.

Map out seasonal content, as well as content related to events or launches your company is planning.

Work closely with your editorial and marketing teams to know what's coming down the pipeline and strategize the best ways to promote it.

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When you really think about it, marketing has come a long way in just a few decades. Marketing tactics are more sophisticated (and more effective) than ever before, and social media marketing has ensured that every business on the planet has a voice.

There is just one problem. In a world where every business on the planet has a megaphone, how can you make sure that your voice is heard?

Having a strong brand seems to be the only way to consistently get ahead of the competition, but it is not easy.

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Before the internet was consolidated into centralized information silos, RSS imagined a better way to let users control their online personas.

About a decade ago, the average internet user might well have heard of RSS. Really Simple Syndication, or Rich Site Summary—what the acronym stands for depends on who you ask—is a standard that websites and podcasts can use to offer a feed of content to their users, one easily understood by lots of different computer programs. Today, though RSS continues to power many applications on the web, it has become, for most people, an obscure technology.

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Wish you could follow a couple of Twitter or Instagram users, without setting up an account? Create an RSS feed for them.

RSS Hub is an open source project that creates RSS feeds from a wide variety of websites, including social media pages. You can install this on your own server, but it’s not necessary for most users.

complete article

For the past decade, brands have been capitalizing on the pervasiveness of social media in consumers’ daily lives and shopping habits. And this past year was no different.

Social media analytics company Unmetric found that brands that promoted messaging with edge, savvy, conviction—and occasionally dogs—won the marketing game.

Of that messaging, video—particularly those with memorable storylines, guest appearances or creative approaches to addressing social issues—reined as the overall best-performing format for branded and original content, a consistent trend in their numbers since at least 2015.

The Most Captivating Brand Campaigns We Saw on Social Media in 2019

Updating your brand bio can be a great, simple way to boost engagement, especially heading into the new year. Your profile bio can play a key role in perception, and in driving subsequent action, so it is worth reviewing your details and ensuring that everything is as you want it.

Writing a Great Social Media Bio for Your Brand [Infographic]

Is influencer marketing becoming a strategy of the past? Are influencers worth what brands pay them to endorse their products?


How This Social Media Agency Is Revolutionizing The Influencer Marketing Landscape

Google has used links to determine the authority of websites since its early days: the idea of webpages casting votes” for other pages by linking to them is at the core of the PageRank algorithm. This led to the rise of numerous manipulative link tactics.

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Imagine you got a spike of traffic from Facebook amounting to hundreds of thousands of visitors — but only a trickle of them converted.

And lets assume all the moving parts in your funnel are working properly; you’ve got a fast- loading website, great conversion copy, and well-functioning sign-up or contact forms.

Yet, with all of these things, your conversion rates from that spike of traffic were nothing to write home about. And what exactly could cause that?

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Web based feed readers are kind of a pain to use. They often implement changes that you do not want, while taking away features that you like.  Local readers are much better when it comes to this, because you can revert to an older version in case of adverse changes.

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While usage of most mobile apps has remained neutral during the coronavirus pandemic, social media app usage has exploded during the lockdown, according to new data from Nielsen.

Why it matters: Prior to the pandemic, consumers and tech companies were both becoming more aware of the overuse of social media and actively trying to limit it. In a time when people can not connect with friends and family in person, companies have put these efforts on pause.

By the numbers: Prior to the pandemic, social media usage for most of January, February and early March remained relatively flat at around 20% of total mobile app usage, according to Nielsens data.

But beginning in mid-March, when statewide stay-at-home orders went into effect, social media app usage began to increase significantly, and now consumes around 25% of all mobile app usage for U.S. adults.

Other media app usage, like video, lifestyle, and finance apps have mostly remained the same, in part because consumers are now leveraging other devices, like desktops and television screens, for more activities while home.

Web based feed readers are kind of a pain to use. They often implement changes that you don't want, while taking away features that you like.  Local readers are much better when it comes to this, because you can revert to an older version in case of adverse changes.

Smart RSS Reader is a feed reader extension for Firefox and Chrome that I have been using for a week; I am quite impressed by it so far.

Install the add-on and click its toolbar icon to open a new tab with the extension's RSS reader. It has three panes, each of which has a toolbar at the top. The left pane is the feeds pane and lists all RSS feeds that you're subscribed too. Selecting a feed displays the title of the articles published by the site in the center pane. It also displays the author's name and the date when the article went live.

The West Bengal government on Saturday said it had brought back around 6,000 residents stranded outside the state and ensured safe return of people of other states stuck here due to the lockdown, virtually refuting the claims of non-cooperation made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The New England Patriots have been rapidly locking up their draft picks in the wake of the 2020 NFL Draft. They signed two more to contracts on Friday.

The New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens both suffered disappointing defeats in last season's NFL playoffs, but they appear headed in opposite directions as the 2020 campaign approaches.

The new era of New England Patriots football has its schedule and Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry are breaking it down on the latest edition of Curran's Patriots Talk Podcast.

NFL Network's Chris Wesseling takes a look at the Cleveland Browns and quarterback Baker Mayfield heading into the 2020 season.

Marquise Brown knows that he still has another gear after an injury-riddled first season.

NFL Network's Steve Smith Sr. warns to "beware' of creative tricks from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in 2020.

NFL Network's Jane Slater says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones "had a hand in" Dallas Cowboys playing opening game at SoFi Stadium.