To This Day, Digg Still Makes Me a Little Sad

Time heals wounds, right? Unfortunately, the time since Digg was at its peak in mid-2010 until now has not been enough time for me to really let it go. They had something wonderful growing in social media and I was a part of it. The demise of the site still stings today.

I put together a piece that spilled my social media heart out on the table. While I wanted to post it here, this is a venue for positive growth in social media today and tomorrow, so reminiscing about what might (should) have been doesn’t go here. Still, it had to be written, so I put it on Medium. If you want to check it out, here’s a snippet:

There has never been a social media site that acted more like a meritocracy than the old Digg.com. It required true talent at both finding the content and “gaming the system” to become a power user. Only a few hundred people in the world mastered it.

Read More: Medium

via Soshable | Social Media Blog http://soshable.com/to-this-day-digg-still-makes-me-a-little-sad/

Ominous warning.

via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152028735396807&set=a.10150804218396807.479308.657281806&type=1

Pacu Jawi: The Cow Mud Racing Spectacle of West Sumatra

Some have called it animal cruelty. Others have called it human cruelty. Either way, the mud cow races of West Sumatra, Pacu Jawi, is a spectacle unlike anything else in the world.

It’s a sport. It’s also a test. If you can keep the cows together and avoid eating too much mud on the way while biting the tails of the cows to make them run faster, then you passed. If anything falls apart, you failed. That’s the challenge.

According to National Geographic:

Pacu Jawi is a traditional racing game in west Sumatra that has lasted hundreds of years. played after the rice harvest season

Below are some more images followed by a video from a recent event.

via WeHeartWorld http://weheartworld.com/pacu-jawi-the-cow-mud-racing-spectacle-of-west-sumatra/

The Confusing GMO Law Landscape

One of the best tricks that genetic mutation companies like Monsanto like to use is confusion. They often partner with their cronies in Washington DC and at the state level to make the laws as complex and self-protective as possible, leaving citizens in the precarious position of either not having the ability to clearly understand the laws or rejecting of the time that it takes to get to know them.

They do this using their best tool – money. By confusing the issues and making good laws look bad while making bad laws look good, they’re able to keep the general public both confused and frustrated. Labeling, as simple as the concept is, stands as one of the most hotly contested components in the fight over GMO. One would think that getting a law passed that compels food distributors to simply label their food is a no-brainer, but it has been met with extremely challenging roadblocks.

Here’s everything that you need to kn0w about the laws that exist and the ones that do not… yet, from the Huffington Post.

via WeHeartWorld http://weheartworld.com/the-confusing-gmo-law-landscape/

Podcast:Improving a Dealership’s Social Media Presence

Presence is 50% of the game when it comes to social media. You have to be in front of people, accessible, and able to bring to them the other half of the social media equation: message.

A message without a presence brings to mind the old saying about a tree falling in an empty forest. If a Facebook post goes out and nobody saw it in their news feed, did it really get posted at all? Of course, having a presence is great but if the message isn’t powerful, engaging, and resonating, it won’t do your dealership any good.

In this podcast through AutoSuccess, I talk about the ways that dealerships can improve their presence and focus on what really matters: driving more business and keeping customers as happy as they can be.

Listen Now.

The post Podcast:Improving a Dealership’s Social Media Presence appeared first on Soshable | Social Media Blog.

via Soshable | Social Media Blog http://soshable.com/podcastimproving-dealerships-social-media-presence/

Rough Neighborhood

via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152025221821807&set=a.10150804218396807.479308.657281806&type=1

Chinese government becomes a candidate for the worst Photoshopping team in the world

Iran has come out with some monsters in the bad Photoshopping world. North Korea has staked their own claim for the top spot. Now, China has a potential winning entry into the worst Photoshopped piece of propaganda ever created.

What was supposed to be a nice, heartwarming picture of four Chinese government officials visiting an elderly woman in a sign of respect and caring for the people and giving back and all that ended up being another Photoshop nightmare for China where three giant men plus a floating disappearing half man creepily hover over a miniature-sized old woman. Man, someone needs to teach China how to use Photoshop.

via Techi.com http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techirss/~3/igjfZmaguOk/

2-to-1: The Magic Ratio for Twitter Image Marketing

Let’s state this for the record. I am not convinced that using the new image features on Twitter is the best way to go when it comes to marketing your business. It still smells too much like spam and if it’s not handled properly it could do more harm than good.

With that said, there are definitely instances when it could do VERY well, particularly when it comes to gaining exposure and picking up more Twitter followers. The key is making sure you’re keeping a 2:1 ratio aspect ration for your images.

They are displaying that way regardless of the size or shape of the image when seen in the screen. They can be enlarged, of course, but that’s so old school. With the new Twitter feed displaying them inline without a click and the fact that they’ve added the engagement actions under each post across all of the platforms, it makes sense prevent people from having to click to see the whole picture.

Look at the example below, a tale of two Tweets. As you can see, the top image that I just posted fits perfectly into the frame that Twitter gives us. The one below it forces you to click through to see it. It doesn’t matter how compelling the message is, only a handful of people will click to find out what the punchline was. They’re much more likely to skip right past it, particularly if they’re like the majority who check Twitter on mobile.

If your images are twice as wide as they are tall or close to that ratio, you’ll be able to get the most impact out of your Twitter image marketing. Don’t go out and make a bunch of ads at that ratio. Again, this can be abused and you’ll turn more people off than ever before if you spam the system (and feeds). Keep it legit and everything will be just fine.

The post 2-to-1: The Magic Ratio for Twitter Image Marketing appeared first on Soshable | Social Media Blog.

via Soshable | Social Media Blog http://soshable.com/2-1-magic-ratio-twitter-image-marketing/

The Moulin Rouge in Full Color a Year Before it Burned Down

In this rare color photograph by Albert Kahn of the original Moulin Rouge in Paris, we see the famous cabaret a year before it burned down in 1915. It was built in 1889 and inspired many spinoffs, homages, and even an Academy Award nominated movie. After the fire, it was rebuilt and officially reopened in 1921.

According to Wikipedia:

The house was co-founded in 1889 by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement , it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.

via Uberly http://uberly.com/uber/the-moulin-rouge-in-full-color-a-year-before-it-burned-down/

Chinese Government, Photoshop Masters

It’s not just bad. It’s not even a subtle mistake. This is arguably the worst attempt ever by a government to simulate something that never happened. The proportions are clearly off. The guy on the right looks like one of the siblings on Marty’s picture in Back to the Future. It’s overall about as creepy as you can get.

The worst part is that this was deemed easier and more effective than having government officials actually visiting an old lady. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time that they’ve tried to work some sort of Photoshop magic putting government officials where they never actually visited…

via Uberly http://uberly.com/uber/chinese-government-photoshop-masters/