About 70 million photos and videos are posted daily to Instagram. This week the Facebook-owned service began tapping into that content to provide its 300 million users with the feeling of being part of current events as they unfold live. An updated Explore button, working with the service’s algorithms, will take Instagram users to the most important and timely imagery in their regions and across the nation — from live sports and concerts to breaking news. Instagram has also made it easier to find images via its search function and will feature hand-selected collections for content discovery. Continue reading Instagram Updates Put Users in the Middle of Current Events

Apple Music, the highly-anticipated $10 per month streaming music service, is launching this month with a free three-month trial for music fans. Last week, Apple’s Robert Kondrk said that the company was planning to pay 71.5 percent of subscription revenue to all music owners. However, Kondrk also noted that Apple would not be paying owners during the three-month trial period. Following criticism by Taylor Swift and others, Apple changed its plans. Apple’s Eddy Cue quickly explained via Twitter that Apple would make sure that artists are paid. Continue reading Apple Music to Pay Royalties During New Service Trial Period

As part of its social media push for the upcoming series “Scream,” based on the popular horror film franchise, MTV has created an interactive online game. In a unique promotional campaign, “Choose Your Own Murder” invites participants to enter their own horror movie scenario and try to escape a killer. Users are given options as the story unfolds and brief time limits to quickly make decisions that steer the action. Once murdered, users then have the option of playing the game again or sharing via social media. The series is slated to debut June 30. Continue reading MTV Launches Interactive Online Game to Promote ‘Scream’

YouTube announced that it is launching a new service called YouTube Newswire with social news agency Storyful. While the two companies have been working together in different capacities since the Tahrir Square protests in 2011 (and News Corp.-owned Storyful was contextualizing YouTube videos even before that), the new service plans to provide a curated and verified feed of newsworthy global events published on the video site. The goal is to help provide journalists with additional resources regarding breaking news, including first-hand eyewitness accounts. Continue reading YouTube and Storyful to Partner on Verified Eyewitness Videos

More than 10,000 gamers have signed a petition requesting that Nintendo not release a game it showed during this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The gaming giant, which has abandoned its splashy E3 press conferences in favor of more low-key presentations, apparently failed to introduce enough new games for its fans. The harsh reaction led to the petition regarding a lackluster new “disgrace of a game” in the “Metroid” series. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata issued an apology on Twitter and vowed to improve future efforts. Continue reading Nintendo Presentation at E3 Draws Strong Backlash from Fans

Twitter announced that CEO Dick Costolo plans to leave the company at the end of the month. Co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey will serve as interim CEO starting July 1 until a successor is found. Twitter shares jumped eight percent following the announcement. Since the company went public in 2013, Twitter has experienced numerous challenges, including an effective means of attracting new users and developing revenue streams based on advertising. Some are speculating that Twitter is ripe for acquisition, with Google listed as one of the interested parties. Continue reading Besieged Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to Step Down This Month

San Francisco-based social bookmarking site Pinterest announced yesterday that it plans to introduce e-commerce to its platform with “Buyable Pins,” which could go a long way to justify the company’s $11 billion valuation. Pinterest, popular with users for discovering and sharing real world things through a digital scrapbook approach featuring “pinned” items, will allow interested sellers to add “buy” buttons to items they post. The product’s early retail partners include Cole Haan, Ethan Allen, Macy’s, Kate Spade and others. Continue reading Pinterest Adds E-Commerce to Discovery with New Buy Button

Facebook-owned Instagram announced that it plans to open its photo feed to all advertisers later this year. Aside from working with a few select brands to post commercial messages, the mobile photo-sharing service has remained largely free of ads to this point. Opening the feed to advertisers of all sizes will provide marketers with the ability to target the platform’s 300 million users by age, gender, interests, and other factors. The service also plans to introduce a new ad type that encourages users to click links to make product purchases or install advertised apps. Continue reading Instagram Unveils Plans to Open its Photo Feed to Advertisers

Periscope, Twitter’s new mobile live streaming app (and Meerkat competitor), is starting to draw the attention of advertisers and programmers. The app, which Twitter purchased this year for a reported $100 million, allows users to live stream content directly to and from their smartphones. The app was initially released only for iOS devices, but went live on Android phones this week. VH1 recently used the social tool to promote the wedding of two stars on “Love & Hip Hop” by providing users access to the ceremony’s red carpet arrival. Continue reading Now Live on Android, Periscope Part of New Social Strategies

Reports recently surfaced that Twitter has been in talks this year to purchase Flipboard, in a deal that would value the company at more than $1 billion. The acquisition would bring an experienced product team to Twitter as well as an heir apparent to CEO Dick Costolo in Flipboard co-founder Mike McCue. However, updates to the news have suggested that talks between the two companies have stalled, and other companies, including Google and Yahoo have since had discussions about possibly acquiring the newsreader app. Continue reading Interest in Acquiring Flipboard Heats Up with Tech Companies

Social bookmarking site Pinterest is bolstering its advertising strategy with a “cinematic pins” feature that adds motion to users’ boards. These special pins play short animations at the same speed that a user is scrolling. When the user clicks on an ad, the pin plays a longer version of the video. These new ads are part of a revamped strategy designed to compete with Twitter and Facebook. Advertisers will now have more targeting options and access to a new ad-creating service. Continue reading Pinterest Unveils New Animated Ads Called ‘Cinematic Pins’

Music streaming service Pandora announced this week that it has acquired Next Big Sound, a company that tracks how popular songs become online and via social networks. Next Big Sound has become a standard for measuring artist popularity through activity on Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube and other platforms. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. However, in similar data-tracking deals, Spotify paid about $55 million for the Echo Nest last year and Apple paid a reported $50 million in January for Next Big Sound competitor Semetric. Continue reading Pandora Purchases Music Data-Tracking Firm Next Big Sound

As Meerkat and Periscope battle for the lead in live broadcasting via smartphones, Periscope is rolling out a version 10.4 update to make it easier for users to sign up. No longer requiring a Twitter account, users can now use the streaming app by simply entering a phone number. However, Periscope still recommends that Twitter users sign up for the app through its microblogging service since it is easier to identify other interesting users to follow. The update also makes it easier to reply to comments during a broadcast. Continue reading Periscope Update Allows Users to Sign Up with Phone Number

Periscope is trying to repair its relationship with television broadcasters after some users illegally live streamed the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match. The company says it was better prepared to handle takedown requests after the piracy issues involving “Game of Thrones.” Because Twitter owns Periscope, the live streaming app needs to maintain a good relationship with broadcasters. Meanwhile, the U.S. Open golf tournament will not allow live streaming from Periscope or Meerkat. Continue reading Twitter’s Periscope Hopes It Can Coexist with TV Broadcasters

Snapchat is finally letting users share stories with their friends directly from the app’s news portal. Users simply have to hold down a news story, add a comment or some emoji, and then send it to friends just like a regular Snap. The Discover portal has seen viewership drop since it debuted earlier this year, and Snapchat is betting on sharing to attract more loyal viewers. Many other media companies such as BuzzFeed rely heavily on social sharing to drive Web traffic. Continue reading Snapchat Adds New Tool to Share News from ‘Discover’ Portal