Twitter’s Two-Factor Account Verification Process Is Live

Twitter has had some trouble in the recent past with some high profile accounts getting hacked and the ensuing fallout from those issues. Part of their response was to say that they will be enabling a two-step verification process. At the time that was a promise but now it is in play according to the post on the Twitter blog from yesterday.

Here’s a video for you to get the gist.

So while this is a good first step it may not really be much help to those who really need it. How’s that you ask? Well, TechCrunch’s Josh Constine has this to say

Majority of Mobile Users Would Rather Engage an Ad Than Pay for an Upgrade

The psychology behind how we spend our money is a wondrous thing. I’ll gladly throw down $1 a day for a Diet Coke, but I’m reluctant to spend $1.50 on a box of pasta that would feed my whole family when I can get it for less than that on another day. I’m also reluctant to pay for additional levels on my iPad games. I’ve done it once or twice, but it’s not an easy button push.

For whatever reason, mobile users will do almost anything to keep from paying for an upgrade – including engage with ads.

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Will Mobile Ad Platform Accreditation Curb Wasted Ad Spending?

logo-iadWith so much going in the Internet and social media space sometimes it feels like you just missed something. After looking at this article from AdAge I had that feeling. It looks at the problem of waste that many advertisers are experiencing in the mobile space and how an accreditation process could give advertisers some solace that what they are paying for is what they are actually receiving.

The article says

The debate over the value of mobile advertising typically focuses on what effect, if any, it has on brand lift, sales and getting consumers into stores. But advertisers have been wasting money on mobile in the literal sense because a significant portion of the ads they’re paying for never properly display on devices.

The New Flickr is Lovely to Look at But Users Are Crying Foul

Yahoo’s had a busy week. First, they took over Tumblr and then they redesigned their old photo storage service Flickr. (Or was it the other way around?)

Flickr’s an interesting beast. Like many aging websites, there was a time when everyone knew it and used it. But in the last few years, people have slowly migrated their photos over to Facebook or Google+ and Flickr’s been on a downhill slide.

In order to renew interest, Yahoo invested in a lovely new design that even made me, the girl with only 35 pictures in her account, come back.

flickr new design

A Day Later. . . It’s All About Ads on Tumblr

panicYesterday, Frank posted the news that Yahoo bought Tumblr. The big takeaway was this quote from Yahoo’s announcement:

We promise not to screw it up.  Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going.  We will operate Tumblr independently.  David Karp will remain CEO.  The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Yahoo (which used to be hip. . . but this is what happens with age) attempted to replicate the kind of wry humor you find on Tumblr with an animated gif that changes from “Keep Calm and Carry On” to the words Yahoo!, Tumblr, then the final graphic you see here on the right.

Pew Study Shows Teens Are Not Shy About Posting Personal Information

We’ve been warning kids for years not to put personal identifiers on the internet. Still, a new study from Pew shows that 71% of teens have mentioned their school name on social media and 20% have posted their cell numbers.

Okay, maybe this is just the paranoid mom talking but these numbers scare me:

pew teens sharing

I’m shocked but not surprised by this chart or anything in Pew’s new study “Teens, Social Media, and Privacy.”

The entire report is more proof that 12-17 year olds are not only comfortable on social media, they’ve learned how to navigate the treacherous waters better than their parents. Look at these numbers:

pew privacy

Should Tax Questions Surrounding Apple Impact Its Reputation?

Apple TargetWe talk a lot about reputation here at Marketing Pilgrim. After all, our founder, Andy Beal has quite a reputation himself in the fast growing field of reputation management, monitoring and online listening.

With that in mind we often see stories a little bit differently than some. Today’s case in point is the tax avoidance story that is currently surrounding Apple. The company is already getting dinged here and there with some reputation matters, like cnet’s “Customers Not As Happy With iPhone As The Were Last Year” (which carries an alarmist headline and not much else to be concerned about but it’s the headline that people actually read so ….) and the Apple Maps concerns of last year. Also, there are concerns about the direction and general health of the company in the post Steve Jobs era which sometimes directly indicts current CEO Tim Cooke.