You probably knew that social media was popular – the rapidly-growing audiences of Facebook, Twitter and the other top platforms are heavily touted, after all – but a new study has unveiled just how big social networking has become, and, perhaps more impressively, is becoming, around the world.

In their Worldwide Social Network Users: 2013 Forecast and Comparative Estimates report, eMarketer has determined that one in four people worldwide will use social networks in 2013. This equates to a rise of 1.73 billion social media users from 1.47 billion in 2012, and this global audience is expected to jump to an incredible 2.55 billion within the next five years.

Read more

It appears that Twitter may bring a smaller, but more active, audience to brands than Facebook does.

A new study from social advertising and analytics startup Optimal examined data from 4,330 brands to determine whether each brand’s Twitter or Facebook following outpaced the other. The results are definitely interesting.

Read more

In March, Twitter announced via its developer blog that its API v1 would officially retire on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, then gave developers a reprieve with a May announcement that the API 1 shutdown wouldn’t take place until June 11.

Now the transition to API V1.1 has officially taken place.

Read more

Is there such a thing as a perfect tweet?

Sure there is. While the content that you post on Twitter will vary depending on your business, paying close attention to how you tweet can dramatically improve your engagement rates. Having a clear call to action, being mindful to use proper punctuation and shortening URLs (with Bitly) are simple steps everyone can take to optimise the quality of their Twitter output, maximising reader interest and significantly improving ROI.

Read more

Did you know that with more than three million active Twitter users, and a 300 percent year-on-year growth rate, Saudi Arabia ranks number one in the world as the fastest-growing Twitter nation? Moreover, Arabic is the fastest-growing language on Twitter, and 88 percent of the Middle East’s online population uses one or more social networking sites each day.

Indeed, social media usage throughout the Middle East is very much on the rise, with Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all popular in varying degrees through the Gulf region, and LinkedIn has a particularly strong presence in the business-focused UAE.

Read more

Twitter’s Canadian office has officially opened its doors, with managing director Kirstine Stewart at its helm.

After a month of behind-the-scenes media action and 10 new employee hires, Twitter Canada is ready to roll.

Read more

Social media crises have popped up in the media fairly frequently lately, from the spate of SEA hackings to the @ComfortablySmug Twitter account that during Hurricane Sandy posted a series of lies about damage, loss of power, and – most notoriously – the New York Stock Exchange flooding.

What’s a social media manager to do in time of such turmoil?

Read more

The Newcomers Guide To Twitter is a ten-part series of introductory lessons, tips and suggestions for people using Twitter for the first time. Please share these articles with your friends, family, colleagues and anyone you know who is struggling to “get Twitter”.

So, you’ve studied the basics, chosen the perfect username, setup your profile at Twitter.com and started following some cool people. But here’s the thing: how do you get people to follow you?

Read more

A group of about 30 popular Viners have teamed up to launch the ironically titled “Unpopular Now,” a riff on Vine’s “Popular Now” category.

In addition to sharing their Vines, the group plans to host contests and curations. There’s also an Unpopular Now Twitter account and YouTube channel.

Read more

Twubs, creator of branded hashtag landing pages, has released a free, API-compliant Twitter chat tool that’s definitely worth checking out.

The service aggregates tweets from any Twitter client in real-time, cultivating high-quality engagement in the conversation and extra-effective moderation.

Read more