Sound Shore Media

What’s New This Week?

Google+ Unveils New Design: The new Google+ design “helps you easily explore content as well as dramatically improves your online photo experience to give you crisp, beautiful photos—without the work!”

Google Launches Stand-Alone Hangouts App:  ”Hangouts brings one-on-one and group conversations to life with photos, emoji and video calls for free. Connect with friends across computers, Android and Apple devices.” Hangouts also works right inside of Gmail.

The app replaces Google Talk and arrived in both Google Play and iTunes.

More news at Social Media Examiner.

One of the biggest highlights of Android’s jump to 4.2 was the addition of Photo Sphere, a 360-degree panoramic shooting mode that pans vertically as well as horizontally. It’s a neat trick, but the only way to share it was on Google+ or on a device running Android 4.2 or higher. Now, thanks to a new widget that utilizes the Google+ Platform API, you can embed an interactive 360-degree slideshow on any website you choose — so long as your photos are stored on G+ and PicasaWeb. If you’re willing to play around with a bit of code, have a peek at the source to get started.

[Image credit: Colby Brown] 

engadget 

http://engt.co/182Jcvq

Change isn’t always easy for businesses, particularly when the tried and true methods have worked in the past and the budget’s tight.

Yet social media has proven itself to be far more than a passing fad and business owners would be wise to take advantage of all the opportunities that await…if they can get past the twelve weak excuses laid out by 12Most’s Becky Gaylord.

1. We can’t “control” it

Oh, so you can control what the local or national media are saying about you? Can you control the things that your customers are saying about you? (And, be certain about this, Mr. or Ms. CEO: Your customers are on Yelp, Twitter, Foursquare and elsewhere spouting off whether you are there to respond — or not.)

The point? It’s better to be aware of and able to respond to social chatter that’s already happening about your brand. That’s something you can control.

2. We can’t afford it

Social media is amazingly cost effective. The tools and technology available allow companies to connect directly with their customers on a wide and broad scale. This was impossible when marketing required companies to rely on a third party — such as a journalist, ad agency, billboard or other media outlet — in order to reach customers. What companies can’t afford is to have no social media presence or one that isn’t guided and executed skillfully to meet business objectives.

Full story at 12Most.

Client Habitat for Humanity of Westchester got a big shot in the arm from Good Morning America on May 7 show. Here is part of it:

“That’s wasn’t the only surprise for the local heroes. The Westchester, N.Y. chapter of Habitat for Humanity will give the supplies and manpower to help get the firehouse get back up and running at its best.

“A long time after we are gone, they will be there, saving lives and stopping fires,” said Jim Killoran, executive director of Westchester, NY chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Credit: Ida Mae Astute/ABC

For more information on these organizations, visit their websites: Point Breeze Fire Department, Habitat for Humanity’s Westchester, N.Y. chapter, Graybeards, Direct Relief.

http://abcn.ws/12euTjG

Talking on the phone with a friend the other day and when I  made a negative comment about Facebook, was promptly told, “Yeah, well, it is gonna be gone in a year. Them and all their ilk.”

Some people don’t do Facebook. I get that. And I’m OK with it. My wife is way too
serious for Facebook. She does LinkedIn though. But here’s the deal, if you  asked me if I liked Facebook, my answer is, “It matters not if I like Facebook. I go on Facebook like I go Downtown.” If you ask me if I like Downtown I’d say, “Sure, Downtown is
OK, but I don’t go there because I like it. I go there when I need to do X, Y or Z.”
My wife thinks I like Facebook. I tell her that she doesn’t understand, that I am an evangelist who has a call to spread the Good News on the Internet and social media.
She will never understand unless she gets a Facebook account and even then, who knows.

You may not get it either. You may have a Facebook account and even log in from time to time to see what your friends are saying and you still haven’t appreciated the
potential of Facebook for ministry.  If you did you would go there everyday like you go to work. And you would share, seriously share the Good News.

Share what? Share ministry tips for one thing. Share the most interesting thing that was said in Bible Study. Share (and here I do hope you are listening) please regularly
share things we post on our ILT Facebook page. And I do mean share. It is nice that you “Like” it but we need you to click on “Share” so that your friends see it as well. We are a young Institute and many, many people have not even heard of us and are completely unaware of all the hard work that has gone into this vision to reclaim land given over to the teaching of a false gospel.

To tie it together, without a doubt Facebook  will be here next year and probably will be going strong to the end of the next decade perhaps. Why? Because a billion people
are there. There is a strong North American audience but also young people from around the world are going onto Facebook to have Christian fellowship. We at ILT are
working every day to be found faithful and that includes a vision of “Going to all nations.” We are already doing that on the Internet. Use social media, share our posts
and tweets and thereby have another way we are yoked together. Thank you!

Boston Explosions: Twitter Acts As Journalism’s Ombudsman (The Washington Post / Erik Wemple) When tragedy strikes America, Twitter remembers bad reporting. As if the media needed any reminder not to jump to conclusions about what was happening on the ground in Boston, Twitter came to the rescue, with numerous folks pleading for caution. The platform that’s most effective at churning out breaking news has become a place that preaches caution in breaking-news scenarios. Just in case editors and reporters need any reminders. io9 Within seconds after a bomb detonated during the Boston Marathon Monday morning, pictures, video and news of the horrific event were pulsing over social networks. And they weren’t exaggerations or FUD — these reports from people on the ground were the way most of us learned the truth. AllFacebook Shortly after the explosions, Facebook users started sharing photos from the scene, as well as prayers and well wishes for those killed or injured in the blasts. Many other people in Boston started using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to tell family and friends that they were safe. FishbowlNY Nearly two hours after bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon’s finish line killed at least two and injured up to 100, the New York Post reported that authorities were guarding a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian national. But Boston police would not confirm there was a suspect identified at all. The report, citing unnamed sources, said the suspect was under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital. Fox News reported that the suspect was severely burned. The tabloid’s supposed scoop was picked up by numerous sites, including Breitbart.com, TheBlaze and PolicyMic. Poynter / MediaWire BostonGlobe.com will be available to nonsubscribers as the news organization continues to cover the explosions in Boston, Globe spokesperson Ellen Clegg said by phone. Boston.com, the Globe‘s free site, will also drop the automatic registration requests readers get after they hit a certain number of pages. The New York Times‘ pay gate is suspended, too, Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy says. HuffPost / The Backstory When New York Times reporter John Eligon got out of the shower on Monday afternoon, he saw a text message from a friend asking if he was OK. Eligon had just returned to his hotel after running the Boston Marathon, so the question wasn’t out of the ordinary. Eligon was a bit sore, but otherwise, felt alright. FishbowlNY Nicholas Kristof apologized on Monday night for a “low blow” after bashing Senate Republicans in a tweet after the bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line. Bloomberg / Jeffrey Goldberg Part of talking for a living is knowing when to shut up. It is obviously true that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives needs a director. It might even be true that Republicans could try a lot harder to put a director in place. But after an explosion about which we know almost nothing, and in the face of sudden, violent death at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, this is not the time to guess about the perpetrators or to recommend policy fixes that would prevent such attacks from taking place. SocialTimes Google has employed its Person Finder tool to help people locate family and friends who may have been hurt in the explosions that occurred Monday. Users can search for or report the whereabouts of a missing person by filling out an online form. All of the information is crowdsourced and is not verified by Google.

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