Facebook

Violet launches its latest Smart Rabbit Robotic companions called Karotz- the only Facebook hardware in the world. It turns social networking into a natural way of life allowing people to interact without a computer or smartphone.

February 2012 – The Karotz "smart" rabbit is the first-ever hardware device tailor-made especially for Facebook. It is the third generation of the multipurpose, internet-connected rabbits which first launched in 2005 as Nabaztag, and has since become an Internet icon. The immensely popular robotic companions transform daily life by providing a link to family, friends and the world. Karotz is now compatible with Facebook-- a wonderful addition to its already extensive range of features.

"We are excited to launch the new Karotz smart rabbit which is compatible with Facebook, to allow people to interact both with their new companion and with their friends wherever they are", Fabien Bardinet, CEO of Violet. "Following the successful launch of Karotz in the US at CES this year, we are confident that it will also do very well in Europe as Karotz already has a strong fan base of people who like to keep in touch with their friends and family via social networking sites on a daily basis. The concept behind Karotz is to make communicating with friends and sharing information both an interactive and fun experience."Read more

Listen Up – You were told in school to keep your mouth shut, pay attention, listen, and learn. The same thing applies if you want to be the teacher's pet and the most popular kid in school…listen to the community.

You may have heard by now that folks spend more time on Facebook than any other website. By a whole lot!

To be more precise, it's 53.5 billion minutes a month on the world's largest social networking site.

When Zuck announced at F8 – the Facebook developer's conference – that the site now had more than 800 million citizens, he said he wanted them to be even more involved with the Site. In fact, he wanted Facebook to become the destination where people tell the story of their life.

We, and you, might think that's over sharing, but the growing community is changing the way companies relate with customers.

Companies are establishing their Facebook pages in record numbers and feeling their way along as they build, expand, leverage those relationships.

No one is exactly certain how much all those eyeballs and likes are worth.

It's still too early to say how much a Facebook friend and his/her recommendation can generate, but that's not inhibiting the rush to be there.

Companies like Coke, Starbucks, Nutella, Papa John's, Pringles, Skittles, Zynga, Zappos, Electronic Arts feel it's worth the effort. Read more

When the Internet was in its infancy, an editor once commented to us that if a person didn't have an email address, he had no reason to talk with him.

Today, if you don't have a Facebook page, it's almost as though you don't exist. That's true of individuals; and increasingly, it's true of companies. That's because Facebook is the location to go for news, information, ideas, and friends.

In six years, Facebook has gone from zero members to more than 800M (latest "official" count).

Global Momentum – People can't produce infographics fast enough to keep up with Facebook's growth. This recent chart was dramatically outdated by Zuck at f8, the organization's developer conference, when he reported Facebook now has more than 800M "citizens" around the globe and is published in more than 100 languages. Source – pingdom.com

Put in a global perspective that would make Facebook the third largest country in the world, behind China and India.

Because of its size and influence, Facebook has become a major source and resource for businesses. Its rapid growth and global reach is impressive, to say the least.Read more

Business has been built on the foundation of selling stuff. Hopefully, lots of stuff – products, ideas, services – to lots of folks.

The latest tool new-marketing experts are promoting to management is social media. You know, putting your products, your ideas in front of the masses to buy.

Most social media efforts today – Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube video program – are implemented, tested and measured to push what your stuff to retail (brick and mortar or ecommerce) to keep the cash register ringing. If the bottomline is black, the people who recommended and ran the program say, "See, it works!" If the bottomline bleeds red, another social media team is brought in.

Social media, the internet, smartphones, ecommerce, mobile to in-store signage and friends digital coupons put you in front of the customer. If it's a bad product, bad process or the business-as-usual model hasn't changed to align with today's new environment; social media people and tools won't produce the results you want and need…a sustainable business.

Digital marketing and social media programs that are implemented on top of the same old business model to move the products/ideas are too obvious, too easy to see through. They’re about as transparent as Morgan Spurlock's recent documentary, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

The business of yesterday was tough. The business of tomorrow is even tougher; and only a few will be willing to be sit there and be told what they want and must buy through psychological manipulation and repetition. Read more

Early reports are that sales from Cyber Monday were up 20% over last year, according to IBM. But holiday shoppers aren't the only ones taking care of business online. A full 96 percent of today's brides are planning, shopping and registering online and even incorporating technology into the wedding day itself, according to Weddingwire.com. Here are a few ways some are making the most of today's modern tech miracles.

1. The Wedding Website
A multitude of websites offer free personalized wedding websites where couples can share their story, details about the wedding and photos. Some also offer video, RSVP and custom registry. Google's free wedding sites also incorporate the bride's planning needs, as she can sync with Google Docs and collaborate with her bridal party on guest lists, schedules, addresses and more.

Bride-to-be Kimi Raspa of Maryland decided against a free site and opted to customize a regular blog for her 2012 wedding. "I'm so glad I decided to go with BlogSpot because it allowed me to create a highly personalized site that really captures me and my fiancé," she said. "I also like that it's a blog environment where I can continuously post wedding updates or fun stories about our wedding party or pictures. It's not a one-time done deal where people come to see our wedding location but it's also a documentation of our experiences leading up to the big day." Read more

"I'm surprised you aren't mad at me... I thought you might hold it against me for killing 3 of your guys." – John Smith., Last Man Standing, New Line Cinema (1996)

There's been a number of girl books published recently that put down the "pre-adulthood" male (they call them guys).

With trepidation, we enter into this discussion because one of the first things a married guy learns is he's wrong…all the time! Of course, women have better role models. In the U.S., there's Oprah, Rachel Rae, Ellen DeGeneres, Julie Roberts, Katie Couric. Guys have Jerry Springer, Charlie Sheen, Will Farrell, Donald Trump, (add your favorites).

Women rush to maturity, adulthood. Guys fight it as long as possible…sometimes into their 50s, 60s and beyond. Females say this is because men in their 20s are living a new kind of extended adolescence.Read more

Like Me – If you're an individual with a Facebook page, you like people to like you. If you're a company or brand, you want people to really like you. But getting folks to hit the Like button is the beginning of a relationship you need to carefully nurture.

People devote more time to social media than to online games, email, search … combined!

The most popular location is Facebook, which is designed to help people connect in a disconnected world.

American internet users spend more time on Facebook than any other location. According to Nielsen, the largest site – over 800M people around the globe – has U.S. Internet users spending more than 53.5 billion minutes a month.

Globally, you can double that volume of online activity. More than half of the users (65 percent) are adults. And half of the Facebook population returns to the site every day.Read more