3 Social Media Tax Resources for Last-Minute Filers

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

When tax season rolls around, small businesses have to work by different standards and timeframes than most individual taxpayers. This typically means that droves of information and resources start flooding the airwaves and Internet at the end of the calendar year, but can get lost in the deluge — only to leave you scrambling for resources as deadlines sneak up. Taxes are complicated, but breaking down deadlines and deductions shouldn’t be a burden. So how can a small business harness this wealth of information in ways that are useful and makes sense of the legal mumbo jumbo? Enter social media. Read more…

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3 Social Media Tax Resources for Last-Minute Filers

Google Glass Represents The New Age of ‘Tech Intimacy’

The development and launch of Google Glass could usher in an era of computer intimacy. That’s according to comments made public Friday by Intuit Chairman Bill Campbell. Campbell has also served as a member of Apple’s Board of Directors for 16 years, dating back to the 1997 return of Steve Jobs as Apple CEO. Speaking [...]

Google Glass Represents The New Age of ‘Tech Intimacy’

Just Who Uses Social Media? A Demographic Breakdown

You think you know social? How about who uses it? Well, you might not know it as well as you would have guessed.

A new study from the Pew Research Center and Docstoc shed some light on just who uses social and on what platforms. Some of the findings seem in line with what you would probably guess, but others were surprising.

If you think the smarter, more attractive sex is more socially prolific than us men, well … you’re right. Women use social media 9% more than men do. Despite having more distractions, people living in cities have the most social media activity, at 70% of the population. Perhaps it’s the connectivity of large-city life. Read more…

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Just Who Uses Social Media? A Demographic Breakdown

Poker Giants on The Hunt for an Online Gaming License

The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that a gambling expansion bill in Illinois may allow PokerStars, which was formerly accused of money laundering and fraud by federal prosecutors, to pursue an online gaming license in Illinois. In the first draft of Senate Bill 1739, introduced by state Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, PokerStars and sister company Full [...]

Poker Giants on The Hunt for an Online Gaming License

Twitter's Job to Manage Its Twitter Has Twitter Atwitter

Do you like Twitter? More importantly, are you a “power user” skilled in the Twitter arts?

Twitter just might hire you to run its Twitter

An online job posting for a social media manager position at the microblogging giant began making the rounds among Internet types on Friday afternoon. Its megadose of meta had Twitter, well, atwitter.

It’s hard to tell with these things, but New York Magazine‘s Stefan Becket seemed to kick off the fun, and others doubled and tripled down on the Twitter tweeting:

Twitter hiring Twitter person to manage their Twitter twitter.com/jobs/positions…

— Stefan Becket (@stefanjbecket) April 12, 2013 Read more…

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Twitter's Job to Manage Its Twitter Has Twitter Atwitter

Google Acquires Social Prediction Startup Behavio

On Friday, news came to light that Google has added another team of talented industry professionals to its family of acquisitions. Social prediction startup Behavio is now the property of Google. Greg Ferenstein of Tech Crunch described the startup as follows: Instead of intentional online connections, [...] Behavio, looks at how peoples’ location, network of [...]
Google Acquires Social Prediction Startup Behavio

Verizon’s Unpleasant iPhone Surprise

Pointing to the evolution of the wireless industry for its latest business decision, Verizon Wireless was not the bearer of the best news imaginable on Friday for many iPhone owners on the Verizon network. This morning, the nation’s largest carrier confirmed that Verizon subscribers will now have to wait longer before qualifying for an upgrading [...]

Verizon’s Unpleasant iPhone Surprise

These 4 Head-Smackingly Simple UX Changes Grew Sales 50%

You can instantly glean an amazing amount of actionable information simply by watching and listening to people as they are using your website. Learn how four simple fixes to one website increased daily online sales by almost 50 percent.
These 4 Head-Smackingly Simple UX Changes Grew Sales 50%

Will Google's Proposed Search Fixes End EU Antitrust Case?

Google has presented a list of concessions in a bid to address the European Union's concerns and put an end to a two-year long antitrust probe into its search business. Google wants to avoid paying out a massive fine and facing more legal action.
Will Google's Proposed Search Fixes End EU Antitrust Case?

Google Launches Inactive Account Manager, a Digital Last Will & Testament

Google now lets users opt to delete their data upon their death. The Inactivity Account Manager allows users to have their data deleted following long periods of inactivity. Users can also send their Google data to designated third-parties.
Google Launches Inactive Account Manager, a Digital Last Will & Testament

JC Penney Going Back in Time on Mobile, Advertising?

Print ads are dead? Mobile advertising and digital coupons are the future? That may not be true at JC Penney in the wake of Ron Johnson’s dismissal as CEO. AdAge confirms today that JC Penney will reverse Johnson’s strategy of reducing discounts and put traditional coupon advertising in newspapers again. Mr. Johnson, who was replaced [...]

JC Penney Going Back in Time on Mobile, Advertising?

Study: Twitter Becoming Mostly Mobile

According to the findings presented in freshly published study on social media usage, Twitter users are quickly migrating away from PCs and moving over to mobile phones and tablets as their preferred devices. Strategy Analytics’ ConsumerMetrix survey data is presented in the report titled “Social Network Profile: Who Uses Twitter?” Between March 2012 and October [...]

Study: Twitter Becoming Mostly Mobile

Velti And Bluekai Partnership Promising for Brands

On Friday, Velti and BlueKai announced the start of a promising new mobile data partnership. Velti, a global provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology, says the partnership enables brands and agencies using BlueKai’s Data Activation System to gain access to Velti’s extensive mobile marketing data. The result? Brands can now more precisely target consumers [...]

Velti And Bluekai Partnership Promising for Brands

Twitter’s New Music App Ready to Go Live

As it turns out, the rumor was true. On Thursday, Twitter confirmed its acquisition of We Are Hunted, a popular music recommendation service. The purchase was made late last year and Twitter has bee readying a new offering with its freshly acquired talent every since. According to AllThingsD, the microblogging service plans to launch its [...]

Twitter’s New Music App Ready to Go Live

YouTube Announces Winners of 2013 DoGooder Video Awards

Recognizing the best in video for social good, YouTube announced the four winners of its fourth annual DoGooder Video Awards Friday.

The categories, which include “Best Non-Profit Video” and “Funny for Good,” celebrate videos that successfully tap into the power of the social web to garner support for good causes.

SEE ALSO: Top 5 Non-Profit YouTube Videos of 2012

Along with See3 Communications and the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), with Cisco Systems as a sponsor, YouTube saw nearly 1,000 video submissions for the awards last month. Following the submission period, a panel of video experts — including producers, content creators and curators — chose four finalists for each category, and the public voted for its favorites. Read more…

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YouTube Announces Winners of 2013 DoGooder Video Awards

Mobile Marketing Conversion Optimization Tools & Code Tricks

Getting the mobile experience wrong can be deadly to your bottom line. Don’t turn off customers with a bad mobile site and lose them to a competitor! These tips, tools, and code tricks to enhance your mobile user experience and increase conversions.

Mobile Marketing Conversion Optimization Tools & Code Tricks

Gaming Consoles Lead Global Connected TV Usage

With growing interest in streaming content, online gaming, and apps on TVs, households are increasingly finding ways to connect their TVs to the Internet. In several developed countries, game consoles have become the most popular way to make that connection, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Gaming Consoles Lead Global Connected TV Usage

Over 60% Growth in Worldwide Over-the-top Video Revenue in 2012

Companies like Netflix, Hulu, Apple, and Amazon helped drive the over-the-top (OTT) video market past $8 billion in 2012. The three largest markets–North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific–experienced YoY growth in excess of 50% in 2012, according to ABI Research.

Over 60% Growth in Worldwide Over-the-top Video Revenue in 2012

Twitter Music App is Launching Friday

Get ready to rockTwitter is about to launch its long-rumored standalone music app Friday, according to a report.

The app’s existence was rapidly becoming one of the worst-kept secrets in social media, especially after American Idol host Ryan Seacrest randomly tweeted about its existence earlier Thursday

As soon as Seacrest did that, the social music startup We Are Hunted tweeted back at him — and then immediately announced it had been acquired by Twitter. (Another poorly kept secret, this acquisition likely occurred last year and was revealed by CNET last month.)

When we asked Twitter whether the app existed, they pointed us — rather meaningfully — to the We Are Hunted announcement. Now AllThingsD is reporting that the music app will launch Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Read more…

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Twitter Music App is Launching Friday

Morgan Stanley Analyst Expects Something Big From Apple

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty made it clear to the world that she expects something big – and soon – from Apple. Despite AAPL’s recent slump on Wall Street, big things are in the pipeline, Huberty speculates. According to a note issued to investors Thursday, Huberty’s latest comments come after her recent insightful [...]

Morgan Stanley Analyst Expects Something Big From Apple

Judge: Apple, Google Conducting Business in The Courtroom

Apple and Google have now spent years locked in legal battles over an increasingly complex array of patent ownership and violation claims. So intense, convoluted, and petty have some of the claims become, says a federal judge in Florida today, that it now appears that Google and Apple are simply using the courts to formulate [...]

Judge: Apple, Google Conducting Business in The Courtroom

BIA/Kelsey: U.S. Social Ad Revenues May Reach $11 Billion by 2017

BIA/Kelsey‘s newest forecast published this week projects that U.S. social advertising revenues will continue to grow from $4.7 billion in 2012 to $11 billion in 2017. If the anticipated growth manifests, it will represent a compound annual growth rate of 18.6 percent. For now, display remains the dominant social ad unit, although native ad formats [...]

BIA/Kelsey: U.S. Social Ad Revenues May Reach $11 Billion by 2017

LinkedIn Announces Acquisition of Pulse

Moments ago, LinkedIn released a public statement confirming its acquisition of Pulse, which is owned by Alphonso Labs, Inc. The transaction is valued at approximately $90 million. Pulse is a leading news reader and mobile content distribution platform founded in 2010 by Akshay Kothari and Ankit Gupta while they were students at Stanford University. Pulse [...]

LinkedIn Announces Acquisition of Pulse

Share Your Most Enchanting Light-Filled Photos

Sometimes the most stunning photos are the least manipulated. In a world dominated by photo-editing tools, scenes captured in natural light can feel like a breath of fresh air

For this week’s Mashable Photo Challenge Guest Series, we’re asking for your best photos taken using natural light. Send us your picture and a guest curator will pick some of the most creative submissions to feature on Mashable

Our guest this week is Santiago PerezGrovas of Mexico City. Santiago is a power Instagram user. He has more than 80,000 followers, and met his girlfriend through the photo-sharing app

“In a world of perfection, the production of the photos we see every day is overwhelming, to the point that everything has to be flawless,” Santiago says. “I try to give that breath of naturality to people.” Read more…

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Share Your Most Enchanting Light-Filled Photos

9 Content Marketing Lessons From Tourism Australia

In this climate of economic uncertainty and risk-averse marketing, how did Tourism Australia manage to pull huge wins from their sun hats? The answer lies in their carefully constructed social media plan of attack and consistent execution.

9 Content Marketing Lessons From Tourism Australia

AT&T Recognized for ‘Cyber Security Leadership’

On Wednesday, the National Association of Counties (NACo) recognized AT&T for its work to promote cyber security public-private partnerships with local county governments. As a result of these efforts, AT&T was honored with the association’s 2013 Award for Corporate Excellence. At NACo’s annual legislative conference, AT&T received the award and recognition for its work and [...]

AT&T Recognized for ‘Cyber Security Leadership’

There’s a good chance that you don’t even have Facebook’s Graph Search yet, but even for those who have it, it’s safe to stay few have gotten past the “getting to know you” stage.

If anyone is to be considered a pro user at this point, it would have to be the Facebook employees who actually work on Graph Search. At Mashable‘s request, 10 of those Facebookers have shared their favorite Graph Searches, so far at least.

Facebook rolled out Graph Search in January. The feature was presented as a major upgrade to Facebook’s search engine, which had won few fans. While Google is based on the collective knowledge of the Internet, Graph Search is more about users’ stated preferences. For instance, you can use Graph Search for queries like “my friends in New York who like Jay-Z” or “People from my hometown who like hiking.” The initial version of Graph Search, which is still rolling out, focuses on four areas — people, photos, places and interests. According to Facebook, the following were the top Graph Searches over a recent, random week: Read more…

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Facebook Employees Share Their Favorite Graph Searches

Foursquare Secures $41 Million Investment for Expansion

Location-based social networking giant Foursquare has secured $41 million in financing, an investment that will help the popular platform continue its relentless growth. Funding in this latest round came from private equity fund Silver Lake Partners and venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and also Spark Capital. The bulk of [...]

Foursquare Secures $41 Million Investment for Expansion

Cynergy Data Boasts Strong Female Executive Team in a Man’s World

With the Spring 2013 Mobile Payments Conference underway in New York this week, a number of compelling aspects related to all facets of eCommerce, merchant services, and payments are coming into focus, among the most interesting of which is the growing role of female leadership throughout the thriving payments space. Recently, the editors of Payments [...]
Cynergy Data Boasts Strong Female Executive Team in a Man’s World

Facebook Acquires Mobile Software Startup Osmeta

Facebook has acquired a small mobile startup called Osmeta. Launched two years ago by former Google and IBM executives, Osmeta is yet to roll out any official products. As a result, it isn’t yet clear if Facebook is simply acquiring the company’s talent or the hush-hush technology the company may possess. A number of employees [...]
Facebook Acquires Mobile Software Startup Osmeta

Microsoft Office for Android, iOS Not Coming Until 2014

Microsoft will finally bring its Office suite to today’s leading mobile phones and tablets…. but it’s still going to be a little while longer before we can enjoy this roll-out. A new report indicates that the software won’t reach our iOS and Android devices until next year. An alleged roadmap for Microsoft’s coming ‘Gemini’ wave [...]

Microsoft Office for Android, iOS Not Coming Until 2014

Now Multiple Google+ Accounts Can Manage One YouTube Channel

Google announced on Wednesday YouTube accounts and channels can be linked to Google+ pages.

The company is inviting YouTube creators to a beta test that would ultimately allow a single account to manage up to 50 YouTube channels at once.

By linking accounts, Google said it will unlock new features such as improved video sharing, live broadcasts via Hangouts, and a YouTube tab on your Google+ page.

SEE ALSO: 20 Reasons to Switch to Google+ [INFOGRAPHIC]

To get started, users must visit their YouTube account settings and select “Connect with a Google+ page (beta).” There, you can link to new and existing Google+ pages and connect to their Google+ profile. For deeper details on how to do so, click here. Read more…

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Now Multiple Google+ Accounts Can Manage One YouTube Channel

Google Fights Human Trafficking Using Big Data

Google has donated $3 million to three anti-trafficking advocacy groups. The project will bring together a variety of human trafficking hotlines to create a consolidated base of data to identify trafficking hotspots around the world.

Google Fights Human Trafficking Using Big Data

The Content Marketing Elephant & the Enterprise

When creating content at the enterprise-level, fostering collaboration among copywriters, creative, user experience, web dev, and marketing teams early in the content creation process is the key for building content marketing success stories.

The Content Marketing Elephant & the Enterprise

International SEO Core Considerations

When expanding into a new market, it’s critical to pick the right strategies to maximize your odds of success in the shortest period of time. Here are some core factors that have a significant impact on a site’s ability to rank internationally.

International SEO Core Considerations

Over 50 companies sign up for Rovi HEVC Beta Program

Rovi Corporation (Nasdaq:ROVI) has announced that over 50 companies, including representatives from some of the leading companies in digital media creation, transcoding, and delivery, have signed up to participate in its HEVC Beta Program.

Over 50 companies sign up for Rovi HEVC Beta Program