This week: Zynga IPO, Facebook goes mobile, Twitter buzz, Klout rivals, and the rise of Pintrest
1. Best news for social gaming: Zynga
Social gaming leader Zynga made its IPO debut on Thursday at $10 a share, raising $1 billion. Shares have since dipped, creating snarky headlines that make me laugh, like "Flopville." This shaky debut could signal that investors may be cooling on social media despite huge debuts by LinkedIn, Pandora and Groupon earlier this year. Zynga's IPO could also trigger a reevaluation of its partner Facebook, which is set to go public itself next year.
2. Best mixed bag of news: Facebook
Reports surfaced this week that Facebook plans a new push into mobile advertising early in 2012. What will this look like for brands? One possibility could be adding Sponsored Stories to mobile users' News Feeds. One wrinkle? Reports also emerged this week that Facebook growth is slowing in the U.S. Growth in the number of Facebook visits was 56% between November 2009 and October 2010; from November 2010 to October 2011, it was 10%.
3. Best buzz for 2011: Twitter
According to a new report, 2011 belonged to Twitter. Based on social mentions and positive sentiment of the mentions, Twitter has been named the most buzzed-about social network of the year. LinkedIn placed second in the rankings. However, Twitter still ranks second to Facebook when it comes to social sharing. Facebook users were responsible for 52.1% of all online sharing this year, an increase from 44% last year and 33% in 2009. Check out this infographic on social sharing and see why Tumblr's growth is worth noting.
4. Best new social influence competitors: Kred and PROskore
More over, Klout. According to Adweek, there are some new kids on the social influence measurement block. And fear not, they have even more obnoxiously spelled monikers: Kred and PROskore. Sigh. These Klout rivals are hoping to differentiate what they offer brands and individuals by using even more social media data-mining, as well as factoring in things like users' education and employment history into their scores.
5. Best new social app for marketers: Pintrest
"Hi, my name is Dianne and I'm addicted to Pintrest." Pintrest is a by-invitation social bulletin-board service that lets users "pin" content from any website. This may not sound addictive, but let me tell you, it's my favorite eye candy iPhone app. Content on Pintrest is organized by category and I can pin recipes, hairstyles, shoes, home décor and so much more to my inspiration boards with the referring link for later reference. It seems that retail marketers are catching on to users' fascination, saying Pinterest is emerging as a serious tool for driving traffic and sales. Let me know if you need an invitation. I love sharing my social addictions!
--- Dianne Molina
