If you don’t have a tween or pre-tween in your house, keep reading. If you do – you already know.

Justin Bieber is arguably the biggest pop star ever launched by YouTube. Bieber’s personal brand has leveraged social media to new heights.

The 16-year-old Canadian singer was catapulted from anonymity to superstardom in three years. Living in Stratford, Ontario, at the tender age of 13 he competed in “Stratford Idol” and posted the videos on YouTube. Ten million views later, he was signed by Usher. Following a breakthrough single, "One Time", with his debut release of “My World” last November, Bieber had topped 100 million YouTube views.Continue reading...

Localbacon, a 2009 TechCrunch50 winner, has relaunched as Jibe. The revamped site unveils a private beta site today – and the first 200 users who enter the code “Techcrunch,” will be invited to join. Jibe calls it the first “Employment Networking Platform,” and offers feedback capabilities and transparency new to the job-seeking/recruiting category.

The original site, a job board for college grads, charged 99 cents per job application. The new site still charges for applications, but via a credit system which links to social networks and "broadcasts" a job search across multiple networks. Profiles can be updated, personal messages sent and received, and credits purchased – $5 buys you 500 credits.Continue reading...

The numbers are in. Facebook has overtaken Google’s popularity among internet users in the US. Industry data shows that the social networking site has scored more visits on itshome page than the search engine.
 
Research firm Experian Hitwise noted that the two sites accounted for 14 percent of all US internet visits last week, each grabbing about half of that number with Facebook at 7.07 and Google at 7.03. Just a year ago, Facebook clocked in at 2 percent. Facebook reached the #1 ranking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th. Now we know what family members were really doing over the holidays.Continue reading...

Public broadcasting, specifically PBS, is making a historic move, premiering “Earth Day” on Facebook. The full-length documentary, chronicling the growth of the environmental movement in the United States, will air April 11th on Facebook, and be broadcast on PBS eight days later.

The reason? A Facebook debut will hopefully generate viral buzz and reach a younger audience attracted to the content but not necessarily devotees of PBS or appointment-viewing television. According to Mark Samels, executive producer of the “American Experience” series, "It's an opportunity, we think, to engage with a new audience, an audience that we may not be bringing to PBS Monday nights at 9 o'clock."Continue reading...

Think Post-It Notes gone viral-digital. Barcode stickers that hold messages in text, video, audio, or photo – triggered when scanned. A sci-fi log line? Nope. Stickybits is a mobile app for Android and iPhones that tracks virtual messages among peers, friends, and customers – all brought together by a common bar code.

A sort of digital tag, a barcode is programmed by the first user’s scan. The next person to scan that barcode receives the embedded message on their phone, and can add a new message – creating a stream connected to a place or an object where the barcode is located.

Using SimpleGeo's technology, Stickybits geolocates the barcodes to show where they are scanned and then follows the object and the evolving storyline. A user can switch between map views and streams and trail other people’s object streams. The app lets you know when new bits are added. The actual app is free, but 20 vinyl barcode stickers cost $10.Continue reading...

“We live an increasing amount of our lives on-line, but what happens after we are gone? What will happen to all our photos, blogs and social network accounts? Until now our digital identities have lived on without us, leaving our loved ones powerless to control them or wind them down. Webwill is a new service to change that, putting you in control even in the afterlife.”

This first iteration of Swedish startup MyWebwill.com gives users the ability to edit their online profiles after they are gone: deleting accounts, editing status, removing blogs, and even emailing last messages to family and friends. Social media experts anticipate a new digital phenomenon: More and more people will use online sites to dispatch messages to one’s "personal village"… even from beyond the grave.Continue reading...

Mexican QSR chain Del Taco recently launched a Facebook-based entertainment webisode platform, "The Del Taco Super Special Show," and grew its fan base from 20,000+ to 43,000+ in just five weeks according to VP, marketing John Cappasola. And that fanbase grew by another 15 percent since the brand released the second webisode in the series.

Aimed at hungry people with a sense of humor, the tagline is, "Eat it here; watch it online." The campaign ads appear on TV and radio, and offer consumers a coupon for a free Classic Taco redeemable at their next purchase. Del Taco is a major national Mexican quick-serve chain with more than 500 restaurants in 18 states and $568 million in annual revenues.Continue reading...

With over 400 million active users, the world’s most popular social networking site has set its sights on the Middle East in an attempt to capture more of the Arab market.

In what they described as a “massive” opportunity, Facebook has announced its partnership with the Middle East digital advertising firm, Connect Ads, to launch acquisition campaigns similar to what they did in Europe and Asia. This time though, the socially conservative Arab market will dictate more of their strategy as Facebook looks to expand on its existing Arab customer base of 10 million users.

Acknowledging that they need to be culturally sensitive where strict government controls typically block websites and communication around political, religious, and moral issues, Facebook’s strategy head for Europe and the Middle East, Trevor Johnson, told the Associated Press, "It's whether or not we can continue to deliver on the local market experience people expect, but within the rules and regulations. That's one of the biggest challenges, is building that side of things."Continue reading...