Social Media Daily News – May 6, 2011

Facebook is quickly gaining ground on the U.S. Display Ad market. The site is estimated to have close to 31% of the display ad market, and they are on track to pass 1 trillion impressions this year. The news of Bin Laden’s death breaking on Twitter was a huge moment for the company, but it shows us a few areas that still lacking. Twitter has created a very cool, real-time user generated news network, but the issue still lies in the volume and content on the channel. A fake MLK quote about celebrating death sent ripples throughout the Twittersphere – the only problem, the quote was made up. Showing us that while Twitter can be the place to get real-time, breaking news, it still lacks the clarity to break through the fluff and get to the real story. International journalist Dorothy Parvaz is being held in Syria after attempting to report on the violence and political struggle in the area. The news of her detainment has sparked a social media campaign to have her released. The #FreeDorothy hashtag was created, Facebook pages and blogs were all created to help this story gain traction. The key takeaway here is that social sites can be outlets for people to look for help in a time of need in a world that traditionally wouldn’t have noticed. Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to video chat with people through Facebook? I think so, but it’s not coming anytime soon. Skype reportedly turned down a 4 billion dollar deal from Facebook this week. I’m sure the ability to video chat on Facebook will come in time, but not anytime in the immediate future. Enjoy.

I. Facebook Takes 31.2% of the U.S. Ad Display Market, mashable.com, May 4, 2011
II. Bin Laden news reinforces Twitter’s strength, limitations, cnn.com, May 5, 2011
III. Syria holding reporter at center of Twitter campaign, msnbc.com, May 4, 2011
IV. Skype to Facebook: Keep Your $4 Billion, socialmediatoday.com, May 5, 2011
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I. Facebook Takes 31.2% of the U.S. Ad Display Market, mashable.com, May 4, 2011
http://mashable.com/2011/05/04/facebook-ad-display-market/
Facebook now claims nearly a third of all U.S. display advertising impressions with 346.4 billion in the first quarter, more than double what it garnered in the comparable quarter in 2010, according to a new report. The research, by comScore, estimates that Facebook now has 31.2% of U.S. advertising display impressions, up from 25.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 15.6% in Q1 2010. At the current pace, Facebook will easily surpass 1 trillion impressions for the year.

II. Bin Laden news reinforces Twitter’s strength, limitations, cnn.com, May 5, 2011
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/05/05/twitter.reveals.limitations.taylor/index.html
By some measures, these past four days have been the proudest in Twitter’s history. The news of Osama bin Laden’s death was credibly confirmed first on Twitter, before President Barack Obama spoke. Then a random IT contractor in Pakistan, realizing he had unknowingly tweeted about the raid on bin Laden’s compound, became an international celebrity. Then Twitter announced that the hour in which the president spoke was an hour of unprecedented tweeting, with 12.4 million tweets sent.
III. Syria holding reporter at center of Twitter campaign, msnbc.com, May 4, 2011
http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2011/05/04/6585986-syria-holding-reporter-at-center-of-twitter-campaign
If you’ve been following the news about missing reporter Dorothy Parvaz like I have — if perhaps you’re one of the many many people who’ve joined the growing Twitter and Facebook movement demanding her release — then there is some good news today. The Syrian government has confirmed that Dorothy is alive and they are holding her.

IV. Skype to Facebook: Keep Your $4 Billion, socialmediatoday.com, May 5, 2011
http://socialmediatoday.com/jakewengroff/292566/skype-facebook-keep-your-4-billion?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+%28all+posts%29&utm_content=Twitter
Rumors swirled last night that Skype was in talks to sell itself to Facebook for as much as $4 billion, according to reports from Reuters and the Guardian – but the deal will most likely not go through. Skype has been down the aisle before, marrying into – and even having affairs with – Internet royalty, with mixed success. Yet Skype claims about 845 million accounts, so why shouldn’t it pair up or seek synergies with Facebook, the largest social network, which boasts over 500 million members?