It emerged this week, in an article in the Wall Street Journal, that Snapchat, a Californian start-up that develops a smartphone app of the same name popular among teens, recently spurned a US$3bn-plus all-cash offer from Facebook to buy it out. The offer value was at least three times the already
Browsing: Twitter
Twitter has to be one of the more interesting modern-day concepts: a platform where people from all over the world can share ideas, thoughts and breaking news in bite-sized portions of up to 140 characters. Apart from being a means for celebrities to
It began in 2006 as a pretty stupid idea: a service that let you post public messages on the Internet but limited them to 140 characters. Seven years later, Twitter has burrowed deep into the fabric of parts of society. Its highly anticipated initial public offering provides a fascinating glimpse
Tweeting has become a serious business, with financial spin-offs if done right, so it’s no wonder that researchers continue to seek out the “tweet spot” when it comes to using Twitter effectively. It appears that everyone wants a piece of the action, and some users go to extraordinary lengths to rack up a high
Writer and activist Cory Doctorow says competition keeps Google behaving ethically because it believes there are benefits to be had. However, as it moves into sectors where it faces fewer rivals this may not always be the case. “In the areas where Google actively competes
Until now the largest social network in South Africa, Mxit, which claims to have 7,4m active monthly users, has been knocked from the top spot by Facebook, with an estimated 9,4m active users, a number the researchers say may actually be on the conservative side
The results of the 15th Sunday Times annual top brands survey, conducted by TNS South Africa, show that Vodacom is considered the best mobile operator and that Apple’s iPhone is the most desirable handset among South African business users. The survey looks
Social networking site Twitter is expected to launch a new music discovery application this weekend, while Apple is reportedly finalising deals with major labels before entering the streaming music space to take on Spotify and Pandora, which are a growing threat to the iTunes Store. There’s a
As the media frenzy around Oscar Pistorius’s bail hearing escalated last week, his media team worked hard to get its message out. Within days of the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, the Pistorius camp enlisted the aid of UK spin doctor Stuart Higgins, repurposed Pistorius’s official website and
Human settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale’s confirmation of his divorce showed again that the advent of social media was blurring the line between the private and the public, media commentators said on Monday. Veteran media analyst Chris Moerdyk said the