2012 Grammys Embrace Digital, Mobile and Social Media

The 54th Grammy Awards ceremony is only eight days away and the Recording Academy is kicking off the next phase of its digital and social campaign. Under the heading of “We Are Music” the Academy and its partners are harnessing the power of social, mobile and digital to make the… read more

Super Bowl 2012 By the Numbers

Super Bowl 2012 is blitzing us like a crazed linebacker, coming up in a matter of hours, and the numbers are stacking up quickly. It’s a weekend of superlatives, with astonishing numbers swirling around those brave warriors on the field.

In the Super Bowl, everything is larger than life. Instead of… read more

Facebook Turns 8, And Together We’ve Grown

I’ve been on Facebook for 2,561 days, having joined during the first year of its existence and my first year of college.

As the world’s largest social network turns 8 years old today, millions of people will reflect on the impact Facebook has had on their lives, however big or small… read more

15 of the Most Popular Pictures on Pinterest

1. Hands

Pinterest via Edris Kim.

Click here to view this gallery.

If you’re like us, you’re obsessed with Pinterest. You… read more

3 Free iPhone Apps for Creating Your Own Stop-Motion Videos

1. Created with the Stop-Motion Camera App

… read more

Top 10 Google Chrome Plugins for Small Businesses

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

The Google Chrome Web Store has made it easy for anyone to stay organized, and the browser has gotten much faster, as we’ve noticed in the beta… read more

Super Bowl 2012: Everything You Need to Know About Watching It Online

This year’s Super Bowl marks a digital first: The game will be the first Super Bowl that you can watch online — legally. NBC, the broadcast partner for this year’s game, is going to stream the game live.

NBC has actually been streaming some NFL games online since 2009, though never… read more

Stylitics Is an Analytics Dashboard for Your Closet [INVITES]

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Stylitics

Quick Pitch: Mint.com for your closet.

Genius Idea: A new way to organize your wardrobe and track… read more

Like Testing New Apps? BetaBait Will Hook You Up

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: BetaBait

Quick Pitch: BetaBait connects startups with beta testers.

Genius Idea: Access to early adopters that doesn’t require… read more

4 Ways to Tweet as a Visual Brand

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

Companies that rely on a visual or photographic web presence often find it difficult to convey their media on Twitter. Take, for instance, apparel brands that need… read more

Olapic’s Crowd-Sourced Photo Campaigns Becoming a Sports Trend

Crowd-sourced social photo sharing appears to be the latest community engagement trend among professional sports teams, largely powered by the online startup Olapic.

Olapic’s service allows organizations to quickly and easily enable fans, readers or other types of audiences to submit photos of their own experiences at a game or… read more

The Strange and Epic Lifestyle of Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom

If you’re not aware of Kim Dotcom, the man who changed his last name to pay homage to the World Wide Web, we offer you this brief history lesson. Born in Germany, Kim Schmitz (a.ka. King Kimble, a.k.a. King of the Kimpire, a.k.a. The Kim-pin), is a larger-than-life Internet hustler… read more

10 Hot Web Startups Changing the Face of Retail

Macala Wright is the publisher of FashionablyMarketing.Me, one of the leading fashion and retail industry business websites. She is a retail consultant and business strategist who specializes in marketing consulting for fashion, luxury and lifestyle brands. You can follower her on Twitter at @InsideFMM or @Macala.

In 2010, branded content was… read more

Donald Trump, Deion Sanders and Apolo Ohno Star in Century 21′s Super Bowl Ad [VIDEO]

Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.

Century 21 has enlisted a team of celebrities for its first-ever Super Bowl commercial.

Reality TV star and business mogul Donald Trump, Pro Football Hall of Fame member Deion Sanders and Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno… read more

Travel Website Lets You Book Flights Featuring Wi-Fi, Live TV

Travel is so much easier when you’re prepared and know what to expect. Airfare shopping website CheapAir.com now lets you find out which flights offer Wi-Fi, live TV and movies before you book.

Onboard technology can make flying a much more pleasurable and productive experience. But unless you book with… read more

Facebook IPO: Test Your Knowledge [QUIZ]

News of Facebook‘s IPO swamped the Internet earlier this week, when the company’s 213-page S-1 document went up on the SEC’s website, promptly crashing it.

In addition to confirming previous reports that the filing was imminent, the document contained numerous interesting facts that many have long been wondering, such as the… read more

Smartphone Sales Overtake PCs for the First Time [STUDY]

If you bought a smartphone in 2011 — and didn’t buy a PC — you were part of a history-making trend.

For the first year ever, total PC sales around the world were outpaced by total smartphone sales, in units at least, according to data released Friday by market… read more

Stephen Colbert: Support NASA Space Station Research [VIDEO]

Stephen Colbert asked his fans to share his passion for space by donating to NASA to support its work with the International Space Station.

Colbert rallied behind NASA’s efforts to create alternative vaccines to fight diseases — including salmonella and pneumonia —… read more

How Social Media Changed ESPN Audio’s Super Bowl Week

Social and mobile technologies aren’t just important for guerilla marketing campaigns and grassroots outreach.

They’re also changing how the world’s biggest broadcast media companies do business.

Mashable recently spoke with top executives and personalities from the sports behemoth ESPN during the company’s biggest week of the year for Super Bowl… read more

How to Deliver a Killer Business Presentation

Meaghan Edelstein has gained national media attention through her blog, I Kicked Cancer’s Ass, which she started to document her battle with end stage cancer. She is an attorney, the founder of the non-profit organization Spirit Jump, and works for the Global Strategic Management Institute.

Working with hundreds of speakers as… read more

Virgin Galactic Keeps Inching Toward Space, but When Will It Get There?

Virgin Galactic, the aspiring space tourism company founded by Sir Richard Branson, is on track to begin powered test flights of its spaceship this summer, with the goal of starting passenger flights in 2013.

Virgin CEO George Whitesides discussed the coming test flights at a meeting in January with the Aerospace… read more

Apple No Longer Claims to Own Your Content on iBooks

Apple has updated the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) for its iBooks Author app, clarifying its terms and ownership conditions.

Immediately after its release, the EULA for iBooks Author was torn apart by the tech press and copyright analysts. The original wording stated that authors would only be able to sell… read more

Facebook Plans to Launch Mobile Ads [VIDEO]

If there’s one thing we learned after Facebook dropped its S-1 to file for an IPO this past week it’s that the company makes a lot of money through advertising.

However, zero came from mobile advertising. That’s about to change,… read more

GE’s Beth Comstock: Social Media Redefines the Focus Group

Mashable’s Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.

GE’s Chief Marketing Officer Beth Comstock sat down with Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore to talk about her role leading business… read more

World Cancer Day Facebook App Hopes to Beat Cancer Before it Starts

Two international cancer prevention groups think the online community can — and should — take a stab at the worldwide cancer epidemic. In honor of World Cancer Day, Feb. 4, Stand Up To Cancer and the Union for International Cancer Control are launching a Facebook app that they hope… read more

How Social Media Backlash Made Susan G. Komen Cave [VIDEO]

The online storm surrounding Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood came to a close on Friday when Komen reversed its decision.

Score another point for social media.

On Tuesday, the Komen Foundation announced new funding criteria that would severely restrict grants set aside for… read more

Fake Facebook Users Likely to be Popular Bisexual College Women [INFOGRAPHIC]

So you just got a Facebook friend request from a woman you don’t know. Maybe she’s already connected to some of your friends, maybe she isn’t, but she has about 700 friends total. She seldom updates her profile, but tags her photos like crazy. She went to a college relatively… read more

How Tech Can Prepare You for Extreme Weather

Steve Rubel is EVP of global strategy and insights for Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm. Rubel studies the future of media and helps clients unify their communications strategies across traditional, emerging, owned and social channels.

Modern technology can’t actually fix the weather — at least not yet. However, social… read more

Red Bull Launches a Fitness Mission With Fitocracy

Red Bull sponsors several extreme sports pros who produce videos with gnarly titles such as “Wakeboarding in the Swamps of Louisiana” and “Dust and Bones.” But through a partnership with online health startup Fitocracy, the company now wants to motivate average joes to submit decidedly non-extreme reports with names such… read more

Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology, Dies in Plane Crash

Steve Appleton, the chairman and CEO of Micron Technology, has died in a plane crash, the company confirmed Friday. He was 51.

Appleton was reportedly flying the small plane when something went wrong and the plane caught fire. He was the only person on board the experimental fixed-wing plane when it… read more

5 iPhone Twitter Apps that Do More Than Just Tweet

Leo Widrich is the co-founder of Buffer, a new way to publish tweets and Facebook posts at better times for more impact. He writes more about social media tips and tools on the Buffer blog. Follow him on Twitter @LeoWid or subscribe to his Facebook updates.

When Twitter recently launched the… read more

Anonymous Strikes Again, Releases Massacre Marine’s Emails

Anonymous released sensitive documents Friday from the law firm that represented the U.S. Marine who led the 2005 Haditha massacre, which left 24 unarmed Iraqis dead.

The law firm’s website, Puckettfaraj.com, was vandalized in the same style as an earlier attack on the Boston Police Department.

The attack coincided with… read more

Roseanne Barr Tweets She’s Running for President [VIDEO]

Roseanne Barr — known for her decade-long stint on the eponymous ’90s hit sitcom — recently announced on Twitter that she is running for president.

She will run on a Green Party ticket against the GOP front-runner and President Barack Obama… read more

Is This The Future of Touchscreen Tech? New Video Will Blow Your Mind

Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning has unveiled a follow-up YouTube video to its wildly successful “A Day Made of Glass,” providing another look into what the future could be like with the growth of glass touchscreen interfaces, from innovative chalkboards and activity tables in classrooms to uses for it in hospitals.

Corning… read more

Atari Assemble! Super-Team of Veteran Developers Embrace Mobile Gaming

The good old 8-bit band is getting back together. Seamus Blackley, the co-creator of Microsoft’s Xbox, has assembled a super team of Atari’s original programmers to form a game studio meant to re-revolutionize the gaming industry.

Blackley grabbed 11 of Atari‘s game creators to form Innovative Leisure, a gaming company focused… read more

7 Tips for Planning a Wedding on Pinterest

1. Join

If you haven’t already, sign up for a Pinterest account. There’s a waiting list to join now… read more

Can The Huffington Post Reinvent Cable News?

The Huffington Post Media Group revealed more details about its upcoming online news channel, the Huffington Post Streaming Network.

The announcement takes place just days before Huffington Post celebrates its first anniversary since its acquisition by AOL. AOL purchased The Huffington Post on Feb. 2, 2011 for $315 million and made… read more

Damn You Auto Correct Founder Picks 12 Funniest Texts Ever

1.

Intended word: “GPS,” not “GSPOT.”

Click here to view this gallery.

In December, millions of readers laughed along with… read more

Could Facebook’s Newly Wealthy Employees Help California’s Withering Economy?

Facebook’s slew of newly wealthy employees could “significantly impact” California’s economy during the next few years, said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Finance.

“The closest analogue is the 2004 Google IPO,” he said. “Its benefit to the state’s general fund was in the… read more

Google’s Bouncer For Android Shows Malware Apps the Door

Bouncer scanning software, developed by Google, is designed to search the Android market for software that could be malicious, the company announced Thursday on its blog.

With the success of Android this year, the company says it wants to protect its many users and their devices from harm.

“Device activations… read more

Feds Target Sports Piracy Sites in Pre-Super Bowl Bust

American prosecutors have shut down 16 websites they accuse of illegally broadcasting live sports games and pay-per-view events over the Internet.

The busts come three days before Super Bowl XLVI. The government accuses the sites of enabling viewers to receive pirated streams of NFL, NBA, NHL and other sporting events…. read more

Why Context Is King in the Future of Digital Marketing

Jonathan Gardner is director of communications at ad company Vibrant Media. He has spent his career as an innovator at the nexus of media and technology, having worked in communications leadership roles and as a journalist around the world.

An avalanche of devices, platforms, channels, and information is crushing consumers as they go… read more

Google Kicks Off Super Bowl XLVI with Social Blitz

Google is suiting up for Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday by launching a set of football-focused features and services to help you get your game on.

Game Day with Google is a site offered through Google’s Inside Search. The specially-built site is… read more

Facebook IPO Sends Tech Stocks Surging

Facebook filing for IPO Wednesday did good for more than just the social network. Companies associated — even tangentially — saw their stocks soar in trading Thursday.

As the largest Internet IPO to date, read more

HBO and Miso Bring “Game of Thrones” Fans to the Second Screen

HBO is partnering with Miso to bring Game of Thrones fans an awesome second screen experience.

Miso launched its new SideShow platform at the end of 2011. The idea is to allow fans or networks to create customizable, synchronized content to go alongside what airs on TV. This can include trivia,… read more

8 Things You Should Know Before Building a Mobile App

Seth Porges is a magazine editor and the creator of Cloth, an iOS fashion app for iPhone and iPod Touch. His Twitter handle is @sethporges.

App appeal is obvious. The barrier to entry? So low! The upshot of producing the next Angry Birds or beer-chug simulator? So high! Heck, with just… read more

Old Spice’s Terry Crews Crashes a Bounce Ad [VIDEO]

In the latest evolution of Old Spice‘s “what will they do next?” social media ad campaign, spokesman Terry Crews literally crashes an ad for Bounce.

The brand chose Crews, a former NFL player perhaps best known as Julius, the father on Chris Rock’s Everybody Hates Chris, to personify its… read more

Is LoMoing the New Tebowing? [PICS]

LoMoing

A new meme inspired by Miami Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison (pictured here) has emerged: LoMoing.

How do you LoMo?… read more

Facebook IPO: How Will the Social Network Be Affected? [POLL]

Facebook‘s $5 billion IPO filing yesterday took the social media world by storm, but if you woke up today and logged into the social network, you probably noticed nothing’s changed — yet.

Yes, Facebook Timeline is in the process of rolling out to all users, so it may actually have… read more

ADzero Smartphone Is Carved Out of a Solid Block of Bamboo [VIDEO]

Kieron-Scott Woodhouse was fed up with cellphones all looking alike, so he took the matter into his own hands, building his own brand of smartphone out of a solid block of organic bamboo.

The 23-year-old design student at Middlesex University… read more

Social Media Has Turned Super Bowl XLVI Teams’ Marketing Upside Down

The explosive growth of social media over the past four years has drastically changed how the Giants and Patriots market themselves and connect with fans compared to the two teams’ most recent Super Bowl trips.

“It’s a whole new world compared to last time,” Nilay Shah, the Giants’ director of digital… read more

Groundhog Phil Says ‘WTF’ to Groundhog Day [INTERVIEW]

In a hard-hitting interview (sarcasm), I dug up some exclusive responses from Groundhog Day‘s world famous critter, Punxsutawney Phil.

Twitter account @GroundhogPhil, which has 4,400 followers, reveals how he really feels about the Feb. 2 holiday and even trash talks fellow Twitter animals, including Bronx Zoo Cobra and NYT Sexy… read more

10 Standout Quotes in Zuckerberg’s Facebook IPO Letter

Facebook, if nothing else, is on a social mission, wrote Mark Zuckerberg in a personal letter filed within the company’s preliminary prospectus for Initial Public Offering.

Zuckerberg’s four-page message to potential investors provides a glimpse into what the 27-year-old CEO believes are Facebook’s priorities moving forward. The letter details the mission… read more

Are Google Search Trends Better Election Predictors Than Polls? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Google has been busy documenting how the 2012 Republican primary affects search results.

Newt Gringrich, for instance, experienced a huge surge in searches before winning in South Carolina. Stephen Colbert search traffic jumped ahead of all candidates after he announced his exploratory committee. And before the Iowa caucus, Iowans were… read more

Apple is Censoring Music on iTunes Match

Apple is unintentionally censoring rap music and other explicit tracks downloaded using its iTunes Match service — by replacing them with the clean versions of the same songs.

According to a report in Cult of Mac — confirmed in tests by Mashable — songs uploaded to the service with explicit… read more

How LinkedIn Gave A Former Pro Athlete A New Career [VIDEO]

While playing for the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the Arena Football League, and pursuing his dream of playing football professionally, Lewis Howes broke his wrist diving for a pass. He gutted out the rest of the season, playing through his… read more

Microsoft Has Huge Changes in Store for Windows Phone 8 [REPORT]

Brace yourself, Windows Phone users, because everything’s going to change.

An internal Microsoft video that was supposedly leaked to a website reveals that the entire mobile operating system will be revamped later this year to better integrate it with the upcoming Windows 8. Many abilities will be added and some… read more

What to Do When Your Website Gets Hacked

Dallas Lawrence is the chief global digital strategist for Burson-Marsteller, one of the world’s leading public relations and communications firms. He is a Mashable contributor on emerging media trends, online reputation management and digital issue advocacy. You can connect with him on Twitter @dallaslawrence.

If an individual or activist group broke… read more

Zynga Tests ‘Reward Advertising’ in CityVille

Zynga, aiming to expand its advertising revenue without annoying users, is quietly experimenting with “reward advertising” on CityVille that lets players earn energy by interacting with a sponsor.

Sponsors for the program, which rolled out in December, include Coca-Cola, MasterCard and the DVD release of the 20th Century Fox film What’s… read more

Tumblr Hires an Editor-in-Chief

Tumblr may have lost a fashion director, but it has now gained an editor-in-chief.

The blogging platform told The New York Times Thursday it brought on Chris Mohney, formerly Senior Vice President of content at BlackBook Media, to serve in the newly created role of editor-in-chief.

Mohney will be joined by… read more

Romney and Obama Go Head-to-Head in Online Donation Drives

Mitt Romney dropped the gloves on Barack Obama Tuesday night by launching an online-only donation drive. The goal? Collect $1 million to make Obama a “one-term president.”

“The inspiration was President Obama,” says Romney digital director Zac Moffatt. “It’s three years ago to the day that he should be held… read more

Hands On With Microsoft Surface 2

Touchscreens are so yesterday’s news, but 40-inch HD displays that can handle 20 or more fingers of touch and real-time interaction with people, objects and tags? That’s something to get excited about. It’s also pretty much the description of Microsoft’s Surface… read more

Amazon Launches Sports Memorabilia Store [VIDEO]

Amazon has expanded its sales reach into sports memorabilia, the company announced on Thursday.

Its new Sports Collectibles Store offers more than two million officially licensed items by the NFL, NBA, FIFA and Major League Baseball. Shoppers can search for collectibles by… read more

Apple Employee’s iPhone Messages Accidentally Broadcast to Bloggers [VIDEO]

A glitch with an Apple store employee’s iPhone SIM card has allowed his personal life to be spied on by tech bloggers.

The incident happened after the employee inserted his personal SIM card into a customer’s broken iPhone to repair it. The… read more

Patriot or Giant, Whose Pre-Super Bowl XLVI Spotify Mix Is Better? [POLL]

Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner and players from both the New York Giants and New England Patriots are getting pumped for the game with their own big-game Spotify playlists.

On Monday, Mashable told you about Patriots rookie running back Stevan Ridley, who posted a 12-song Spotify playlist to… read more

Steve Jobs Mocked in Ad for Android Tablet [VIDEO]

Steve Jobs, sporting a halo and wings, extols the virtues of an Android tablet in a Taiwanese ad that’s getting attention in the U.S. for its disrespectful treatment of the late Apple cofounder.

The 20-second ad, which hit YouTube this week, features Taiwanese comedian and impersonator Ah-Ken. Clad in… read more

What the Heck Is Groundhog Day? [VIDEO]

Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.

Punxsutawney Phil saw its shadow on Groundhog Day morning, which historically is a sign predicting six more weeks of winter. But what does it all really mean?

The Feb. 2 holiday — celebrated in the U.S…. read more

The IPO Won’t Change Facebook. Online Ads Will

Will an IPO change Facebook? The sudden influx of $5 billion (and more) will certainly give it lots of opportunity, though it’ll also mean Facebook will soon answer to shareholders. And those shareholders will demand that the company keep increasing the value of their investment.

In his letter within the IPO… read more

Google: Microsoft Ad Campaign Is Full of Myths

Google doesn’t want you to believe everything Microsoft is writing about its privacy policies — especially not in the ads for alternative Microsoft products set to appear in major newspapers.

The search giant published a blog post written by policy manager Betsy Masiello, in hopes of sorting out the myths… read more

Glassdoor Can Mine Your Facebook Friends to Help You Land a Job [VIDEO]

When you’re looking for a job, who are the first people you turn to? Glassdoor, the careers site that regularly serves up lists of odd interview questions, is betting that it’s the friends and family in your personal network rather than your professional network. That’s why it’s introducing a deep… read more

How to Make Your Company More Social

Mae Karwowski runs social media strategy and oversees community management at Gilt City, a subsidiary of the Gilt Groupe. She also consults for several startups.

Social networks are flooded with potential customers. Therefore, today’s companies need to foster a socially engaged culture within company walls.

A business becomes more inherently social… read more

Instagram Users Snap Spectacular Shots at Sailing’s Toughest Event [PICS]

1.

An AbuDhabi highway shot by Liam Goslett, a 19-year-old photographer from Toronto whose Tumblr blog is called Liam… read more

YouTube’s 20 Most-Shared Ads in January [VIDEOS]

From last year’s Super Bowl to the upcoming big game, here are the 20 most-shared ads from January, 2012.

Advertisers are increasingly catering to the web before taking commercials to television. Teasers or previews to advertisements are becoming as common as movie trailers. Last year, Volkswagen showcased a teaser to its… read more

New Website Connects Language Newbies With Native Speakers

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Verbling

Quick Pitch: Verbling is a web-based platform where individuals can pair up with native speakers… read more

Twitter Users Campaign for Britney Spears ‘Modern Family’ Cameo

If we’ve learned anything from massive campaigning on the Internet recently, it’s that the Web has the power to get things done.

The latest campaigning effort comes in support of Britney Spears, as many tweeted on Tuesday to let the pop superstar appear on popular TV show Modern Family. The hashtag… read more

How to Prepare Your Social Game for Massive Growth

read more

Will the IPO Change Facebook Forever?

Journalists can find some pretty weird things interesting, but I never thought a 207-page government-mandated document would keep me turning the pages.

That changed Wednesday, with Facebook’s mammoth S-1 filing. It wasn’t so much an SEC prospectus as it was a peek into the personality of Mark Zuckerberg — and… read more

Facebook IPO: The Social Web Reacts

Mark Zuckerberg

Click here to view this gallery.

It shouldn’t be hard to guess what the largest discussion in… read more

Only About a Third of Tweets Are Worth Reading [STUDY]

Do you ever wonder how people react when they see your Twitter updates? Odds are, most would fall under the category of “meh,” according to a new study.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Georgia Tech joined forces to get a sense of how most tweets go over. They created a… read more

What Are the Presidential Candidates’ Stances on Important Tech Issues?

The 2012 race for the White House is well underway. During the numerous debates, campaign speeches and addresses, the five remaining presidential candidates have been outspoken about their stances on unemployment, education and foreign policy. But there’s one area they haven’t been very vocal on: technology.

Just where do these… read more

Zuckerberg to Self: Stay Focused and Keep Shipping [PIC]

Have you been wondering what’s going through 27-year-old billionaire Mark Zuckerberg‘s head as the company he started in his Harvard dorm room eight years ago files for IPO?

You don’t have to wonder — Zuckerberg just shared a picture of his desk at Facebook HQ on his Timeline with a simple… read more

How 9 Tech Giants Traded After Going Public [INFOGRAPHIC]

Now that Facebook has filed paperwork for its Initial Public Offering, the world will be watching the company’s value. Assuming the SEC approves the filing, stocks will likely begin trading in May.

The social network will be offering $5 billion in stock, and some estimates of market value place the… read more

Facebook: Competition An ‘Ongoing Threat’ But ‘We Compete Favorably’

Clear as day, Facebook acknowledges its competition in the social media marketplace in the SEC filing document released Wednesday. Despite Google+, Orkut, Mixi, Twitter and the bevy of competing social sites, Facebook say its future looks bright.

In the “competition” section of the SEC filing — about a page long… read more

Mark Zuckerberg Spent $700,000 Flying on Private Planes Last Year

Ah, to live the luxurious life. Facebook announced on Wednesday via its filing for an initial public offering (IPO) how the company fared in 2011, and not surprisingly, its employees racked up (and spent) big money last year.

The Facebook IPO provided details about the base salary of the team, including… read more

Facebook IPO: The Illustrated View

Top Facebook Stats

Facebook kicks off its IPO document with key stats, touting its astonishing number of active users,… read more

Facebook: Here Are the 35 Things That Could Kill Our Company

Here’s one of the more painful parts of taking a company public: You have to make an honest assessment, in front of the whole world, of all the things that could kill your business. Facebook is no exception.

In its SEC filing, as required by law, the company outlined a… read more

Colbert’s Super PAC is Back, But Who’s the Biggest Donor?

One video game developer is hungry to see a “Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” as soon as possible.

Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC (Political Action Committee), “American’s for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” has raised more than $1 million since its creation in June, 2011. A… read more

Sheryl Sandberg Was Facebook’s Best-Paid Employee in 2011

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, got paid $30.87 million last year, making her the most highly compensated employee at the company in 2011.

That disclosure, including in Facebook’s S-1 filing with the SEC on Wednesday, further outlines that Sandberg got $295,833 in salary plus a bonus of $85,133… read more

Facebook: Zynga Generates 12% of Our Revenue and We Need Them

Lots of interesting numbers emerged from Facebook’s IPO filing Wednesday — including that one client, game-maker Zynga, accounts for a full 12% of the company’s revenue.

Facebook generated $3.71 billion in sales last year; some $445 million of that came from its partnership with Zynga. Facebook made $1.97 billion in… read more

10 Giant Things Less Valuable Than Facebook

Facebook filed for initial public offering today, and simultaneously announced that it is planning to raise $5 billion, a more conservative number than initially estimated. According market analyst estimates, however, Facebook’s total value has reached a staggering $100 billion.

That means if Facebook were to go on sale tomorrow (unlikely),… read more

Facebook IPO Reveals How It Made $3.71 Billion in 2011

Facebook filed for its IPO today, and it revealed a great deal about how it makes money. It’s not too surprising that Facebook said it generates “a substantial majority of our revenue from advertising,” though it also revealed just how much it makes via its partnership with Zynga.

Revenue from Zynga… read more

Facebook IPO Filing Flings Open the Social Network Kimono

Facebook Wednesday filed for an initial public offering (IPO), seeking to raise $5 billion. But the company also revealed some big numbers via the SEC filing, from how many active users are on the site to how much the executives are getting paid.

Facebook — which earned $1 billion on… read more

Zuckerberg to Potential Shareholders: Facebook Is on a Social Mission

The world got a peek into Facebook‘s inner workings on Thursday when the Securities and Exchange Commission published the company’s preliminary prospectus for a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). It also got a glimpse of how Mark Zuckerberg views the company.

In a letter to potential shareholders within the document, Zuckerberg… read more

Facebook Files for $5 Billion IPO

Facebook just filed the preliminary prospectus for its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).

As rumored, the company is seeking to raise $5 billion. If Facebook manages to raise this capital, it will be on a shortlist of biggest tech IPOs of all time.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley will act as lead underwriter,… read more

Election 2012: Voters Expect Candidates to Be on Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

About 82% of all adults will receive most of their election news online. The ways U.S. voters are using social media have changed drastically since 2008. Here are some other social media trends driving this year’s election.

Presidential parties and the media are focusing on what’s being said about the election… read more

Super Bowl Viewers Will Check Phones 10 Times During the Game [STUDY]

Nearly half of Super Bowl XLVI viewers will check their mobile device as many as 10 times during the game, and almost a third of viewers under age 45 will watch the game “with device in hand.”

More than 80% of viewers say they’ll use their mobile device during the… read more

France Finds Google Maps Is Unfair Competition [VIDEO]

A French court has found Google‘s Maps application guilty of unfair competition and ordered the search giant to pay damages and a fine.

Bottin Cartographes, a French company that provides essentially the same services as Google Maps, but for a fee,… read more

Pinterest Drives More Traffic Than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn Combined [STUDY]

Pinterest is social media’s rising star — and now has the traffic stats to prove it.

The darling network of brides-to-be, fashionistas and budding bakers now beats YouTube, Reddit, Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace for percentage of total referral traffic in January, according to a Shareaholic study.

Pinterest accounted for 3.6%… read more