Wednesday, January 25, 2012

LDPR Digital Directory: January 2012 Edition


Got a digital dilemma? Head lost in the SoundCloud? Interested in Pinterest? No need to worry because LDPR will help make sense of it all with our Digital Directory. Follow us on Twitter and bookmark our blog for more info and updates.

LDPR Digital Directory Categories:
 Steadfast Social Site
★   Mobile Mover
  Newbie Network
★   Surprising Standouts

Facebook
Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook has over 800 million active users (users who have returned to the site in the last 30 days).

Foursquare (stylized as foursquare)
Foursquare is a location-based social networking website for mobile devices, such as smartphones. Users "check-in" at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application by selecting from a list of venues the application locates nearby. Location is based on GPS hardware in the mobile device or network location provided by the application. Each check-in awards the user points and sometimes "badges". Whether you’re setting off on a trip around the world, coordinating a night out with friends, or trying to pick out the best dish at your local restaurant, foursquare considers itself to be “the perfect companion.” As of January 2012, Foursquare has about 15 million users worldwide and over 600,000 were using the Merchant Platform (more information at foursquare.com/business). Foursquare co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai met in 2007 while working in the same office space (at different companies) in New York City. Working from Dennis' kitchen table in New York's East Village, they began building the first version of foursquare in fall 2008, and launched it at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas in March 2009. Learn more by following Dennis' A brief history of foursquare list!

Google+
Google+ makes connecting on the web more like connecting in the real world. Share your thoughts, links and photos with the right circles. Use easy, spontaneous video chat to strike up conversations with as many as nine people at once. Get everyone on the same page with fast, simple group chat. We’re very excited about the new approach to sharing we’ve created through Google+, but this is really just the beginning.

Instagram
From the folks at Instagram: “When we were kids we loved playing around with cameras -- we loved how all the old Polaroid cameras marketed themselves as “instant” (something we take for granted today). We also felt that the snapshots people were taking were kind of like telegrams in that they got sent over the wire to others -- so we figured why not combine the two?”
Instagram came from that inspiration - could we make sharing your life as instant and magic as those first Polaroid pictures must have felt? Our first product is Instagram for iPhone, and we're just getting started.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn started out in the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman in 2002. The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. At the end of the first month in operation, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 members in the network. As of September 30, 2011 (the end of the third quarter), professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate that is faster than two new members per second. As of November 3, 2011, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 135 million members in over 200 countries and territories.

Myspace (previously styled as MySpace or My____)
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors. Myspace was founded in 2003 and was acquired by News Corporation in July 2005 for $580 million. From 2005 until early 2008, Myspace was the most visited social networking site in the world, and in June 2006 surpassed Google as the most visited website in the United States. In April 2008, Myspace was overtaken by Facebook in the number of unique worldwide visitors, and was surpassed in the number of unique U.S. visitors in May 2009. Since then, the number of Myspace users has declined steadily in spite of several redesigns. As of December 2011, Myspace was ranked 138th by total web traffic. On June 29, 2011, Myspace was sold to Specific Media and Justin Timberlake for approximately $35 million. If he can bring sexy back, maybe he can do the same for Myspace? More to come…

myYearbook
myYearbook is a social site where you can connect with friends and make new friends while playing social games, earning Lunch Money, supporting your favorite causes, and much more.

Pinterest
Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.  The goal of Pinterest is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests…including travel!

SoundCloud
SoundCloud is the world’s leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere. Recording and uploading sounds to SoundCloud lets people easily share them privately with their friends or publicly to blogs, sites and social networks. It takes just a click to share sounds to Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Foursquare. SoundCloud can be accessed anywhere using the official iPhone and Android apps, as well as hundreds of creation and sharing apps built on the SoundCloud platform. For more about what SoundCloud can do, visit the tour page.

Tumblr
Tumblr is a microblogging platform and social networking website that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Users can follow other users, and 'reblog' their posts, or choose to make their tumblelog private. The service emphasizes ease of use. As of January 5, 2012, Tumblr had over 39.5 million blogs. According to comScore, Tumblr scored 13.4 million unique visitors in the U.S. in July 2011 — up 218% from July 2010.

Tagged
Tagged considers itself to be “a different kind of social network.” Other social networks are for staying in touch with people you already know. Tagged makes it easy to meet new people through social games,friend suggestionsbrowsing profilesgroup interests and much more. Tagged members can express themselves by creating custom profiles to match their individual tastes. With over 100 million members and 25 million monthly visitors, Tagged is the place where people can discover hundreds of new friends or just meet that special someone. 

Twitter
Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media. You can tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline, and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media content. Businesses use Twitter to quickly share information with people interested in their products and services, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and influential people. From brand lift, to CRM, to direct sales, Twitter offers businesses a chance to reach an engaged audience. For more information, check out Twitter 101 for Businesses, Twitter’s guide to doing business on Twitter.

Yahoo! Answers
Find out everything there is to know about Yahoo! Answers. If you are just getting started or are a seasoned veteran looking for the latest on Yahoo! Answers here is the place to find it.

YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small.

Yelp
Yelp was founded in 2004 with the purpose of connecting people with great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics. Yelp had an average of approximately 61 million monthly unique visitors in Q3 2011. Yelpers have written over 22 million local reviews. In addition to reviews, you can use Yelp to find eventslists and to talk with other Yelpers. Every business owner (or manager) can setup a free account to post photos and message customers. Yelp makes money by selling ads to local businesses - you'll see these clearly labeled "Yelp Ads" around the site. The Weekly Yelp brings locals updates on the latest and greatest business openings & other happenings.


About the LDPR Digital Directory
At the close of 2011, CNET News reported on the impressive growth of Pinterest, a new, invitation-only site that’s growing at a phenomenal pace. The article inspired us to take inventory of existing and emerging social sites/forums to create the LDPR Digital Directory. As technology evolves and new platforms and channels come and go, we’re keeping this Directory curated and relevant.

Source: Each site’s “About” section served as the primary source for content. Wiki pages were referenced as secondary sources.

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For over 20 years LDPR has guided some of the world’s most prestigious travel brands through an evolving media landscape with creativity, professionalism and enthusiasm. We are a highly driven and innovative travel and lifestyle public relations agency based in New York City with a global roster of clients from destinations and tour companies to exclusive private islands, hotels and resorts. Our unique culture is defined by our collaborative and strategic approach to working with clients, media and our staff, leading to a strong partnership with measurable results.