7 Tips for Building a Better Branded App
December 9, 2010Mobile Year in Review
December 13, 2010Zachary Sniderman via @Mashable
Mashable’s back with another round up of new social media tools and resources from the past week or so. With all the holiday madness, we understand if you somehow missed one or two of these great posts, so read on for the full list.
Our Social Media section dives into the top viral video ads of 2010, an early screening review of TRON: Legacy, and stats on what the world Googled this past year. Tech & Mobile highlights 10 Chrome () web apps worth checking out, tips for backing up your Tumblr () blog, and how Operation Payback executes its DDoS attacks. Business rounds out the list with lessons businesses can learn from entrepreneurs, how social media is changing television, and — most importantly — how to keep your business running through the holidays.
Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.
Social Media
- 5 Crafty Tricks for Creating Killer Photo Memes
We’ve found five essential videos that will teach you the basic Photoshop skills required to make your own Internet () memes. - 5 Merry Musical Contests for the Holidays
It’s time to regain a little holiday cheer with this of list of five music-themed contests that will snap you out of your holi-daze. - 4 Effective Tools for Monitoring Your Child’s Online Safety
These four services can help by alerting you when potentially damaging content involving your child is posted online. - 5 Fantastic Web Games We Can’t Stop Playing
To help you get through those winter doldrums, we’ve picked five web games that are interesting, fun, and likely very addictive. - Why the 5 “Best Internet Meme” Finalists Went Viral [Mashable Awards]
What made these memes so popular in 2010? We spoke to some of their creators and other “memeologists” for the inside scoop. - Does “TRON: Legacy” Deliver the Goods? [MOVIE REVIEW]
TRON: Legacy is one of those rare movies that manages to do justice to its source material without being a slave to it. - 4 Ways to Find Legal Music for Your YouTube Videos
A host of options have popped up for users looking to integrate original music into their memes-to-be. Here’s a look at a few of them. - The 10 Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 2010
For this year’s top innovative viral video ads, advertisers and ad agencies split their goodness between web specific videos and great TV ads that did well online. - How the World Googled in 2010
Google () has announced the results of its annual zeitgeist report, revealing the most popular search terms of 2010 by region and worldwide. - The Existential Trouble With Social Gaming [COMIC]
45 million of us tie our real identity to our virtual string bean-harvesting identity every day. It’s an existential crisis on a massive scale. Kind of. - Should You Accept Mom & Dad’s Facebook Friend Request? [FLOWCHART]
Try out the above chart to see whether you should just avoid, avoid, avoid, or welcome Mom and Dad into your Facebook realm with open arms. - What Makes the “Most Influential Social Good Champions” Tick? [INTERVIEWS]
Social good may be an ambiguous term, but one thing is very clear – online giving needs champions to help promote, galvanize, and inspire people to join in the cause.
For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s () social media channel on Twitter () and become a fan on Facebook ().
Tech & Mobile
- 10 Crazy Gadgets for Cats and Dogs
Why should humans have all the tech fun? From the ridiculous (a doggie treadmill?) to the sublime (bacon-flavored bubbles!) we’ve got a great selection of 10 pet gadgets. - 5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Developing a Successful Mobile App
Though the marketplace for mobile apps is still relatively young when compared to the web, there are a handful of best practices to abide and pitfalls to avoid when in development. - Hands-On With Google E-Books [SCREENSHOTS]
Google launched its e-bookstore Monday, bringing more than 3 million books — many of them free — to any device with a web browser in the U.S. - HOW TO: Back Up Your Tumblr Blog
If Tumblr’s (nearly) day-long outage taught us anything, it’s that we should probably start backing up our content. - 10 Chrome Web Apps to Check Out
The great thing about web apps is that you don’t necessarily have to use Google Chrome () to benefit from these great interfaces. Here are 10 Chrome web apps that we think are worth exploring. - Hands-On with CNBC’s Real-Time Stocks Dashboard for iPad [SCREENSHOTS]
CNBC released a brand new iPad app late Monday, delivering the first truly useful, real-time market updates dashboard for the device. - How the iPad Is Influencing Web Apps
Looking through the Google Web Store, we couldn’t help but notice the similarities that some of these apps share with their iPad counterparts. - How Operation Payback Executes Its Attacks
These users are using computer programs — or more recently, simply visiting websites — in order to stage their attack.
For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
Business
- 6 Reasons Why Social Games Are the Next Advertising Frontier
Advertising in social games has increased by 60 percent since 2009. Speakers at the Social Gaming Summit this week explained why. - 5 iPhone Apps For Avoiding International Business Faux Pas
Don’t embarrass yourself or offend someone while traveling internationally for business. Download these five apps to help avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings. - HOW TO: Get the Most Out of a Coworking Space
Whether you’re aiming to be as productive as possible or trying to build a strong professional community, these five tips can help you get the most out of your coworking experience. - How Social Media Can Help With Your Long Distance Job Search
Whether you’re looking for a job 300 or 3,000 miles from home, here are some tips for using social media in your job search. - Social Media Success: 5 Lessons From In-House Corporate Teams
While implementing a successful social media campaign is something to celebrate, longer term, policy-based programs can be even more rewarding. - HOW TO: Define a Social Media Strategy for Enterprise
We spoke with the architects of some leading social media enterprise strategies for their take on this evolving field. - 5 Lessons Big Corporations Can Learn From Startups
Big companies may have the resources and time to accomplish great things, but imagine what they could do with an injection of entrepreneurial spirit. - 7 Tips for Succeeding as a Social Media Strategist
Altimeter Group Industry Analyst Jeremiah Owyang presented seven key tips for social media strategists hoping to build success in this growing field. - 3 Things Brands Must Do to Reach Millennials Online
Young, social media savvy consumers expect more from brands online. Be sure to include these 3 core principles in your Millennial marketing strategy. - 9 Web Tools to Keep Your Business Running Smoothly During the Holidays
The Holidays can be hard for small business owners. We’ve got nine great tools that will help you stay connected while you’re away from the office. - “Best Social Media Customer Service” Finalists Discuss Their Success [INTERVIEWS]
What makes for great social media customer service? We spoke to the Mashable Awards’ “Best Social Media Service” finalists for the inside scoop. - 7 Tips for Building a Better Branded App
A recent study found that 38% of people who downloaded branded apps were unsatisfied with them. Here’s how you can make your branded app better. - How Social Media is Changing the Business of Television
Real-time social media conversations around TV have reinvigorated the industry, and raised the stakes for how networks and producers need to engage with their fans. - 10 Ways Business Leaders Can Turn Ideas Into Execution
Business complexities can sometimes make it difficult to close what some refer to as the “execution gap.” Keep these strategies in mind as you push forward with your ideas.