What We're Reading | Week of June 4, 2012
Ashley: There have been big discussions of whether students and teachers should be friends on Facebook and the rising stats on children affected by cyber bullying, but there hasn’t been a big stir about the Facebook age requirement of 13 years old – until now. Facebook reps have said they are considering creating a Facebook membership option for younger children that has a parental monitoring feature. Parents would be able to keep tabs on what their kids are viewing and how they are interacting on the platform. Personally, I think it’s a great idea. Studies have shown that 38% of kids on Facebook are under 12, and at least this way parents have some sort of control how they’re using it.
Brooke: SEO is so yesterday and news feed optimization is the new black. Who says? Twenty-one year old Tim Chae, CEO (yes, I said CEO) of 500 Startups’ PostRocket, a tool that develops content for businesses on Facebook based on their Insights. PostRocket fancies itself masters of EdgeRank, the secret formula Facebook uses to determine what appears in the news feed. “SEO is still important, businesses are getting an increasing share of their traffic from Facebook, and need to be focusing on their Facebook EdgeRank as well as their Google PageRank,” Chae says. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with this.
Susan: Pinterest is the hottest social network, driving Web site traffic and sales in unprecedented ways. Because we consume this content differently, its influence is changing Web design. This study on how we view Pinterest may help pinners arrange their boards. Since top pins “pop,” pinners will want to keep adding fresh content. Also keep in mind that faces attract attention, so pinners should try to utilize content with people, not just objects. Lastly, luckily for marketers, people like brands better after viewing their Pinterest pages.
Tiffany: Do you follow your car dealer on Facebook? Auto manufacturers have one of the fastest growing fan growth rates compared to other industries. To look at how other industries such as airlines and hospitals are ranking, check out the Facebook engagement report. 
Paula: IPv6 is here to stay, and with it comes enough IP addresses to make your eyes water. Why does that matter? Because we’ve run out! On used up old IPv4, there were only about 4 billion addresses, but with IPv6, we’ve got enough to cover all the devices we use until we go to space and meet an entire civilization of iPhones or something. That means advertisers like Google will know where all their clicks are coming from, instead of just having a general idea of the city or region.
Sally: Pinterest vs. Reddit = Girls vs. Boys. In this pithy observation by the Content Strategist, women and men are pitted against each other in the online arena according to the respective social channels they dominate. In this case, it’s women on Pinterest – the visually focused, fastest growing social site in history – and men on Reddit and Tumblr, where snappy language drives success. The different platforms definitely reflect both their users and audience – Pinterest comprised of attractive imagery relative to fashion, food and home improvement and Reddit and Tumblr made up of bold and snarky commentary.