What Was Social Media Use Like During the Super Bowl?

Facebook and Twitter were lively during the game, halftime show by Beyonce, and the blackout. Share your experiences.

Social media use is prominent in everyday life in 2013, and Sunday's Super Bowl was no exception. For example, users posted 24.1 million "tweets" on Twitter during the telecast, according to mashable.com. Top moments included the 34-minute power outage at the Superdome early in the second half, which generated 231,500 tweets per minute, Mashable reported. Beyonce? Her halftime performance generated 5.5 million tweets. Her 12-minute show's conclusion: 268,000 tweets per minute. And speaking of the power outage, one post showed how "in the moment" social media can be. One business -- @oreocookie -- had the infamous "you can dunk in the dark" photo with its tweet "Power out? No problem." (See the attached screenshot.) In all, social media use…

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Social Media Doesn't Click for Black Friday Sales

Top social media sites show decreased traffic leading to sales on the prime shopping day. Overall, Black Friday sales were up from 2011.

Overall, online sales and traffic showed an increase on Black Friday 2012, the introduction day to holiday commerce. However, leading social media sites were not part of the upswing, according to a Wall Street Journal blog. The report said that just 0.34 percent of all online sales came from referrals from the top social media sites -- Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. That was a 35 percent decrease from 2011. Twitter was the biggest fail. The site was at 0.00 percent in 2012, not even rounding up in the third decimal point. Facebook referral traffic was down marginally, although its user base grew by 25 percent in the quarter. However, online shoppers did use social media to express satisfaction with purchases, according to mashable.com. …

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NEWS NEARBY: Dunwoody Police To 'Live Tweet' Black Friday Calls

The department will be tweeting all of its calls on the busiest shopping day of the year.

Ever wanted to know how crazy it gets on Black Friday around the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody but didn't want to be a part of the holiday crush? You can find out both from home on Friday, November 23. Starting at 6 a.m., Dunwoody Police will put on Twitter.com all of its police calls for a 24-hour period. And Dunwoody Patch will have a story running all day that will upload the tweets as they happen, and in real time. The tweets will give people an idea of how busy the department is on Black Friday and what kind of calls they will be fielding on the busy shopping day. They will use their handle @DunwoodyPolice using the hashtag #dpdcalls. Here's how their official Twitter post read: "How busy will we be on #BlackFriday. Check out our …

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SPEAK OUT: NFL Replacement Refs Mar Monday Night Game

Again, controversy surrounds the NFL's use of replacement referees. Share your thoughts.

For the second straight week, NFL replacement referees have figured in highly publicized disputed plays. And on Monday night (Sept. 24), the substitute officials directly figured in a game-deciding play. According to many media reports, the Seattle Seahawks were awarded a last-second touchdown on a bizarre Hail Mary play on which Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings appeared to come down with an interception that was later deemed to be a Golden Tate game-winning reception. The score eventually gave Seattle a 14-12 victory. "That was two of the worst calls at the end of a football game that I can remember," commentator Jon Gruden said on ESPN, which televised the game nationally. "I love this league and love the game of football, but tonight’s …

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2012 Olympics: Must-Follow Athletes on Twitter

Since social media is now mainstream, you can follow the top athletes yourself.

The 2012 Olympics began Friday, July 27, and now the world is looking to London. And online. As mashable.com noted, social media’s growth and influence has been exponential since 2008. Facebook has gone from 100 million users to over 900 million. And more than 400 million tweets are sent each day, compared to just 300,000 four years ago. While International Olympic Committee restrictions on social media posts have some athletes frustrated, there will still be plenty to enjoy. But it all begs one question: Out of more than 10,000 Olympians, who should you follow? So now to plug in, we bring you the top Olympics athletes to follow on Twitter. One in particular for Suwanee and Gwinnett: Maya Moore, who played at Collins Hill High and went on …

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Reaction to Kile Glover Is Emotional on Twitter

Social media users are sharing their grief over the youth's reported death.

Updated 5:50 p.m. As reports of Kile Glover's death were seen over the Internet on Saturday, reaction came from many on Twitter, which long has been abuzz about the son of entertainer Usher's ex-wife. Music mogul Russell Simmons (@unclerush) tweeted, "I am sending out every prayer I got to Tameka, Ryan, Usher and their family..." Said Tameka Harris (@tinymajormama), "Sending our condolences to @tamekaraymond & Ryan Glover...our heart & prayers are with u all & the family! May your son R.I.P" Glover, 11, was taken off life support recently after suffering critical injuries in an accident on Lake Lanier in early July. Reports say his mother, Tameka Raymond, made the decision because insurance coverage no longer would pay for the life support…

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Church or Beer: Who's Tweeting About What

An infographic shows that subjects of Twitter messages can go along geographic lines. Share your thoughts.

Have you posted on Twitter about church lately? You likely aren't the only one in the Suwanee area who has done so. An organization called FloatingSheep.org examined 10 million tweets tagged with a location within the U.S. sent between June 22-28, filtering out everything except Twitter posts mentioning “church” or “beer”. They found a total of 17,686 tweet mentioning “church” (half of which were sent on a Sunday) and 14,405 tweets mentioning “beer”. Digging further into the data, the team analyzed which term was more popular in each state. Check the attached infographic. Floatingsheep.org notes that the tweets about church aren’t necessarily spiritual in nature. The most common type of church-tweet was simply a report of being at a …

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DirecTV Customers Lose Viacom Channels

The dispute is over fees paid to DirecTV. Are you affected?

A fee dispute between satellite TV provider DirecTV and the Viacom network has reached viewers. Viacom removed several of its networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, from DIRECTV on Tuesday, according to media reports. It is unclear how long the dispute will last. As many as 20 million viewers are affected nationwide. A total of 17 channels are involved. -- Are you a DirecTV subscriber? Are you upset about this situation?Share your thoughts in the comments below. DirecTV, which does business in the Gwinnett area, says Viacom is demanding a fee increase. “Programmers like Viacom typically won’t allow anyone to buy their channels individually, but we hope to change that,” DirecTV said in its statement on Tuesday morning. “We…

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TSPLOST 'Tweetup' on Wednesday, July 11

Atlantic Station, pro-TSPLOST group hosting online discussion on Twitter.com.

Atlantic Station near Midtown Atlanta is partnering with Untie Atlanta for an online "Tweetup" on July 11 on Twitter.com to discuss the upcoming regional transportation referendum, also known as TSPLOST. Saba Long, press secretary at Citizens for Transportation Mobility, will be on Twitter to answer questions about the referendum from 11 a.m. to noon and again from 7 to 8 p.m.  Tweeters can send questions to Caleb J. Spivak, Atlantic Station's social media and community manager, who will be moderating the discussion from the mixed-use community's Twitter handle (@AtlanticStation). Answers will come from Saba Long on the Untie Atlanta Twitter handle (@UntieAtlanta). Participants can follow the conversation by using hashtag #UntieATL. The …

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Entrepreneur Corner

Gardening With a Digital Touch in Suwanee

Nancy Wallace, Suwanee resident since 1992, shows how small businesses can connect with clients through social media.

Nancy Wallace of Suwanee, owner of Wallace Gardens, is living testament to entrepreneurial persistence and using digital media to connect with customers. Many business owners are challenged to determine how social media can positively impact their business. They struggle with questions about the return on investment for social media and how to connect with customers to generate sales. Wallace has made the connection linking technology to business. She is reaching customers on multiple social platforms using vivid imagery to show her work in gardening and horticulture. What makes the story more remarkable is that Wallace isn’t a natural born tech guru. She’s made tech work for business through hard work, dedication, and natural problem …

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