Sunday, December 23, 2012

Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Sarah Silverman has a Public Service Announcement


Sarah Silverman takes women's reproductive rights seriously. So seriously, in fact, that she's appealing to all of her bros out there to show a little support in the voting booths. She's calling it the Bro-Choice Movement, and we've gotta say, she makes some solid points.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Why 2013 Is the Year of Responsive Web Design



You may have noticed that your favorite website got a new look recently. The design seems wider than usual, and when you shrink your browser, the content resizes to fit. The aim here isn't merely prettiness or technical trickery, however: Media companies like are seeing a major shift in the consumption habits of their audiences. Those organizations that don't act may find themselves behind the curve. Pete Cashmore of Mashable tells why READ ON

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Why Microsoft's Anti-Google Marketing Campaign Blew Up In Its Face



This was obviously a bad idea. Microsoft decided to run a relentlessly negative twitter campaign called #droidrage, where people were supposed to complain about malware problems with their devices that run Google‘s Android OS. It may be a strange offshoot of #muslimrage from earlier this year. Whatever Microsoft thought was going to happen, it almost immediately backfired. A few retweets from the official Windows phone Twitter:

“Ever had your bank password hijacked by malware on your android phone? I have. #DroidRage”

“Bank details stolen once after android malware attacked my phone after downloading an app from Google play -.- #DroidRage”

“took hundreds of pics on fam. vacation. Downloaded an app to store them, wiped all of them out :( #droidrage”

Nobody wins when you pour hatred into the internet. Soon after #droidrage started up, the Twitter and Android communities responded with #windowsrage about how much they hated windows phones. Highlights:

“Bought a Windows Phone and there are a total of 6 apps #windowsrage.”

“I once thought about writing malware for a @windowsphone but then I thought, aren’t they suffering enough? #DroidRage #WindowsRage”

If you can’t advertise based on the strengths of your own product, there’s something amiss. I can only imagine that recently promoted Microsoft marketer made some speech about “disruption” to a room full of confused execs desperately trying to figure out why their brand was associated with boring stagnation. “It’s a new kind of marketing,” he probably told them. He may have used the word “edgy.” Maybe even “in your face.”

This campaign was doomed from the start. When you’re marketing with social media, there’s no possible way to actually control what gets said about your product. So the best you can do is use a real narrative that will spread on its own, or establish a tone for your conversation that makes attacks on your company look petulant. When you start out looking petulant, like Windows did here, it’s only going to get worse. When you fight with a pig, you both get dirty. But the pig likes it.

Dave Thier @mashable