The transformation is complete. Not even two months after the purchase of Instagram Facebook has released its own photo app to the public. Facebook Camera, a separate app from the Facebook mobile app, can be considered a complete clone to Instagram.

The Facebook Camera allows users a single scrolling feed of all of their friend’s photos, can upload several photos at once and similar to Instagram allows the user to crop, rotate and filter their photos unlike the previous version of Facebook’s camera application.

With the IPO and Zuckerberg’s wedding, Facebook has been hard at work making changes to better the company’s growing list of features. One question I have though is this—Will Facebook ever hit the ceiling? Millions of dollars in revenue are made by social media marketing companies who owe Facebook for most of their success. What else can Facebook do that would better the social media marketing community?

Zuckerberg has made previous hints at improving the mobile aspect of Facebook and let’s face it, the changes that Facebook makes can cause more waves than a belly flopping Orca. I would like to predict that Facebook will eventually expand out of the iPhone app business and create a brand of tech they call their own. Will there be a new phone or a new tablet PC that Facebook can call its own? Who knows what is on the horizon for this social media titan.

So, as you’ve probably heard, Facebook had its IPO and it was…disappointing, to say the least.  It came to market in a weird way, didn’t blow up like it was supposed to, and even decreased in value.  And, you’ve probably also heard that Facebook is getting sued.  In case you didn’t, basically they’re being accused of being somewhat underhanded in reporting their income and Morgan Stanley might have known about this and misled investors.  You know, the same type of stuff that you hear all the time about every company ever.

Now, I work for a Social Media Firm and I therefore have a vested interest in social media doing well.  So, you might expect me to minimize this stumbling block in Facebook’s path.  I’m not going to do that.  It is a mistake and pretty bad.  Facebook has already had a black eye when GM pulled their ads just before the IPO, so this was digging the hole even deeper.

With that being said, I think any rumors of Facebook’s demise are greatly exaggerated.  After the sad hilarity of Enron and Worldcom, this level of financial chicanery is almost quaint. Facebook is still huge and, while it may not actually be making a lot of money and it makes some odd financial decisions from time to time, but, well, it’s mostly doing fine.  Facebook is going to move on.

Then again, I could be wrong.  I doubt it, but it has been known to happen.  If Facebook does start to fade, what next?

Would Social Marketing die?  Of course not.  Even if this were Facebook’s swan song, there are tons of other great social media sites out there that would replace.  And they’re effective.   They just released that Pinterest drives more online sales than Facebook.    There’s a plethora of social networking sites waiting in the wings.  It will continue and it’s sure to be a hell of a ride.

As of 2012, printed newspaper has been surpassed big time by online news revenue. Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming the new “Sunday’s paper” causing traditional news outlets to be a thing of the past.

At least three times a week, about 46% of people read the news online. This number will continue to increase. Already, over 50% of people find out about breaking news through social media. You can find out about anything and everything via social media.

As far as online news sources go, Facebook dominates how people are finding out about things. With 59% of consumers getting their information from Facebook, the social media site blow Google out of the water with their news consumers reaching 11.6%. Even huge breaking news stories have been reported first on social media sites including; the death of Osama bin Laden and Whitney Houston (which were both reported on Twitter before anywhere else), the Hudson River plane crash and the first announcement of the royal wedding.

Although about 50% of news consumers get their breaking news from social media, there are times where some of the information reported can be inaccurate and erroneous. Many reporters rush to be the first to send out a big story across the Internet, which can cause stories to be missing important facts and accurate details.

Social media is a revelation and a great place to read up on trending topics, but my advice would be to check your resources and make sure what you’re reading is entirely correct before you share it out or believe it to be true.

It seems that BBDO New York has come up with another way for bars to become a different kind of “social”.  As I opened Mashable today and saw one of my favorite things, a pint of Guinness, intertwined with a symbol of the digital age, the QR code.

We all know that people flock to the local watering hole to relieve stress from work or meet up with friends to talk about what’s new in their lives.  The type of social scene at a bar can often determine its patrons and vice versa but either way, people go to certain bars because they either want to socialize with their friends or meet new people.

The capabilities of the QR code printed on the pint glass lets you Tweet, Post to Facebook, check in and download promotion codes all by scanning the code with your iPhone.  The code lets you get back to drinking faster, the main objective of the evening, without wasting too much time updating your friends with where you are and what you’re doing.

As pointed out in Tim Nudd’s article in Adweek  in the QR code is only effective with the signature dark Guinness liquid in the glass.  Since this glass leaves out opportunities for other beverage brands to hop on board, will they start to develop their own glasses with QR codes specific to their brands?  This doesn’t seem like too big of a problem since some brands already have signature glasses to go along with their beverages; Stella Artois, Palm, etc.  Bars could even try to jump on the band wagon and develop branded glasses with QR codes giving promotions specific to the bar itself.

So next time you’re in the pub asking for a pint of Guinness and shooting the breeze with the locals, see if they have the new QR code pint glass. See how social your life is after scanning this frosty pint.

Let’s face it, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a digital world – even when we work out and diet. I’m not just talking about gym equipment with televisions built in and pulse readers, I’m talking about the fact that I literally get all of my diet and exercise tips from my smart device. Some of my favorites include everything from eBooks by Bethenny Frankel to the Nike Training Club app on my iPod Touch. But if there’s one thing that I’ve noticed – especially since entering the marketing field – is that everyone craves benefit and sometimes looking better and being healthier just aren’t enough anymore. For years, diets have become synonymous with deprivation and unhappiness, but now it seems even that things are taking a change for the better.

Sometimes dieting is a dirty word that can easily be replaced by “healthy lifestyle changes” to make it seem much more agreeable. Just like using weights to build muscle can scare away women who don’t want to be too bulky and doing excessive cardio can scare off men who’d like to build their physique. So what’s the spin or added boost that some fitness apps and books are offering – brand new benefit and incentives.

If we’re being honest – incentives are the best way to get anyone to do anything. People are much more likely to do something if they see a maximum return on their investment. I’m not different. Imagine how elated I was when the training app on my iPod gave me delicious healthy smoothie recipes, awards and badges to post on Facebook for progress, and an exclusive celebrity workout performed by my favorite celebrity.

It’s the honest to goodness truth that in today’s society, being healthy and beautiful isn’t enough anymore. People crave luxury. To corner the market on fitness, the true trailblazers are adding a little something special to their regimens and routines.

In the news, there was a recent study providing evidence that drinking coffee may help you live longer. The study was carried out by the National Institutes of Health and AARP. However, researchers urge you to remember that this doesn’t necessarily prove that coffee makes people live longer; it just shows that coffee and living longer are related. Even so, this contradicts earlier studies that had said coffee can increase risks of heart disease.

This study included 400,000 individuals, making it the largest study ever done on this issue, so the results should be reassuring for those of you who enjoy drinking coffee. The results of the study are as follows: men who drank 2 or 3 cups of coffee per day were 10% less likely to die at any age and for women it was 13%. Even having 1 cup of coffee per day lowered your risk of dying at any age. The strongest effect was a 16% lower risk of death which occurred in women who drank 4 or 5 cups of coffee per day.

So, how can you use this information to better your health? Well, if you’re not already an avid coffee drinker, take a look on Facebook to find a coffee shop near you. This social media outlet isn’t just for communicating with friends. Some of the big chains of coffee shops like Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks have a Facebook page that they update with special offers. You might even find some random deals and discounts if you become a fan of these pages.

One great deal that is always advertised on Facebook is Starbucks’ half priced Frappuccino happy hour. This is a week that recently passed and all the Starbuck coffee shops offer half priced Frappuccinos from 3pm to 5pm. Also, once per year, Dunkin Donuts has its free iced coffee day and you will often find reminders of this day on Facebook.

Now that we know coffee can help you live longer, it’s time to use technology to make the most of this opportunity. Use Facebook to find a coffee shop near you and score the best deals. Maybe you’ll find yourself living longer and healthier!

Friday, May 18^th is a day that will live in infamy. Facebook, the social media platform that has changed the way millions of people live and conduct their personal and business lives, has gone public. The brainchild of Mssrs. Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes has started selling its stock to the public. Already, there have been some huge headlines coming out of this offering, such as the story where Bono made $1.5 billion because he invested $90 million in 2009 and currently owns 2.3% of Facebook.

But not many people can afford to buy $90 million in stock options. What does this mean for those of us in the real world, those of us who can only buy a few shares of stock? How does this impact our worlds directly? And perhaps most importantly, what does this mean for companies who have their brands and livelihoods centered on Facebook?

First of all, the pre-public investors stand to gain a ton of money. The savvy Silicon Valley investors and early believers stand to be rewarded very well for their early faith in Facebook. Those who had invested a few tens of thousands in the company stand to see their investments grow into the hundreds of millions. The names of the people who invested early are known for their work with PayPal, Zynga, Spotify, and Flickr. In other words, these are people who know about the industry with a history of picking winners.

Stories have already been published about how the people who work for Facebook should plan on spending their new windfall. These insta-millionaires are now sitting on a gigantic bubble. Hopefully, the smart ones will remember the last time that the bubble burst in Silicon Valley and squirrel that money away for a rainy day.

But for the companies who invest their money on Facebook, the future is a little less certain. Not for the uber-large companies like GM, Coca-Cola, and Sony. I’m talking about the little companies that invest their futures in the power of online marketing. Where do they stand? If a large company like GM is pulling back their advertising, ostensibly because of their ROI, what does that say for a smaller company, like the one down the street from you?

Will the smaller company experience a huge surge of interest, now that more people will have a vested interest in how effective Facebook’s advertising strategies turn out? Or will the reported decline in Facebook users continue? I have a feeling that smaller business owners will be looking harder at their Facebook analytics in an attempt to make sure that their investments are being spent wisely. With their company’s future on the line, the time to really dig in and look at returns on investment is here.