Social commerce platform Chirpify expands to Instagram

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When it started, the name “Chirpify” suited the Twitter world perfectly. But things are going well for the Portland-based startup, and Chirpify announced today that it is expanding to Facebook’s extremely popular photo sharing-app, Instagram. Chirpify, the only platform for in-stream commerce that was previously only on Twitter, is now available for Instagram users who wish… Read More…

Live from the operating room: Surgery comes to Twitter, Instagram

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Live tweeting from events isn’t new. You’ve probably seen it happen on your Twitter feed from sporting events, political debates and tech shows, just to name a few. But here’s something relatively novel: live updates from the surgery room. Last week, 79-year-old Eleanor Day underwent the first-ever live-tweeted, live-Instagrammed — are these words in the English… Read More…

Study: 40 percent of top brands active on Instagram

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Instagram, the image-sharing social network that’s in the process of being acquired by Facebook for $1 billion, is getting active participation from 40 percent of the world’s top 100 brands, according to a new report this morning from Seattle-based social media analytics startup Simply Measured. The report calls the engagement “very impressive,” given Instagram’s relative… Read More…

Another bad day: Facebook shares tumble nearly 10%

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Investors are continuing to hammer Facebook just 11 days after its initial public offering, sending the stock of the social networking powerhouse down 9.6 percent in trading Tuesday. The stock closed at $28.84, the first time it has finished below the $30 mark. Facebook went public at $38 per share earlier this month, with many… Read More…

Facebook Camera app puts a new lens on Facebook

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Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram underscores the continued rise of photos as an entry point for social networking. Today Facebook took that approach a step further with the release of Facebook Camera, an iPhone app that creates an alternative, photo-centric interface for Facebook. The free app lets people take and edit pictures, apply filters, and… Read More…

Why Facebook’s purchase of Instagram won’t be its last

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With Facebook’s IPO pending, the social media mammoth has been bolstering user offerings and analytics capabilities with major acquisitions, most recently with the social photo sharing app, Instagram. With news this past week that Facebook’s growth – it now boasts 900 million users worldwide – has begun to slow, the social network likely will continue… Read More…

Instagram’s billion dollar idea wasn’t photos after all

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I wasn’t alone in almost spilling my coffee mid-drink when I discovered Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion.  A billion?  As a startup CEO, it’s sometimes hard to grasp how these types of platforms, which openly opine they are not concerned with making money can end up in such a successful outcome. [So to all… Read More…

GeekWire Radio: Facebook, Instagram, Kickstarter and the world of creative funding

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Our guest this week on the GeekWire radio show and podcast is Stephen Toulouse, better known as Stepto, who joins us for a conversation about the Kickstarter funding platform and other methods of paying for projects through fans and customers. Many people in the tech world know Stepto from his long career at Microsoft, working most… Read More…

Instagramers to Facebook: ‘DO NOT screw this up!’

Instagramer Paul Thompson summed up user reaction to the Facebook acquisition on the app Monday.

News that Facebook will acquire Instagram for $1 billion seems to have gotten everyone excited — except its users. “I’ve always felt like Instagram was a safe zone for creativity and loved its autonomy from the Facebook Machine,” said Seattle Instagramer Rachel Sawyer, who posts as @iwife on the network. “As it becomes more and… Read More…

A tale of two acquisitions: A few thoughts on the $1 billion bets by Microsoft and Facebook

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It’s not everyday that the tech industry sees two of its giants fork over $1 billion, especially for things that (at least at this point) have so little impact on the everyday technology consumer. But such is life in the wild world of tech where an aging company like AOL can sell a patent portfolio… Read More…