Social Media Newsfeed: Facebook Buys Oculus VR | Vanishing Tweets

[emailonly]{{{ sbox300x250 }}}[/emailonly] Click here to receive the Morning Social Media Newsfeed via email. Facebook Acquires Oculus Rift Maker, Virtual Reality Company Oculus VR in $2B Deal (AllFacebook) Virtual reality will soon be actual reality at Facebook, as the social network announced its acquisition of immersive virtual reality technology company Oculus VR — maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset — in a deal worth about $2 billion. The companies said Oculus will remain at its headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and continue development of the Oculus Rift virtual reality platform. Inside Facebook The cost includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock. The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones. Reuters On Tuesday, Facebook said virtual reality technology could emerge as the next social and communications platform. "Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," said Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate." The New York Times With the deal, Facebook is the latest Silicon Valley company to invest in wearable hardware that reimagines how people will one day interact with information and other forms of content. Google has taken a different approach with Google Glass, its high-tech eye-wear that lets people view maps, messages and other data on lenses in front of their faces. USA Today Brendan Iribe is CEO and co-founder of Oculus VR. "We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways," Iribe said in a statement. Twitter Investigating Cause of Vanishing Tweets (CNET) Twitter said Tuesday that it's trying to determine what's behind the mysterious disappearance of tweets on the platform, including Ellen DeGeneres' all-time retweet champion. After users expressed frustration and bewilderment over tweets disappearing from their feeds, the social network confirmed that it was "researching a bug that has caused some tweets to not be displayed." Facebook Expands Lookalike Audiences to Let Advertisers Target People Who Use Their Sites, Apps or Pages (The Next Web) Facebook Tuesday expanded its advertising tool Lookalike Audiences to allow advertisers to target new users based on people who visit their websites, use their mobile apps or are connected to their Facebook Pages. Until now, advertisers could only create “lookalikes” based on existing information like email addresses, phone numbers and user IDs. [emailonly]{{{ jodslot01 }}}[/emailonly] Eight In 10 Say The Ads They See on Twitter are Irrelevant [STUDY] (AllTwitter) Most of us have seen a promoted tweet, account or trend on Twitter, but how relevant are these advertisements to the average user? Not very, suggests data from a new Deutsch Bank study, which revealed that while more than half of Twitter users have seen a promoted tweet on the network, just 17 percent felt that these messages were relevant to them. Adorable Folk Singers are First Vine Musicians To Sign With Major Record Label (BetaBeat) Michael and Carissa Rae Alvarado — who comprise husband-and-wife folk-pop duo “Us” — have become the first Vine musicians to sign with a major record label, Billboard reports. After just four months of posting six-second clips of their music, the pair signed with Republic Records on March 18. Before Sign-Up Deadline, MSNBC and Fox Hosts Hold Affordable Care Act Live Chats (LostRemote) She’s still fairly new as a daily MSNBC host, but Joy Reid is jumping head first into social media, hosting a Google+ Hangout live chat this afternoon alongside New York Times correspondent and medical doctor Elisabeth Rosenthal. The two answered fan questions about President Obama’s Affordable Care Act ahead of the sign-up deadline on March 31. [emailonly]{{{ sbox01 }}}[/emailonly] Social Media Users Migrating to Smaller Circles (CNN) Over the past couple of years, it's been smaller social sharing and messaging tools, most of them mobile apps, that have gotten the most buzz and gained the most users. These services encourage users to target personalized messages to individuals or small groups instead of broadcasting posts to larger networks of people. Pop: An App That Lets You Communicate By Remixing GIFs (AppNewser) Users who like looping videos can now edit and share existing GIFs using Pop. The app is useful because it lets you capture videos or GIFs online and re-share with a “pop” – a hidden GIF that’s activated when you hold down on the image. Disney Buys YouTube’s Maker Studios for at Least $500 Million (SocialTimes) Reuters has learned that Walt Disney Co. is aquiring Maker Studios — one of YouTube’s largest networks — for $500 million. Disney said the price tag could rise to $950 million if Maker hits certain “performance milestones.” [emailonly]{{{ sbox02 }}}[/emailonly]

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Social Media Newsfeed: Facebook Buys Oculus VR | Vanishing Tweets

Facebook acquires virtual reality tech company. Twitter is looking into disappearing tweets. These stories, and more, in today's Morning Social Media Newsfeed.

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