This Week On Twitter: 5 Social Media Security Threats, Why Hashtags Fail, Twitter Favorite Tips

Need a little weekend reading? We’ve compiled our top ten Twitter stories of the week, which includes 5 threats to your security when using social media, a look at why hashtags (and other digital marketing tools) fail, tips on what to use Twitter’s Favorite button for, a new media website from Twitter and news that 5 countries account for 50 percent of Twitter’s active uses. Here are our top 10 Twitter stories of the week. 1. 5 Threats To Your Security When Using Social Media Social networking has changed the way we interact with friends and associates. While social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, FourSquare, and Google+, play a significant role in our lives, they are also a high risk for security threats. 2. Why Hashtags Fail (And 4 Other Digital Marketing Disasters) [INFOGRAPHIC] Remember the McDonald’s #McFail? Of course you do. Early last year the hamburger giant asked Twitter users to share their positive experiences about McDonald’s around the hashtag #McDStories. The campaign was heavily promoted, and the big chiefs at McDonald’s probably couldn’t wait to retweet all the goodness that was guaranteed to flood in. 3. What To Use Twitter’s Favorite Button For [TWITTER TIPS] Here are the basic actions you can take with a tweet from your timeline: you can retweet it, you can reply to it and you can favorite it. Retweets and replies are straightforward: you’re either sharing the tweet verbatim with your followers, or you’re replying to the sender to begin or continue a dialogue. But what about the much-debated favorite button? 4. Twitter Launches New Media Site With Best Practices, Success Stories And Resources In just a few years Twitter has evolved at a steady, and sometimes furious pace, and now, post IPO, and looking ahead to the future, it’s still not definitive exactly what Twitter is today, circa 2013, or what it is going to be become. Twitter can and always has been a million different things to a million different people, and that may never change. But for organisations, certainly those in the business of media, such as TV, music, sports, news and government agencies, Twitter’s role is perhaps clearer. But even then, it’s good to know where to start. 5. Just 5 Countries Account For 50% Of Twitter’s Active Users [STATS] Earlier this week we presented a visual that noted how the U.S. ranked only 8th in Twitter penetration by population, well behind first-placed Saudi Arabia. However, there are far more internet users (and people) in the States than there are in the KSA, and the USA is comfortably Twitter’s most important region in terms of total number of active tweeters. 6. You Can No Longer Receive DMs From Any Follower In a move that’s typically Twitter, the company has removed the option for users to receive a direct message (DM) from any of their followers without needing to follow them back – just one month after enabling it. 7. Just 9% Of Consumers Find Facebook, Twitter Valuable For Influencing Purchase Decisions [STUDY] Social media has been heavily hyped as a platform for driving product information and intent to purchase, but a new study has (once again) revealed the disconnect between what marketers think has value, as opposed to how these mediums are rated by the end consumer. 8. UK Is The Most Social Media-Savvy Country In The World [INFOGRAPHIC] A new infographic by Offerpop declares that the UK is the most social media-savvy country in the world. Keep reading for the fun facts and stats that represent Britain’s 2013 fascination with and penchant for social media. 9. Facebook Leads Pinterest, Twitter For Social Shopping Impact As New Contender Emerges [STUDY] Which social media channels are driving traffic and conversions for retail websites? In an updated study, RichRelevance tracked more than 689 million shopping sessions between January and September 2013, and discovered that Facebook continues to dominate, with both Pinterest and (especially) Twitter some way behind. Indeed, it’s a surprising new contender that’s putting the most pressure on Facebook – and I can almost guarantee that it isn’t the one that you’re thinking of. 10. 3 Ways Twitter Is Changing TV Forever Do you tweet while you’re watching TV? Or maybe you jump on Twitter right after a startling season finale? More and more consumers are turning to Twitter as the “second screen” counterpart to their TV screens. And Twitter is embracing the social TV trend in a big way. Here are three ways that Twitter is changing TV forever. Did you know we have a newsletter? Sign-up to receive a daily digest of all things Twitter, sent straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up for the AllTwitter Newsletter. (Twitter image via Shutterstock.)

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This Week On Twitter: 5 Social Media Security Threats, Why Hashtags Fail, Twitter Favorite Tips

Shea Bennett

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