Social Times: Brigade, CafeMedia, America’s Test Kitchen

This week, Brigade is hiring a social media manager, while CafeMedia needs a social media editor. America’s Test Kitchen is seeking an associate editor for the web, and Constructive Media is looking for a social media marketing manager. Get the scoop on these openings below, and find additional social media jobs on Mediabistro.

• Social Media Manager Brigade (New York, NY)
• Social Media Editor CafeMedia (New York, NY)
• Associate Editor, Web Edit America’s Test Kitchen (Brookline, MA)
• Social Media Marketing Manager Constructive Media (New York, NY)
• Communications and Social Media Assistant Women Presidents’ Organization & WPEO (New York, NY)

Find more great social media jobs on our job board. Looking to hire? Tap into our network of talented SocialTimes pros and post a risk-free job listing. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

“Home Alone” Burglar Marv Reacts to Psycho Kevin in This Hilarious Video

One of the bad guys from “Home Alone” saw that video with grown-up Kevin, and he’s terrified.

News from ERROL STARR FRANCIS ... Back with a new Sinlge "One of Us" Check it out

JUNO AWARD WINNER ERROL STARR FRANCIS IS BACK ON THE SCENE WITH AN IMPORTANT MUSICAL MESSAGE

Juno award

​and Socan Songwriter of the Year award ​

winner Errol Starr Francis

​ (​

​whose 1987 album "Temple of Love" had THREE singles that charted in Canada's Top 25) ​

is ​back on the scene with a musical offering that couldn't be more timely.   At a time when suspicion and division have arisen in the news, Errol says : "The ideas that the song puts forward to us that what if God is one of us is thought provoking and should be explored because to me God is all of us... embodied in you  - embodied in me."

 

"One of Us" is an affecting acoustic reggae cover version of Joan Osbourne's 1995  Grammy award winning hit, written by The Hooters' Eric Bazilian and later also covered by Prince.  When asked what makes this song special to him, Errol replied : "this song has a special place  in my heart. From the very first time I sang it I wanted to record it. For me the song echoes a lot of profound sentiments.. Like if God had a face, what

would it look like?…Well in my over-standing it seems that each of us is wearing the face of GOD ..so it brings it back to us to see the good or God in All faces and in all Names and in all things….So with the help of some very talented musicians, drummers and singers, it all came together."

 

The video was recorded in the vibrant Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario.  Hamilton is a microcosm of North America not far from where Errol makes his home.  "The idea was to show regular peoples'  faces as they were the face of God especially in our Hamilton Community.  We chose places like the bus stop where you saw a regular people; down by the docks - where they were just regular people ...and you can find God or good in all those places." Errol finishes by saying, "It is with gratitude that I get to share this inspired work with the world. "
 

See "One Of Us" on Youtube at : 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlND887NjRU 

 

Errol Starr Francis Official Webpage : http://www.errolstarrfrancis.com/

 
​One of Errol's 1987 chart toppers and JUNO AWARD winning Hit Single "Angel"

https://youtu.be/LNE-UzMnaYE

 

                                             ###

 

Errol is available for interviews.  To be put in touch please contact : 

 

Tracy Lamourie, President & Creative Director

LAMOURIE PUBLIC RELATIONS & MARKETING 

lamourie@gmail.com     647-918-8565​ 

 

Why All Your Tweets Should be Directed to Just One Person

How engaged is that audience of 10,000 that you’ve built up on Twitter? Take a look at your analytics, or just think back to the past three or four tweets you sent. How many people replied? Retweeted? Clicked?

There are plenty of reasons why your content isn’t getting the engagement you’d like on Twitter – but one that is often overlooked by marketers is its lack of focus.

It’s important that those 10,000 (or 100, or 1,000,000) followers you have are targeted. They should represent your target market, and the consumers you want to reach. But on Twitter you’ve got to go one step further than that, and direct all of your content to a single person within that audience.

It might sound ludicrous to write several tweets per day, all directed to one person, but it’s a strategic decision that will make each tweet more impactful.

The idea is to pick the best representative of your target market, and tweet to them. This individual should mirror the demographics, psychographics, lifestyle, shopping and browsing behavior and other features of your target audience.

Then, once this person is selected, hold them in your mind every time you compose a tweet.

Since they represent the exact center of your target audience, by creating content just for them, you will actually create stronger, more targeted content that will resonate with your entire audience.

Now, when you write tweets “for” a single person, you shouldn’t address them to that person by including their username. That would indeed send them the tweet, but that’s not the point of this exercise. Instead, imagine that you are writing the tweet in the hopes that they will see it in their timeline.

Here are some questions that you can ask yourself to help create more engaging content using this strategy:

• What type of content are they most likely to engage with?
• What tone of voice should you use? Will they respond better to a professional tone? Casual?
• Are they browsing Twitter from their tablet? Mobile phone? Desktop? How can you optimize your content for their platform?
• What other websites and brands do they engage with?
• What time of day are they most likely to be tweeting?

Asking these questions about a large, amorphous “audience” can sometimes be difficult. The time of day, for instance, might be early mornings for one segment, or mid-after noon for another. But if you can focus in on a single person, these questions become much easier to answer.

Once you’ve positioned your content so that it is directed towards that one member of your audience, you need to measure the impact and compare it against your previous efforts. After all, you need to ensure that you’re targeting the right individual.

If you continue to revise and retarget your content based on the reactions from your audience, you may find that you’re no longer speaking to an actual Twitter user in your tweets, but more of a persona that represents your audience – and this is a good thing. Most great marketing teams have a persona that they use to guide their campaigns and messaging, and this method is just one way to begin to build yours.

Deadly Violence In Yemen Threatens Fragile Truce

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Fierce fighting in northern Yemen near the Saudi border has killed more than 75 troops over the past three days, Yemeni security sources and witnesses said Saturday, casting a cloud over already tenuous peace talks in Switzerland.

The clashes in Hajjah province between rebel-allied units and pro-government Yemeni forces killed more than 40 rebels and 35 government troops, with 50 wounded on the rebel side and dozens wounded on the government side, they said.

Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed in the fighting and most of the dead were killed by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition that dominates the skies in Yemen, said the witnesses and security sources, who remain neutral in the conflict that has splintered Yemen.

The government troops advanced across the border from Saudi territory after training there for months, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Yemen's fighting pits the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led, U.S.-supported coalition against the rebels, known as Houthis, who are allied with a former president and backed by Iran.

The fighting comes as the Yemeni rebel delegation at peace talks in Switzerland suspended meetings with the internationally recognized government on Friday in protest over its cease-fire violations.

The rebels, known as Houthis, said they would not resume talks unless the U.N. condemned the breaches by government forces of the week-long truce, delegates at the talks told The Associated Press.

The United Nations, which is mediating the talks, cast doubts on the alleged suspension, however, with special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed saying that the heads of delegations had renewed their commitment for a ceasefire.

The U.N. has urged all factions in the conflict to end the violence and is pressing to keep the talks going.

It was unclear to what extent the renewed combat would affect progress at the talks in Switzerland. On Thursday, the Houthis agreed to permit the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries into the besieged city of Taiz as well as the cities of Saada and Hajjah, the capital of the province where the fresh fighting was taking place.

Earlier Saturday, the rebels agreed to release five high-profile prisoners, including the president's brother and the defense minister, as a gesture of good will, two participants at the talks said.

Defense Minister Mahmoud Subaihi and Gen. Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, would be handed over to the Red Cross with the other three prisoners later in the day, they said.

The participants, one from the Houthi rebel delegation and the other from Yemen's internationally recognized government, spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Also on HuffPost:

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Darth Vader Replaces Traditional Yule Log

Nothing says Happy Holidays like a burning corpse

Mom Makes 3-Point Shot to Help Pay Daughter’s Tuition

It was a pretty amazing shot, even if it did bounce first.

Bad Lip Reading Does the Original “Star Wars” Films

Jack Black, Maya Rudolph and Bill Hadler guest-star in this epic Bad Lip Reading trilogy.

Internet Has Schadenfreude-gasm Over Martin Shkreli Arrest

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Deadpool vs. Boba Fett in Epic Rap Battle

Does this count as history? Oh well.

Man Stops Traffic on the Freeway to Propose to His Girlfriend

Let’s hope his fiancee loves him, because everyone else hates him.

Netflix Releases Fuller House Teaser Trailer

The continuation nobody asked for.

What Really Happened to the “Home Alone” Kid

Turns out being abandoned for a week and attacked by thieves during Christmas will mess a kid up.

What Happens When You Feed The Neighborhood Cats

You were just trying to be nice. Then, you involuntarily became the crazy cat lady.

John Krasinski Pranks Jimmy Kimmel for Christmas, Again

Don't worry, Jimmy gives it right back to him.

Plumber’s Truck Sold to ISIS, Complete With Logo and Phone Number

It’s never good when your brand turns up in a terrorist’s photo.

L.A. Schools Closed After Threat That May Be a Hoax

It’s been an interesting day for parents in Los Angeles.

Yahoo Video Guide Helps Users Find Content to Stream on Mobile

Yahoo has launched its latest app, Yahoo Video Guide, on iOS and Android. The app serves as a search engine for movies and television shows, with the goal of helping users find and stream content across multiple services, without the need to search for content on each platform individually.

The app allows users to select the services they’d like to browse, from Netflix and Hulu to YouTube and Crackle (among others), and provides users with a feed of featured content based on their selections.

Users can search for specific television shows and movies, with each item having its own page providing more information about the show or film. Each item is listed alongside its available streaming or digital purchase options, and when users find something they’d like to watch or buy, the app will connect them to the appropriate app or store to continue.

In addition, Yahoo Video Guide offers a ‘Mood Picker,’ which allows users to search for shows or movies based on themes including ‘thrilling,’ ‘happy’ and ‘emotional,’ among others. Users can select multiple themes to browse more options at once.

In a blog post, Robby Stein, senior director of product management at Yahoo, said:

As your favorite movies and TV shows continue to migrate from the cable box and into a variety of streaming services, it’s becoming increasingly painful to actually find and watch them. That’s why we built Yahoo Video Guide—it’s our first step in bringing you an easier, faster way to find and stream your favorite movies and TV shows in the cord-cutting age.

Yahoo Video Guide is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

'Star Wars' Premieres In Hollywood To Massive Crowds

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Star Wars" is back, and audiences at the world premiere of "The Force Awakens" excitedly greeted the mix of familiar characters and new faces waging war in a cinematic galaxy far, far away.

Audiences at Hollywood's TCL Chinese Theater began cheering Monday from the moments the film's first words appeared onscreen and reacted excitedly to seeing the return of Han Solo and Chewbacca after a 32-year hiatus from the big screen.

After the showing, audiences spilled out into a giant tent erected on Hollywood Boulevard where they snapped photos with Stormtroopers and lined up to build their own droid toys. Many seemed to approve of the vision director J.J. Abrams delivered for the first new "Star Wars" film in a decade.

"I loved it. I thought J.J. did an amazing job," actor Zach Braff said after the premiere. "My favorite part was just seeing the camaraderie between the veteran and the new cast members."

"The Force Awakens" mixes familiar characters such as Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa with a new cast that includes Daisy Riddley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie and Lupita Nyong'o.

Comedian Patton Oswalt told The Associated Press that the film represented a return to what made him fall in love with "Star Wars" in the first place.

"It was a lot of fun," Oswalt said. "I had the same feeling as when I would watch these films as a kid."

Disney screened "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" simultaneously at three Hollywood theaters, with the cast watching the film at the Dolby Theatre.

The movie will be released publicly on Friday, with some expecting it to become to break box office records. "The Force Awakens" has already broken presale ticket records, and many fans are eager to see the onscreen reunion of original trilogy characters last seen in 1983's "Return of the Jedi."

The premiere's red carpet kicked off with Stormtroopers marching and droids rolling past cameras before the film'sstars arrived. John Williams' soaring score played in the massive opaque tent spanning four blocks in Hollywood.

While most stars opted for chic red carpet attire, Joseph Gordon-Levitt showed up dressed as Jedi master Yoda and comedian Rainn Wilson dressed as a Jedi.

The carpet melded classic "Star Wars" figures with the new generation that will carry the weight of two more sequels, video games, comic books, toys and other merchandise.

At one point, Fisher turned the microphone on her co-star, Oscar Isaac, and conducted an interview that included her dropping an expletive.

Ford reflected on the impact of the film and the role that catapulted him to superstardom.

"Well, in the '70s nobody knew what to anticipate," Ford said in an interview with Starwars.com. "Nobody had ever seen anything like it. Now we have to live up to what the first films delivered."

Abrams and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas posed together for photos, and both men took time to chat with fans — some dressed as X-Wing pilots and others as new "Force Awakens" characters — before heading into the premiere.

For those without tickets to the premiere, the most they could see was the outside of the tent.

"We're really disappointed because we are big Star Wars fans, and we were hoping to at least see a little of the celebrities," said Natalie Arnet, a tourist from Paris.

She said she understood the need for security, but it was tough to be so close and not get a better look at the red carpet. "I wanted to see the old cast members because I grew up with these films," she said.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

The Best of Facebook’s 2015 Boost Your Business Events

Facebook held 114 Boost Your Business events in 19 countries throughout 2015, enabling owners of small and midsized businesses to learn from community leaders and small business experts.

The social network shared the top questions that were asked at those events, along with answers from panelists, in a Facebook for Business post.

What are the benefits of using Facebook for business?

The Peach Truck’s Stephen Rose, panelist in Nashville, Tenn.:

We are able to communicate directly with our customers in an extremely personal way, which is invaluable to us. Facebook has changed everything for our business because of the profound power to communicate directly with an audience who wants updates from us.

Quad Lock’s Rob Ward, panelist in Melbourne, Australia:

We get a lot of interaction from our community on Facebook. They tell us what we need to do and what direction the company needs to go in. The future for Quad Lock is to keep using Facebook to grow the brand.

What do I need to do to find business success on Facebook?

The Herbivorous Butcher’s Ryan Strandjord, panelist in Minneapolis:

Be diligent about doing your research and learning from your competitors. Track them through the insights section of your page. Like their pages and get notifications from them, as well. It’s never been easier to stay on top of what your competitors are doing. By evaluating their highs and lows, you’ll be in a better position to understand how you can stay ahead of the game.

The Patchery’s Amber Gunn Thomas, panelist in Minneapolis:

Work on defining your audience. Targeting is the most important piece of advertising. It doesn’t matter how brilliant your ad creative is or what goal and ad format you use if you are serving your ad to the wrong people.

HopSkipDrive’s Leila Pirnia, panelist in Pasadena, Calif.:

Give yourself a set amount of time each day or week to engage with Facebook. Spend that time creating a few good posts about your business in your brand’s voice, getting to know other interesting businesses or people to follow who are relevant to your industry or business, and creating and adjusting ads for your business.

Readers: Have you ever attended, or would you like to attend, a Facebook Boost Your Business event?

Marketing to Millennials and the Necessity of Social Brand Advocacy

The Baby Boomers were the first generation with ‘The Trust’ broken at the institutional level. Gen X followed, with ‘The Trust’ broken by individuals. The broken collective trust has evolved to where Millennials don’t trust anything except the people they know. From the evolution in the way Millennials view concepts like education, employment, ownership, the common good and how brands connect to them, the rules in marketing to them have fundamentally changed.

These changes, mixed with omnipresent digital connection delivering thousands of pieces of content, advertisements, selfies, messages and more, means the way brands approach connecting to Millennials has to change to succeed. The short version – if you aren’t getting Millennials past the ‘Moment of Trust’ using social brand advocacy and word-of-mouth, your marketing efforts are screwed.

Consider these 6 facts on Millennials:

1) Ads don’t influence them. Only 1 percent of Millennials state their trust of a brand is swayed by an advertisement. They take whatever steps they can to avoid advertising because they don’t view it as authentic.

2) Their friends on social media and blogs are their sources before purchasing. Only 3 percent of Millennials look to traditional media – television, magazines, and newspapers. They look to blogs, what their friends say on social media about a brand, and other sources where they find an authentic look at a product or a brand. What others are saying about your brand defines it and is 8 to 10 times more powerful than your ads or content.

3) Authenticity matters more than content. Marketers have been told “Content is King” and we’re in the “Content Marketing Era.” Only one problem here and it’s a big one – even if you’ve got the best content, if they don’t trust your brand, they won’t bother looking at it. Studies show 43 percent place authenticity over content.

4) Brands have to engage on social media. Engage is the operative word here … not broadcast, not simply have a presence, but engage: 62 percent say if a brand engages with them on social, they are more likely to become a loyal customer.

5) They want to help. By help, they want to be an active part of co-creating products and the direction of your company. Mixed in their belief in corporations needing to be more focused on the common good, there is a sincere belief that their input, if focused on the common good, needs to be valued.

6) They’re brand loyal. We’ve found that 60 percent of Millennials are brand loyal. But how they arrive at your brand requires gathering trust in your brand from others and they are very willing to share their experiences with yours to help others gain trust.

Looking at those facts, even if you didn’t have the other problems in social media marketing – low organic reach, rising paid media costs and measuring business impact, it’s clear that having real social brand advocacy and social word-of-mouth is core to the success of your brand marketing efforts.

In building authentic brand advocacy, all those elements come into play – sharing of the brand story and their experience with those in their social media circles and blogs, adding authenticity to the experience to build trust, sharing brand content that gets greater engagement and action because it is considered trusted, engaging with your best fans and customers via social media, getting insights on new products and messages, activating their involvement in the greater social community and building a sustainable, loyal following.

Setting all those pieces in motion provides a growth in brand equity – where the collective word has rippled out to move more people past the ‘Moment of Trust.’

Social brand advocacy isn’t limited to any generation, but with Millennials, it’s absolutely critical in reaching this group with ever-growing influence to build brand relationships with them now that could stick for generations to come.

Jeff Ernst is CEO and president at Smync, has built, grown and managed sales and marketing organizations in businesses of all sizes, with over 20 years of marketing and management experience. Connect with him @TheJeffErnst and on LinkedIn.

Vladimir Putin Signs Law Allowing Russia To Overthrow Human Rights Court Verdicts

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing the Constitutional Court of Russia to decide whether to fulfill or not the decisions of international human rights courts.

The law, published on Tuesday on the official government portal of legislative information, enables the Russian high court to overthrow decisions of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

 

Earlier on HuffPost: 

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Information Overload Causes Fatigue Among Smartphone Users (Infographic)

The Internet has connected humans to more information than ever. Between checking their phones dozens of times a day and constantly updating a stream of videos, text posts, photos, and articles can leave people feeling fatigued. An infographic from smartphone app developer Delvv examines the addiction to smartphones and apps.

Users have become incredibly reliant on smartphones in a short period of time. Delvv found that 85 percent of survey respondents said their smartphone was an integral part of the lives, and in a separate survey 91 percent said their smartphone was as important in their life as their car. Only 11 percent said they would be able to go a full day without reaching for their phone.

This increased use of smartphones has resulted in an increase in content vying for the attention of smartphone users. According to Delvv, 85 percent of respondents said they received up to 20 push notifications or messages per day, and 78 percent thought that at least half of these notifications were irrelevant to them. Overall, users are opting out of push notifications, and few respond to all of them.

Overall, app usage is up, even if notification interaction is down. Mobile app installs increased by 70 percent year-over-year in 2014, and messaging apps were among the top performers. Facebook Messenger has become more popular than the core app, with more than 700 million monthly active users, and 55 percent of millennial respondents said messaging push notifications are the most useful that they receive.

With the deluge of readily available information, effective targeting and useful content is the best way to reach an audience. Just avoid pestering users instead of providing value for them.

Facebook Tweaks Power Editor for Users With Multiple Ad Accounts

Facebook rolled out a new feature for its Power Editor that should greatly speed up the process for users with multiple advertising accounts.

Reader Chris Ruberg, social community specialist at OneCommand, alerted SocialTimes about the new feature (and shared the screenshots to the right and below), which enables Power Editor users to seamlessly switch between ad accounts, rather than having to download each one individually.

Power Editor users: What do you think of this new feature?

Pandora’s Thumbprint Radio: A Personalized Station for Each User

Pandora has announced the launch of Thumbprint Radio, a new customized radio station for each user of the music-streaming service. The station selects songs based on each user’s ‘thumbs up’ history, and provides them with a playlist of songs they’ve already told Pandora they love, as well as new selections.

The Thumbprint Radio station is only available for users who have at least three stations with four thumbs up each. The more songs users flag with a thumbs up on Pandora as a whole, the larger the Thumbprint Radio station will become. In addition to replaying a user’s favorite songs, the station includes songs Pandora thinks users will love.

Users can share their Thumbprint Radio station with friends to give others a look at their personal musical taste. As the original user continues to ‘thumb’ music, their friends will have access to the updated station automatically.

In a statement, Chris Phillips, chief product officer at Pandora, commented:

Thumbprint Radio is a collaboration between each listener and Pandora. You shared with us what music you love via all your thumbs, and we heard you. We have combined all your favorites with music we know you’ll love to create a new station that reflects your unique musical thumbprint.

Thumbprint Radio is available in Pandora’s mobile apps, and on the Web. On mobile, users can search for ‘Thumbprint Radio’ to listen to their own station.

Parse Releases Software Development Kits for Apple Watch, Apple TV

Facebook’s Parse announced Monday the launch of software development kits (SDKs) for Apple Watch and Apple TV, allowing developers to create apps for these platforms.

The Parse SDKs for Apple’s tvOS and watchOS 2 puts the power of Parse in developers’ hands for the Apple TV and Apple Watch. Parse wanted to make it easier to create native experiences for the two channels.

Parse also announced some key milestones:

• More than 600,000 developers have built apps with Parse.
• There are more than 800 million user-app pairs for apps built on Parse.
• Parse serves an average of 2 billion API calls per day.
• Parse apps send more than 27 billion push notifications every month.

Facebook mobile software engineer Nikita Lutsenko blogged about the challenges the Parse team faced with building these new releases:

One of the biggest challenges that we faced with tvOS was local data storage. Before, in our mobile SDKs, we were treating on-device storage as persistent, meaning it won’t be purged by the system. This local storage was used for things like current users’ sessions, as well as current app installation information. On tvOS, however, every file on disk should be treated as a cache or as a temporary storage and could be removed by the system if the app is not running. To utilize the platform at its best and to benefit from existing functionality in our iOS and OS X SDKs, we re-architected one of the core components of local data persistence in a way that still is native to tvOS, but could be used to persist your users’ data locally.

One of the most exciting aspects of this project was the development process itself. Throughout it all, the open source community was instrumental in providing the Parse team with early end-toend testing and valuable feedback, which resulted in an incredibly rapid release. You can read more about our efforts of open sourcing our SDKs here.

We are excited to bring the Parse SDK to more platforms than ever, and especially to see what you build for the big screen with Apple TV and for the Apple Watch!

Readers: What are your favorite Apple Watch apps so far?

Facebook Users Keep Coming Back (Infographic)

Facebook is not only the largest social network: It is also the most frequently used.

GlobalWebIndex found that 54 percent of Facebook users log in to the social network more than once per day, far outdistancing second-place Instagram, which it owns, at 31 percent.

GWI said in an email to SocialTimes:

More than 80 percent of Facebookers are logging in to the network at least once per day, with one-half of its active users checking the platform even more frequently. Compare this to competitors like Twitter and Instagram, where about 30 percent of users are logging in daily, and the difference in engagement is clear to see.

The gaps become bigger still when we turn to some of the smaller networks like Tumblr and Pinterest; here, it’s just 10 percent to 20 percent who are checking in more than once a day. So, it’s not just that Facebook has the biggest audience: It’s also that it retains the most engaged one.

Readers: What did you think of GWI’s findings?

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

YouTube Reveals Top 10 Trending Videos of 2015

YouTube has revealed its top 10 trending videos for 2015, which were determined based on factors including the amount of time users spent watching, sharing, liking and commenting on videos this year. Collectively, the top 10 trending videos in 2015 were watched for over 25 million hours. The channels responsible for the top 10 videos have over 40 million subscribers in total.

The top trending video of 2015 was Silento — Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) #WatchMeDanceOn by Tianne King. In addition, for the first time, four television moments made the list, with three coming from late night TV shows.

Finally, Clash of Clans: Revenge, Supercell’s official Super Bowl TV commercial for its popular Clash of Clans mobile game, also found a spot on this list. The video was also named YouTube’s top ad video of 2015.

Here are the top 10 trending videos of 2015.

1. Silento- Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) #WatchMeDanceOn by Tianne King
2. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial) by Clash of Clans
3. Crazy Plastic Ball PRANK!! by RomanAtwood
4. Love Has No Labels | Diversity & Inclusion | Ad Council by Ad Council
5. Lip Sync Battle with Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
6. Justin Bieber Carpool Karaoke by The Late Late Show with James Corden
7. 6ft Man in 6ft Giant Water Balloon – 4K – The Slow Mo Guys by The Slow Mo Guys
8. Golden boy Calum Scott hits the right note | Audition Week 1 | Britain’s Got Talent 2015 by Britain’s Got Talent
9. Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off) by Dover Police
10. Mean Tweets – President Obama Edition by Jimmy Kimmel Live

In addition, YouTube has released its #YouTubeRewind video for 2015, highlighting some of the biggest trends on the platform this year.

Finally, YouTube has revealed the top 10 music videos on its platform in 2015. Users spent the equivalent of over 37,000 years playing these videos this year. Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again featuring Charlie Puth took the top spot, and reached over one billion views in just six months.

Check out the top ten list of music videos below.

1. Wiz Khalifa – See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack
2. Maroon 5 – Sugar
3. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do (Official Video)
4. Major Lazer & DJ Snake – Lean On (feat. MØ) (Official Music Video)
5. Taylor Swift – Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar
6. David Guetta – Hey Mama (Official Video) ft Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack
7. Sia – Elastic Heart feat. Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler (Official Video)
8. Fifth Harmony – Worth It ft. Kid Ink
9. Adele – Hello
10. Silentó – Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) (Official)

Readers: Did your favorite videos from 2015 make the lists?

Facebook IQ on Millennials and CPG (Infographic)

How do millennials’ travels through life-shifting moments affect their consumer packaged goods purchases?

Facebook IQ shared an infographic depicting the results of a study Facebook commissioned from Nielsen on the impact of three life-changing moments:

• Leaving the nest
• Starting first job
• Finding “the one”

Facebook IQ said of the study:

Each life-defining milestone presents new experiences—like learning to do their own laundry, stocking up on paper products or buying their first box of diapers—that create points of entry for consumer packaged goods that are new to millennials (18– to 34-year-olds) but perhaps not new to the market.

To uncover how life stages are impacting new paths to CPG discovery, Facebook commissioned Nielsen to conduct a behavioral and attitudinal survey of adults within its Homescan panel in the U.S., exploring purchasing behavior across 20 key CPG categories. Then, using custom fusion methodology, Nielsen was able to link the survey responses to its TV media and digital panels to explore everything from discovery, trial and purchasing of CPG products to media behaviors across TV, desktop and mobile.

Readers: What did you think of Nielsen’s findings?

Watch All of the Star Wars Films at Once

It's a time saver, at least.

“Independence Day: Resurgence” Has Massive Spaceships But No Will Smith

It’s kind of hard to imagine an “Independence Day” movie without him.

World’s Oldest Sperm Becomes a Baby

This man’s sperm cells have been waiting patiently for 23 years to do their job.

Good News! That Hot Shirtless Runner on Facebook is Single!

A guy named Ethan decided to go running in the rain with no shirt and became a viral star.

People are Awesome: The Best Stunts of 2015

Inspire your inner adrenaline junkie with the most extreme sports clips of the last year.

Serena Williams Won Sportsperson of the Year & Horse Fans are OUTRAGED

Horses are people too, Sports Illustrated!

Watch the First Star Trek Beyond Trailer

Yes, Star TREK.

Psy’s “Daddy” Dance Practice Shows the Master At Work

K-Pop dance routines are serious business.

Elliott Morgan on Donald Trump, Social Media Philosophy and Standup

Just before the debut of his comedy special “Premature,” Elliott stopped by for the What’s Trending Podcast.

Will Ferrell Returns as George W. Bush on SNL

We don’t miss the former president exactly, but we have missed this impression.

Adorable Piglet Has The "Zoomies"

Rolling around in dirt never looked so cute!

Your Mother Probably Adores This “Santa’s Helpers” Freshpet Commercial

They’re pets dressed like elves wrapping presents! That’s ADORABLE!

New single from JUNO Awarde Winner Errol Starr Francis

JUNO AWARD WINNER ERROL STARR FRANCIS IS BACK ON THE SCENE WITH AN IMPORTANT MUSICAL MESSAGE 

Juno award ​and Socan Songwriter of the Year award ​winner Errol Starr Francis whose 1987 album "Temple of Love" had THREE singles that charted in Canada's Top 25) ​
is ​back on the scene with a musical offering that couldn't be more timely.   At a time when suspicion and division have arisen in the news, Errol says : "The ideas that the song puts forward to us that what if God is one of us is thought provoking and should be explored because to me God is all of us... embodied in you  - embodied in me."  See Video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlND887NjRU

"One of Us" is an affecting acoustic reggae cover version of Joan Osbourne's 1995  Grammy award winning hit, written by The Hooters' Eric Bazilian and later also covered by Prince.  When asked what makes this song special to him, Errol replied : "this song has a special place  in my heart. From the very first time I sang it I wanted to record it. For me the song echoes a lot of profound sentiments.. Like if God had a face, what would it look like?

The Simpsons: Tapped Out Updated for Christmas 2015

Electronic Arts has launched the newest content update for The Simpsons: Tapped Out on mobile, bringing a new Christmas event to players.

This event begins with Homer and Ned competing to have the best Christmas decorations on their homes, and introduces new Christmas ‘skins’ for these buildings. From there, Merrymakers will appear around town to celebrate the season, and players can tap on them to receive event currency. As players complete event quests, they’ll unlock new Christmas skins for additional buildings, like the First Church of Springfield, as an example.

As players collect event currency, they’ll unlock new prizes for their town, including the Springfield Orphanage and Virgil’s Cabin buildings, among other items. In addition to earning currency from Merrymakers, users can send their characters to complete specific jobs to earn extra currency.

As part of this event, players will build four new attractions in their town, starting with the ‘Best Snowman Ever.’ Additional attractions include a Gingerbread Mansion, Exotic Petting Zoo and Reindeer Burger Truck. This Christmas event is split into three timed acts, with the Exotic Petting Zoo and Reindeer Burger Truck being part of Act Two.

Elsewhere, players can complete new weekly challenges by sending characters on specific jobs or tapping on Merrymakers, as examples. New challenges are unlocked each week.

This event’s social feature sees players drop off presents in their friends’ towns while choosing ‘naughty’ or ‘nice’ to determine whether they’ll share some of their contents with friends, or keep them all for themselves. These presents contain crafting materials, which can be used to create additional items, including decorations and buildings.

Finally, the game’s store has been updated with themed items, including premium buildings like the Springfield Animal Shelter and the Duff Center Arena, as well as premium Christmas themes for additional buildings. Users can also purchase some decorations using the game’s free currency.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. The Christmas event will be available for the next 23 days.

Dadholes Hate Christmas

Ho ho humbug.

Channing Tatum Hates Kittens

That's not so magic, Mike.

Launch a New Site: Double Your Profit Challenge: You’ll Never Know Unless You Do It!

When was the last time you had an idea of a new site, a startup or a new business model? I am sure, you get some cool ideas daily!

Then you sleep on it, realize you don’t have time or you have some plans or you have other commitments and you just put it away.

What if that idea could change your life for the better? What if it could open new opportunities or make you a happier person? What if it could turn your life upside down?

You’ll never know!

Here’s your chance to start acting:

Our idea generation and implementation bootcamp just kicked off last week! And you can still join:

BlogThis!

Restaurant Ordering and Payment App eleat Launches on Mobile

Restaurant app eleat has officially launched on iOS and Android. The app was designed to eliminate the problems users may experience when dining at restaurants, like waiting to order or waiting for the check, and allows users to order or pay for their meals at affiliated restaurants through the app.

With eleat, diners can use the app as much or as little as they’d like during their trips to fast casual or full-service restaurants. That is, users can browse a restaurant’s menu and place an order within the app, or order with the server. Users can also pay for their meal within the app, or wait for the check to arrive as normal. If necessary, diners can split the check at the beginning of the meal.

The eleat app can also be used for carryout and delivery orders. Users can search for restaurants based on distance, category and food type, and can submit special requests with their orders. The app also allows users to search based on special dietary requirements, including food allergies, gluten free and vegan diets, as examples.

In a blog post, Terry Miller, founder and CEO of eleat, commented:

It all started on a beach, when my wife, son and I were on vacation, waiting for what seemed like forever to order food and drinks. Then, it actually took forever to get our food and pay our bill. We also had no idea if all the food we ordered would be safe for our son’s food allergies. From there, eleat was born.

The eleat app is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play. Its first available restaurants are located in the Washington D.C. area.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.