The Numbers Behind Google Plus

Google Plus already hit 10 million users this week and according to readwriteweb should hit 20 million by this weekend. It is also estimated that Google+ grew 350% in only 6 days. Google released a statement staying that 1 billion items are shared everyday on Google+ (in contrast to Facebook’s 4 Billion). New members receive invites, which is how the “social project” has grown so quickly despite still being in Beta.

Spotify Now in U.S.

Popular UK music sharing service Spotify officially launched in the U.S. this week. You must have an invite to access the free version, but if you want to pay for a premium ($4.99) or unlimited ($9.99) version you can listen straightaway. Spotify describes their new venture as “The award-winning music service that’s taken Europe by storm has now come to U.S. shores. Millions of tracks ready to play instantly, on your computer and your phone.” Request an invite here: http://www.spotify.com/us/hello-america

Foursquare does more with Daily Deals

Foursquare is now partnering with companies such as Groupon, Living Social and Gilt Groupe to incorporate daily deals from these sites into their service. Dennis Crowley, CEO at Foursquare, explained that the company would be sharing daily coupons with their users for a cut of the revenue. “We are trying to see if our targeting works and how users will react,” he told the Wall Street Journal. Currently Foursquare does not make any money off merchant-initiated deals. Learn more from the official Foursquare announcement.

-Anna (@alucas9)

Ping:

Apple had a big event on Wednesday, where they introduced Ping, a social network for music lovers. Ping allows you to follow friends and artists, have custom music recommendations based on your followers, and share concert details. You can access Ping by downloading iTunes 10, going into the iTunes store, and activating Ping. Read our blog ‘Social Network, Meet iTunes‘ to find out more.

Twitter Usage Up:

Twitter usage went up 33% from May to August. In August, Twitter processed over 2.64 billion Tweets. Twitter now has over 145 million registered users, and activity has more than doubled this year.

Chrome 6:

For Chrome’s two-year anniversary, they are introducing Google Chrome Version Six. Mashable describes it as “The Modern Browser,” Chrome 6 does indeed boast a number of improvements, but as with previous updates, the focus remains on speed and simplicity.” Download it here: http://www.google.com/chrome

If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Join ‘em?:

Once the leading social network, MySpace is now syncing up with Facebook. This week, MySpace announced that users can now sync status updates with Facebook. You can also sync status updates with Twitter. Even with this new development, with the introduction of Ping, Myspace has to wonder whether their last niche, music, will be compromised.

Spot Trot:

I am including a local social media pick this week  – this one derives from Richmond, Virginia. There are plenty of social media apps and tools being developed in Richmond, one of which is Spot Trot.  Created by Joel Erb, Spot Trot has a big music twist to it. The app offers a customized mobile platform to artists, which they build for their fans. Clients include Dave Matthews Band and Tim McGraw. Partners include Live Nation and Apple. You can follow them on Twitter at @spottrot.

-Anna (@alucas9)

For example, MOG began in June of 2005 but really hit its stride a year later as an actual social network built on fans and music. My first contact with it was a year later, at Bonnaroo, after which I started a profile and dutifully used the iTunes plug-in that took glimpses of my catalog of songs and my play counts and suggested people with similar interests, artists I didn’t have and critical and fan thought I might like. Instead of “follow” or “like” (now ubiquitous terms for socializing) MOG used a much more forceful and meaningful term for those you cared to read: “Trusted.” If someone visited my profile page, perhaps drawn by a blog post, my music list or any other number of custom lists I had created (at one point detailing all of the tour t-shirts I owned) than they would also see a list of the writer/music-blogger (“MOG’ers”) that I trusted. It was interesting to see how slavish our re-posting was between us. It really was about trust. I discovered more new music in my first year of using MOG than I had at nearly any other point in my life. And it was all music I would come to LOVE. I discovered Arcade Fire, NIN spinoff projects and more.

It was pretty incredible and way before it’s time. When I saw Twitter’s “Who To Follow” space debut earlier this month I thought it was a nice addition but part of me had to laugh– MOG had been doing that for four years and far more accurately.

So cheers to MOG, who may have lost me as a regular contributor (my profile is a bit of a misshapen ghost-town of 2007-8) but gained me as a fan of their other efforts such as their Pandora-like music service (app and all) and now their aggregation of the best music writing on the web.

We here at Feedback love music AND social media. It’s nice when we can get the chocolate in our peanut butter.

-Dean (@dbrowell)

Experts Agree: Gen Y Will Not Grow Out of Social Networking
http://bit.ly/buPBCO

The Pew Internet and American Life Project have brought to light the consensus that the digital generation will still be consuming and participating in social media by 2020. A poll found that 67% of 371 experts agreed that Generation Y is likely to stay active in the social networking scene for quite some time.

Gowalla: We’re still in the location race
http://bit.ly/aYXQzR

Even as FourSquare is outgrowing Gowalla by a huge factor, Gowalla insists that it still has something to contribute in the geo-location race. This week, it announced promotions with the Livestrong foundation (in association with Nike stores) and Threadless to offer its users free prizes for following both organizations on the service.

Prince: “The Internet Is Over”
http://bit.ly/bKeI5e

Music icon Prince has again exercised his ability to speak his mind suggesting quite directly that the Internet is dying. His refusal to work with music distribution channels such as iTunes and Amazon, based on the lack of an advance for his work, harkens back to his intention to file lawsuits with sites like YouTube, eBay and the Pirate Bay.

Digg v4 hands on: A better Digg, but is it enough?
http://bit.ly/cWtPgi

Details of Digg’s newest version have been leaking out and the general reception seems to be that it’s a step in the right direction. Over 20,000 users were invited to join the closed beta test this week to try out the new Digg that changes its focus from the community as a whole to a circle of friends as a news sharing group.

— Brad (@bcarr)

Rendering is not representative of actual lab, which will clearly utilize hyper digital beaker technology

Our Target: The Bonnaroo Music & Art Festival in Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo was named one of the 50 Moments That Changed The History of Rock & Roll by Rolling Stone, while The New York Times said, “Bonnaroo has revolutionized the modern rock festival.”

Our Mission: Gauge the usefulness (and usage) of social media tools, explore and experiment with new ideas and trends of destination marketing, consider the effect of communication concepts from within and outside of the participants, and find out what innovations are coming from the crowds.

Featuring: Onsite, @dbrowell, @ideaman, @alucas9, @ScottTKE517

Homebase: @thomasmcdonald, @hmillar13, @bcarr & Brittney!

Details: The people, not institutions, drive social media trends. So when more than 80,000 online denizens converge for a vacation, we’ll see tens of thousands choosing how they communicate to those inside and out. What that communication does to help them prepare for, travel to, live within and reminisce after their chosen destination will say a lot about the current state of tourism online and where its going. Plus, what best practices can we observe from festival-goers, event organizers, bands, vendors and more?

Feedback will use four distinct personal accounts and personalities to cover one of the largest music and art festivals in the US, testing trends, performing live tests of multiple apps, taking a look at the communities and cultures that are reflected online, studying communications and, of course, having a blast watching how radically diverse acts and fans share experiences in person and online. The “best of” our live work will be featured on our Feedback channels and studied for post-event analysis. (Also be on the lookout for performances via Radio Free Feedback; if you’re going to Bonnaroo and from an ad agency or PR firm, or are a Friend of Feedback, let us know and we can organize a jam session!)

One of Feedback’s founders, Dean Browell, was one of the first people to broadcast social media content from the farm at Bonnaroo, covering the entire weekend via blog, Twitter, Brightkite, and more for the last five years. Now he returns with a company and team to continue that tradition as well as take it the next step: treat it like the incredible laboratory it is for the benefit of all of our clients, from travel and tourism to healthcare.

In Preparation: Ahead of our trip, we will be canvassing our clients and our partners to find out what they would like to know about how certain trends perform, apps, critical mass of usage, technology needs and what events they have that we should keep in mind for new ideas. If you have an idea or a question you’d like to see us pursue, just let us know! Just email Contact@feedbackagency.com or through our individual contact info, below or on Twitter.

Radio Free Feedback is our musical experiment, featuring musician friends, up-and-comers we can help highlight, observed acts of musical lunacy and more. We will occasionally feature musicians in our offices as well as out on the road, sometimes themed and sometimes just jamming. If you’re interested in being featured or hanging out, contact us through the info at the bottom of the page or click here.

Radio Free Feedback 1: Featuring Dave Tinney!

Thanks to everyone who tuned in live and in-person! The recorded show is in full below, check out and fan our Facebook Page for video clips, photos and more:

-Dean (@dbrowell) on behalf of the Feedback crew, old and new

-Dean (@dbrowell)

Here are my picks of the week:

Google Maps Navigation App

Rumors that Google is working on a free GPS Navigation app have been circulating the web. This week, it’s been confirmed. Poor timing for me since I purchased the Navigon GPS App. for $90 weeks ago. But for the rest of you, this news could mean enjoying a little bit more money in your pocket and a few less wrong turns.

“Peace on Facebook”

World Peace: Every Beauty Pageant Contestant around the world wants this. And, so do I. And, so does Facebook. On Tuesday, Facebook launched “Peace On Facebook.” This initiative allows people from diverse backgrounds to easily connect and share with each other. Want to join the conversation? Do it here.

The Edible iPhone

I’m kind of a Food Network nut and… I’m kind of an iPhone nut. So when I read that Ace of Cakes made an iPhone Wedding Cake , I couldn’t resist adding it to my picks of the week. Technology meets sweet, and for one happy couple, Charm City Cakes + The iPhone = True love.

The Search for Good Music Just Got Easier

Here at Feedback, we all share a love of music. We always have something fun blaring in the office. Now, thanks to Google, if we don’t know who sings that “something fun” we can do a quick search to find out. On Wednesday, Google added a new feature to their search engine. Now, when you search lyrics, a song name, artist, or album, the search results will include audio previews (thanks to MySpace and Lala) and help you discover other music you might enjoy (thanks to Pandora and Rhapsody). Learn more from The Official Google Blog.

The Internet Turns 40

Though the actual day is disputed, many say the Internet’s 40th birthday
was this week, on October 29,2009. So, I say, let’s celebrate! After all, the creators are. Forty years ago, two nodes we interconnected between a Research Institute and UCLA’s School of Engineering. The Internet has come a long way since then, and will continue to evolve for a long time to come. Congrats Internet, you’ve made it over the hill!

-Anna (@alucas9)