With the new feature Facebook developers are testing, users may soon have the option to keep a close eye on particular people, but how close is too close?

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According to Mashable, Facebook has been trying out a new option to subscribe to a person’s profile. Doing so allows you to receive a notification whenever that person creates a status update, or puts up new videos, photos, or other posts. As it is still being tested it is unclear as to how far this “stalking” feature will go.

The option to subscribe to a person’s profile may be a toss-up for many. While some people admit to keeping an eye out for a particular profile, those same people may not feel as comfortable with the thought that someone else can have the ability to do the same to them. Everyone has a different sense of privacy on Facebook; there may be some backlash if the feature is to become permanent, but at the same time there would certainly be people who would use it. Tell us your opinion: Is Facebook feeding what is already a bad habit for some, or is it simply giving the people what they want? Here at Buzztxt, we’ll be looking out for your feedback!



If there’s one thing we know at Buzztxt, it’s that social media can make or break a marketing campaign. The key is to know your audience. If you pitch the right message to them, a brand can gain many loyal followers. But if you pitch the wrong message, you can lose the ones you already have.

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Take for instance, the 2010 ad campaign for Pretzel Crisps. As told by Mashable, four slogans were used in the campaign, one of which was “You can never be too thin.” This slogan was placed on bus stops and other public areas, and soon enough Pretzel Crisps received immediate backlash from the public. Tweets, blog posts, and videos spread like wildfire, condemning the company for the slogan for its implication of supporting anorexia. The company quickly removed the slogan in response to the negative feedback, only to replace it with another one of its slogans for Pretzel Crisps: “Tastes as good as skinny feels.” It seems clear that the company intended to use the controversy for publicity, but it came at the cost of their reputation. At Buzztxt, we know that publicity is never worth the loss of integrity. While we support bold and unconventional ad campaigns, there is a difference between pushing boundaries and crossing them.

Whether it’s intentional or not, even respected brands face controversy at times. Ann Taylor faced trouble when photos of a pair of cargo pants raised concerns among fans. Their claim was that the pants did not fit as well on women who didn’t look like the skinny model who wore them in the photos. Ann Taylor’s response was simple and very effective: they listened to their customers, and posted photos of their own staff of various heights and sizes wearing the cargo pants. What could have been a fiasco turned into proof of Ann Taylor’s loyalty to its customers.

So now that you know the rights and wrongs of social media, tell us what you think! How do you think brands can be more effective in listening to their customers? We’ll be keeping our ears open here at Buzztxt!

While most cats may not be friendly towards birds, the Twitter bird must have newfound respect amongst the feline population. That’s because the popular social networking site was responsible for returning a lost cat back to its owner.

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As reported by Mashable, the lost cat was found by train station staff after it had boarded a train and ended up in the streets of Dublin, Ireland. Known as Lilou, the cat was taken care of by the staff while others attempted to find the owner. Using the IrishRail account on Twitter, they posted an image of the cat from the video surveillance shot which caught her sneaking into the train station. It seemed like a shot in the dark, but without any idea as to whom the owner might be it was their best shot. Surprisingly the owner came forward, and once returned Lilou received her own rail pass for the next time she decides to catch a train.

At Buzztxt, we think this is a perfect example of how useful Twitter can be in the real world. We also think that it would make a great Twitter Tale!

In the wake of controversy surrounding Facebook and its privacy settings, four NYU students have teamed up to create their own social networking site. But can it stand as a worthy adversary to a social media behemoth like Facebook?

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As stated on Mashable, Diaspora will officially launch as Facebook’s newest competitor in the social media world on September 15. Why a name like Diaspora, you ask? A diaspora is a migration, a movement of a group of people from an ancestral land. Perhaps it is a bit of a leap to call Facebook an ancestral land, but the message remains clear: Diaspora sees itself as the future of social networking.

It may seem ridiculous to think of at first, but looking back a few years ago brings up other websites that once dominated the social media world. Before Facebook there was Myspace, and before Myspace there was Xanga. But what will Diaspora have to topple Facebook as the leader of social networking? Check out BuzzTxt on September 15^th and find out!

Keep on the lookout, everyone. In the next few weeks Google will be placing phone booths around airports and college campuses. But these aren’t the kind of phone booths that our grandparents used decades ago.

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Google is giving us a blast from the past as part of a promotional campaign for Google Voice integration into Gmail. As explained by TechCrunch, Gmail users will soon have the ability to make phone calls directly through their internet browser. It is a big step for Google Voice, which leads skeptics to ask: how good could the call quality be? That’s where the phone booths come in. Instead of being on a land line, these Google phone booths will have an Internet connection to make both domestic and international phone calls, free of charge. By running these phone booths using Google Voice, users can compare their phone call quality to that of regular phone lines. While none are up as of yet, we should expect to see them around in the coming weeks.

So tell us what you think: who do you plan to call when you see a Google phone booth? Here at BuzzTxt, we’re predicting a sharp rise in international prank phone calls!

Social network based games like Farmville may seem like hours of fun or boredom, depending on who you speak to. But with 56 million Americans playing it and other games, the business of social gaming is becoming increasingly popular.

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Considering its relatively recent debut, the revenue of social networking games is enormous. According to Mashable, the revenue made from purchases of virtual goods was about $2.2 BILLION dollars in 2009. That figure is estimated to grow to $6 billion in 2013. So who’s playing these games? While on other gaming platforms the majority of gamers are male, it appears that women have taken over the field of social network games. What is also interesting is that many of these social network gamers have had little to no experience playing games anywhere else.

We at BuzzTxt think it’s great to see social network games gaining popularity. Considering that many of the users have little experience with other games, it’s great to see that many have found games that appeal to them. Whether it’s farming animals or joining the mafia, we encourage you all to keep playing what you love- just don’t get in trouble for it!

And that’s not the only site that it’s joined. Here’s the 411:

According to Yahoo News , a Facebook account is only the latest in North Korea’s jump to the social media scene. Since July it has had a Youtube account, under the name uriminzokkiri. Then last week a Twitter account was made under the name @uriminzok. As for Facebook, the North Korean site is actually a profile rather than a fan page (http://www.facebook.com/uriminzokkiri?v=info). In this way there is the option of accepting or rejecting friend requests from fans of the country infamous for its dictator Kim Jong Ill. So how popular are they? At the moment they have 65 friends on Facebook, and on Twitter they have over 9200 followers.

For a nation that keeps itself shrouded in mystery, it is extremely odd to see North Korea joining social media networks. The likely reason is to cause a stir with South Korea, which considers viewing unauthorized information about North Korea to be illegal. Here at BuzzTxt, we’re wondering what may show up next: perhaps Kim Jong Ill on Chatroulette?

Facebook launched its newest feature today: will it be a hit or miss?

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As explained by Mashable, Facebook Places lets you share your current location with your Facebook friends and see where they are at the same time. If you’re with a group of friends at a particular location, you can “check them in” with their permission, allowing others to see where the entire group is located through Facebook. If you’re looking for people in the area, clicking on the “People Here Now” button allows you to see which of your friends are in the same location. Facebook Places works with mobile browsers supporting HTML 5 and geolocation through the Facebook mobile site, as well as the iPhone. While the feature is not exactly original, it is a clever move on Facebook’s part to capitalize on the success of other location sharing services.

The question to pose is whether or not Places can perform as well or better. While it will certainly become successful simply for being a Facebook feature, there are other factors to consider the amount of success for Places. Facebook boasts over 500 million users, but Places is currently available to users in the U.S. only, and is still not fully functional for them. There are also issues of privacy concerns in light of this new feature, which may become a bigger problem once Places launches worldwide. But for now, our stance here at BuzzTxt is cautious optimism!

Twitter has added a brand new section to their site to show how the website helps every day people. Here’s the 411:

Known as Twitter Tales, this new addition to Twitter aims to showcase how the social media giant benefits people across the world. As the official Twitter blog describes it, Twitter Tales is “a growing set of articles that highlights creative individuals and businesses from all corners of the world that help make Twitter awesome.”

For example, one Twitter tale describes how one person set up a Twitter account to get up to the minute information about his daily commute, and in the process has helped thousands of other travelers avoid train delays and other mishaps.

Twitter Tales definitely sounds like a great idea to appeal to everyday people. Here at BuzzTxt, we’ll be looking forward to hearing more Tales from the Tweet!

Teen heartthrob Justin Beiber is partially responsible for over 26,000 text messages to a single phone number. Here’s the 411:

Mashable reports that Justin Beiber tweeted “everyone call me [number] or text” on Saturday. The number didn’t belong to Beiber, but to Detroit teenager Kevin Kristopik.

Originally, Kristopik hacked Beiber’s friend to get the pop star’s number, and then texted him. A few weeks ago, he tweeted admitting to hacking Bieber’s friend to get the phone number. Out of revenge, Bieber tweeted Kristopik’s phone number to his 4.5 million followers.

Take a look at this video of Kirstopik with his endless texts and phone calls.

Do you think Beiber did the wrong thing, or does this kid deserve 26,000 texts for releasing that information?