Guess how many people retweet content with out reading it?

16%

via Social Media Today.

Does Facebook Really Need Hashtags?

We’re not looking to discover real-time content on Facebook. They clutter up the design. So why add them? Firstly, the same kind of “me too” behavior that led Facebook to rename “subscribers” — people who receive your public updates but aren’t actual friends — to “followers.” Many people post their Twitter updates to Facebook automatically, so the social network might as well utilize the hashtags in those tweets.

The second reason is a common one for Facebook engineers, whose slogan is “move fast and break things.” Even if a user does only use hashtags once in a blue moon, they will help Facebook learn a little bit more about that user’s likes and dislikes. This enables the social network to serve you more targeted ads. (Advertisers can’t buy hashtags yet, but have no doubt: that’s coming.)

via Chris Taylor, Mashable

Social Media may help officials identify Boston explosion perpetrators

No only did social media help citizens learn about the Boston Marathon explosions quicly, but terrorism experts said the proliferation of photos and video on the web through social media may also help authorities identify the perpetrators of the attack.

“All the media provides a tremendous asset for the forensic evaluation of the explosion event,” said Roman. “Authorities can start examining the pictures and tapes looking for individuals near the receptacles where the bombs were found and individuals not fitting the profile of the general spectator can be identified.”

via National Geographic

Did Vine find its purpose in the Boston Marathon explosion?

Christopher Mims, writing in Quartz, says that Vine is the perfect tool to capture the trauma of the Boston explosions, and could become the tool in the future that captures the most iconic “images” of events like this. He uses this Vine loop as his example:

The best social media photos from the Boston Marathon explosions

A great collection of photos from the explosions gathered by the Wall Street Journal using Storify.

Marathon Finish Line Volunteer did a Reddit IAmA shortly after the explosion

Boston marathon: Has social media coverage finally matured?

Google has launched a ‘Person Finder’ for Boston Marathon Explosions

The hardest trick in mobile design: making the product simpler

Flipboard’s personalized magazines really take off

How social media ruined the media

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