Despite an SEC investigation over its IPO and a falling stock price -- or perhaps even spurred on by these current events -- Facebook on Wednesday unveiled a new ad distribution agreement with TBS and its branded content partner, DumbDumb, that will see the social network distribute branded entertainment videos on its site, while TBS will distribute the same videos across its TV and digital properties. According to Ad Age, Facebook has never packaged its inventory with a TV network before, although it will continue to sell its own inventory separately. The content that Facebook and Turner will be promoting is produced by DumbDumb, which has worked with such brands as Old Navy, Orbit and most notably, Denny’s, for the unscripted series “Always Open,” which ... Continue reading →

We’ve known Facebook is serious about photos: Heck, it dropped a cool $1 billion on Instagram, the immensely popular mobile photo sharing app. What we didn’t know, however, is that Facebook was essentially building its own version of a stand-alone mobile photo sharing application, ostensibly to compete with Instagram before it took over the mobile photo sharing world completely. How do I know that? Because Facebook will launch the product this afternoon in Apple’s App Store. It’s called Facebook Camera, and it’s essentially Instagram redux. One, it’s a standalone Facebook application, separate from the Facebook app proper, much like the company’s Facebook Messages app. Facebook Photos product manager Dirk Stoop told me in an interview this morning, it’s an instant portal to one of Facebook’s ... Continue reading →

For people who want to read awesome things, BearFood is daily list of awesome and/or neato links to keep you entertained. For people who find or create awesome things, BearFood is a way to get your link in front of millions of people. Like TheOatmeal.com, this is one-man operation and I designed and coded it myself. I'm telling you this in case you find it horribly buggy. Also it's brand new so there's only two days worth of links in there right now. People submit links and they goes into the queue Once in the queue, people can vote on them and comment. Depending on the number of votes, comments, and general activity on the links, it can get promoted to the frontpage. From those ... Continue reading →

The buzz around BuzzFeed opening a Washington bureau is true. Political Editor Ben Smith confirms to FishbowlDC that the LOL-laden site is shooting to bring on new blood by summer to get the cat pic operation up and running. Will he poach from his former stomping ground of Politico where he still writes a column? “I’m aiming to hire a talented, heavyweight player-coach as bureau chief, someone hungry and well sourced to do great original reporting on the Hill, and to send a reporter or two down after the campaign to cover the new, or continuing, administration,” Smith told FishbowlDC. “They’re going to be some of the great jobs in DC, because it’s going to be all about original reporting. Hoping to do the hiring ... Continue reading →