We now have the capabilities of watching videos on multiple devices, on several platforms, and at the touch of our fingertips. Most of the online video channels and applications (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) have sharing functionality where you can embed a video in your blog and share it by copying and pasting the video link in an email or on Facebook or Twitter. However, some have taken the next step…with the interactive video.

Do you remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books? I was personally obsessed with them when I was younger. Who knew whether I would find the secret code, recover the secret treasure, and save the day or fall into a loose floorboard, wake up the robbers and die a horrible death? (Unfortunately I most often ended with the latter.)

Pop singer, Andy Grammer, is featuring his single on Facebook, on his website, and as an interactive video where you choose how the song goes and what plays out in the video sequence. With four possible endings, it’s pretty easy to get sucked in! (And don’t worry, each ending ends well.)

So here’s how it works for Grammer.  You start watching the video, and at various times you pick an option for what happens next – pick before the timer runs out and see what happens next!

And during your personalized music video, you may happen to catch a glimpse of Rainn Wilson (known for playing Dwight on The Office)!

Finally, after the music has ended and your ending has been finalized, you have the option to share your tailor-made music video. Plus as the movie is sponsored by Old Navy, you also receive an online coupon for the merchant. Here’s our video…what’s yours?

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Rachel Yeomans Categories: Social Media, Technology

It’s finally happened! For those of you who have a Facebook fan page but are regularly frustrated with the inability to take the page outside of itself…well wait no more! Yesterday Facebook revamped its fan page layout and settings. Fan pages now are treated very similarly to a Facebook profile, a move that may have been made to try to steer those away from creating profiles for companies versus fan pages.

The changes will take place across all pages in early March, however you have the option to update now (we just got so excited we had to do it ASAP!). If you are as impatient as us and wish wish to peruse Facebook in the new fan page type of way, here are a few things you should be aware of when updating your Facebook page.

You’ll notice a few additions/changes to your page’s Settings section. One that I was extremely excited about was the opportunity to comment and post as yourself or as your page (and not just on your page).

See how we did it!

Another change is a more prominent display of fan page photos – they are displayed in a featured horizontal slide show on the top of the page. A great way for marketing the media that Facebook users interact with the most! As of now there aren’t any display changes with video.

Finally, a use for adding pages to your pages’ Favorites! They are much more prominently displayed – perhaps one day you can see some of the shared content between the pages to showcase their compatibility, but one step at a time. The new pages also display the page Administrators’ profiles on the top corner of the page.

Take note that when you use Facebook as your fan page, you can always go back to your profile with an easy drop down option located in the top right corner of your Facebook screen.

So there you have it! Facebook has made so many changes over the past year, but I have to say, this is the one that I’m the most excited about. Have you switched over to the new page set-up yet? Let us know what you think!

This post was featured in ePiphany, Astek’s Monthly Newsletter |  Other ePiphany Articles

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Rachel Yeomans Categories: ePiphany Featured Story, How To, Social Media

Until recently, if you had been browsing Facebook in a Starbucks, using their wifi, anyone else on that network could have stolen your Facebook identity using free and easy to use tools. For instance, the Firefox plugin Firesheep listens on unsecured wifi networks for the cookies that sites like Facebook use to keep you from having to login after each click. When it finds one it allows the user to start browsing Facebook as if they were you – with one click! Someone with bad intentions could then change your password AND set the email address associated with your account to their own.

Firesheep isn’t meant to be used for nefarious purposes, although it could and probably is being used that way. It was meant to shed light on the problem of browsing sites like Facebook over unsecured networks. And it seems like Facebook has directly responded to the recent fervor about that. You can now set Facebook to automatically encrypt all communication between your computer and their servers. I would recommend anyone to do that immediately. Turn it on by clicking “Account” in the upper right hand corner in Facebook, then “Account Settings”, and then “Account Security”. Make sure the box under “Secure Browsing” is checked, and then click “Save”:

This will keep anyone from hijacking your Facebook account over an unsecured wifi network.  Other websites you visit may still leave you vulnerable.  If you’re unsure, don’t use it – especially if any sensitive information is involved.  Look for the padlock icon in your browser – it varies between browsers but is usually near one of the corners.  That means a site is secure.  For complete security you would need to set up an encrypted proxy for all traffic on your computer, which is too involved and situation-dependent to get into here.  If you’re curious check out this Lifehacker article about it, or email us at info@astekweb.com.

This post was featured in ePiphany, Astek’s Monthly Newsletter |  Other ePiphany Articles

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Andrew Crowe Categories: ePiphany Featured Story, How To, Social Media, Technology, Web

Just wanted to share with our blog readers a project that is near and dear to my heart – each year I organize Swap-O-Rama-Rama Chicago, a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through recycling. I do this as a fundraiser for my mother’s school Three Sister’s Folk Art School in Chillicothe, IL. If you enjoy clothes and/or crafting, I encourage you to come out for the event!

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Chicago
Saturday, February 12, 2011 @ 9am-5pm
Chicago Waldorf School
1300 W Loyola Ave, Chicago
Just off Loyola Red Line | Free Parking
Suggested Donation:  $20 + a bag of clothes ($10 Students and Seniors)

Help save the environment and get a new spring wardrobe! Bring in those forgotten clothes, swap them for something new and then get creative! You get access to everything from sewing machines to silk screens, and all the supplies and coaching you’ll need to make new outfits, bags, jewelry and more. If you’re fashion-independent, green-minded, or DIY-centric, this is for you!

Also, if you’re wondering just how pregnant I’m looking these days, check out my interview promoting the event on NBC 5 Morning Show:

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Katie Hawkey Categories: Fun, General, Green

For this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLV, there is a great deal of excitement brewing for the face-off between the Steelers and the Packers. But there’s some bigger buzz going on…and it’s not the half-time show. It’s the advertisers. There are already those out there who watch the Super Bowl just for the advertisements. However before the game has even begun, the online teasers, social mentions, and digital contests surrounding the game and its accompanying ads are almost creating more buzz than the game itself! Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the goings-on in the land of social and digital during this year’s Superbowl.

• Google is featuring a 3D Google Earth model that provides a free virtual tour of the Cowboys Stadium. Just go to Google Earth, type in “Cowboys Stadium”, and let the exploring begin!
• Foursquare is featuring the promoted trending venue, “Super Bowl Sunday” for the duration of the game, and for those who check in and mention the name of the team they’re rooting for, Foursquare will provide them with that team’s themed badge. There will also be a special Super Bowl XLV badge for those who check into the stadium. For every unlocked badge, check-ins will receive a unique redemption code for 20% off select merchandise at NFLShop.com.
• For the fourth year, YouTube will run its Ad Blitz contest for people to vote on ads immediately after the game, and the winning ad will appear on YouTube’s homepage a week later. However for the first time, they will also feature a mobile Ad Blitz site for voting as last year, 9 percent of Ad Blitz views were on cellphones.
• Facebook is also hosting an ad contest dubbed Facebook Replay. It will show Super Bowl ads on its Sports on Facebook page and tally how many people hit “like” on each one to pick the winner.
• Volkswagon leaked its Super Bowl commercial on YouTube, which has already passed 6 million views.
• Visa, the NFL and Twitter created a site where football fans can view popular topics about the game and see Twitter posts from players and sportscasters.

• Audi is including the Twitter hashtag #ProgressIs in its commercial. Viewers who tweet the hashtag and the URL audi.us/ProgressIs will be entered into a contest with the grand prize featuring a test drive of the Audi R8 supercar in Sonoma, California (yes the trip is included). Audi will also award $25,000 to a charity on behalf of the grand prize winner. In addition to the Twitter promotion, Audi will also launch a Facebook program around the theme of an estate sale, where fans can try to tag items shown in that Super Bowl ad. The prize for the Facebook contest is the same as that of the Twitter contest.
• The popular mobile game, “Angry Birds”, will feature a Super Bowl commercial that showcases an embedded code that game players can access to a special level in the game. Users who watch the Super Bowl ad and reach the special level in the game will be entered for a chance to win a trip to Rio de Janeiro to see the movie premier based on the “Angry Birds Rio” app.
• Mercedes has been marketing a “Tweet Race,” that leads up to the Super Bowl. Four teams are racing to Dallas for the game and people can help them win by posting on Twitter.  Prizes will be awarded to the competing drivers, and for those who tweet, 20 MVT (Most Valuable Tweeter) awards will be given at race’s end to those individuals who provided the most “plentiful, premium and timely” tweets during the competition. All MVTs win an exclusive Mercedes-Benz luggage set.

This is only the beginning of what you can expect before, during and after Super Bowl Sunday. And of course, if you want to re-live some classics…

Sources from The New York Times and Mashable.com

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Rachel Yeomans Categories: Marketing, Social Media