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  • A screen grab is shown of Facebook’s new photo sync. MIKE GINGERICH | DIGITAL HILL

    Tech Talk with Mike
December 9, 2012

TECH TALK: Photo sync is Facebook’s first step into cloud ventures

By MIKE GINGERICH COLUMNIST

Facebook launches seamless photo sync tool and moves into cloud data storage! The rollout of Photo Sync (http://newsroom.fb.com/News/542/Photo-Sync) that started Nov. 30 is perhaps the biggest thing to happen to Facebook photos since friend tagging.

Facebook was already taking in 300 million photos a day and was the largest photo sharing site in the world. Now with the release of its new “Photo Sync” tool, Facebook will take another massive leap forward in photo hosting and another step into being a cloud based file storage system.

For the average Facebook user it solves the problem of the cumbersome upload process of mobile photos to Facebook. Now, by opting into this tool, photos taken by your mobile phone will be automatically loaded to Facebook. Facebook alerts you with a notification that photos were synced and the photos are private by default. Users can then go and simply click which photos to make public on Facebook. So now, with just two taps, the last 20 photos, plus every one taken in the future, are auto-uploaded to a private album from which you can share.

Key Facts:

• Photo Sync is an opt-in feature, it is not active without your consent

• Photos synced are loaded to a private album, not visible to others by default

• Facebook users can opt to sync via Wi-Fi only, to conserve data on cellular plans

Twitter adds ability

to email tweets

In the past week Twitter has also been busy and has rolled out a new feature for users on its website. The new email feature appears on twitter.com when the new “more” button is clicked. This button is to the right of the familiar Reply, Retweet, and Favorite buttons that have been standard for some time. Upon clicking “More,” a pop-up appears allowing the user to enter a e-mail address and to add their own comment.  

This feature is a value add for Twitter users because it allows a user to send a tweet directly to someone else, regardless of whether or not that person is a Twitter user. Available in the mobile app for some time already, this is a helpful addition to keep the main website current with the features mobile users already have had.

Key Facts:

• Links in the tweet e-mail are live making it easy to click through to the URL shared

• Ability to send a tweet to non-twitter users expands the capability of the service

• Since the “More” link is a drop down, other new features may be added in the future

Together these new tools from each social network provide individual users with more flexibility and ease of use to do greater things with the service.  For Facebook, the move to offer photo sync is a way to increase use and reliance on the social network, while also moving the platform a bit further into the cloud file storage realm.  For Twitter, the move helps extend the reach of the service to non-twitter users and provides an alternative sharing method.  Watch for more tools to continue to be offered by each social network as they try to extend their user base and increase reliance on their service.



Mike Gingerich leads the Social App division at Goshen web design firm Digital Hill Multimedia, www.DigitalHill.com. He is a co-founder of TabSite.com, a industry leader in Facebook Page management software. TabSite offers businesses the power to increase Facebook Marketing via easy-to-use tools to offer coupons, deals, and other promotions on Facebook. Visit www.TabSite.com to learn more.

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