Mark Zuckerberg Was Highest Paid U.S. CEO of 2012

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg was by far the highest paid public CEO in the United States last year, according to a new report.

The Facebook CEO’s total compensation for 2012 was nearly $2.3 billion, more than twice that of the next-highest paid CEO, according to GMI Ratings, which analyzed compensation for more than 2,000 CEOs of publicly traded companies.

Almost all of Zuckerberg’s compensation for the year comes from income related to Facebook’s IPO. On the day Facebook went public, Zuckerberg exercised 60 million stock options worth nearly $2.3 billion (though much of it was used to cover his taxes). He also received a base salary of $500,000 for the year, though starting this year, his salary changed to the symbolic $1 a year.

Richard Kinder, CEO of energy company Kinder Morgan, was second on the list with a total compensation of $1.1 billion. Other tech execs cracked the top 10 list as well, including Apple CEO Tim Cook (with $143 million) and Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff (with $109 million).

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004

Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with more than 1 billion users. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 while he was an undergraduate computer science student at Harvard University.

Then called “thefacebook.com,” the site was an instant hit.  Now, nine years later, the site has become one of the biggest web sites in the world. The controversy surrounding Facebook began quickly.  A week after he launched the site in 2004, Mark was accused by three Harvard seniors of having stolen the idea from them.

This allegation soon bloomed into a full-fledged lawsuit, as a competing company founded by the Harvard seniors sued Mark and Facebook for theft and fraud, starting a legal odyssey that continues to 4 years ago.

New information uncovered by Silicon Alley Insider suggests that some of the complaints against Mark Zuckerberg are valid.  It also suggests that, on at least one occasion in 2004, Mark used private login data taken from Facebook’s servers to break into Facebook members’ private email accounts and read their emails–at best, a gross misuse of private information. Lastly, it suggests that Mark hacked into the competing company’s systems and changed some user information with the aim of making the site less useful.

The primary dispute around Facebook’s origins centered around whether Mark had entered into an “agreement” with the Harvard seniors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a classmate named Divya Narendra, to develop a similar web site for them — and then, instead, stalled their project while taking their idea and building his own.

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Mark Zuckerberg Was Highest Paid U.S. CEO of 2012 | The Red Elephant

Facebook Removes Search Privacy – Say Good-Bye to Anonymity on Facebook

Good bye the privacy on Facebook!

As you may or may not know, Facebook previously gave users the option to hide their names from public search. This meant that users who wanted complete privacy could opt to have their name hidden from Facebook’s search field. Well, over the next few weeks, this option will no longer be available as facebook removes search privacy. Facebook will be removing the search privacy on your personal timeline. In fact, for the past year Facebook has been silently removing the ‘who can look up your timeline by name’ option for those who were not already using it. If you are one of the small percentage of Facebook users who opted to keep your name hidden from search, you should soon receive an alert at the top of your timeline letting you know about this change.

Facebook removes search privacy?

So, why is this option being nixed? According to Facebook, the change is necessary to avoid confusion and to help users get the most out of Graph Search. “The setting was created when Facebook was a simple directory of profiles and it was very limited. For example, it didn’t prevent people from navigating to your Timeline by clicking your name in a story in News Feed, or from a mutual friend’s Timeline. Today, people can also search Facebook using Graph Search (for example, “People who live in Seattle,”) making it even more important to control the privacy of the things you share rather than how people get to your Timeline.”

What if I want to stay hidden on Facebook?

Most of us won’t even notice the removal of this setting. However for those of you who have, for whatever reason, been using Facebook semi-anonymously, don’t be surprised when you start receiving more and more friend requests in the coming weeks! So what do you do if you want to continue to stay completely hidden on Facebook? Well, unfortunately there’s really no way to do this within Facebook’s terms of service. Since Facebook requires you to provide your real name and information when you register, using a pseudonym would be a violation of Facebook’s policies. There are a couple of ways, however, you can keep a handle on your privacy, even though your name will now be searchable.

Privacy Shortcuts

1.   Make sure only friends can see your future posts. The most important privacy setting you’ll want to check is ‘Who can see my stuff’. To make sure only friends can see what you post, go to the ‘Privacy Shortcuts’ tab at the top right of your page (click on the little padlock icon). From here you’re able to select who will see your future posts.

2. Make sure only friends can see your old posts. With the impending changes to Graph Search, it’s more important than ever that you double-check the visibility of your past posts. To change the audience settings for your past posts, you’ll need to access the regular privacy  settings tab (this option is not available through privacy shortcuts). To access privacy settings, simply click on the gear icon at the top right hand corner of your screen. If you’d like to review your past posts on a case-by-case basis, you will need to, unfortunately, scroll through all your past posts and change the audience on each post. However, if you would like to simply make sure all your posts are searchable only by friends, there’s a way to do this with one click: click ‘Limit Past Posts’. This will change all the content on your timeline that you’ve shared with friends of friends or public to friends.

Privacy Settings and Tools

Facebook Removes Search Privacy – Say Good-Bye to Anonymity on Facebook | The Red Elephant

How Twitter DM Will Impact Brand Marketing

Twitter’s Inbox

As news broke that Twitter is rolling out a new option for its Direct Message (Twitter DM) feature, reactions ranged from indifference to downright panic.

A Twitter user reported that Twitter plans to let users opt in to receive DMs from anyone, regardless whether that person follows back or not. Traditionally, two users had to mutually follow each other for DM to work. Now that no longer has to be the case.

If you don’t see this setting in your account, that’s because the feature isn’t available to everyone yet (although it appears that some have had the option since late 2011).

Early analyses tend to conclude that this move is good for brands, good for spammers and bad for consumers. I see myself straddling both the brand marketer and consumer worlds. As a business owner, I welcome any opportunity to connect with customers and potential customers. As an everyday Twitter user, I’d prefer if my DM inbox wasn’t flooded with spam (more than it already is).

Twitter DM: The Impact on Customer Service

This new change will benefit brands that use Twitter as a customer service channel. By allowing their accounts to accept DMs from anyone, brands can receive private customer service messages from customers, without having to first follow them. That may prevent customers from broadcasting their frustrations publicly, not to mention their sensitive account information. This could greatly benefit larger brands that receive thousands of daily requests via Twitter.

For airlines, cable companies and other industries with high numbers of service complaints, this new feature also lets brands move a complaint or other conversation offline as soon as possible. I imagine customers may benefit here as well, as some people may prefer to use Twitter as their communication channel, but don’t necessarily want to be publicly followed by Brand X, Y or Z.

DM The Impact on Spammers

To Twitter’s credit, the company made this change an opt-in feature. If you are happy with the status quo, you don’t have to change a thing. I imagine most Twitter users (at least, the non-branded accounts) will not opt in to receive DMs from unknown users.

However, for those users and brands who do switch over, spam could become an issue. Unscrupulous spammers may have an easier time reaching the DM inboxes of brands and company accounts. That means users will have to exercise extra security caution when opening DM links.

DM The Impact on Marketing

While the new DM feature’s impact on customer service is easy to grasp, its application for marketers is yet unclear. My business rarely uses DMs as is. If someone is looking for information or has a specific question, it’s better for us to send a public tweet in response. That way, the hashtags and discussion thread can be located by anyone else looking for advice on a similar topic. The very beauty of Twitter lies in its public nature; that’s what sets it apart from Facebook, LinkedIn and email. There’s no reason to hide many of these conversations.

However, there may be occasional situations where a business prefers to communicate privately via Twitter. For example, a brand may want to send an exclusive coupon code to its top customers, without broadcasting the action to its entire community.

Likewise, a marketer may want to pitch a journalist with an embargoed piece of news or story idea. Twitter may be that journalist’s preferred communication channel, but as a marketer, you can’t exactly expect reporters or editors to follow you. Now marketers can privately contact journalists via Twitter (provided the journalist has opted in).

Bottom Line

As a newer and smaller company, ours will be opting in to receive DMs from anyone. After all, if a customer wants to reach out to us through this avenue, we don’t want to shut off the opportunity. Twitter’s change may help open the service for better access and communication, but time will tell whether it becomes a hassle.

These days Twitter has become the preferred communication channel for many, serving as a remedy to the overuse and abuse of email. As DM becomes closer in line with email functionality, will the DM inbox become just as cluttered? Will it become overwhelmed with spam? Will users start to look for a cleaner, less cluttered option elsewhere?

How Twitter DM Will Impact Brand Marketing | The Red Elephant

Don’t Miss These 25 Digital Media Resources

If this week’s tech news was off your radar… we’ve got you covered with the best 25 Digital Media Resources. The team at Mashable has rounded up the top 25 digital media resources for your reading pleasure. Skim through for articles on nearly impossible mobile games to beat and nine manufacturers who figured out the secrets of tweeting.

Editor’s Picks, Digital Media Resources

• Now and Then: 10 Classic Video Games That Got a Major Upgrade
  See how far gaming has come when you look at these side-by-side comparisons of retro video games and their modern counterparts.
• 5 Ways Cities Are Using Big Data
  Big data’s kind of a big deal. Here’s how a few cities are using mass information to make their residents’ lives a little easier.
• 7 Music Discovery Tools to Find New Tunes
  If you’re on the lookout for new tunes, try these seven websites and apps for social-music discovery.
• How to Follow Facebook Across Social Media
  If you’re interested in getting all Facebook news, updates and other content in your social stream, then take a look at our guide to all the various accounts you should be liking, following and bookmarking.
• 10 Moments on Twitter That Will Go Down in History
  These 10 key moments highlight important changes in how Twitter has been viewed and used.

Tech

• The 6 Best Launchers to Turn Your Android Into an iPhone
  Here are six great launchers to make your Android device look more like an iPhone.
• 5 iOS Settings to Limit Your Child’s Mobile Usage
  Here are five tips on how to use the built-in iOS restrictions to prevent your kids from making a big mess with your Apple device.
• 6 Creative Hacks for Your Smartphone
  If you’re looking for easy ways to customize your phone without jailbreaking or rooting it, try these hacks and tricks.
• The 10 Most Beautiful Mobile Games
  Great graphics don’t necessarily make a beautiful mobile game. Check out these 10 games that focus on more than visuals.
• 10 Cute iPhone Cases for Couples
  To show the world just how synced-up the two of you are, we found an adorable selection of precious pairs of cases that are perfect for couples.
• 24 Essential Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Tools
  We’ve compiled a list of mind-mapping tools to help you organize, summarize and visualize information.
• What to Remove First When Your Phone Storage Is Full
  Not enough storage space on your phone? Here’s what you should get rid of first.
• How to Create Tilt-Shift in Photoshop
  Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to create tilt-shift miniature fakes with just a few effects in Photoshop.
• 6 Tricks for Instantly Looking Better in Photoshop
  Need a new profile picture? Use these Photoshop tricks to make your pic fashion magazine-worthy.
• 7 Bright Ways to Use Your iPhone’s LED Light
  Seven fun and practical ways to use the iPhone LED light on the iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 for parties, music, and everyday life.
• 10 Nearly Impossible Mobile Games
  Want a challenge on the go? These mobile games will frustrate and intrigue even the most hardcore gamers.

Business

• Thrillist: From a Simple Newsletter to $80 Million in Revenue
  Ben Lerer and Adam Rich have taken their vision from a simple email newsletter to the multi-brand content and commerce company, Thrillist.
• The Anatomy of the World’s Top CEOs
  What do the world’s 100 top-performing CEOs have in common? Check out this infographic to find out.
• How Tech Companies Prepare for Life After the IPO
  A looming IPO can mean extreme changes in the office. Here are how some tech companies have dealt with the pressure.
• Why Native Advertising Is the Opposite of Porn
  Here’s why native advertising is the opposite of porn.
• Is It Cool to Work for Yahoo Now?
  In the Marissa-Mayer era, Yahoo is transforming its image as an out-of-touch 90s relic by reworking its flagship web products — Yahoo.com, Yahoo News, Yahoo Mail and more — for the current decade.
• 9 Manufacturers Doing It Right on Twitter
  The manufacturing industry has a wide-casting net of sectors, jobs and companies. Here are nine manufacturers on Twitter worth your follow.

Lifestyle

• How One Woman Grappled With Grief Through Gaming
  When things couldn’t get worse, Ramona Pringle turned to World of Warcraft for therapeutic escape. Now, she’s sharing what she’s learned through an interactive app.
• 9 Lifelogging Apps to Log Personal Data
  Want to keep track of your life for posterity, or just get to know your personal habits better? Try these lifelogging apps.
• 14 Nerdy Places Where You Can Get Your Geek On
  A list of places and events all around the United States geared towards nerd and geek culture.

Don’t Miss These 25 Digital Media Resources | The Red Elephant