Despite having 2.5m twitter followers Soulja Boy sold just 13,000 copies of his new album in the first week

"What do 2.5 million Twitter followers get you? If you're Soulja Boy, it gets you a barely tepid 13,000 in first-week sales of your new album and a debut at No. 90 on the Billboard 200. "The DeAndre Way" sold 2,000 digital copies and 11,000 physical in the United States, according to SoundScan, in the week following its Nov. 30 release. His last album, "iSouljaBoyTellem" (2008), sold 45,000 the first week -- 2,000 digital and 43,000 physical.
Now to be fair, Soulja Boy is very much as singles artist. "Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)" was the 14th best-selling digital song of all time with more than 4.6 million downloads. But even the first single from "The DeAndre Way" -- "Pretty Boy Swag" -- didn't stack up, with 590,000 downloads since it first went on sale in June. Track sales from the new album total 718,000."
Source:  Billboard, 17th December 2010

A day in the life of online mums

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Source:  Microsoft Advertising, 2010

The iPhone 4 is rumoured to have sold 600,000 units in China

"A report from inside China Unicom yesterday said that to date the operator has sold nearly 600,000 iPhone 4 handsets. More than 700,000 users pre-ordered the phone, meaning another 100,000 pre-orders are yet to be filled."
Source:  Marbridge Daily/Oriential Morning Post, 17th December 2010

Digital services account for 25% of UK record industry revenue

"BPI figures for the 12 months ending in September 2010 show that digital services now accounts for a big slice of UK record industry revenue - 24.5%, up from 19.2% a year earlier.  Rising levels of income from digital music are not offsetting declining revenues from falling CD sales, however.
Innovation is helping to drive growth beyond the traditional a la carte music purchase model pioneered by market leader iTunes.  18% of digital income now comes from a mixture of subscription services – like those offered by Napster and eMusic – and the ad-supported services including Spotify and We7."
Source:  BPI Digital Music Nation Report, December 2010
Download the full report here

The ten most-used words (actually phrases) in LinkedIn profiles in the US in 2010

"Top 10 overused buzzwords in LinkedIn Profiles in the USA – 2010
Extensive experience
Innovative
Motivated
Results-oriented
Dynamic
Proven track record
Team player
Fast-paced
Problem solver
Entrepreneurial"
Source:  LinkedIn, 14th December 2010

8.1m people in the UK have downloaded a podcast

"The latest research commissioned by radio audience measurement body Rajar reveals that 8.1 million people in the UK – 16% of the adult population – have downloaded a podcast, with nearly half of them (44%) listening to such a service at least once a week.
The popularity of smartphones is also changing the way we listen to the radio: 6.6 million adults (13% of the population) have listened on their mobile phone at least once, and 2.2 million downloaded a radio app, a 57% increase in less than six months. The last survey, in May, put the download figure at 1.4 million.
But it's not an entirely digital experience – more than half of people listening to the radio on their mobile did so using a specific preset on analogue FM, compared with 16% running an app for a specific station.
The research, carried out by Ipsos Mori last month, also suggested that 16.3 million people have listened to the radio via the internet, and 12.7 million have used a listen-again service such as the BBC's iPlayer."
Source:  The Guardian, 15th December 2010

The top 50 passwords used by Gawker readers

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Source:  WSJ blog, 13th December 2010
Note - Data comes from hackers who were able to access the site and extract the passwords.
Passwords in red are the names of Gawker sites - e.g. people were using the name of the site as their password

New investment in Twitter values it at $3.7bn

"Twitter has raised $200m (£129m) in new finance, in a deal that values the social networking service at $3.7bn.
It said the investment had come from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and existing investors.
Twitter is also adding two new board members, including David Rosenblatt, boss of digital advertising group DoubleClick.
[...]
It has 175 million registered users and 300 employees."
Source:  BBC News, 15th December 2010

The top 10 videos on YouTube 2010

"Globally, as of November 2010, the most-watched YouTube videos (excluding major label music videos) were:
BED INTRUDER SONG!!!
TIK TOK KESHA Parody: Glitter Puke - Key of Awe$ome #13
Greyson Chance Singing Paparazzi
Annoying Orange Wazzup
Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE - Trailer
Jimmy Surprises Bieber Fan
Ken Block's Gymkhana THREE, Part 2; Ultimate Playground; l'Autodrome

And globally, as of November 2010, the most-watched major label music videos were:
Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris
Shakira ft. Freshlyground - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song)
Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna
Eminem - Not Afraid
Rihanna - Rude Boy
Justin Bieber - Never Say Never ft. Jaden Smith
Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go
Lady Gaga - Alejandro
Justin Bieber - Somebody To Love Remix ft. Usher
Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyonce"
Source:  YouTube, reported by The Independent, 14th December 2010

British police say that over 100,000 crimes have been linked to Facebook since 2005

"Crimes linked to Facebook reached more than 100,000 across the country in the last five years, it emerged yesterday.
Police chiefs in 16 forces revealed that 7,545 calls from the public since January were concerned with the social networking site.
Callers have alerted officers to alleged acts of terrorism, sudden deaths, missing pets and even firearms offences.
Facebook users have used to site to detect crimes ranging from terrorism to missing pets
Frauds, sexual offences and hate crimes were also reported to police, as well as a large number of malicious messages on the site.
The figures have been obtained by the Daily Mail via Freedom of Information Act requests to forces.
They compare to just 1,411 calls related to Facebook to police in the whole of 2005, when the network began to gain popularity."

Source:  Daily Mail, 14th December 2010

Spotify's top tracks & top albums in the UK in 2010

Top tracks
1. Lady Gaga – Telephone
2. Bob – Airplanes [feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore] - Explicit Album Version
3. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
4. Mumford & Sons – The Cave
5. Rihanna – Rude Boy
6. Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
7. Florence + The Machine – You’ve Got The Love
8. Jason Derulo – Ridin’ Solo
9. Usher featuring will.i.am – OMG
10. Iyaz – Replay
11. Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
12. Jay-Z – Empire State Of Mind [Jay-Z + Alicia Keys] - Explicit Album Version
13. Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed
14. Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
15. Katy Perry – California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)
16. 3OH!3 – STARSTRUKK - FEAT.KATYPERRY
17. Ke$ha – TiK ToK
18. Train – Hey, Soul Sister
19. Lady Gaga – Alejandro
20. Tinie Tempah – Pass Out
Source:  Spotify, December 2010 - follow the link to see the top 100.


Top albums
1. The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
2. Lungs by Florence + The Machine
3. Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons
4. xx by The xx
5. Rated R by Rihanna
6. Jason Derulo by Jason Derulo
7. Animal by Ke$ha
8. THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES) by Black Eyed Peas
9. The Element Of Freedom by Alicia Keys
10. The Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z
11. Lights by Ellie Goulding
12. Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro
13. Sunny Side Up by Paolo Nutini
14. brand new eyes by Paramore
15. The Sound Of The Smiths by The Smiths
16. My Worlds by Justin Bieber
17. I AM…SASHA FIERCE by Beyoncé
18. Turn it Up by Pixie Lott
19. The Family Jewels by Marina and The Diamonds
20. Shock Value II by Timbaland
Source:  Spotify, December 2010 - follow the link to see the top 100.

79% of American mothers are active on social media

"The US-based study found that 79% of all moms with children under the age of 18 were active on social media. The study broadly defines active as someone who currently belongs to a social network, or who reads, writes or comments on blogs.
Marketers will want to perk up for these next results: 23% of these social media moms have purchased a children’s product as a result of a review or recommendation they read on social media. And the most active moms are even more influenced by their online social networks, with 43% of those who log on at least once a day report purchasing based on a review they read online.
Of those who report purchasing a children’s product because of something they read on their social networks, 55% said that this recommendation came directly from a personal review blog – not a corporate-sponsored Twitter account or online advertisement on the side of Google search.
And Facebook is, of course, a huge influencer as well. 40% of the moms who report purchasing something because of what they read online said that the recommendation that drove them to make the purchase came from Facebook."
Source:  Data from NPG Groiup, reported by Social Times, 13th December 2010