Social media is a prominent part of society today, but the personal information you share may put you at risk for identity theft, fraud and other incidents. Reuters reported that up to 87 million Facebook users may have had their information exposed to a firm called Cambridge Analytica. The breach has users worried about what may happen to their personal information if it lands in the wrong hands. Whether or not you are affected by this data breach, be aware of any information you share online, especially if it is sensitive in nature.

You don't have to agree. You may even disagree. And you certainly don't have to change how you use social media based on what you read, though you might.

Sometimes, marketers can find great value in listening to the views of their peers, especially if they come across experiences that mirror their own. This was the simple, “come to the table” intent of Hubspot as it asked leading marketers about the virtues of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. Hubspot was particularly interested in probing which platform marketers prefer for live engagement.

We live in a world where timing is everything. You brush your teeth at a certain time, leave the house to get to work at a certain time and have a schedule of after-work activities you must adhere to. When it comes to marketing your business, this concept is no different. While it may seem like publishing social media posts whenever you create them is enough to drive eyes your way, the fact of the matter is there are certain times of day when your posts will receive optimal attention.

If you're on the sensitive side, you might consider it a verbal spanking – and one that stings.

But the people at Hubspot have marketers' best interests at heart and want them to catch up with social media trends (the assumption being that marketers have fallen behind the curve). It may help to keep Hubspot's agenda in mind as the industry leader admonishes:

Just under a year ago, YouTube Product Manager Zach Lupei announced the introduction of Bumper ads. These six-second videos are ads designed to be more suitable among smartphone and similar small-screen video watchers. The idea is as online videos get shorter, shouldn't advertisements too? But what can you as a business or advertiser do with seconds? The answer is a lot.

If smartphones have turned virtually everybody into a photographer, then it's probably equally true that Facebook has transformed virtually everybody into a marketer or self-promoter.
In this climate, you have to ramp it up, especially if you're a business owner who depends on Facebook ads to generate business. Take what you already know and respect about the appeal of photos and apply the expert polish of professionals to give your ads maximum “pulling power.”

If you start your day wondering what's trending on YouTube, then you know you never quite know what you're going to find. It could be a video of a toddler taking his first euphoric steps. It could be footage of a tornado whipping through the plains.

No matter what's trending on YouTube, you may have gotten the idea by now that YouTube trends toward a younger audience – and you're right. Now YouTube is taking a big gamble on its faithful following by unrolling TV service in the next few months.

YouTube has long hinted at this foray and industry experts have long been anticipating it. But everyone seems to be wondering: will millennials really ante up for online programming?

It is 2017 and the time for a strong social media strategy is here. And if you aren't already on social media, it's high time to log in and sign up for a website, Facebook, Twitter, and more. That's because the Internet and its many online communities is where a significant portion of your customers (and potential customers) are. And don't you want to be where your customers are? But crafting the right conversations takes some strategic planning. Consider the following statistics and how they can be applied to best shape your social media strategy this year:

It's no secret that Google is constantly making changes to its algorithms. While their mission is to make the service more streamlined, intuitive and overall appealing to users, these changes undeniably make it more challenging for marketers and SEO experts to ensure their websites make the top of the ranks. Google now processes over 2 trillion searches every year and marketers that want to benefit from those searches need to adapt their strategy in order to achieve their SEO goals.

Every generation is distinguished by certain qualities and if you’re trying to market a product or service to those who belong to Generation X via YouTube, you’re fortunate in the sense that they’re among the simplest of all to pinpoint.

Such simplicity belies their birth year, which extends roughly from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s and early 1980s. In terms of group size, "Gen Xers,” as they are known, are dwarfed by the Baby Boomers who preceded them and the millennials who followed them.