NEW FACEBOOK APPLICATION, “NEWSHOUND,” ALLOWS USERS TO SAVE, SHARE, COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE TO NEWS & WEB CONTENT

Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA- July 31, 2007  

NEWS FACTS

• Following on its earlier Social Media innovations, such as the Social Media News Release and Newsroom templates, PR agency SHIFT Communications today announced “Newshound,” a new application developed on the Facebook platform.

• The Newshound application allows Facebook users to save and share news & web content directly to their Facebook profile.

• After dragging the Newshound bookmarklet to a browser toolbar, Newshound users can:

  • Save any webpage or online news article (up to 3 at a time) and add personal comments. The title and a link to the saved content – as well as the user’s comments – are then published to their Facebook profile.

  • Newshound users can also publish the saved-news (and commentary) of up to 3 friends who are using the Newshound application.

  • Newshound users and their friends can subscribe, via RSS, to each others’ Saved News/Comment feeds.

  • Newshound users can also share individual links via a “Share This” badge, which allows people to email or post individual News Items from one profile to another, even if they don’t use Newshound themselves.

  • Lastly, friends can also respond to Saved News (and comments) by commenting on the Newshound user’s Wall or sending them a message, from within the Newshound application.

• The Newshound application was conceived by SHIFT Communications, and developed by Shannon Whitley, Founder and President of Whitley Media, makers of the Social Media News Release creation tool, PRX Builder.

• The Newshound application is a native Facebook application, not a “bolt-on” of an existing web service.

• Newshound is available here.

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Application Screenshot	Newshound Logo

QUOTES

• “A hub like Facebook aggregates communications across personal and professional networks and web services – it’s the one spot where your friends and colleagues can stay up-to-date on all your tweets, likes & dislikes, blog posts, etc. That made Facebook the perfect platform for Newshound, which highlights users’ personal filtering of the web – it puts each user’s online news picks on display for friends and colleagues to comment on and share.” 

- Attributable to Todd Defren, principal, SHIFT Communications

• “We designed the Newshound application to be extremely easy-to-use and share, capturing the spirit of social media. Like some other elements of the typical Facebook profile, being able to see what a person enjoys reading adds a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the individual’s mindset.”

• “Anytime you start developing on a new platform, you never know what to expect. There have been a few surprises, but overall, I like how the Facebook platform works. I see potential for some serious applications. I’ve got a laundry list of things I’d love to try with Facebook today.”

- Attributable to Shannon Whitley, Founder and President of Whitley Media

Please contact Parry Headrick to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes.

ABOUT SHIFT COMMUNICATIONS

SHIFT Communications' high performance public relations services and marketing communications programs bolster clients' marketplace reputation and produce measurable results that directly lead to increased revenues. The independent agency works with both new and established companies competing in a variety of technology, business-to-business and consumer markets. SHIFT Communications' offices are located in the Boston, Mass., and San Francisco, Calif. metros. For more information on SHIFT’s high-tech public relations and consumer public relations, visit www.shiftcomm.com.

TECHNORATI TAGS:

SHIFT Communications | pr | public relations