The Curator’s News Feed: August 17, 2012

While the Curator team enjoys our blessedly air-conditioned office, we're reading up on a new social media site, multitasking and the ever-fascinating Mars rover.

Mars Panorama - Curiosity rover: Martian solar day 2. Open on your iPhone or iPad and move it around. It's like if Carl Sagan had an app. SCIENCE! – Shawn 

The Next Big Idea From Twitter’s Founders? Pinterest, Basically, Fast Company. Another new social media site, Medium, is on its way to us from the makers of Twitter and Blogger. It’s kind of a cool concept actually. It’s like Pinterest meets Facebook meets your personal blog, highlighting what the author calls, “the web’s tiled future.” Whether this new platform takes off or joins MySpace in the social media graveyard, the concept is gearing towards the tiled, more emotional media consumption concept versus the faster, “river of news” type. It will be interesting to see if the future really is made of tiles. – Julia 

Adding Instagram to the brand lineup, Mashable. There is no shortage of social media platforms out there, but brands have always struggled to decide which ones to embrace. Not all platforms make sense for all brands, but Instagram is quickly gaining widespread brand notoriety, even with brands that seem completely removed from the digital world (Exhibit A). Now with the inclusion of maps in 3.0, Instagram may be poised to be the next big brand platform. – Matthew

Only 2% of People Can Multitask Successfully, Mashable. Most people are guilty of being "connected" all of the time - using smartphones and other technologically savvy devices on top of their standard computer use and they chalk it up to being professional multi-taskers. The question at hand then becomes are people truly multitasking or are we just letting ourselves become more easily distracted? The data might speak for itself, but hey, let's just go ahead and pretend we are all in that 2% range! – Chelsey 

The Frequent Fliers Who Flew Too Much, LA Times. We’ve been spending a lot of time lately delving into the mindset of the savvy world traveler. I stumbled upon this article from May about people who purchased lifetime passes for first-class travel on American Airlines years ago. The tales of how they used these passes are amazing. And the airline’s reaction to customers who may have abused them is jaw-dropping. – Ann Marie 

Pop went the social media bubble. Now what? CNN Money. Did you know there was a social media bubble? Apparently there was, and it’s popped – or so says this piece., which claims “the world's wild infatuation with all things social” is dead. Whether or not you agree, it’s a worthwhile look at the future of social media monetization (hint: not in the consumer space.) – Lisa

Ben & Jerry’s App Uncovers Hidden Connections With Facebook Friends, Mashable. We’re a little partial to Ben & Jerry’s at the office right now, so their newest campaign unrolled at the perfect time. Check it out and get a free frozen yogurt while you’re at it! (Just not from the 17 boxes that are in the Curator freezer, we’re stocking up.) – Megan