If Social Networks Were 'Game of Thrones' Houses

The state of social networks today has a lot in common with the fictional world of Westeros — they're both filled with warring factions, they're ruled by elite business people and power is constantly shifting.

As the April 6 premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones rapidly approaches, we started to think about the connections between the various houses and factions of Westeros and the social networks we use every day.

See also: 10 'Game of Thrones' Tumblrs for Your Daily Dose of Westeros

Facebook is clearly House Lannister, Twitter has more than a drop of Stark blood and the Dothraki are the most fitting metaphor for the 4chan community that we've ever seen. Read more...

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11 Creative Portraits Without Faces

We returned to our Mashable Photo Challenge Guest Series this week with 24-year-old freelance photographer Chris Cody. Readers were asked to step out of the ordinary, and shoot faceless portraits.

See also: The Olympic Rings in Photos From Mashable Readers

Cody has a very intentional style when creating his portraits: He hides his subjects' faces behind trees and large bushes. For their part, it was interesting to see how readers approached faceless portraits; some followed Cody's lead and found large objects to hide their subjects behind, while others attempted backward portraits and faceless jumpstagrams. Read more...

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Brace Yourselves: 15 New Types of Twitter Ads May Be Coming

Twitter is stepping up its advertising game in a big way, according to reports

New app install ads, among other ad formats, are coming to the service in the next few months, according to multiple reports that surfaced this week. In total, Twitter is planning to add 15 new types of ads, and CEO Dick Costolo showed them off to a group of ad execs at company headquarters last week, according to The Wall Street Journal

See also: The Year in Twitter: Top Milestones of 2013

The most well-known of these new formats will be app install ads, which enable advertisers to include a "download now"-style button within the ad that takes consumers to the app store. A Twitter blog post from February mentions the ads and their functionality within Twitter cards. (Cards help advertisers package their content within a tweet.) Read more...

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Messaging Wars: Vine vs. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat

It’s been hard to ignore the meteoric rise of the private messaging industry over the past two months

First came Facebook's jaw-dropping $16 billion purchase of standalone messaging service WhatsApp in February. Chat app Viber was acquired by Rakuten for $900 million. Then messaging startup Tango raised $280 million in March, a funding round that valued the company at more than $1 billion, according to Forbes

See also: Why Social Networks Are Crazy for Private Messaging

So it's no surprise that social media platforms, the ones that view messaging as a supplemental feature, have been busy keeping up Read more...

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Vine Cofounder Colin Kroll Is Stepping Down

Vine cofounder Colin Kroll announced via Twitter that he is stepping down from his position as Vine's general manager

Kroll, who cofounded the app that Twitter acquired in late 2012, did not specifically say he is leaving Twitter, but rather stepping away from his day-to-day role. Kroll wrote that he plans to stay on as an advisor.

See also: Hands on With Vine Messages: The Creative Way to Chat

When another Twitter user responded to ask what's next, Kroll declined to comment further

I'm so proud of Vine - the team + the product. I'll no longer be working there day-to-day as of today but will remain involved as an advisor

— colin kroll (@ckb) April 4, 2014 Read more...

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Twitter Rolls Out Free 'Pinned Tweets' to Select Personal Accounts

11 of Flavorful Celebrity Chefs on Twitter

It has never been a better time to be a foodie. From coast to coast, chefs and eaters alike are enjoying a restaurant world flooded with incredible talent

Thanks to the power of social media, food fanatics can connect with their favorite chefs. It’s a great tool for the cooks, too. Twitter’s short missives and focus on photos are perfect for capturing life in and out of the kitchen. They can share new menu items and build buzz for their projects

Whether you need culinary advice, want to know the chefs in your town, or are just a starstruck fan, here are eleven chefs that are making Twitter a tastier place to be. Read more...

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