In all ages, pictures have been used to tell stories. How many times has this picture from Berlin 1945 been used to illustrate the downfall of Nazi Germany in World War II? Probably thousands.

Today, when we are telling stories about ourselves through social media, pictures play a big part. We often try to put ourselves in the spotlight, showing the world the sides of our lives we are most proud of. Therefore, we publish pictures of ourselves lying on a beach, playing with children or trying to look cool on an ancient bridge in some Chinese mountains (look to the left).

And this is actually not strange at all. I would rather call it human. But this sort of natural human behavior can also be used by companies as a marketing tool. 2012 is the year of the picture, and I am going to give you four reasons why.

1. Facebook Timeline
On March 30, Facebook Timeline will be mandatory for all company pages. What do you think will be the most major change?

Just take a look on how Dior, Ikea, Jay-Z and Facebook themselves have used the new cover pictures, and it is getting pretty obvious, isn’t it?

The stories the pictures tell us, of course. There are some other big changes that come with Facebook Timeline as well, but the cover photos are the ones that make the first impressions on all visitors. Both new and old ones.

In addition to that, all pictures published on the Timeline will be more highlighted than before, and it has already been proved that it really is the pictures that stimulate the most activity from posts on Facebook. So now when the Timeline is here, it has brought even more opportunities to work with the company brands and long-term user engagement.

2. Tumblr
Even though Tumblr has been a bit forgotten lately because of Pinterest, the blogging service has been proving its relevance for a long time now. During 2011, Tumblr page view numbers grew 900 percent globally, which makes it one of the hottest social media channels right now. Pictures have always been a crucial element in the Tumblr success story, and that is something major fashion companies have been using for a long time. As an example, during New York Fashion Week in September last year New York Times had a story about how the fashion industry worked with the Tumblr community.

Speaking of New York Times, just a couple a weeks ago the media giant started “The Lively Morgue”. A Tumblr photo blog dedicated to their huge archive of old pictures, and an excellent example of how a company can use a photo sharing service to help strengthen its brand.

Tumblr’s reblog feature could also be used as a great tool. Such as when the Obama administration shared a picture of two Navy women kissing, right after that the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law was abandoned. The “reblog” became a statement of the administration’s own role in abolishing the criticized law.

3. Instagram
Another wonderkid of photo sharing is the iPhone-only application Instagram. According to some sources, Instagram has got more than ten million new users only since Christmas. Not bad for a social network that is mobile only, and another user explosion is probably near since Instagram is about to release its Android version anytime now.

Also with Instagram, it’s easy to find interesting business cases. In January, Puma invited prominent Instagram users to follow their team in Volvo Ocean Race (this also works as an Tumblr example) and singer songwriter Jason Mraz recently held an Instagram contest for fans, which he followed up with a gallery exhibition showing all the winners.

Just like Tumblr, Instagram is an excellent tool to use to tell your story. Either by yourself, or – like Puma, let the users tell it for you.

4. Pinterest
There has been an extraordinary amount of buzz around Pinterest in the beginning of 2012, which is no surprise due to the extreme growth of the picture pin-boarding service. Pinterest recently surpassed Google+, Linkedin, Youtube and most lately Twitter in referral traffic.

Since the service is still fairly young, it’s harder to find good business cases. The ones one could find is mostly within e-commerce, like a small business saleswoman of handcrafted jewelry who reached a 70,000 visitors traffic spike and sold 300 pieces of a single unit only by using Pinterest “pins”.

What makes Pinterest even more interesting is that it’s not mainly used by early adopters at the American East and West coasts, but by average Americans in the Midwest. A great majority of the users also seem to be women.

Pinterest has been the subject of lots of discussions concerning copyright issues, and also because of its a bit shady terms of service. As earlier mentioned, it’s also difficult to see it´s true value through business cases. But because of the incredible growth, it is certainly something to keep an eye on for the future.

This text originally appeared on my Swedish language media blog on March 10th.

There are usually two kinds of people. Those who don’t really like big, crowded cities, and prefer to stay away from the stress. And then there are the ones that simply love it. If you are one of the latter, you have to visit Hong Kong as soon as possible. Just to feel and enjoy the hectic pulse, when you can actually hear the city breathing.

Make a pit stop
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with seven million people living almost on top of each other. The upside of this is that the city area is pretty small, and you can get to almost everywhere within half an hour. This makes Hong Kong an excellent pit stop, when travelling between Europe and Australia for example. You can get a lot of things done here in just two or three days.

Take a taxi from the airport for about 300 Hong Kong dollars, and you’re on Hong Kong Island in half an hour. Check in at a hotel, and then you’re set to go! I recommend the Cosmopolitan, next to Happy Valley race track; check out the view on our Tumblr. But there are actually plenty of opportunities to get hold of a nice view in Hong Kong, so you don’t really have to worry about that anyway.

The Views
As just mentioned; you are not going to miss out on a great view Hong Kong. That is one thing that is for sure. Catch bus 15 (if you stay at the Cosmopolitan, the bus stops almost right across the street) to Victoria Peak. About 10 HK dollars and 20 minutes later, you are at the top of the skyscraper world.

For the next fantastic view, you have to get to the Kowloon side of the harbor. The metro is pretty quick (get off at Tim Sha Sui), and there is also a ferry available for only 3 HK dollars (metro stop – Central station). At the deck next to the ferry stop at the Kowloon side, you will get a fabulous view of the Hong Kong Island skyline, especially at dusk.

The Shopping
Hong Kong is a good place to buy computers, cameras and other tech gear. There is no added value tax, and the prices are good. The two-floor Apple store in the IFC mall is a popular spot for tech enthusiasts. The mall also has lots of clothing stores.

The main shopping district is around Causeway Bay. The Times Square mall and Japanese department store Sogo are known landmarks here, along with plenty of famous brand concept stores. But if you want to go all in for the shopping, Harbor City on the Kowloon side is the place to be. An entire block with a total of 700 different stores.

Photo: Markus Welin

If you want to buy stuff on the street, the Night Market at Temple Street is a good choice. Also located on the Kowloon side, it could easily be combined with some Harbor city shopping. The Night Market is open until midnight, and is located close to Mong Kok metro station.

The Nightlife
The mighty skyscraper skylines also come with a good nighlife, of course. A drink at one of the bars at Victoria Peak could be a good start. Then just grab a taxi to SoHo (south of Hollywood Road), the No 1 area for fun at night. Lan Kwai Fong is a small square of streets with plenty of bars, and certainly lots of party people. The area reminds me a little bit of Khao San Road in Bangkok, except without all the suit salesmen.

If you get tired of drinking beer on the street, just head up the stairs at the top of Lan Kwai Fong, and you will find the clubs on the more upscale Wyndham Street. One of them is Dragon-I, where celebrities like LeBron James, Rihanna and David Beckham have been visiting.

After a long night out, take your time to sleep and have some rest at the hotel. In a place as busy as Hong Kong, it’s important to just close your eyes for a while to reset your mind of all expressions.

Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire, who won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2011, did a great job as the main act at the Popaganda festival in Stockholm last weekend. However, there were also some terrific examples of the excellent Swedish indie music industry presented.

The beautiful video listed above is from jj, one of the latest indie electro groups coming out of Gothenburg. The duo consists of Joakim Benon and Elin Kastlander, and was discovered by fellow Gothenburg band The Tough Alliance. Jj is signed to The Tough Alliance’s own record label Sincerely Yours, but also to American label Secretly Canadian.

For fans familiar with the European indie scene, Lykke Li probably don’t need any further presentation. The 25-year-old singer released her second album, “Wounded Rhymes”, earlier this year, and as late as August 4, she appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, which was acknowledged by Rolling Stone Magazine.

The magnificent video for “Sadness is a Blessing” is directed by her boyfriend, Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh, and stars Hollywood veteran Stellan Skarsgard.

The African sun is rising over the widespread plains, and Didus, the local guide, starts singing a song.
“Jambo, Jambo Bwana. Habari gani, mzuri sana. Wageni, mwakaribishwa, Serengeti, hakuna matata.” The song is in Swahili, and it says: “Hello Mr Tourist, how are you? (Very fine) You’re welcome to Serengeti, where there’s no problem!”

Photo: Erik D Johansson

The song actually describes the country rather well. The Tanzanian people are very friendly, and even though Tanzania is poor and undeveloped, its inhabitants don’t seem unhappy. No one knows about the western everyday stress, and as long as you got food on the table and your family is well, life goes on. “No hurry in Africa” is a common expression, which west certainly could learn a lot from.

Even though it is poor, Tanzania is still a very safe place for tourists. In distinction from its neighbors, the country has been spared from war and other conflicts during the years.

“Tourists getting robbed and stuff like that, it is very uncommon,” says Didus. “Recently, there was a party of road pirates from Rwanda who assaulted tourists in the western parts of the country. But the military sorted them out pretty quickly”.

In every direction, only the horizon is to be seen, and the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere is very present. We drive on a small path, which apparently seems to be one of the main roads from Serengeti back to the city of Arusha. Suddenly, the sky opens and a heavy rain falls down on us. The car immediately gets stuck in the mud. Being trapped in the rain out on the endless savanna, I start to get a little bit worried.

But there is certainly no need for that. Didus has ten years of experience as a guide, and this just another day for him. A short mission outside the car, and less than a quarter of an hour later we are on our way again.

The cost for a five day safari differs from 1,500 dollars and above, depending on accommodation standards and which travel agency one chose. The normal gratitude is 10 dollars a day and person, so a party of four equals a 200 dollar tip for the guide. That is a huge salary in Tanzania, no need to get into specific economic circumstances in Africa to explain that. Working with tourists is in general one of the best jobs you can have here. There is probably plenty of people who would do anything to switch place with Didus.

The journey continues. After leaving the endless fields behind, we start to see people next to the road again. Most of them are farmers, trying to get the best out of the dry land. The Tanzanian economy is mostly based on agriculture, which accounts for more than half of the GDP.

Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania, and a common place to start and end the safari from. Even though more than 300,000 people lives here, it still feels like a village. People living in big Coca Cola containers reminds me of that even though the original colonialism here ended a long time ago, another modern and commercial one is still present.

“My family live thirty minutes with car from Arusha,” Didus tells me. However, when going off his shift, he has to walk the whole distance back home. He doesn’t say it, but I figure it out by myself. The agency doesn’t want to be left without its car when he is off duty.

If I saw the Big 5? I did. Everyone does.

The world of media and journalism is undergoing a period of radical changes. Printed press is losing more and more influence to the Internet, and companies such as Facebook and Google constantly increase their importance in the life of the average media consumer.

Lots of people in the media business mention the importance of getting paid for content. However, a very few have any idea how to do it.  Earlier this year we reported on The Times’ new paywall, and then really questioned the idea of moving an old business model into a brand new context. Even though The Times’ executives have declared themselves happy with the results so far, the numbers speak for themselves. The Times has lost at least 87 percent of its readers, according to BBC.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in sunny California, non-profit project Spot.Us has come up with a much more creative way of getting money into the organization – community-focused ads.

Building your own business is a hard achievement, and doing it in a brand new cultural environment does certainly not make things easier. Swedish Internet entrepreneur Anders Palm did not choose the simplest path when he started People With Ideas in Ho Chi Minh City. Today, three years after his first arrival, he has no regrets.

Anders explains the company’s business model as a mixture between online and offline affiliate marketing.

“We normally make money by getting online requests and then sending these to a network of partner companies who in their turn pay us a commission,” Anders says. “This means that we can focus on the marketing side, and the service companies can focus on their core business. One example is Expat.vn, where we have teamed up with numerous service providers such as Budget Car Rental, lawyers, translation agencies, hotels etc. to provide services for expats.”

The Vietnamese business climate is certainly different from the Western one, in both positive and negative ways.

“Vietnam is a great place to start a business, partly because networking is very easy over here, and partly because Vietnamese people are so entrepreneurial,” Anders says. “The Internet marketing business is quite limited but rapidly growing, thus most have a positive outlook for the future. Customer service is generally a joke here, banks close during lunch hours and companies can have six support numbers without anyone answering the phone. This works in our favor though, as we are very service-minded company.”

He continues:
“My feeling is that people tend make quicker decisions than in the west while not being afraid to move into completely new markets. Here there is a lot of trial and error, and back home there seems to be a lot of planning, planning and planning. We of course also have the general differences between Western and Asian business; your personal network can make or break you in Vietnam, and generally Vietnamese companies are very poor brand builders.”

Living and starting a professional career abroad is a great experience and Anders has learned many valuable lessions along the way.  “The two main things I have learned here are; money is not the best motivator, even in a developing country, and to be as careful with major western companies as local suppliers,” Anders says. “The two biggest losses I have made personally have been two broken contracts by American companies, one of which is quite large.”

The interview is coming to an end, and Anders summarizes his feelings for his new home.

“Vietnam is a great place,” he states. I love the amazing beaches, being able to play football outdoors every single day of the year and enjoy great food from every corner of the world.”

Fall is usually a great time for TV series, and this year’s season is no exception. A while ago, we reported on HBO’s new and highly hyped epic mob drama “Boardwalk Empire”. But if you are too impatient to wait until September 19th for your next doze of organized crime, the third season of ”Sons of Anarchy” starts September 7th on FX.

The first season of the series about the outlaw bikers from fictional Northern California town Charming had more than 5 million weekly viewers and the very dramatic ending of the second season did make expectations high on the upcoming third season.

Photo: Markus Welin

In Episode 7 of the ongoing seventh season of HBO’s ”Entourage”, we could hear a catchy, house-inspired hip hop tune called “My Cool”. The track, which was originally released way back in 2007, was the breakthrough-hit from Swedish rapper Adam Tensta. A name not yet recognized by many Americans, but with an upcoming US release of his first album “It’s a Tensta Thing”, Adam Tensta may soon be played at your favorite dance floor.

Born in 1983 in segregated Stockholm suburb Tensta, Adam Momodou Eriksson Taal took “Tensta” as his artist name to honor his roots. In 2007 his music career accelerated when he released “They Wanna Know” – the first single from his debut album. Early in 2008 he was awarded a Swedish Grammy, and soon after that celebrity blogger Perez Hilton wrote about Adam in his blog with the comment that “Kanye is gonna love this shit!”.

Earlier this year, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp announced that their British newspapers The Times and Sunday Times where soon to go behind a paywall, and their online content would then no longer be available for free for their readers.