Why the Name Gentoo?
Although there is no specific answer to the above question, a theory out of several others has quite a logical explanation to it. When the English people saw the white “headband” over the penguin’s head, they were reminded of the Indian turban. Back then, the term “gentoo” was used to refer to a Hindu with a turban as the main part of his attire.

There are two subspecies that belong to the gentoo penguin family: Pygoscelis papua papua and Pygoscelis papua ellsworthii. A prominent tail, bright orange-red bill, and the blazing white patch on their eyes are the striking features of these species that makes them stand out from other members of the penguin family. The scientific name Pygoscelis papua, meaning “rump-tailed”, is given to a gentoo penguin for its sweeping tail while it’s waddling on the shore. Gentoos are black on the back and white on the front side, and the shape of their body is similar to a boat. This body structure allows them to swim at greater depths with a greater speed. Gentoo penguins are considered as the fastest underwater swimmers amongst all penguin species, thanks to their fat and webbed feet. The feet are orange in color with black, long claws on them. This unique physical feature allows them to move well on slippery ice as well as climb a rough terrain.

Grooming is an important part of a gentoo penguin’s routine, and they engage in grooming more often than other species. The process of grooming involves getting the oil from the oil gland near the tail and distributing it all over the feathers with the bill. They have to twist and turn their body to be able to spread the oil properly.

Although gender distinction is difficult in this penguin species, males are usually larger than females. The average height that a gentoo penguin may grow up to is 20 to 36 inches, and they weigh around 5 kg. Baby gentoos are grayish in color with a white frontal side. The white crown covering the area from one eye to the other over the head is underdeveloped in them at this stage.

My Territory

Gentoo penguins are found in many islands of the Antarctic region. However, the main colony of gentoo penguins is on the Falkland islands. They typically live on islands, or other secluded areas to protect themselves from land predators. Other regions where they develop their colonies are Kerguelen islands and South Georgia. Certain smaller colonies of this species are found on the Macquarie island, Heard Island, South Shetland Islands, and the Antarctic Peninsula.

Gentoo penguins are partial migratory animals. This is because at certain times, they leave their nesting location after the breeding season. Usually, the colonies nesting in the Antarctic Peninsula have the tendency to migrate, whereas the subantarctic population is known to be sedentary.

What I Like to Munch On

Gentoo penguins feed on crustaceans, krill, squid, cephalopods, and small fish. Like all other penguin species, gentoo follows a total carnivorous diet, which comprises only marine animals. While krill becomes the important food on the southern part of the gentoo habitat, they feed on small fish in the northern locations. Moreover, fish makes up only 15% of their diet, whereas krill and crustaceans make up for major portion of their diet. Being a large-sized animal, this penguin can consume a fish that weighs more than 1 kg and which can be over 40 cm long.

My Home and Family

Nesting

Gentoo penguins usually reside along the shoreline, which gives them easy access to food while being closer to their nesting place. They begin their search for an appropriate nesting location between June to November. After reaching a suitable nesting ground with the entire colony consisting of thousands of pairs, each gentoo pair starts building their nest. The nesting material includes stones, moss, tussock (grass) etc. It also requires plants, and once these material are in place, they fertilize the ground with their droppings. This enhances the growth of grass, and the moss spreads around. One of the characteristic features of gentoo nesting is the presence of small pebbles. The areas with small pebbles are selected, as they are the main building blocks of the nest that helps protect eggs during the breeding season.

Breeding

Although gentoos are active all round the year, they have their annual breeding season, which begins in March. Unlike other species, gentoos breed in snow and ice-free regions, but due to their widespread distribution, these habits may vary to a great extent. For instance, on the Antarctic Peninsula, as mentioned above, the main nesting material is pebbles, whereas in the subantarctic regions, preferences for the nesting material are twigs, seaweed, grass, etc. During the breeding season, gentoos prefer foraging along the shorelines and stay closer to the nesting area, within 18 miles of the colony.

A male gentoo performs some displays for building a nest site and attracting a female. The female takes a survey of the nesting area, and the pebbles used in the construction become the deciding factor in selecting the male and his territory. Moreover, the male offers a stone to the female to please her and receive her favors. Further, the female lays two spherical and greenish-white eggs, each weighing approximately 125 grams (the weight of the first and second egg may vary depending on the nesting location). The first egg is laid 5 days post breeding, and the second one is laid after 3 days. After this, both parents share the responsibility of incubation, which lasts for about 31 to 39 days. After the incubation, the eggs are hatched, and interestingly both eggs hatch on the same day in spite of being laid on different days. Since the chicks are delicate and weak, they have to be in the nest for 75 long days until they are ready to fledge and go for their first visit to the ocean.

My Language of Communication

Gentoos resort to loud trumpeting to communicate with their mate and young ones. They are well-known for producing a variety of sounds for several occasions. For example, when the male or female returns after feeding, it will point the beak up straight in the air and throw out loud squawks to make the partner aware about their arrival. When a predator is invading its territory, a gentoo will make a low hissing sound, or give out grunts, depending on the severity of the threat.

The chicks are also very talented in producing various sounds, like high-pitched chirping when hungry, or a modified whistle call before reaching their first molt, after which they develop an adult voice for calling. Interestingly, the chicks are so intelligent that they can recognize and distinguish the call of their parents from several other gentoos nesting in their colony.

My Code of Conduct

Gentoos are the shyest of all penguin species, and do whatever it takes to avoid a fight. Although being a highly territorial animal, it will do nothing more than gaping at its fellow mates with its beak wide open, when enemies attack its territories.

Apart from its enemies, a gentoo penguin is also not very comfortable with its own companions. When the colony begins to grow larger and crosses over around hundred pairs, the pairs start splitting up and forming a new, smaller colony.

Although being a shy, asocial (in consideration to other creatures) animal, this penguin possesses the quality of being tolerant. It shares its nesting place with other sea birds and penguin families. In terms of commitment towards the family, gentoos deserve an appreciation for being monogamous creatures.

My Way of Living

Gentoos are one of the most territorial animals. For a major part of their life, they stay on the same location where they breed. If they have to move their colony, it is because of the excessive ice formation in winters. In such circumstances, these sea and land dwellers have to move to an ice-free location.

Adult gentoos begin their annual molt away from the nesting location, after the chicks have fledged and finally departed from the nesting site. There are two stages of molting, namely the pre-molt and the actual molting stage.

• The pre-molt stage begins in January and lasts for up to 55 days. During this period, gentoos make long, foraging trips to the sea to meet their objective of gaining maximum weight at this point of the year.
• This phase is followed by actual molting, which lasts for 25 days. This proves to be an event that requires high energy, and the gentoos have to overgorge themselves to create fat reserves. During the molting period, they cannot take foraging trips to the sea; so they fast while losing 200 gm of weight per day.

Considering their uncommon nesting location, gentoo penguins do not really have any land-based predators. However, their potential threats are the sea animals, like leopard seals, sea lions, orca (killer whale), etc. Sea birds, like skuas, gulls, etc., might also prey on the chicks and steal the unattended eggs.

Food festivals are held all across the world every year, and people from distant parts flock to these venues in large numbers to satiate their taste buds. Apart from being local, national, and international platforms featuring diverse culinary cultures, these festivals are excellent means of uniting different communities under one roof. This is precisely the reason why such festivals have been taking place since thousands of years, wherein people have been marking the arrival of harvest, honoring their deities, and so on. But still, the main aim has always been to celebrate the food culture(s) and promote culinary brotherhood.

The concept of a food festival has become very popular in the past few years. They are no longer elitist events taking place in hotel ballrooms and attended by a handful of people. Food festivals, today, have become huge public events, which take place at popular and easily accessible venues, and are attended by an enormous number of people. Moreover, most of them are not restricted to their local traditional food, but aim to make a global appeal. Here are some of the most famous food festivals taking place around the world.

Other Notable Mentions

Apart from the ones mentioned above, there are some food festivals more famous for their ‘weirdness quotient’ than for the foods that they feature. The Hokitika Wildfood Festival, that is held at different locations throughout New Zealand in March, is famous for the wild foods and cooked insects that it offers. Similarly, the Roadkill Cook-off and Festival, held in Marlinton, West Virginia on the last Saturday of every September, focuses on the kinds of animals which are victims of road mishaps the maximum times. So, the festival offers a long and interesting menu with items such as squirrel curry, tacos filled with armadillo, and so on.

No matter what kind of dishes these fiestas serve, it is food, nevertheless. Such events are absolutely heavenly for foodies who crave to try out new and interesting cuisines all the time. After all, as George Bernard Shaw has quoted, There is no love sincerer than the love of food.

The Portland mall shooting and the story of Jacob Tyler Roberts seems to be no different, in that sense. Except, perhaps, for the fact that Roberts seems to have been well-liked and there were fewer indications that he may have been suffering from a mental imbalance. There were clues, however.

In recent weeks, Roberts, 22, had quit his job at a sandwich shop and began selling possessions. He told friends that he was going to move to Hawaii and also that he had inherited money. Yet, he had also updated his Facebook page with an ominous message that had the word “canceled” posted over a banner that read “Follow Your Dreams”. Clearly, something was amiss with Mr. Roberts.

Yet unlike James Holmes, the Aurora movie house killer, Roberts seems to have actually had some friends and could have been described as socially “normal”. At some point recently, however, Roberts suffered a mental break and stole an assault rifle from an acquaintance. He took the rifle and several magazines of ammunition to a Portland mall and opened fire while wearing a hockey mask, screaming “I am the shooter.” After Roberts’ rampage, two innocent people were dead and a young girl was critically wounded. Roberts killed himself in a stairwell before police reached him. And, unfortunately, we’ll never know why.

Emma Watson might be one of the hottest women in Hollywood, but she isn’t that way on purpose! The “Bling Ring” actress just posed for W magazine’s June/July issue and said she doesn’t think of herself as sexy.

“I’ve never wanted to grow up too fast. I wanted to wear a sports bra until I was 22,” she told the magazine. “The allure of being sexy never really held any excitement for me. I’ve never been in a terrible rush to be seen as a woman.”

We totally get it, Emma: Adulthood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be with all the bills and responsibility … it’s kind of a drag sometimes.

Watson might not want to be sexy, but “Harry Potter” fans disagree. The girl best known as Hermoine regularly tops so-called “hot” lists, including FHM magazine’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2013.”

We think the actress is being honest about the “I don’t want to be sexy” thing, but we definitely don’t agree when celebs put themselves down – they’re all hot.

Khloe Kardashian

The constant scrutiny – both by the media and fans – is enough to make any famous woman self-conscious about her body.

Just ask Khloe Kardashian: The reality star recently told Cosmopolitan U.K. that she struggles with her self confidence.

“I probably thought I was prettier before I entered the spotlight because being compared to somebody else every day does sort of beat up your spirit and soul,” she said.

However, she’s found the silver lining.

“But it’s made me stronger. I’ve gained another level of confidence,” she added.

Salma Hayek

Actress Salma Hayek has a life – and a body – millions of women would kill for, but apparently her curvy bod just isn’t what she wants.

“I won a ‘Best Body Award’ from Fitness Magazine and I was too embarrassed to accept it,” Hayek said in 2009. “I actually don’t have a good body…I have acted the part of the girl who has a very good body. If you know how to dress, there’s some tricks you can pull.”

We’d love to know these “tricks,” but it’s pretty obvious that being sexy just comes naturally to Hayek.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway knocked our socks off in her “Les Miserables” performance, but apparently even winning as Oscar doesn’t make her feel hot.

“I think I’ve got really weird features. I have very large features on a very small head,” Anne Hathaway told InStyle. “…It’s my face. I’m not very pretty.”

We beg to differ, Anne.

Tell us: Do celebs really believe they’re not hot, or is it a way to seem humble?

For a product that has yet to officially hit the market, Google Glass has already caused heads to turn.

Google Glass is a wearable computer that looks like a pair of eyeglasses, only lens-free, with a small device attached to the right frame. It will allow users to access the Internet, take photos and even shoot short videos. Users could activate it by speaking or touching it, although one program in the works could eliminate the need for gestures or voice commands.

With only a few thousand test pairs on the street, the reaction to Google Glass has ranged from excitement to alarm. Early adopters can’t wait to slip a pair behind their ears – while gambling casinos in Las Vegas, bars in Seattle and legislators in West Virginia have already taken steps to pre-emptively ban them, the New York Times reported recently.

It’s the latest chapter in a debate that is older than you might imagine: How does technology test the boundaries between privacy and the First Amendment?

Technology was instrumental in solving the Boston Marathon bombing case a month ago. Knowing there were thousands of smartphones and cameras in the crowd, authorities tapped the power of crowd-sourcing by putting out a call for pictures, videos and other tips.

Investigators plowed through thousands of pieces of information, including shots from mounted surveillance cameras, to help identify the bombers. Facial recognition technology narrowed the search, social media spread the word and thermal imaging led to the apprehension of a suspect hiding under a tarp in a boat just outside Boston.

It was a powerful message about how technology can help resolve public safety emergencies. In fact, an upcoming PBS episode of NOVA will examine the role played by technology and science in capturing the Boston bombing suspects.

For many people, however, technology comes with a troubling flip side when it comes to privacy.

The federal government’s seizure of telephone records of reporters and editors at The Associated Press, as well as the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS, raise questions about how public officials might employ cutting-edge technology in more intrusive ways. Some companies are reluctant to work with government agencies in devising cybersecurity strategies for fear it will lead to more problems than it will solve.

It’s a debate that involves tech companies, privacy advocates, politicians and the courts, to name a few. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted in April to require law enforcement to have a warrant to seize email, a much higher standard than a simple subpoena. A California district court ruled recently that private messages on social media are protected without a warrant.

The same people who might love the latest gadgets might also find themselves on the wrong end of the technology, either intentionally or by accident.

Then again, the search for techno-privacy balance is nothing new to modern society.

Writing in the Harvard Law Review in 1890, future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and his law partner Samuel Warren said “numerous mechanical devices threaten to make good the prediction that ‘what is whispered in the closet shall be proclaimed from the housetops.’ “

They were writing about the mass commercialization of photography, which is ubiquitous today and has been so for nearly a century. Likewise, few people today seem to care – or at least have become adjusted to – all types of social and electronic media that make every user a paparazzi-in-waiting. For the most part, those are technologies that didn’t exist a decade ago.

Some tech companies take the attitude it’s not about their innovation – which the marketplace should not hold back – but about people doing dumb things they shouldn’t do in the first place. Others are somewhat more introspective, recognizing that technology can invite regulation if asocial people consistently use it for asocial purposes.

We want to buy cool, new stuff – and we also want to protect what little real privacy we might have left in public settings. Between the law, social values and technology itself, perhaps the uneasy balance between “closet” and “housetop” can be maintained.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council and the Wisconsin Innovation Network. He can be reached at tstill@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.

The very core of success in Internet marketing is largely reliant on three essential aspects: technology, marketing and products.

So how important are these aspects? How do you establish an advantage in these areas? What are the things that even novice marketers can do to ensure success? Here are the answers.

Technology

It a given fact that Internet marketing would greatly rely on the performance of the technology used. Of course, this also pertains to essential tools that aid marketers in achieving their goals.

Many online marketers today utilize Internet tools related to networking. They are cheap, timely, and take only a few steps to reach out networks. General information exchange is often done my marketers in their platforms via announcements, news, or updates. Examples of such platforms are popular networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LnkedIn.

Other tools include techniques that increase viewership and search rates of online pages. SEO or LSI enhanced articles and web pages are popular examples of such practice. They are commonly used not only to increase search ranks of company or business pages in popular engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, but also to brand, product or company name awareness in the general market.

Marketing

There is no such thing as good marketing. In terms of productivity in business, there is only effective marketing.

Generally speaking, the most effective marketing strategies via the Internet are the best practices of successful business online. The most practiced technique nowadays is the utilization of networking platforms online since these Internet places are likely packed with different sorts of prospective clients or customers. More so, it supports information and multimedia sharing that can aid the business or company not only in marketing but as well as advertising campaigns.

To marginalize target market, most marketers rely on blogs and forums that belong to specific groups and niches only. Email-oriented strategies on the other hand are used by online marketers for target-specific marketing. Feedbacks and email rings are examples of campaigns that utilize such strategy.

Products

The products are the main things that you sell. If not interesting, they should be able to help your clients or prospective customers solve their issues or to give various individuals the convenience in their lives.

Quality is the foremost aspect that makes your products either sellable or not. Products with poor quality would never ensure the stability of your business. In fact, they could even endanger not only your profits but also your company or brand credibility online.

To avoid problems, you always need to consider the value of the product that you are selling. Make sure that it is high likely be needed or wanted by prospective clients through extensive market research. This method will determine the profitability of your product and identify the price that you can set while considering the purchasing power of your target market.

Bank of Canada should hike rates to pop bubble: former BoC aide

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada should raise interest rates now because five years of low rates are creating distortions in the economy, such as excessive debt and an overheated housing market, a former adviser to central bank Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday. In a hawkish stand at odds with most economists and market players, Paul Masson, now a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said the central bank should tighten monetary policy to lean against asset price bubbles rather than focus exclusively on inflation.

Upbeat Japan GDP brings some cheer, but Nikkei misses out

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Some stock markets across Asia edged up on Thursday after solid growth data from Japan improved sentiment although Tokyo’s Nikkei lagged, while worries about a prolonged recession in the euro zone kept the common currency under pressure. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> edged up 0.3 percent, with mainland China stocks <.csi300> up 0.8 percent and South Korean stocks <.ks11> nearly 1.0 percent higher.</.ks11></.csi300></.miapj0000pus>

Insight: Dimon has big say over who serves on JPMorgan board

(Reuters) – For years, JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and other executives have hand-picked new directors, in a practice that is now unusual for a major U.S. bank. The JPMorgan board’s governance committee, responsible for hiring new members, relies almost entirely on referrals from management to find director nominees, according to two sources familiar with the bank’s practices and a review of bank regulatory filings. All of the other 10 largest U.S. banks say they use executive search firms, which have knowledge of a range of possible candidates.

JPMorgan presses Bloomberg on reporters’ access to data

NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co , one of the biggest customers of Bloomberg LP, said on Wednesday it has sent a formal legal request asking the financial data and news company to provide details of what bank information Bloomberg News reporters had been able to see. JPMorgan’s statement comes after Bloomberg acknowledged late last week that its reporters had limited access to data about clients’ terminal usage, such as when a customer logs in, contacts the help desk or delves into the system for information about assets, such as equities or bonds.

Judge orders Dow Chemical to pay $ 1.2 billion in price-fixing case

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Kansas City, Kansas, ordered Dow Chemical Co on Wednesday to pay $ 1.2 billion in a price-fixing case involving chemicals used to make foam products in cars, furniture and packaging, according to court documents. Dow was one of several chemical company defendants named in a 2005 class action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to fix urethane chemical prices, but it was the only defendant not to settle.

Global growth jitters trigger TSX drop

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index slumped on Wednesday, with every major sector trading in the red, after sluggish data from Europe and the United States renewed fears about the global economic recovery. Investors were discouraged by data showing U.S. factory output dropped in April and manufacturing activity in New York state contracted this month. Further, wholesale prices recorded their largest decline in three years.

Quebec seeks fracking moratorium in shale gas rich area

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian province of Quebec, citing public concerns, unveiled a bill on Wednesday to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, in a region rich in shale gas deposits. The province’s minority Parti Quebecois government needs opposition support to adopt the moratorium – which would last a maximum of five years. It would ban gas exploration and extraction in the Lowlands region of the St Lawrence River, site of the rich Utica and Lorraine shale gas formations.

GE, Boeing alert airlines about 777 engine problem

NEW YORK (Reuters) – General Electric Co and Boeing Co have alerted airlines about a potential problem with engines on Boeing’s long-range 777 jumbo jet that caused the engines to shut in mid-flight twice this year. The problem affects about 118 so-called transfer gear boxes made between September and March. The part, made by Italian company Avio SpA, are on about 26 in service 777-300ER jets and another 44 aircraft in production, GE said.

Cree says innovation answer to rising competition

TORONTO (Reuters) – LED lighting manufacturer Cree Inc , which aims to make traditional lighting obsolete, promises further innovation and a better product as it tempts customers with a low-power light bulb priced around $ 10. Durham, North Carolina-based Cree makes energy-efficient light-emitting diode chips and lighting products, and it provided more than half the LED street lights the city of Los Angeles recently installed in a massive overhaul.

Canadian April home sales edge up from March, down on year

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian home sales rose in April, the second straight monthly gain, as spring homebuying breathed life back into the slowing real estate sector and bolstered hopes Canada will manage a soft landing rather than a U.S.-style housing crash. Sales of existing homes climbed 0.6 percent in April from March, but year-over-year sales were down 3.1 percent, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Wednesday in a report that showed a spring bounce in a housing sector that had been slowing since the middle of 2012.

By David Milliken

LONDON (Reuters) – Bank of England chief Mervyn King should be the bearer of some good news on Wednesday in his final forecasts before handing the reins to Mark Carney, even if the British economy remains far from healthy.

After repeatedly having to cut its growth outlook and lift its inflation forecasts since the financial crisis, the central bank looks set to do the opposite in its latest Quarterly Inflation Report.

Economists polled by Reuters last week expect the bank to forecast that inflation will peak at 3.0 percent later this year, below the 3.2 percent predicted three months ago.

Most also expect the Bank to bring forward the date when it expects inflation to return to the 2 percent target, following a recent slight strengthening of sterling and a drop in oil prices, after breaching the target for most of the past five years.

In February, the central bank unsettled some in financial markets by predicting that inflation would not return to target until the first quarter of 2016.

Rob Wood, a former Bank economist who now works for Berenberg Bank, predicts this forecast will now be brought forward by a year to early 2015.

“That fillip of good news is unlikely to be accompanied by a wholesale change to the big picture, however,” Wood said. “We expect the BoE to continue to forecast a sub-par recovery. More stimulus is needed and we expect it to be forthcoming.”

King – who has presented the Bank’s Inflation Report for more than 20 years, first as chief economist and then as governor – is likely to continue to point to major economic risks when he gives a news conference at 10.30 a.m.

He has led a minority of policymakers calling for more bond-buying since February. King has also long warned Britain of the painful readjustment it needs to shift away from consumption and towards export-led growth.

Britain’s economy grew by a sluggish 0.3 percent in the first three months of 2013 from the previous quarter. In a sign of the fragility of the recovery to date, that was welcomed as a lucky escape from a feared return to recession.

Solid business surveys since then, plus a revamp of Bank measures to stimulate bank lending, may tempt the central bank to nudge up its short-term growth forecast, which hovers around 1 percent for this year.

In recent months the Bank has cooled on its main tool used to help Britain recover from the financial crisis – the purchase of 375 billion pounds of government bonds.

It stopped buying bonds in October, and last month it expanded its Funding for Lending Scheme, which started in August, to give banks greater incentives to lend to business.

Further changes are likely to come with the arrival of Carney, who was poached from the Canadian central bank by Chancellor George Osborne. Carney has championed making long-term commitments to low interest rates, something the Bank under King has opposed.

(Editing by Susan Fenton)

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Facebook has recently shared that on Facebook Home, engagement with the social network has increased 25 percent compared to the standard Facebook mobile application. In this case, engagement refers to the expected: commenting, liking and sharing, but also refers to additional time spent in the app such as messaging.

For marketers, this is great news. Any increase in engagement spells more chances to connect with fans through quality page content. Here are a few tips of advice for any marketers interested in optimizing their campaigns for Facebook Home.

Facebook has yet to introduce ads to Home, though Facebook Co-Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he is “sure at some point there will be.” Less seasoned marketers might see this as a negative quality, but veteran Facebook marketers should remain unphased. The overarching theme to marketing on Facebook is to focus on content first and reach second. It is more important to produce content that people want to see and engage with before complaining how your posts aren’t being seen by all of your fans. Facebook ads are a great tool to get seen by more people, but are best reserved for content that is engaging. With the higher engagement, now it is even more important to be creating quality content than ever.

Though there is no way to purchase ads on Home yet, there are still ways to advertise and improve your marketing on Home. For example, in addition to friends’ stories, cover feed will share stories from liked brand pages. This makes it important to acquire more fans to increases your potential reach. Marketers can purchase any Facebook ads on both desktop and mobile apps to assist in this. There is also a specific ad type to get users to take this action, page post ads. Some may find that page like ads less valuable than other ad types, but with proper targeting such as custom audience targeting can help to increase total fans. More total fans means a higher chance for these organic posts to appear in the cover feed.

The cover feed is a more streamlined way to use Facebook. Rather than having to navigate through the menus to access the application, cover feed will feed stories to user as the first screen. For Home users, this makes it less important to access the normal news feed. This feed can still be accessed through the standard Facebook application on a Home enabled phone.

This streamlined experience is a main contributor to the higher engagement percentage. If a user is interested in a story, they can easily tap to like it or submit a comment. This all can be done with little delay. The home screen of any phone is can easily be seen by a user over 100 times a day and with Home, users are seeing more stories than they would just browsing through the apps or desktop.

Though you cannot purchase ads on to display on Facebook Home, posts that you share on your page can still come up on the cover feed. However, a cover feed story looks much different than a story in the standard Facebook app.

For example, take a look at this story above. This is a photo taken from Instagram where all images are perfect squares. Regardless of how a photo is uploaded, images on Home are oriented to be seen in portrait view.

Optimizing photos for best display with cover feed may not be the best strategy going forward. For example, panoramic photos would only show a small fraction of a picture in cover feed, but would look great as a page’s cover photo. At this point in time, the amount of Home users make up a tiny fraction of Facebook’s total users so it is more appropriate to target the mass vs. the minority.

With the absence of ads, Home lacks one of the most powerful tools available to marketers on Facebook, targeting options. Though some pages have access to page post targeting, where they can can publish stories to only appear to fans that fit a certain demographic, many pages are without this feature and benefit. Proper targeting is the best way to ensure that the right message is going to be seen by the right people. Without targeting, it is important to curate all content before it is shared. Marketers should be mindful of any potentially offensive, suggestive or vulgar content.

Though the response to about it has not been entirely positive, Facebook Home product is very young. With a continued effort to improve it, Facebook Home can be seen as the future way users are going to interact with the social network through mobile devices. Marketers that adapt quickly to these changes will only see a positive impact.

Want to learn more about Facebook Home and its impact on Facebook marketing? Check out the Facebook Marketing Bible to learn more about the implications of Facebook Home, the new news feed as well as many other topics.

Jonathan Espinosa works at Inside Network as a Social Media Marketing Specialist. He is the main contributor to the Facebook Marketing Bible, the most comprehensive guide for marketing and advertising on Facebook.

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  Hey there, welcome to my personal blog! I love to share stories from around the internet, as well as my own personal experiences. Feel free to leave a comment - I read them all :)

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