Welcome to My Blog

We live in an age where it seems like privacy comes at a premium.

It feels like the number of headlines we see about data breaches, for example, come at a higher (and troubling) frequency every year.

Many of us wonder what we need to do to protect ourselves. Freeze our credit? Use a different password for every last online shopping site, bank account, and other logins?

And what about email encryption?

The stakes become higher when something like PGP becomes necessary to protect one’s identity during the exchange of sensitive information.

But what is PGP? What is it used for, and why do people use it at all?

Read on to find out.

1. How does PGP work?

PGP is built on what’s called a public key system, in which a recipient has a publicly-known key — essentially a very long number — that senders use to encrypt emails they receive. In order to decrypt these emails, the recipient must have her own private key linked to the public one. Only the recipient knows the private key, which protects the privacy of the message. 

For example, let’s say someone wants to privately email a tip to a journalist. The journalist might have a public key the sender could use to encrypt and safely send the tip to her. Once the email is encrypted, it becomes ciphertext, which is text that, well, needs to be deciphered.

Once the ciphertext is transmitted, the journalist uses her own, private key to decrypt it.

Source: Bitcoin Not Bombs

There are two types of key encryption: symmetric and asymmetric.

In symmetric encryption, there is no public key. There is only one private key used for both encryption and decryption. Many consider this type of encryption to be risky, because anyone who deciphers the single key can read what’s supposed to be a secure message. It’s like having someone else find out your password — only the stakes are much higher and it’s much harder to change that “password.”

Asymmetric encryption is what I described earlier in the post. There are two keys: a public and private one, which are each different but linked values. 

2. How do I get a PGP key?

PGP encryption is available through different types of software. There are many available, but one of the highest-cited options is GNU Privacy Guard (GPG), a free cryptographic software that can manage keys and encrypt files and emails.

Once you select your software, you’ll need to generate a new PGP certificate — a brand new public key with additional verification information (like your name and email address) to confirm you are on the receiving end of that key.

If you’ve created a public key and want to share that key with others, you have several directories to choose from. MIT Key Server and PGP Global Directory, for example, allow people to find your key without approaching you — important for those trying to maintain the highest level of privacy.

A caveat, however: You probably won’t be able to delete your public key from these directories. 

3. How do I encrypt a message with PGP?

In order to send an encrypted email, you’ll need to download software that allows you to send encrypted messages. GPG is one option, but another is Enigmail, which is an add-on specifically for the Thunderbird email client. 

In GPG, you can create encrypted emails within the software with various encryption options. PGP is one example, and is activated with the program’s “security method indicator.”

Source: GPGTools

4. Why is PGP used?

Although PGP still widely applies to encrypted emails, the rise in popularity and talk of cryptocurrency could explain why you might have seen the term more than usual recently.

Some Bitcoin trading platforms use PGP to help secure user accounts like Kraken. It’s largely used to protect sensitive information involved with financial transactions, especially those that are still emerging — and to prevent cryptocurrency from being stolen. 

In many ways, PGP can be viewed as a intensive version of what we do to protect our private information, like financial data and health records.

However, this level of encryption becomes particularly valuable when identity protection comes into play during sensitive transactions.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

This is a lesson Facebook has perfected over the last year as it continues to launch products to compete with Snapchat, the app it tried and failed to purchase back in 2013.

The battle over the disappearing social media story continued recently with the launch of Facebook Stories — a feature that replaced Facebook Messenger Day late last year. But is this Facebook Stories update competing with or even being used in the same way as its competitors?

Snapchat still holds some advantages of its own as the veteran of disappearing picture texts. In this post, we’ll cover what Facebook Stories is all about, how to use it, and how this still young feature is changing the ephemeral messaging competition between Snapchat and Facebook.

Snapchat to Facebook: “I’m sorry that you’re so jealous of me, but I can’t help it that I’m popular.” Our team weighs in — listen below:

What Is Facebook Stories?

Facebook Stories was, at one time, a separate website Facebook hosted to share actual stories of members who were using the social network in inspiring ways.

The company has since reassigned the title to a function that lets users curate a slideshow of photos and videos that’s visible to their friends for 24 hours before it disappears. The rollout of Messenger Day began as a part of Messenger, Facebook’s standalone messaging app used by more than one billion people worldwide.

The shift to Facebook Stories continues to share user content through this app, but users can also access their friends’ latest Stories from the top of their Newsfeed — as shown in the image three paragraphs down.

Messenger’s in-app camera lets users add text, drawings, stickers, emojis, filters, and lenses to photos and videos before adding them to their “Day” (hence the original “Messenger Day”) or sending them to individual friends or groups. Here’s what Stories users can tailor images to look like with the camera:

Image via Bustle

Before you learn how to use Facebook Stories, here’s the lowdown on what it’s all about and how it’s similar to other ephemeral messaging apps and products out there.

How It’s Similar to Other Apps

Like Snapchat Stories and WhatsApp Status, Facebook Stories displays users’ ephemeral messages in a line of circular profile pictures you can click and view individually, or “Watch All” in a row. However, it is much more consistent with the interface of its subsidiary, Instagram, over its competitors.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of what they look like:

Images via Bustle / Instagram

Pretty similar, right? The distinguishing factor is that unread stories display horizontally along the top, rather than vertically down the left side.

The cameras for each of these apps and features have different lens and filter styles, but for the most part, photo editing abilities are remarkably similar as well. Facebook, Snapchat, Whatsapp Status, and Instagram let users send disappearing messages privately to individuals and groups, in addition to sharing on their Story, Status, or Day.

Now, let’s dive into how Facebook Stories is different from these other players.

How It Differs From Other Apps

What’s the one thing that sets Facebook apart from social networks like Snapchat? The size of its user base. I’ll get into the implications of this in just a minute.

Another difference between Facebook Stories and similar products is its intended use. While Snapchat and Instagram stories are focused on sharing what you’re up to in the moment, Facebook has positioned Facebook Stories as a way to make plans with friends and communicate about getting together.

In the original blog post announcement of Messenger Day, Messenger’s Head of Product, Stan Chudnovsky, said users can post images to their Days to “show what they’re doing, how they’re feeling and to invite friends to join them for activities.”

Here’s a video of the impetus behind Facebook Messenger Day, and how they company envisions Facebook Stories changing the way people communicate to make plans:

Now that you know what Facebook Stories is and what it’s for, here’s a step-by-step guide for how to use it.

How to Use Facebook Stories

1. Update your Messenger app for iOS or Android.
   • Navigate to the App Store on iOS devices or Google Play on Android devices and make sure you’re using the latest version of Facebook Messenger.
2. Open your Messenger app and tap the circular camera button in the bottom-center part of the menu.
3. Take a photo, record a video by pressing and holding the capture button, or turn the camera to face you to snap a selfie.
4. Add art, effects, emojis, and text to your photos and videos by tapping the smiley face, sticky note, and squiggle icons. Tap “Aa” to add text and caption your image.

Image via Facebook

Once you’ve created your finished product, tap the arrow in the lower right-hand corner of your screen.

From there, you can choose to send your image to one friend, a group of friends, or post it to your Day. You can also save it to your camera roll by tapping the download icon in the lower left-hand corner of your screen.

Source: Facebook

You can also add photos or videos to your Day after you’ve already sent them to individual friends or groups. Within a direct or group message, tap “Add to your day” under the image to, you guessed it, add it to your Day.

Does Facebook Stories Stack Up to Snapchat?

At this point, it’s no secret (in fact, it’s become a running joke) that Facebook is trying to replicate and dominate Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc.’s, success. And so far, it looks doable. The Snapchat vs. Facebook showdown is a story of user base vs. user engagement, and the outcome of this social media arms race is being watched closely.

To recap: Facebook started adding filters to the Messenger camera back in the summer of 2016. Facebook-owned Instagram launched a near-exact replica of Snapchat Stories, called Instagram Stories, in August 2016. And in December 2016, Facebook unveiled a new in-app camera in Messenger, featuring lenses, more filters, stickers, and drawing abilities.

If you look at what photos and videos look like across the different apps and features, you’ll see a lot of similarities, like the ones we outlined above. But there are a few key differences, too.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Facebook Stories’ user base is much larger than that of Snapchat, with more than one billion daily active users versus Snapchat’s 187 million as of the end of 2017.

Snapchat attributes much of its slowed growth to Instagram Stories, according to its S-1 filing to go public last year, and there may be some truth to that as well.

For users, Instagram Stories arguably presents a better experience than Snapchat because video and photo ads aren’t shown between Stories as users scroll through their list of friends. This might prompt users to move over to Instagram to view Stories uninterrupted.

For marketers, Facebook and Instagram provide more detailed and more easily accessible analytics for understanding the reach and engagement of ephemeral content than Snapchat. Snapchat’s only metrics for Stories are the number of views and screenshots, and these numbers must be recorded in 24 hours before the content disappears.

… Or Will Snapchat’s Engagement Rates Win the Day?

One common theme among Snap Inc.’s competitors is that all were copies of the original, innovative Snapchat product: an app for sending messages that disappear. And as it turns out, that’s a very sticky idea.

Snapchat was a first mover in the ephemeral messaging space, and its devoted user base spends an average of 30 minutes on the app every day. Additionally, a huge portion of its user base is concentrated in the 18-34-year-old age range, and they could become bigger sources of revenue as time progresses.

I asked HubSpot Social Media Manager Marissa Emanuele what she thought about Facebook’s original Messenger Day announcement upon its launch in early 2017, and she noted that Facebook’s huge user base could be a disadvantage, too.

“The big advantage Snapchat has is that it’s highly curated with only the people you care about,” Emanuele said. “I’m friends on Facebook with somebody I met once in college and my neighbor from when I was a kid. I don’t really want to see what they’re doing every day, and I don’t think they want to see what I’m doing, either.

“I believe the only way that Facebook Messenger Day will be successful is if they have a much more curated version, where users could build lists of people they wanted to hear from,” she concluded.

Emanuele’s point? The massive size of Facebook networks — something Facebook Stories is still on the hook for — contrasts with how curated and one-to-one Snapchat is. Users might be more interested in sharing authentic content with a select few than with an enormous number.

What’s Next for Facebook?

The takeaway for marketers? Experiment with where your audience likes to consume ephemeral content. If you have a highly engaged audience that you communicate with on Facebook, especially on Facebook Messenger, then experiment with Facebook Stories. On the other hand, it could be worth engaging with audiences on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram if you have different active audiences on different platforms.

What’s more, companies are starting to use messaging apps to communicate with customers. Creating content on Facebook Messenger could create a more unified communication approach to customers if you’re already serving them there.

Whichever ephemeral app is your favorite, download the Facebook Messenger update and experiment. We’ll keep you posted on new developments in the competition heating up between Facebook and Snapchat. In the meantime, we have guides for marketers on how to use Facebook and Snapchat if you need help getting started.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear the name “Justin Timberlake,” I instinctively roll my eyes.

And while that sentiment may have caused 90% of you to bounce from this page, please, hear me out: This post is about Google more than it is about him.

It all started when my colleague, HubSpot’s Director of Acquisition Matt Barby, pointed out that a Google search for Justin Timberlake would display the following within the search engine results page (SERP):

Naturally, I had questions. First, why isn’t “none of them” an option? But more important —  what is Google up to? Why is the search engine polling searchers on their favorite new Justin Timberlake songs?

The answer: Data.

What are Google and Justin Timberlake Up To?

Google Wants in on the Data Game

My colleague Kevin Raheja, HubSpot’s director of strategic partnerships, was one of the first to chime in when I began asking questions.

“Think about all the data Facebook has on users,” he told me. “Google is trying to make a play at some of that consumer data.”

Have a look at the search volume for Timberlake’s name over the past 30 days:

Source: Google Trends

If Google does want to begin experimenting with data collection on consumer preferences — in the same way, to Raheja’s point, Facebook has gradually done since its inception — it makes sense to do so by leveraging a high-volume, timely search query. Timberlake is already a rather popular figure, and his name is currently a trending search topic (love it or hate it, people are still talking about his Super Bowl LII halftime show).

But What Data Is Google Trying to Collect, and Why?

There are many reasons why someone might be searching for “Justin Timberlake” in the first place — to learn about tour dates, find videos, re-watch his halftime show performances, or to reminisce about his previous hairstyle choices.

But if you’re searching for Justin Timberlake, chances are, it’s because you have an interest in something about him.

That search query alone already tells Google something about your preferences as a consumer — especially if you use Chrome as your preferred browser and are signed into it through your Google account, which can connect your search history to your Google profile.

If that’s the case, Google now knows that you’re interested in Justin Timberlake — and if you engage with new interactive SERP features like the favorite track poll we discovered today, that tells Google even more about your consumer preferences, like the fact that you even have a favorite track from his new album at all. 

“I didn’t vote because I only liked one album he did back when I was in college, and think he’s good on ‘Saturday Night Live’,” explains Raheja, to illustrate his own level of engagement with this SERP content. “But I imagine most people who vote are fans. Knowing which Google users are, in fact, Justin Timberlake fans can theoretically help Google deliver more personalized ads, based on that consumer preference data.”

(Too bad there wasn’t an option for “none” — I can only begin to imagine what that would tell Google about my own preferences.)

So, Is Google in Cahoots With Justin Timberlake?

I had to ask: Is this something on which Google collaborated with Timberlake’s team? Could it simply boil down to little more than a publicity stunt?

“I doubt it,” Raheja told me. “My guess is that it’s not sponsored and that there’s an intent to collect data,” based on a search query that’s already trending. 

However, it is possible — likely, even — that we’ll see more interactive SERP content like this from Google in the future, including some that’s sponsored.

That could be something that Google is test-driving with this Justin Timberlake poll, to see if there’s potential for sponsored polls from artists and businesses.

But first, Google has to scale these consumer polls, says Raheja — which are, at least in these early stages, “designed to be engaging and collect data for Google.”

Google isn’t necessarily the only beneficiary, however. Consumers potentially have something to gain from this kind of feature.

“For a consumer, it seems fun and innocent to tell Google what your favorite Justin Timberlake song is,” Raheja explains. “Once they warm up to that idea a bit more, I could see consumers voting on things that deliver feedback to businesses or advertisers.”

Even in that case, though, consumers would be submitting some level of data as a byproduct of participating in such polls — and allowing advertisers to gain information on their preferences, or segment them into audience categories.

Google has yet to comment on the feature.

As always, feel free to weigh in with thoughts or questions on Twitter.