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How One Twitter User Broke The News Of Whitney Houston’s Death An Entire Hour Before The Press

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-one-twitter-user-broke-the-news-of-whitney-houstons-death-an-entire-hour-before-the-press-2012-2

When news spread Saturday night of Whitney Houston‘s passing, it was the AP who had the first official statement from Houston’s publicist confirming the singer’s death.

But an entire hour before that, Twitter user Brittany J. Pullard (aka @BarBeeBrit) was the first person to tweet the news, according to the below graph posted by Twitter, courtesy of @isaach.

@BarBeeBritt, who resides in Los Angeles and enjoys the Hollywood club scene, as evident by her Twitter feed, tweeted at 4:02pm PST to her then-799 followers:

The tweet only received three retweets and @BarBreeBritt never revealed how exactly she heard the news, but Twitter user @AjaDiorNavy quickly had specific details of Houston’s passing at 4:15pm PST that weren’t released to the public until nearly 24 hours after the initial incident.

Once the AP tweeted the official statement from Houston’s publicist at 4:57pm PST, rapper Lil Wayne quickly expressed his condolences and received 29,000 retweets, according to Mediabistro.

Other celebrities voiced their sympathies as well, but after Lil Wayne, the top tweets went to:

Justin Bieber (15,000 retweets): “just heard the news. so crazy. One of the GREATEST VOICES EVER just passed. RIP Whitney Houston. My prayers go out to her friends and family.”

Nicki Minaj (9,000 retweets): “Jesus Christ, not Whitney Houston. Greatest of all time,” as well as tweeting a vintage photo of the late singer alongside Michael Jackson.

Katy Perry (8,000 retweets): “So devastating. We will always love you Whitney, R.I.P.”

As if there were any doubt, it appears Twitter truly is the fastest news source. Sorry, TMZ, solid effort.

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See Also:

• 48 Years In The Legendary Life Of Whitney Houston
• WATCH: Whitney Houston’s Final Performance
• Here’s A Breakdown Of Whitney Houston’s Finances—And How Her Estate Will Benefit Posthumously

Facebook’s ad revenue may not be growing fast enough to justify a $100 billion valuation. But ads are not the company’s only source of revenue.

Payments are becoming a big deal as well.

Last summer, Facebook started charging companies like Zynga 30 percent of each transaction — like purchasing a virtual good like a cow. (That’s a big reason why Zynga accounts for 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue, alhough that figure includes advertising as well.)

So although payments started as a tiny sliver of Facebook’s overall revenue, now it’s up to about 17 percent of the total.

As companies start to sell other kinds of goods through Facebook, like concert tickets, this percentage could grow.

 

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See Also:

• Facebook Will Make The Fortune 500 Faster Than Any Company Ever
• CHART OF THE DAY: Facebook Revenues Are Decelerating
• Zynga’s Shares Are Skyrocketing After Facebook Revealed Its Addiction To Farmville

Facebook’s ad revenue may not be growing fast enough to justify a $100 billion valuation. But ads are not the company’s only source of revenue.

Payments are becoming a big deal as well.

Last summer, Facebook started charging companies like Zynga 30 percent of each transaction — like purchasing a virtual good like a cow. (That’s a big reason why Zynga accounts for 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue, alhough that figure includes advertising as well.)

So although payments started as a tiny sliver of Facebook’s overall revenue, now it’s up to about 17 percent of the total.

As companies start to sell other kinds of goods through Facebook, like concert tickets, this percentage could grow.

 

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Facebook Will Make The Fortune 500 Faster Than Any Company Ever
• CHART OF THE DAY: Facebook Revenues Are Decelerating
• Zynga’s Shares Are Skyrocketing After Facebook Revealed Its Addiction To Farmville

Meet Brian Lee, Co-Founder of Honest Company at IGNITION West!

Actress-turned-entrepreneur Jessica Alba co-founded a startup called Honest Company, an online commerce site that sells green diapers, biodegradable wipes, and other environment friendly items.

All those baby items are sold under a private label, Kara Swisher at AllThingsD reports.

Alba had a hard time finding non-toxic products, so she decided to create a marketplace for it. There’s been a lot of buzz around the launch of Honest, which has a subscription model, depending on how many baby products you need.

Alba’s cofounder is Brian Lee, who also cofounded Shoe Dazzle with Kim Kardashian, and LegalZoom with Robert Shapiro.

Don’t Miss: 10 Celebrities That Are Pouring Money Into Startups

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See Also:

• What Startups Need To Know Before They Think About Their Exit
• A VC Explains The Six Things You Should Know Before Sitting Down With Him
• 11 Rising Tech Stars To Watch In 2012