About

Mashable is a news website founded by Scottish blogger and entrepreneur Pete Cashmore in 2005. While most well-known for its focus on technology-related and social media news content, the site has also expanded its scope of coverage to
current events, entertainment, Internet laws, startup industry, as well as web and mobile development.

History

Pete Cashmore^[13] founded Mashable as a blog on technology from his home in Scotland in 2005. Cashmore took the name from mashups^[15], or the melding of two technologies. In 2009 Cashmore moved the company's office to New York City. On October 30th, 2013, Mashable announced^[16] Jim Roberts, formerly of the New York Times, would begin as their executive editor and chief content officer.

Features

Mashable features six channels or main topics: social media, tech, business, entertainment, US and World and Watercooler (viral web content and memes).

Social Good Summit

On September 20th, 2010, Mashable held its first Social Good Summit.^[4] The event was held in New York City during UN week and featured speakers such as Geena Davis and Soledad O’Brien. Topics of the panels included "Activating Millennials for Social Good" and "Digital Youth and the Social Good: Opportunities and Challenges." On September 21st and 22nd, 2014, they will hold their 4th annual Summit^[2], featuring guests such as Connie Britton, Michael Dell and Yael Maguire.

Open Web Awards

Mashable held their first Open Web Awards^[17] in January of 2008, though in 2010 the name of the ceremony was changed to Mashable Awards. The first ceremony was held in San Francisco and attended by around 500 people. Awards were given in web based categories such as best meme and best app. In 2013 Mashable launched the Mashies,^[18] which focuses on the use of technology in marketing. Categories included:

• Best Use of Facebook

• Best Use of Vine

• Best Use of Twitter

• Best Social Media Campaign

• Best Use of Instagram, Presented by Olapic

• Best Viral Video

• Best Video Series, Presented by Social Vibe

• Best Use of GIFs

• Best PSA

• Best Branded App

• Best Branded Content Series, Presented by Social Vibe

• Best New Brand

• Best Use of Pinterest

• Best Use of Google+

• Best Use of Real-Time Marketing, Presented by M Booth

• Best Branded YouTube Channel

• Best in Show

• Best Digital Agency

• Rising Star

• Digital Marketing Innovator of the Year

The 2014 Mashies^[19] will be held on November 4th in New York City.

MashableReads

On August 8th, 2013, Mashable announced its online book club MashableReads.^[12] The book club involves inviting the author of the month's selected book to the Mashable office in New York City to discuss the book with Mashable employees, while also taking questions about the book through Twitter.The first book selected for the group was The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman. Other books featured include The Vacationers by Emma Straub^[11] and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris.

YouTube Channel

On July 30th, 2006, Mashable's YouTube Channel was created.^[14] The channel features several different kinds of videos including informative such as the Mashable Explains series (top, left) and Mashable News (top, right) as well as entertaining videos such as the Too Long, Didn't Watch series (bottom, left) and LOL Mashable (bottom, right).

As of August 2014, the channel has gained over 120,000 subscribers.

Social Media Presence

As of August 2014, Mashable's main Twitter account^[5] has gained over 4.2 million followers. The site also manages Twitter accounts for each of their verticals including Watercooler^[6], Tech^[7] and Business.^[8] Its Facebook account^[9] has gained over 2.7 millions likes, and its Instagram account^[10] has gained over 80,000 followers.

Traffic

As of August 2014, Mashable^[4] is the 98th most popular website in the United States, with over 36% of the traffic coming from the United States and over 12% coming from India.

Search Interest

External References