Open up your mind and say, ahh...

The Social Analyst is a column by Mashable Editor-at-Large Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space.

It’s safe to say that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has had a pretty awful couple of weeks.

When AT&T announced its blockbuster acquisition of T-Mobile, it seemed as if a fundamental shift in the wireless market was inevitable. Even with opposition from Sprint, many assumed AT&T’s strategic planning and lobbying dollars would win it approval for the $39 billion deal.

All of AT&T’s plans are out the window now, though.

Late last month, in a surprisingly swift move, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to block the deal. The DoJ filed a civil antitrust lawsuit backed by the FCC, drastically reducing the chances that the wireless giant could complete the merger.

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom (parent company of T-Mobile USA) quickly moved to downplay the decision, claiming that they were “confident that this merger is in the best interest of consumers and our country, and the facts will prevail in court.”

Since then, two more parties have gotten involved on each side of the debate. On one side, 15 Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Obama urging his administration to resolve its concerns about the deal and “approve the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA.”

On the other side, seven states this week joined the Department of Justice lawsuit. California, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington are now parties to the case. Their entry doesn’t bode well for AT&T.

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The Possibilities

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At this point, there are four potential outcomes for this case:

1. DoJ wins its case and blocks the AT&T merger.

2. AT&T wins its case and the merger moves forward.

3. AT&T withdraws its acquisition before a decision is rendered.

4. AT&T and the DoJ settle the case, and the merger moves forward with conditions.

Of the four, #2 is the most unlikely. The DoJ doesn’t like picking antitrust fights it cannot win, and AT&T would definitely have to find creative ways to convince a judge that a T-Mobile acquisition wouldn’t hurt competition. Outcome #1 is also unlikely — we believe that AT&T would withdraw its acquisition before suffering an embarrassing defeat in court.

That leaves either a settlement or a withdrawal of its acquisition. It’s clear at this point that AT&T is hoping to find some way to settle with the DoJ to get the deal done. “We have been and remain interested in a solution that addresses the DOJ’s issues with the T-Mobile merger,” AT&T said in a statement when the news broke of the seven states joining the DoJ’s case.

In the end, this could all be posturing by the DoJ to get concessions out of AT&T before approving the deal. More likely though, this is the DoJ putting its foot down on a deal that many (including me) believe to be bad for consumers.

AT&T’s arguments that the deal will not hurt competition sounds like convoluted drivel from desperate spin doctors. One of the company’s big arguments — that the merger would bring 4G LTE coverage to rural areas faster — was quickly destroyed after a leaked letter revealed AT&T could make the same 4G LTE upgrades for $3.8 billion, a fraction of the cost of T-Mobile.

The bottom line is this: The merger is anti-competitive no matter how you slice it, and there was no way the DoJ could let this deal pass.

It’s not the outcome Randall Stephenson was hoping for. AT&T is going to experience a lot more pain before the outcome of this case is finally decided.

Start Date: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011
Time Slot: 8:00 p.m. ET – 10:00 p.m. ET
Network: Fox

Description: Simon Cowell’s follow-up to Pop Idol in the UK comes to America. The X Factor is a singing competition show open to solo artists and groups. Cowell, Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid and Nicole Scherzinger are judges.

How It’s Using Social Media: Fox is betting BIG time on The X Factor, giving the show nearly 30% of its entire fall primetime schedule. As a result, the network is doubling-down on its social media involvement. In addition to official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, Fox The X Factor has its own social network of sorts, The X Factor Community. The community site features message boards, groups and leaderboards. Fans can earn points from show sponsor Pepsi Rewards for doing things like signing in with Facebook, attaching their account to Twitter and logging in daily.

How to Follow: You can follow @TheXFactorUSA on Twitter, like The X Factor (USA) on Facebook and follow the TheXFactorUSA on YouTube.

Photo Credit: Nino Munoz / FOX

My local supermarket stocks waxy, tasteless tomatoes from Chile and Mexico and Florida. They even do this in early September, when local tomatoes are delicious, plentiful and ought to be a bargain.

Are they clueless, evil or incompetent?

Perhaps none of these. This supermarket, like most supermarkets, is a checklist institution, one that is in the business of providing good enough, in quantity, at a price that’s both cheap and profitable. You need a staple, they have it. They have flour and salt and eggs and macaroni and cheese. They’ve trained their customers to see them as an invisible vendor, as an organization that satisfices demand. It’s too much work, too demanding and too risky to do the alternative…

They could program the store instead.

Program it the way a great theater programs the stage. No one goes to the theatre two or three times a week, expecting a good enough show. No, we only go when we hear there’s something magical or terrific happening.

Over time, as institutions create habits and earn subscribers, they often switch, gradually making the move from magical (worth a trip, worth a conversation) to good (there when you need it). Most TV is just good. Magazines, too. When was the last time People magazine did something that made you sit up and say, “wow”? Of course, you could argue that they’re not in the wow business, and you might be right.

One of the disrupting forces of the new media is that it makes harder and harder to succeed without wow. Since you have to earn the conversation regularly, phone it in too often and in fact, attention disappears.

Facebook has three-quarters of a billion users and shows no sign of slowing down. Just this week it introduced a very Twitter-like and Google+-like function — “Subscribe” — and it is the social destination for millions of Americans, many of whom still do not tweet and never had a MySpace page.

Yet there are whispers that Facebook’s best days are behind it, and that it could be the “next MySpace” (or Yahoo). As far back as 2010, there was talk of Facebook fatigue. Some teens said they would quit, though they didn’t know where else to go. Now some suggest that those who forgo Facebook may head over to Google+, once it’s out of its closed beta.

In my household, Facebook is still the dominant social platform: three out of four household members use it exclusively. I use Twitter and cross-post to Facebook (which may annoy anyone who subscribes to me on Facebook and follows me on Twitter). Yet each one of my family members spends part of his or her Facebook time grousing about the service. The constant changes, the ever-more-convoluted privacy settings and the surprise interface updates lead to endless frustrations. My wife, in particular, just wants to “post and go,” but recent update changes make that virtually impossible.

The reality, though, is that we often complain about the things we love and use most. No one in my house has requested a Google+ invite. This is not surprising; virtually none of their friends or family — except me — are on Google+.

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Asking Google+

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I spend a bit of time on Google+ each day, and it occurred to me that most of the early adopters on Google’s social platform are likely also Facebook users. So I asked them if Facebook is still hot or not, and why (note: I asked this question before Facebook’s “Subscribe” update).

The consensus: Facebook is running cool to lukewarm. Considering I asked the question in the echo-chamber that is Google+, this response is hardly surprising. But many of the comments hit upon what I see as Facebook’s key faults and hurdles it must jump over the next three to five years.

One commenter said Facebook, which has added a number of new features in recent weeks, is finally “stepping it up” in the face of growing competition from Google+.

Those who still think Facebook is hot did admit that the game may change when “Google+ opens up”. A few hedged their bets, saying that Facebook was lukewarm, but also “sitting at its peak of interest.” I guess they expect Facebook to topple from its perch at any moment.

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Reality Check

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There were, however, some who could see outside the Google+ bubble. Antonio Moro wrote: “Facebook is still King of the hill, very hot, and since G+ started: hotter as it’s pushing new features faster than ever. I still prefer to use G+, but this doesn’t matter.”

There were other begrudging admissions of Facebook’s dominance. Allan Petersen wrote, “I wish I could say “Not” with a straight face. Unfortunately, it’s so much more intertwined with current online culture than MySpace was. And they’re continually pushing updates. I say ‘warm.’”

Many said that despite the encroachment of brands, fan pages and confusing updates, they will stick with Facebook because their friends show no interest in moving to another social platform. The decline of platforms like Friendster and MySpace suggest that what people say and what they actually do may not be totally aligned.

Some like Tom Dignazio said the MySpace analogy is off — or at least years away from being reality. “There is no real sign that FB is hurting any way,” said Dignazio. Others said it’s not a matter of Facebook being Hot or Not as it is “a signal of evolution. Facebook can’t be the bright shiny thing all the time.” opined Shane Rhyne.

Shane is right, of course: nothing remains in the spotlight forever. Facebook is simply not the hot, fresh new thing. But the lack of pure heat doesn’t mean Facebook is going away. Few of us get excited about Sears, but the retail store survives, even in the face of competition from online megastores like Amazon.com. A little less heat, and a lot more focus on what its users want, is probably what Facebook needs anyway.

By Wes Siler, Hell for Leather

The E-go concept is Husqvarna’s idea of the ideal urban supermoto. It’s got an electric drivetrain, a single-sided front end, the daintiest wheels ever fitted to something purporting to be a motorcycle and styling clearly influenced both by Husqvarna dirt bikes and the Intelligent Energy ENV e-moto.

The motorcycle, unveiled this week at the Frankfurt Motor Show, sure is neat, which is why it’s a shame it’s so far from being production-ready.

As far as technical details go, BMW (which owns Husqvarna), will only say the machine weighs 80 kilograms (176 pounds) all-up. That’s extraordinarily light — 4 kilos lighter than the 3/4 size Zero X electric dirt bike. The Zero achieves its trim weight using a 2 kilowatt-hour battery and components that have more in common with mountain bikes than motorcycles. The Husqvarna can’t hope to carry much more in the way of battery capacity (enough for an EPA-certified 22 miles on the Zero), given that it’s equipped with heavier running gear in the form of that two-tube, single-sided front and remote-reservoir Sachs rear shock.

That single-sided front is a neat piece of concept bike showmanship. Two 35mm tubes, as opposed to one larger tube like that of the Gilera CX125, create lateral and torsional stiffness, but at the expense of added weight and complexity. Two sliders, two stanchions, two springs, two sets of valves, two sets of adjusters and two tubes full of oil: Such a setup will admirably resist flex and is very strong, but it is a lot of unsprung weight. On the plus side, wheel changes should be easy.

Despite the clear ENV influence (envy?), the styling is enormously successful at translating Husqvarna hallmarks into something bold and futuristic. Remember the Husqvarna SMQ concept? This new bike adapts its chunky white frame tubes and angular body into something much more attractive. Also noteworthy is the wing-like front mudguard borrowed from the Husqvarna Nuda 900; will this be a new family identifier? The fictional battery pack and (reportedly functional) electric motor also are neatly integrated in a way not typically seen on production electric motorcycles.

At the risk of committing e-heresy, this thing sure would be sweet with Husky’s two-stroke 250 engine in it.

Photos: Husqvarna

A passionate group of Concorde fans in England have been working on bringing one of the supersonic airliners back to life. Retired in 2003, the Concorde was the only supersonic airliner to carry passengers in regular scheduled service. One of the retired airplanes, G-BOAC, was flown to an aviation museum in Manchester where it is on static display. But that wasn’t good enough for a team of former Concorde engineers, mechanics and fans of the world’s fastest airliner.

Colloquially known as ‘Alpha Charlie,’ the Concorde in Manchester has been at the center of a heated effort to bring one of the airplanes back to life. Back in March, a group known as Heritage Concorde was able to get Alpha Charlie off of life support (ground power) and running under its own native power. The official purpose was to get the airplane’s electrical and hydraulic systems working so the iconic nose visor could be moved and repairs could be made to a broken windshield. Of course many hoped it might just be the first step to at least keeping the airplane in working condition and have the ability to power it up during special occasions.  Some even dreamed of it flying for special occasions (read: London 2012 Olympics).

Since March, the team at Heritage Concorde was able to fully restore all three hydraulic systems on board the airplane as well as the electrical system thanks to the help of numerous volunteers including former Concorde maintenance personnel. Alpha Charlie was powered up on several occasions over the summer (short video from the cockpit after the jump) and the group planned on showing off the somewhat operational airplane this fall.

Unfortunately legal reared its ugly head and the project has been shut down.

A strong effort was made to alleviate the concerns of the museum in Manchester, but in the end the Heritage Concorde team was told to drain all the hydraulics and kill the electrical system. The short version is the insurance for the airplane covers a static display, not a living airplane. The museum says its main concern is for the safety of visitors, staff and volunteers. So this week the program was officially ended.

There are other groups working on preserving one or more of the various Concorde aircraft on display including a group in France. Work continues to keep the airplanes from simply collecting dust, but few expect to ever see a Concorde flying again.

Photo/Video: Heritage Concorde

By Raphael Orlove, Jalopnik

Fiat is milking a trend Porsche figured out long ago: When it comes to sporty cars with image, people will pay a whole lot more to get a whole lot less.

Abarth unveiled the Fiat Abarth 695 Competizione at Frankfurt auto show. It’s a racier version of its tuned Fiat 500 series of cars. This is all part of Abarth’s efforts to work its way into the reinvigorated-across-the-pond hardcore hot hatch segment.

“It’s phenomenal, and it’s coming to the U.S., probably in 2012,” Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne said of the car, according to the New York Times. “It’s perfect for there, and we’ll build it there.”

Oh hell yes.

Abarth makes its standard Abarth 500 into a pint-sized road racer with an uprated MultiAir engine with more than 180 horsepower, a paddle-shifted electromechanical transmission with “street” and “track” modes and a few components taken from its predecessor, the 695 Tributo Ferrari.

When you’re at your next trackday, be sure to ask a 695 Competizione owner how the roll bar (which replaces the rear seat), 305mm Brembo brakes, valved exhaust and newly calibrated dampers have delicately improved the car’s handling and road holding. If the owner can’t explain any of that in detail, you have the right to bring the car to the Great Trackday Tribunal, where justice will be levied.

Time will tell if it ends up a nerdcore racer like the ugly/beautiful Megane R26.R or a limited-edition poseur like the Citroën DS3 Racing. But we are happy to see that the exclusive segment of stripped-down, high-speed road and track cars is extending to more affordable fare, like this little Abarth.

So what’s it gonna run? Marchionne told the Times, “about 35,000 euros,” which comes to $52,000.

You just lost us.

Photos: Peter Orosz/Jalopnik

Shane Snow is co-founder of Contently.com, a marketplace for freelance journalists and brands-turned-publishers.

Bounce rates are the bane of a blog’s existence. The higher the number, the less engaged the reader (and the more depressed the blogger). A sticky blog means more engaged users. It means more opportunities to turn them into advocates who then share your content.

The following seven tips will help you increase the time visitors spend on your blog and the chances they’ll return often.

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1. Mix Stock and Flow Content

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According to Noah Brier of Percolate, one key to a sticky blog is having a balance between “stock” and “flow” content.

“Stock” content is the bedrock of a blog. It’s original, typically longer-form content that’s insightful and outstanding. This is what keeps people coming back hungrily for your expertise or unique wit. A clear voice and angle that people can count on is often the hallmark of good bedrock content.

“Flow” content is shorter, curated links and excerpts from related content around the web. Think of it like what The Huffington Post or Buzzfeed do: They take web content their readers are likely to be interested in and put their own commentary on it, linking back to the full text off-site. Without the commentary, you’re just another aggregator; and without proper attribution and linking to the original source, you jeopardize your relationship with the original site (and break copyright law if you plagiarize parts of or the whole post).

This mix between meatier content and quick-hit aggregation helps you to stay top-of-mind with readers, increase your refresh rate and also develop your own reputation. Eventually, the goal of a sticky blog is to get people to stay on the blog, so you’ll notice that sites like The Huffington Post produce more and more original content all the time.

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2. Personalize

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Brian Halligan, CEO of Hubspot, said in a keynote address at this week’s Inbound Marketing Summit, that the “next big thing” in content marketing is optimizing the middle of the funnel through personalization.

When speaking of Amazon.com’s recommendation engine, Halligan says, “It’s eerie how well they know me.” The more you shop on Amazon, the smarter the recommendations become. That in turn, makes you more likely to shop on Amazon, creating a virtuous cycle.

In the same way, blogs that can serve up suggested content to individual readers based on their choices can see exponential retention. Smart widgets on many CMS can do this to a degree, and technology in this area is being developed all the time by sites like Outbrain and SimpleReach.

“Every action someone takes on your ‘site’ allows you to more personalize,” Halligan says.

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3. Let Your Blog Live On, Off-Blog

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The blog is a hub for your content, but social media channels can be spokes that lead people to you. Don’t be afraid to let your content spread. In fact, encourage it.

Repackage your blog posts into shorter bites for Tumblr or Facebook. Share your headlines, quotes or key insights on Twitter and LinkedIn. Pursue syndication opportunities on related sites so you can get your content to stick with new audiences. All of this leads people back to your site, having built your reputation off-site.

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4. Do Post Series

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Want people to keep coming back to your blog? Create some anticipation with post series. Instead of writing a comprehensive, 3,000-word post on the “ultimate guide to whatever,” split it out into bite-sized chunks and release it slowly. This not only gives you the chance to dive deeper into your points, but it also creates the opportunity to get readers to “tune in” regularly.

Take a cue from cable TV: Instead of a marathon, release a mini-series.

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5. Email Your Blog Out

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Many people don’t go out and just read blogs. They stumble into them via social media or other channels. So when someone lands on your blog, you may have a small window to catch them and retain them as readers.

Enter the email subscription. You’re already writing for your site; why not repackage a post a day (or week) and email it out to subscribers?

Place an email capture form on each post on your site. First timers who stagger across your content may sign up because they liked the one post they read, and then you have the opportunity to reach them in the place they do the most reading: their inbox.

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6. Link Internally Like Mad

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You may not remember a blog you discover once through a Twitter link, but you likely will remember a blog you discover and then read 10 posts on. You can increase the stickiness factor of your blog by an order of magnitude if you employ the Wikipedia method of linking judiciously to interesting places on your blog within every post.

Have you ever gone to Wikipedia to look up something mundane, ended up clicking on an interesting link within the page, then another, and all of the sudden realized half an hour has gone by and you’re somehow reading about black holes and time travel? Wikipedia is a black hole itself; its web of internal links gives it amazing sticking power.

You’ll notice that nearly every section of this post has links to other stories on Mashable. Rather than saying, “Oh, please please click here,” the links are seamlessly placed on words and phrases throughout the content. In this way, the passive reader isn’t interrupted, but curious readers can explore a never-ending tree of interesting content.

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7. Suggest More Content

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Similarly to the internal linking tip above, by recommending similar content at the bottom of your posts, you’ll increase pages per visit and the likelihood of gaining a subscriber rather than a one-time stumbler.

Most people read blogs because they either want to learn something or be entertained. Point them toward related resources after your post to keep them going. This related content doesn’t have to live on your site. If you consistently point out excellent content on other sites, readers will come to think of your blog as an authority. Rather than going to a search engine or opening a million tabs to find info they’re interested in, they’ll just come to your site.

Become a go-to resource, and readers will stick.

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Stickiness is one of the best metrics of content’s success. Of course, everything here hinges on the idea that your blog is worth reading. And that only takes time and practice. The good news, however, is that while writing a compelling blog may be an art, stickiness is a science.

Disclosure: Hubspot is a Mashable sponsor.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Auris

Google is creating a social news sharing app for iPad and Android that will compete directly with Flipboard, named 2010 iPad App of the Year by Apple.

The first word of Google’s rumored app that turns social media and news content into magazine-like articles was from Robert Scoble, commenting late Wednesday night on Google+ about what he’s heard from “someone working with Google” about the news-sharing reader:

“Google is working on a Flipboard competitor for both Android and iPad. My source says that the versions he’s seen so far are mind-blowing good.”

All Things D‘s Kara Swisher adds fuel to that fire, saying that her sources have told her the new iPad and Android app is called Propeller, which she calls a “souped-up version of similar reading apps such as Flipboard, AOL’s Editions, Yahoo’s Livestand, Zite and Pulse.”

Given Google’s search prowess and ability to categorize and search various content as well as posts within Google+, Propeller could be the news-reading app of the year.

Let us know in the comments what you think Google Propeller will be like.