Average Student Budget

As we all know, in today’s world nothing is free or cheap. To do anything in college, or for that matter in life, you are going to have to dish out some moolah. Even reading costs money! And it isn’t even reading you want to do, it is reading that comes out of a 300 dollar textbook that you could care less about. Though you spent those 300 dollars on a useless textbook, when you sell it back, no matter the condition, the bookstore will only give you 70 dollars. Don’t get me wrong, there are good textbooks out there, but those required classes don’t seem to use them.

In case you couldn’t tell by now, I am a college student, more specifically, I am a student at the University of Texas at Austin. Today’s infographic, for me at least, hits pretty close to home. I am a full time student with a job at which I work 20 plus hours a week, and between the two my free time is limited. With my job, loans, and help from home I am able to pay for college and few extra stress relieving activities. In my opinion, this infographic was a little too generous in the discretionary spending section. Although I will admit I spend more in that category than I should, it certainly is not 40% of my budget. The transportation allotment also seems a little low, but that may be because I drive across town to get to my job. That however, is only my opinion, and if you want to see what professionals have to say about student spending, look at the infographic for yourself.

Women Rule Social Media

Description: This infographic quickly tells us the gender proportion of each social site. An invaluable resource for businesses targeting based on gender.

Social Media Equivalents in China

Our China Social Media team put together this infographic to explain some of China’s Social Media equivalents. Any major categories or companies missing? Put your suggestions below in comments.

Oil Infographic

I appreciate infographics, for the clarity they can bring to sometimes complex information, and yet, we risk losing sight of the fact that while it is huge disaster, there are bigger oil disasters in other parts of the world which are not getting the same attention.

Take the mess in Equador for example, or the one in the Niger Delta.

These are all understandable once we acknowledge that we are enormously dependent on oil to drive our society. It’s time for a change, before we drown in this black sticky stuff we love so much.

Here is an infographic describing the Gulf Oil disaster on one big page. Click on it, to see a BIG version.

Social Media Marketing By The Numbers

Ever wonder how much was being spent on social media marketing? Or maybe which social sites the money was going to? Check out the Social Media Marketing by the Numbers infographic to answer these questions and more.

Top 10 Most Popular Foursquare Badges

Foursquare is a popular location-based social network that keeps track of users' whereabouts. People "check-in" at various locations, letting their friends know where they are and allowing them to find you or recommend places to go nearby. People can check-in at cafes, bars, restaurants, parks, offices, etc.

When users check-in using Foursquare, they can unlock interesting badges based on the places and frequency of their visits. You can unlock the "Gym Rat" badge if you hit the gym 3+ times per week, the "Explorer" badge if you checked into 25 different venues, or even the "Crunked" badge if you stop by 4+ places in one night!

Foursquare Grader measures your "Foursquare mojo" by analyzing your usage and giving you a grade and rank based on your comparison to other Foursquare users. The Top 10 Badges are presented above using Foursquare Grader data.



Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5792/Top-10-Most-Popular-Foursquare-Badges-Infographic.aspx#ixzz1XW2Rax1P

The Overworked American

America's economy has grown 60 percent in the past two decades. Workers' salaries have not kept pace. We could all use a nice long summer vacation—too bad the U.S. doesn't guarantee it.

Are Facebook Users More Trusting?

New research from Pew shows that people who use social networking sites are more likely to make connections with others. Do you buy it?