Yahoo! Search to Offer an Open Search Platform

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Yahoo! Search to Offer an Open Search Platform Yahoo announced the launch of Yahoo! Search Experience, a 3rd party development platform to enable websites to include more information in Yahoo! search results.This new scheme looks pretty cool and seems to be somewhat of a competing service to Googles Universal Search / Local Search / etc.s... Read More...
» Submit Your Site Do you have a search related site? Submit it free to the internet's best search industry directory. » Click Here Search Engines Google, Yahoo, MSN... Search Marketing Marketing, Budget, Planning... Pay Per Click Bid, Price, Quality... SEO Companies Optimization, Manage, Company... SEO Tools Track, Search, Create... Analytics Statistics, Counter... » Submit your site for FREE « Sponsored Ads At Ask, Organic Results Fold! Google Adds Sitelinks To Websites! Google Drops From Alexa #2 Google Wifi Balloons? April Fools? Google Issues Update To AdWords Policy! More... Click to Play SMX West 2008 An intense situation results as desperate webmasters seek answers to their SEO problems. Why would someone stoop so low to get answers that could be easily obtained at the Search Marketing Expo in Santa Clara... Adding Meta-Data to Yahoo Search Yahoo announced they will soon give websites the chance to offer more data about their site, in order to help Yahoo better structure how the site is listed in search results. Matt Cutts: Google 60 Penalties And Linking Practices Matt Cutts recently responded to a Google Groups discussion about the Google -60 penalty. The penalty sometimes pushes down websites 60 positions back in the result pages. Google Tops Microsoft in Canada comScore reports that Google surged past Microsoft last month to become Canada's most visited web property. This is the first time that Google has been #1 in Canada and everyone knows... More...	Yahoo Pushes for Dissident Release Yahoo originally helped the Chinese government to jail dissidents, but after receiving public blame they now... Read More... Underdog Ask.com Grows 20%... According to comScore data released today, Ask.com had the biggest jump in search queries. By that measurement... Read More... Worried About Google Health's... Following-up a story we first discussed in October, Google has announced the first patients to start testing Google... Read More... Google.org + India = Master Plan Remember when we told you about Googles plans to pledge profits and stock to its philanthropic arm Google.org... Read More... Yahoo! Block Google From Delicious... During the weekend, Yahoo!'s social bookmarking property del.icio.us seems to have prevented robots of other... Read More... Winner of the Google Logo Redesign... There have been a lot of very interesting entries to the little Google logo redesign competition we started. The competition... Read More... Yahoo's Road to War Over the past week I have been keeping the StepForth SEO Blog updated on the events focused on Microsoft's... Read More... More...

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Social networking links from around the web

New customised flockpad for social networking buffs
Business Standard - Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
Internet buffs, students and professionals involved in e-learning, bloggers and members of social networking portals such as Orkut or Facebook can now ...

'WSJ' Intros SeenThis?
Adweek - New York,NY,USA
"This application not only extends our brand and content to new audiences in large social networking sites, but also deepens on-site engagement by bringing ...

Hoover's Launches Business Social Network 'Connect'
InformationWeek - Manhasset,NY,USA
By KC Jones Business information portal Hoover's this week launched a social networking tool it hopes will help make introductions easier and link its users ...

Social Networking Done Right
Marketing Shift.com - USA
Companies Loomia and Prospero have developed smart social networking tools that can teach Facebook a thing or two. Loomia's "Seen This" application enables ...

Imbee Settles FTC Charges Social Networking Site for Kids Violated ...
Media Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
The operators of imbee dot com, a social networking site specifically targeting kids and "tweens," have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges ..

Dave McClure on Social Networking and Web 2.0
By Tim Howgego
He outlined some of the advantages of “Web 2.0″, talked extensively on the use of real-time metrics to evolve web services, developed a history of social networking websites, and highlighted the interesting aspects of Facebook. ...
Gone
Fishing - http://www.capsu.org/gf

Executive Breakfast Social Networking / Enterprise: Register Today!!!
By Bruno
Toronto, February 7th,2008, 8:30 am More and more enterprises are exploring the world of enterprise social networking (Intranet 2.0), exactly how does the enterprise ensure a seamless transition between Intranet 1.0 and Intranet 2.0? ...
NLC Internet Marketing Blog - http://www.nonlinear.ca/blog

Harness the data held in social networking sites
By Maddie Grant
Great comment on social networking - if we can find a way, as associations, to harness all the information that is already held on social networking sites, if we can "data mine" all that stuff, if we encourage our members to use the ...
Diary of a reluctant blogger ;) - http://diaryofareluctantblogger.blogspot.com

Social networking value
By Stephen Collins
I’ve gained immeasurable non-paying and intangible benefits from social networking - meeting people, making connections and speaking at conferences. Without my social networks, these things would absolutely not have happened! ...
acidlabs - http://www.acidlabs.org

5 Tips for Diving into Social Networking
By katya.andresen@networkforgood.org(katya.andresen@networkforgood.org)
Wired fundraisers come in two varieties: passionate fundraisers who happen to use social networking (also known as Web 2.0) tools and people who use these tools who have turned into fundraisers. In order to take full advantage of social ...
Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog - http://www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com/

Social Networking Sites
By biztechnow
Social networking sites such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook are on the decline as users are spending less and less time on these sites. All the main players in the industry all took double digit hits in the last month. ...
Business Technology Now - http://biztechnow.wordpress.com

Digging Into Slowing Social Networking Numbers
By rob_hof
Social networking sites, at least in the US, are seeing a slowdown in both new members and time spent on the sites, according to numbers my colleague Spencer Ante got from comScore. Leaving aside whether comScore's numbers represent ...
BusinessWeek Online - Tech Beat - http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/

Google Revenue Rises, Social Networking Ads Fall Short
InformationWeek - Manhasset,NY,USA
Google CFO George Reyes attributed the 4Q TAC spike to contractual payments to certain large sites and added that social networking ad inventory has not ...

Hoover's Connect: Diving into social networking
BloggingStocks - USA
Hoover's has acquired Visible Path, which develops an enetrprise-class social networking platform. So what makes Hoover's Connect different? ...

Google Profit Dips on Paid Clicks, Social Networking
International Business Times - New York,NY,USA
Google, which struck a deal to place ads on the MySpace network last year says it has had trouble making money from social networking. ...

Dating and Social Networking Domains Go On the Auction Block ...
CircleID - Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada
By DomainSponsor Some of the best domains available for the Internet Dating and Social Networking industries will be available for bidding in a Live Domain ...

Social Networking Ads Suck
By Jeff
[From Techdirt: Surprise, Surprise, Social Networking Ads Suck ]. I wrote about this a couple of days ago. We built both OpenSocial and Facebook applications and what we found is that people don’t use them like they do our other client ...
Venture Chronicles - http://jeffnolan.com/wp

It’s Official: US Social Networking Sites See Slow Down
By Spencer Ante
I just got a hold of the ComScore numbers for US social networking sites, and it ain’t pretty folks. After peaking in October of 2007 with 71.9 million users, MySpace, the leading social network, has seen its audience fall back to ...
AllThingsDigital -- Today's Headlines - http://allthingsd.com/

Breakdown of social networking
By Judy O'Connell
Imagine this scenario - would happen to our social networking endeavours if we all lost connection to the Internet? Some of you may have been following Afterworld, the first television series to be made available on mobile phones and ...
HeyJude - http://heyjude.wordpress.com

Turn Social Networking Contacts Into Affiliate Marketing Customers
By cory
The key is like in all advertising, that your social networking link and all copy with that, must be able to stand out from the crowd of many other affiliate marketing texts and to offer unique and useful benefits in a personal way. ...
Internet Marketing Publication... - http://www.internetwondersezine.com

Digging Into Slowing Social Networking Numbers BusinessWeek - USA

Social networking sites, at least
in the US, are seeing a slowdown in both new members
and time spent on the sites, according to numbers my
colleague ...

Google Misses Q4 On Weak Ad Sales, Social Networking
CNNMoney.com - USA
The Internet's 800-pound gorilla, Google, slipped on economic and social-networking banana peels, reporting fourth-quarter results that missed analyst views ...

Hoover's launches b-to-b social networking service
DM News - New York,NY,USA
by Chantal Todé, Cara Wood Online business content provider Hoover's Inc. has launched a social networking service for the professional market that ...

Social networking strife hits Google profits
PC Pro - London,UK
The company blames the poor results on a failure to exploit advertising on social networking sites, claiming that it is more difficult to serve relevant ads ...

Is social networking fatigue beginning to bite in US?
Siliconrepublic.com - Dublin,Ireland
01.02.2008 - People are spending less time on social networking sites, new figures compiled by US web analyst firm, ComScore, have revealed. ...

Social networking and ads-who's paying attention?
By Ed Sim
One note that many in the blogosphere seemed to pick up on is the higher cost of traffic acquisition from partners and the fact that social networking is not delivering results as expected( read Between the Lines for more) ...
BeyondVC - http://www.beyondvc.com/

JuiceCaster Mobile Social Networking Application launched in India
TechGadgets.in (press release) - Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
No wonder social networking websites are booming in India. Taking this point in consideration Juice Wireless has introduced JuiceCaster, unified mobile and ...

NEXAGE Receives Additional Funding and Launches Next Generation ...
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
PhoneCast Pro 2.0 offers a complete end-to-end hosted solution that meets all the rich media content delivery and social networking needs of media companies ...

Loomia launches 'SeenThis' social application with NBC, Wall ...
CNET News.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
Social news company Loomia announced on Wedneesday that it has launched a new application called SeenThis, which connects news sites with social-networking ...

>

Public Performance in Social Networking
By Joe Suh
As I've used social networking sites since 2003, I always found this interesting. I think it boils down to "social collateral" - when I want others to know about an event I'm attending or a connection I have with someone, I tend to make ...
Digital @ Leadership Network - http://digital.leadnet.org/

Essay #1: Facebook and Social Networking
By tylerjd
The digital media topic I decided to look into is the popular social networking site, Facebook.The first article I chose was written by an author for the Network Journal of Communications. In this article, author Brent Leary, ...
- http://tylerjd.wordpress.com

Dating and Social Networking Domains being sold today in Live ...
By Chief Editor
Some of the best domains available for the Internet Dating and Social Networking industries will be available for bidding in a Live Domain Auction presented by Moniker. The auction will take place at 2:30 pm PST/5:30 pm EST on Friday, ...
Domain Name News, The Domain... - http://www.domainnews.com/

Social Networking Sites Safer Than IM or Chat Rooms
U.S. News & World Report - Washington,DC,USA
1 (HealthDay News) -- While social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook have been singled out as places where teens could face sexual ...

Recruiters flock to social networking sites
Bizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USA
Nina Detwiler was a student at Boston College when Facebook hit the Web, and though she wasn't quite sure what to make of the social networking site at ...

How Microsoft-Yahoo could shape social networking
By Caroline McCarthy
Social networking is one of the biggest and fastest-evolving phenomena on the Web, and Microsoft's proposed takeover of Yahoo will undoubtedly send it in new directions. More than anything, a MSFT-YHOO acquisition will shake up the ...
Webware.com - http://www.webware.com/8300-1_109-2.html

Techdirt: Surprise, Surprise, Social Networking Ads Suck from the as-expected dept One of the questions that
came up last week in Edinburgh was whether or not social
networking sites were really the big moneymakers
they claimed to be. In the discussion, what we agreed
on, was that the social ...

Mixx:
Tech News - http://www.mixx.com

eDirectree Brings Group Wiki Twist to Social Networking
By Mark Hendrickson
A new social network called eDirectree launched today that wants to make it more fun to form groups with people online. eDirectree was founded this past November by Raj Abhyanker, who also founded Fatdoor in late 2006 but left when that ...
Techcrunch - http://www.techcrunch.com

Writerpreneur: Social Networking
By The Writer Mama
Social networking is a great way to build your readership, expand your fan base, and sell your products and services. You’ve probably already heard of some of the more popular networks like myspace and facebook. ...
- http://writersontherise.wordpress.com

Lexington county public library bans social networking sites
The State - Columbia,SC,USA
By LEZLIE PATTERSON - lpatterson@thestate.com Do you think public libraries should ban access to social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, ...

Social Networking for Wired Journalists
Poynter.org - St. Petersburg,FL,USA
As j-schools struggle to keep the skills they teach relevant to the fast-changing media landscape, hundreds other journalists and students have mobilized to ...

Comment on eDirectree Brings Group Wiki Twist to Social Networking ...
By Raj Abhyanker
Our mission is for users to have fun with an interesting new way to build social circles on the Internet. One needs to test concepts to learn what users want, we will iterate to get the feature set right. ...
Comments for Techcrunch - http://www.techcrunch.com

MyTrybe - Connects You to People Who Share Your Taste
By Social Guy
Your personal taste network - your Trybe - is comprised of the people most similar to you in the MyTrybe community. No two Trybes are exactly alike. MyTrybe is a social networking and recommendations website that connects you to people ...
Social Networking Blog - SociableBlog... - http://www.sociableblog.com

How Microsoft-Yahoo could shape social networking CNET Blogs - Cupertino,CA,USA

By Caroline McCarthy – February 1, 2008, 2:01
PM PST Social networking is one of
the biggest and fastest-evolving phenomena on the Web,
and Microsoft's ...

SNS- SOcial Networking Sites
Ok guys, moment of truth. These two social networking sites have been battling it out for a while, but which do YOU prefer?
Sucks or Rules - http://www.sucksorules.com

Social Networking and Responsibility
By mscofino
Whose responsibility is it to teach students about the dangers of social networking (not only physical danger from online predators, but the danger of getting college applications rejected or the danger of getting kicked out of school)? ...
always learning - http://mscofino.edublogs.org

Find the Social Network You Need
There's a new search engine in town and it's going to help you find what you need, a social networking site just for you. FindASocialNetwork is a unique search engine designed to help you find that niche in social networking that you're ...
The Social Networking Weblog - http://www.socialnetworking-weblog.com/

How Microsoft-Yahoo could shape social networking Social networking is one of the biggest
and fastest-evolving phenomena on the Web, and.

Digg
/ upcoming - http://digg.com/

On MocoSpace’s impressive growth rate and mobile social networking
By Krishnan
Secondly, MocoSpace recently went past the magical figure of 2 million users for its mobile social networking service. There is still a lot of scope for improvement as far as MocoSpace is concerned, but you’ve got to give it to those ...
Cell Phone / Mobile Advertising - http://www.cellphone-advertising.com

Us Older Ones and the Need for the Phrase "Social Networking"
By wallen
Most of us beyond our early '20s use a term, social networking, to identify activities that have become second nature to Web 2. In a class I determined that I would introduce some scholarly social networks in order to expand their ...
EDUCAUSE | All Content - http://connect.educause.edu/node/feed

Revenue Growth from Social Networking
By ericblu
We previously discussed niche social marketing including LinkedIn, the fastest growing social network for business networking. Visible Path, which was recently acquired by Hoovers for an undisclosed amount, provides any company with the ...
Marketer Mate - http://marketermate.wordpress.com

Seeking Experience Drupal Developer who has developed Social ...
By kristyb2008
I am looking for a drupal developer who is experienced in creating social networking websites. Please forward samples of your work, plus hourly rates. This is contact work. Upon review of your portfolio, if interested I will followup to ...
drupal.org - Paid Drupal services - http://drupal.org/taxonomy/term/51/0

Video Professor offers Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and ...
By Ramon Thomas
Leader in self-paced computer training combats Internet security fears with the launch of its newest tutorial, Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and Social Networking. VIDEO PROFESSOR-the leader in comprehensive, ...
Online Safety South Africa Blog - http://onlinesafety.org.za

Latest Social Networking News

Mobility, Social Networking and Convergence: The Next Big Revolution
By Arun
In an interview with TechnologyReview, Sandy Pentland, professor for media arts and sciences at MIT deliberated on the kind of revolutionary applications that could be ushered in with mobile computing, social networking and ubiquitous ...
Daily Bits - http://www.dailybits.com

Social Online Networking vs. Face-to-Face Networking
By Thom Singer(Thom Singer)
Chris Brogan had a post on his blog last week called "Social in Real Space vs Social Networking". This theme seems to be popping up a lot lately, and what I love about blogs, bloggers, and the blogosphere is that each of us is allowed ...
SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED - http://thomsinger.blogspot.com/

Social Networking Site Badoo Picks Up $30 Million From Russian VC
By Allen Stern
Number two on Google's list of fastest rising terms worldwide for 2007 was social networking site Badoo. While not super popular in the US, Badoo is growing fast worldwide. Yakov has the details today on a financing round for Badoo ...
CenterNetworks - http://www.centernetworks.com

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MySpace January Newsletter

January 2008 New MySpace Feature: Get Your Face on the Front of MySpace News! MySpace News is now live. Come on by and comment, blog and bulletin about your favorite news articles to millions of people. Click here. New MySpace Feature: Call your friends with MySpaceIM with Skype! Talk for free (yes, free!) with your MySpace friends using MySpaceIM with Skype. Calling is easy. You can even leave voicemails or get your own number and answer incoming calls from landlines and cell phones while you�re online. Get MySpaceIM with Skype today. MySpace Event: MySpace Music Tour Featuring JUSTICE The Spring MySpace Music Tour Features our favorite French DJ duo � JUSTICE! Other artists include Diplo, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, Chromeo and Fancy! Check out photos, exclusive Tour videos, and more! See you at the Tour in North America this Spring! Global Spotlight on Brazil Last month, NX Zero, Brazil�s most popular band, kicked off the official launch of MySpace Brazil with an awesome Secret Show in Sao Paulo. Fans lined up 34 hours early on what was possibly the rainiest day of the year! Featured Artist: JUSTICE With 2007's �, Justice created one of the most original albums of the year, drawing on old soul, vintage heavy metal and French techno beats. This unique combination resulted in widespread critical acclaim and even a handful of Grammy nominations. This March, the duo will headline the MySpace Music tour. Featured Artist: DIPLO For the past five years, Diplo has stood tall as one of the underground's most respected DJs and producers. In that time, he has released a handful of cultishly beloved instrumental hip hop albums and worked heavily with artists like M.I.A . and Kanye West. Along with Justice, Diplo will be appearing on the MySpace music tour this March. Featured Comedian: Michael Showalter Check out his new CD Sandwiches and Cats or see Michael on the road this month with Michael Ian Black. MySpaceTV: Primetime on MySpaceTV Heroes, SNL, The Simpsons, 30 Rock, The Office, 24, Friday Night Lights, Family Guy, So You Think You Can Dance, Scrubs, Prison Break, Monk -- the list goes on! Find clips and full episodes of your favorite TV shows, plus cool movies, MySpace Original programs and more. Your shows on your time. MySpaceTV Primetime. MySpace Music EXCLUSIVE: Featured Channels National Geographic brings you Shark Vs. Octopus, CelebTV covers Dr. Phil visiting Britney Spears post-meltdown. Find new animation, cool cars, celebrity clips, how-to videos, topical news, exercise tips and more in MySpaceTV�s Featured Channel line-up. MySpaceTV brings you the best clips from brands you know and brands you�ll love to find. Facelift Car Loses Wheels Wii Sports Accident Ghetto iPhone MySpace EXCLUSIVE: Artist on Artist with Mark & Samantha Ronson In the spirit of the new year and all things family, we exclusively have an extra-familial Artist on Artist interview between your favorite brother/sister musician duo, Mark and Samantha Ronson. Check it out! MySpace EXCLUSIVE: Artist on Artist with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Marc Jacobs Jennifer Jason Leigh sits down with fashion icon friend (and fan) Marc Jacobs in this exclusive MySpace Artist on Artist interview. Check it out! Check out a few things you may have missed last month! MySpace Secret Standup presents: Chelsea Handler Chelsea Handler performed in Denver, CO as part of the MySpace Secret Standup Series. Check out the comedian and event here! MySpace Impact Awards: International Development Winner Announced: Blood Water Mission! MySpace announces its 13th Impact Award Winner, Blood Water Mission. Read about its commitment to the rescue from disease and poverty that plagues so many communities in Africa. Learn more about the organization and find ways to get involved now!

The Next Social Network: WordPress

Could open-source blogging platform WordPress serve as your next social networking profile? Chris Messina, co-founder of Citizen Agency, thinks so. He’s started a project called DiSo, for distributed social networking, that aims to “build a social network with its skin inside out.” DiSo will first look to WordPress as its foundation.

This could be the next step towards the unified social graph that some technologists wish for. WordPress suits the purpose because it provides a person-centric way of coming online, offers an extensible architecture, and already has some features — such as an OpenID and a blogroll plugin — that can be pressed into social networking service. And its users represent exactly the sort of audience that might appreciate the permanent, relatively public identity that DiSo aims to offer.

Why blogs and not Facebook or MySpace

In contrast to social networking, blogging offers a person-centric way for individuals to come online. A social network like Facebook gives you your own place online, but it’s not really your own place. As Copyblogger Brian Clark recently said in a blog post, “For me, there’s really no appeal in spending a lot of time creating ‘user-generated’ content via a social networking application. That’s like remodeling the kitchen in a house you rent.”

Clark was responding to an ongoing conversation launched by blogger and cartoonist Hugh MacLeod, who proposed that blogging is far more important to him than social networking. Bloggers including Stowe Boyd and Darren Rowse seconded the idea. This growing disenchantment with social networking and return to blogging suggests that in the future we could see a migration, at least among tech bloggers, towards more distributed social networking — along the lines of what Messina envisions.

http://gigaom.com/2007/12/11/the-next-social-network-wordpress/

Latest Social Networking News

Yahoo!'s Not-So-Dormant Social Network
Motley Fool - USA
Mail accounts as a "dormant social network" just waiting to be awakened. Yahoo! Mail is a workhorse. Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Hotmail may be time-tested ...
See all stories on this topic

Social Network Site Benefits.
4Hoteliers - Wanchai,Hong Kong
By Ron McNeil Make your social network earn money for you - Choose the right social network software to design your website, and provide the right kind of ...
See all stories on this topic

Aggregating social network data
NetworkWorld.com - Southborough,MA,USA
There was an interesting controversy last week involving Facebook and Plaxo. Robert Scoble was using a script in an unreleased feature of Plaxo Pulse that ...
See all stories on this topic

imeem Teams With MTV Networks to Bring Expansive Library of MTVN ...
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
... the imeem community can share their tastes with friends and fans on imeem and across the Web. imeem is the first social network to partner with all four ...
See all stories on this topic

South Africa: Ten Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2008
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
It is also reasonable to expect a local rise in "social network marketing", something that may sound as foreign now as email marketing or online campaigns ...
See all stories on this topic

Where is the real Google Reader social network?
By Johnt
In this post I mentioned FeedEachOther, this is a true RSS Reader social network…Google Reader could make my day and take a look at this brilliant site. For more on Feed Each Other (FEO), take a look at my post Feed Each Other : the ...
Library clips - http://libraryclips.blogsome.com

Comment on Facebook: A call for openness by Wikinomics » Blog ...
By Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Decentralization...
Decentralization of the Social Network This is a follow up to Mike Dover’s posting on Facebook: A Call for Openness. […]
Comments for Wikinomics - http://www.wikinomics.com/blog

New Business Social Network, Now Open!
I am sure you have all heard about Social Networking. I am sure most of you have your own page at MySpace.How many of you have heard of Business Social Networking? Have you ever wished that their was a MySpace for Business? ...
Digg / upcoming - http://digg.com/

DrupalDojo.com and "social network"
By add1sun@drupal.org
One phrase that has been tossed out there for dd.com is "a social network for drupal wannabes" but I feel that the Drupal community is the social network for drupal wannabes and making some distinction for the Dojo that requires a ...
Drupal Dojo - http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-dojo

Chinese Mobile Social Network Pica Gets $10 Million Funding
By rali@paidcontent.org (Rafat Ali)
Pica, a Chinese mobile social networking service, has received $10 million in its third round of financing. The round was led by Crosslink Capital, IDG Venture Capital and BlueRun Venture Capital, reports Redline China. ...
mocoNews.net - http://www.moconews.net/

Plaxo, Facebook, and Google go 'open' by joining DataPortability.org

In the wake of last week's explosion of attention on data portability on social networks, (that is, being able to take your data from one social network to the other) there is a huge development today. Google, Facebook, and Plaxo have all announced they're joining DataPortability.org.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/08/plaxo-facebook-and-google-go-open-by-joining-dataportability/

Study Labels Social Networking Types

ySpace commissioned a study of MySpace and Facebook users and researchers identified six types. They also invented a word or two along the way.Some of those words include "mindies," "cheemos," "slash/slash kids," "rudettes," "double dressers," "toystep" and "power pop,":

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/07/myspace.digitalmedia?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Social networking websites have become the hub for the UK's cultural underground, with a new generation turning to the likes of MySpace to make money, collaborate on creative projects and share ideas with their friends, according to a study.

An extensive social networking research project commissioned by MySpace has identified a host of emerging trends and tribes that the website says have previously gone undetected by the mainstream.

Researchers from the Future Laboratory set up a "virtual hide" in MySpace over six weeks, interviewing 1,000 users who explained how they define themselves as part of groups including "mindies", "cheemos"', "slash/slash kids" and "rudettes".

Mindies are teetotal under-18s who follow the teen bands Pull in Emergency, Lion Club and Kid 4077; cheemos combine chav and goth looks (the word is a cross between chav and emo); and slash/slash kids are multi-skilled MySpacers who like to create their own music and fashion. Rudettes follow Lily Allen's rude-girl style.

The study, MySpace 08: People. Content. Culture., also identified "double dressers" - friends who co-ordinate matching or complementary outfits.

Hot on the heels of the nu-rave fad last year, MySpace's musicians are creating their own music genres, including "toystep" - dance music made with plastic kids' toys; and "power pop" - a mix of rock, hip-hop and rave.

Researchers picked up hot tips for 2008 bands, including the toystep band Partyshank, rockabilly band Peggy Sue and the Pirates, and the Glaswegian indie/folk/pop band Make Me a Model.

Future Laboratory identified six types of MySpace user, classifying 38% as "essentialists", who primarily use social networking sites to stay in touch with friends.

Just under a third, 28%, are "transumers" – those who follow new trends rather than make them.

Around 10% are "connectors", who specialise in identifying and linking to cool content; and 5% are "collaborators", who create events and projects online by teaming up with other users.

One in 20 MySpace users get their thrills from "scene breaking" – hunting down new bands and talent online and sharing that through the site; and 4% classify themselves as "netrepreneurs", who use social networking sites to make money.

Future Laboratories also profiled a number of individuals who use MySpace as a platform to promote and develop their businesses.

The underground, hand-photocopied magazine Fever Zine coordinates contributors and subscribers through its MySpace page.

Fever Zine has 5,000 friends and a cult following; editor Alex Zamora said MySpace was essential to help find the new talent that he wants to feature in the lo-fi publication.

Researchers also focused on the fashion stylist Richard Shoyemi, who has secured work with Italian and Japanese Vogue through his MySpace exposure.

"They are essentially buying into me as a person as well as a talent, which all comes from my celebrity status on MySpace.

"I feel in order to expand as a brand it's important to reach out to all; everyone who expressed interest in me is important in my eyes," Shoyemi said.

Slash/slash kid Paul Griffiths started designing and selling T-shirts through the site and now employs three friends. He has sold 10,000 garments so far.

With a talent for self-promotion, 20-year-old Griffiths says he is completely self-taught and that his MySpace business has allowed him to ditch a career in telesales.

"We get up to 1,000 friend requests a day but only ever confirm a small number of the coolest MySpacers," he said.

Social networking sites have evolved beyond their original purpose of communication, said the report, to become "highly articulate, heavily visual, extremely collaborative and creative hubs, which have become for many a vibrant and engaging way to keep up to date with, and comment upon, changes in the cultural scene".

MySpace's "culturpreneurial" culture is part of the maturing of the internet economy, the research concludes, enabling users to collaborate to create, sellers and buyers.

"It is a mass experiment in collaborative creativity and cross-cultural pleasure and enjoyment, where the end goal is a currency of a different, and some would argue far more vibrant, sort," said the report.

"Social networking is entirely about playing, experimenting and redefining our understanding of creativity."

Latest Facebook news

from outside the US:

Enough! Facebook banned in my space
Melbourne Herald Sun - Australia
AFTER banning customers at his St Kilda coffee shop from chatting about Facebook, Daniel Mrocki considers himself a face-to-face crusader. ...

Lots of Toronto faces on Facebook
Digital Media Online - Newport Beach,CA,USA
"The buzz in Toronto this past week is all about Facebook – as of 2pm this afternoon, Toronto has 573355 people in the Toronto, ON network on Facebook ...

Get Hired in '08: Workplace Trends to Put You Ahead
ABC News - USA
Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace that were once exclusively for social purposes are now increasingly being used for recruitment — and that will ...

We're online, but off work to chat to mates and play
NEWS.com.au - Australia
FACEBOOK-addicted Australians are costing their bosses more than $2700 each a year in lost productivity as they chat to mates and play games online, ...

Friend or faux
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
The growing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Second Life has thrust many of us into a world where we make "friends" with ...

Some interesting links

GIPS Enhances Online Communication Experience for Largest Social ...
Reuters - USA
"As the phenomenon of social networking continues to grow, users are demanding superior voice quality as people become very frustrated with poor quality ...

Speakers Announced at Social Event
Web Host Industry Review - USA
The Social Networking Conference takes place in Miami, Florida on January 31 to February 1, which proves to be the most significant and largest of the four ...

eMarketer: Social spending to increase in '08
BizReport - USA
"In 2007, 37% of the US adult Internet population and 70% of teens used online social networking at least once a month." eMarketer predicts that this usage ...