Social Networking News & Articles

Yesterday we reported that Facebook was taking a tiny slice of Google’s pie by adding a webmail feature. Today, it looks like Big G is taking that slice back by adding status updates to Gmail.

This week in web publishing we cover three key areas: social media, magazines and Wisconsin.

Facebook and Google just can’t stop one-upping each other. Late last month Google took a small slice of Facebook's pie by tossing their Social Search feature into beta, but this week the popular social network took the upper hand with rumors of a fully featured webmail product.

"You know that feeling of never quite being caught up? That's called work.”

These are the words of Justin Yuen, the president of FMYI (news, site). His company, which offers a Facebook-like collaboration platform for the enterprise and, strangely enough, adamantly rallies against work, saw some mighty fine numbers in 2009.

The SlideShare (news, site) service offers a cross between PowerPoint and YouTube. Now, it adds branded channels, giving companies, government and other agencies the chance to put their message across for the social Web to grab hold of.

How would you feel if you knew Facebook and Twitter usage at the workplace was costing your economy upwards of 2 billion dollars per year in lost productivity?

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• Gartner Says Social Will Rule The Enterprise
• Twitter Use Growing Fast in the U.K.
• Watch Out For Social Networking Spam and Malware
• Facebook: Our Users Are Aware of Privacy Settings

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• Facebook Name Largest Mobile Social Network, With Twitter On Its Heels
• Very Few Use Their Mobile To Browse the Internet
• Social Networking Use Up 82%
• The Typical Twitter User Isn't Very Active

Maybe you thought social networking and collaboration tools were only for the enterprise. A new study shows, however, that their use in government is also fairly high.

At this year’s annual Lotusphere conference, IBM (news, site) announced the arrival of LotusLive Labs. The new development combines Big Blue's hosted Lotus services with the resources of IBM Research, yielding fertile ground for business-driven collaboration ideas for the cloud.

Why waste all that time creating an account on a website when you can login with one click of your mouse? Such is the beauty of Facebook Connect. And, if we’re lucky, soon the same will go for Twitter (news, site) as well.

Word on the street is that the microblogging champs are planning to release a set of tools that will enable third party websites to integrate Twitter features directly into their websites and services.

Not to be mistaken for Twitter’s Simply Buttons with a new look (the buttons let users on third party sites sign into Twitter), the new features will reportedly allow websites to authenticate users, pull data and publish it back to Twitter. Though it’s true that all these functionalities currently exist, they’re not wrapped in the neat little package that Facebook Connect offers.

Facebook Connect has gained massive popularity since its release in 2008, currently extending to 80,000 websites with a monthly 60 million users. And let’s not forget a recent and fairly significant move from Myspace. Once thought to be the king of social networks, the site bowed pretty low when it integrated Facebook Connect into its Fan Video service last week.

Will Twitter’s upcoming tools catch on? Towards the end of 2009 our fine feathered friend saw an unexpected leveling out in their growth rate, causing many to wonder the site would do next. Perhaps these connectivity tools are one their tricks for an explosive 2010. 

Once upon a time Myspace was the king of social networking and everyone in the land worshipped it for its profile customizability and infamous Top 8 function.

Facebook has long since usurped the throne when it comes to growth and overall number of users, but rather than be bitter it appears Myspace is adopting a familiar adage: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

What we’re talking about of course is Myspace’s recent decision to implement Facebook Connect on its Fan Video service. The service (if it’s not blocked in your region) allows a user to mashup eight music videos. Once a mashup is complete they can utilize the implementation for sharing their Myspace creations directly with Facebook friends.

The idea is that by bringing media from Myspace--now primarily known for music and video--back to Facebook, which continuously lacks in both areas, Myspace will be able to leverage their content and expose it to millions that may not have seen it otherwise. It’s a pretty anticlimactic development if you’re blocked from using Fan Video, but it speaks volumes about who’s who in social networking.

Finally, now partners rather than enemies, it will be interesting to see how Myspace's commitment to using Facebook's technology will continue to play out in 2010.

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• Mark Zuckerberg Says Privacy Is In The Past
• Social Networks Help Raise Money for Haiti
• Facebook Now Allows You To Comment Via Email
• Exploring Tweets: What Twitter Users Talk About

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• Facebook Asks Users To Point Out Inappropriate Content
• Seesmic Buys Ping.fm for Status Aggregation
• Social Networking Sites Prime Targets for Cybercrimminals
• Critical Path Buys Up Shozu

Social Media is a hot ticket for VCs. ShoZu alone picked up US$ 25 million total in funding from investors since its inception. That investment has paid off as ShoZu gets acquired by Critical Path, a provider of messaging services and software.