LinkedIn, CNBC Buddy Up

...using social media, of course

(NEWSER) - Not fun: Being stuck next to a super-chatty traveler or big drinker on a long flight when all you want to do is sleep. The modern-day solution: Forget earplugs, just book on KLM, which will next year launch a service called "meet and seat." The move will allow passengers to share their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles with the rest of the flight's passengers, and then choose their own seatmates based on whomever seems the best match, reports the Telegraph . More»

Market hungry for social networking companies

(NEWSER) - LinkedIn had its IPO today, and there was an investor feeding frenzy before the bell had even rung. The shares wound up opening at $83, an 84% premium on their $45 offering price, the Wall Street Journal reports. They're currently trading at around $105—having peaked this morning at $122. It’s the biggest Internet IPO since Google, and has raised fears that investors are buying into a new tech bubble. More»

Vin Diesel, Linkin Park have a lot more friends than you do

(NEWSER) - We know Lady Gaga and President Obama have plenty of fans (more than 10 million, though the leader of the free world actually trails the singer). Here are some other surprising social media mavens, singled out by Time , along with their number of fans (as of Thursday) and a taste of the tidbits they disseminate:

1. Vin Diesel, second to Gaga with 10.7 million fans (seriously): "I got a sexy feeling about this summer... GRRR... "

New social media still fixated on the original

(NEWSER) - Everybody's eager to talk about the social media "revolution." But you know what the social media conversation mostly focuses on? Old media, particularly TV. Just ask Simon Dumenco, who analyzes Twitter data every week for Advertising Age . “Old media still rules our lives,” he writes. “Pay attention to what's really being talked about en masse on Twitter and chances are pretty good it relates to what's on TV.” More»

Facebook isn't happy, fights back

(NEWSER) - A new site promises to set people free from the chains of social networking, and Facebook is not amused. The site, Web 2.0 Suicide Machine , is designed to permanently remove people's accounts from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn. (See the video for details.) It proudly claims nearly 900 users, 58,000 unfriended friends, and 230,000 de-tweeted tweets. And now it also has a cease and desist letter from Facebook. More»