Social sites like Twitter, Facebook part of Google's new venture
CNET Jan 17, 08 6:33 PM CST
(Newser)
-
A Google-funded website that uses technology to spread the word about emergencies launches today, CNET reports. The company's charitable arm has put $5 million into InSTEDD, which will use social software like Twitter and Facebook to alert humanitarian groups to crises and organize rescue operations. “Social networking in the humanitarian space, that's something you're going to see,” InSTEDD’s CEO said.
More »
Samwer brothers join Microsoft in social networking venture
TechCrunch Jan 16, 08 12:29 CST
(Newser)
-
Brothers Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer, founders of ring tone company Jamba, have just joined Microsoft and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing as major investors in US based social networking company Facebook. Though the Samwers' haven't disclosed the exact size of their investment, they told Der Spiegel it was "significant," but smaller than Microsoft's $240 million.
More »
Networking site reaches agreement with states to protect teens
Associated Press Jan 14, 08 7:18 PM CST
(Newser)
-
MySpace will add protections to prevent abuse by sexual predators, officials of several states said today. The social networking company reached an agreement with 49 states over concerns about predators contacting children through its popular site. MySpace will also join a working group aimed at developing new technologies, such as age verification, and that other sites will be invited as well, the AP reports.
More »
Portal eyes overhaul
to preserve slipping top-dog status
New York Times Jan 14, 08 2:52 PM CST
(Newser)
-
With Google, Facebook, and MySpace gnawing at its top-dog status, Yahoo is reinventing some foundation applications to make them appeal to a new generation of users, reports the New York Times . First step? Turbocharging Yahoo Mail to make it more a communications hub and less a post office, a prototype Yahoo demo'd at the Consumer Electronics Show last week.
More »
'Scrabulous' application wildly popular on Facebook
Fortune Magazine Jan 12, 08 6:00 CST
(Newser)
-
Hasbro, maker of the classic board game Scrabble, is moving to shut down Scrabulous, a widely popular—and virtually identical—online knockoff. It's currently the ninth most popular application on all of Facebook, with 2.3 million users. Scrabulous’ developers estimate their app brings in about $25,000 a month, about which Hasbro is none too pleased.
More »
New section will offer celebrity profiles, news, and gossip
CNET Jan 10, 08 9:57 CST
(Newser)
-
MySpace is rolling out a new section today dedicated to celebrity news and personalities, CNET reports. “MySpace Celebrity” will provide entertainment news, celebrity profiles, and gossip from People magazine, as well as video content. It will also index official celebrity MySpace profiles—which numbered more than 300 at launch.
More »
Heir loves vampire slayer Buffy on fake site
New York Times Jan 3, 08 5:41 CST
(Newser)
-
Several news editors and internet surfers fell hook, line and sinker for a Facebook hoaxer pretending to be Benazir Bhutto's son and political heir—and an aide for his dad charged that it was part of a smear campaign by the Pakistani government. The fake Facebook site has 19-year-old Bilawal confessing he is "not a born leader" and is a big fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
More »
Tiny software apps boost site traffic
and ad revenue
Forbes Jan 2, 08 9:26 PM CST
(Newser)
-
Since Facebook created an open platform for software developers last May, widgets have won the love of consumers, social networking sites, and even more traditional corporate websites, Forbes reports. Facebook users alone have installed the miniscule applications—allowing them to share music or have zombie fights—more than 765 million times.
More »
Carriers love targeted marketing, but are afraid to tick you off
Associated Press Jan 1, 08 7:50 PM CST
(Newser)
-
With the mobile Internet and GPS location-based services expanding, marketers and mobile phone companies are anxious to tap into a new level of targeted advertising. But, the AP reports, carriers are proceeding with caution in implementing the ads because they don’t want the perception of a privacy invasion to spook customers.
More »
Web giants mobilize to stop developers from 'scraping' their content
Wired Dec 31, 07 4:14 PM CST
(Newser)
-
Some call it “scraping,” others call it “importing.” Either way, it’s a controversial process pitting independent software developers against the titans of the cyber world: Techies compile, or scrape, loads of data from search engines and social networking sites and pool the data on their own websites, Wired reports. Some companies, relishing the increased traffic, love the service.
More »
Privacy advocates wary of site's new icons
San Jose Mercury News Dec 26, 07 5:03 PM CST
(Newser)
-
BlackBerry owners may have noticed a new icon appearing on their devices in the past week: a link to Facebook. Some T-Mobile smartphones are getting the icons whether or not customers want them. Facebook spokespeople say users can still decide whether to download the software, but to privacy groups the unwanted icons spell intrusion, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
More »
Site rolls out new services, expands abroad
USA Today Dec 21, 07 1:10 PM CST
(Newser)
-
Facing competition for buzz and advertising from much smaller but much-hyped Facebook, MySpace has big plans for expansion. The free-form social networking site's founders want to transform it into a one-stop portal where users can check email and get news. The site is also unveiling new services, expanding overseas, and planning to allow multiple profiles, reports USA Today .
More »
So says Valleywag about contrarian
PayPal founder Thiel
Valleywag Dec 20, 07 12:18 PM CST
(Newser)
-
In Silicon Valley, where "like funds like," Valleywag thinks it's important to note that Peter Thiel, "the smartest VC in the world, is gay." Why mention it? Thiel's Founders Fund, which just raised a $220 million financing round, could reinvent the way entrepreneurs get paid, and Valleywag attributes his contrarianism to the fact that he's a gay man in a VC world filled mostly with straight white guys.
More »