Yahoo and Google will Turn E-Mail Into a Social Network

Google and Yahoo are moving to to turn their e-mail systems and personalized home page services (iGoogle and MyYahoo) into social networks.

Web-based e-mail systems already contain much of what Facebook calls the social graph — the connections between people. Yahoo and Google realize that they have this information and can use it to build their own services that connect people to their contacts.

Joe Kraus, who runs Google’s OpenSocial project, he said: “We believe there are opportunities with iGoogle to make it more social.”

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Microsoft Pays $240 Million for 1.6% Stake in Facebook

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it will pay $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook, which puts a $15 billion valuation on the less than four-year-old online social network.

Microsoft also sells online ads for Facebook.

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Woman sues Facebook over Unwanted Text Messages

An Indiana woman has sued online social network Facebook, claiming the company is profiting when its users mistakenly send unwanted text messages to mobile phones whose numbers previously belonged to other consumers, the Associated Press reported.

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Hiring managers use social networking sites to screen job candidates

A CareerBuilder survey of 1,150 hiring managers in 2006 found that 12% of the respondents said they have used social networking sites to screen job candidates. Of these hiring managers, 63% said they did not hire the person based on what they found.

So, be careful what you post on those site :)

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Kickapps, social media platform now integrates with Joomla

KickApps, social media platform, announced the integration of the community-building platform with one of the industry’s most commonly used open source content management systems (CMS),
Joomla! Developers and web publishers using Joomla CMS can now easily integrate their KickApps powered communities with their existing websites to fuel audience growth and engagement via social networking, user-generated content, programmable video, and Widgets for content syndication.


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KickApps Enables Web Video on iPhone

KickApps Corp., which provides white-label, hosted social networking capabilities to corporate Web sites, announced Monday that any video uploaded to its sites is now viewable on the Apple Inc. iPhone mobile device.

The company said that the latest version of its social networking platform, introduced Monday, automatically converts all uploaded videos to the format that can be read by Apple's Safari web browser.

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Justin Timerlake Concert online

HBO recently launched a Social Media contest to promote their upcoming Justin Timberlake concert on 9/3. The KickApps-powered site invites anyone to upload a video about why they’re JT’s biggest fan.

The winner will get a free 52? HDTV, so do it yourself and tell a friend.

The site looks great, by the way.

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MyRide.com New Online Auto Community powered by KickApps

Autobytel Inc. is welcoming consumer participation in the new online auto community available at http://community.MyRide.com. Featuring original editorial and user-generated content such as video, audio podcasts, photos, blogging and message boards, this new community is designed to give consumers unique opportunities to express their opinions on - and love for - all things automotive. The MyRide.com Auto Community is part of MyRide.com, the world’s first fully-integrated automotive vertical search experience.

In the MyRide.com Auto Community, consumers are already building and joining communities around the automotive topics they are most passionate about – from Hot Rods and Classics to Driving Green - thus enabling user-generated content to play a key role in the evolution and growth of MyRide.com. By also giving consumers the opportunity to participate via surveys, polls, reviews and ratings, the community can help inform future car buying and ownership decisions for the millions of people who are expected to use MyRide.com.

“The MyRide.com Auto Community is not just for those who are knowledgeable about cars,” said Jim Riesenbach, president and CEO, Autobytel. “It is an interactive destination for people who simply love their cars to swap stories, whether through sharing photos and videos or by blogging about their experiences. We expect it to evolve to become the best meeting place online for consumers to express their opinions about anything and everything automotive.”

The MyRide.com Auto Community is powered by KickApps’ social media platform. This Auto Community marks a bold step by one of the largest automotive marketplaces to integrate social media functionality deeply into its user experiences. Ultimately, the plan for the platform is to span beyond the company’s core sites, powering localized rich-media communities for the thousands of car dealers, prospective buyers and auto enthusiasts that comprise Autobytel’s expanded network.

“Our collaboration with Autobytel demonstrates the ease with which social media can be deployed and the breadth and robustness of the KickApps Platform,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps Corporation. “As seen with MyRide.com, social media is an extremely powerful tool for online brands and publishers of all sizes to grow and engage their audiences.

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Latest Facebook rumors: IPO, IPO, IPO

Facebook filling out for an IPO? The company is growing , doing $100 millions in revenues, and has powerefull advertising clients.

Here is the link from Facebook job postings

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Social networking sites to overtake porn sites

According to Hitwise, in America, the proportion of site visits that are pornographic is falling and people are flocking to sites categorized ""net communities and chat" chiefly social-networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook.

Traffic to such sites is poised to overtake traffic to sex sites in America any day now.

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KickApps launches a new release of the KickApps platform

On the morning of Friday, May 18, KickApps launches a new release of the KickApps platform designed to make social community easier to manage and to make members’ experiences more fun.

It includes improved page usability and navigation, site performance, message board updates, improved advertsing options.

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Facebook plans to allow embed widgets.

Facebook plans to allow its users to embed widgets from third-party providers, Wired reported, citing an unnamed source.
Rival MySpace has drawn criticism from some for banning third-party widgets from certain companies including a high-profile widget from Indie911and Photobucket.

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MySpace Blocks Photobucket Videos and Images

MySpace has started to block its users from uploading videos hosted by Photobucket, which also hosts many of the images posted by MySpace users.

MySpace previously blocked third-party content from sites including Revver, Stickam and Vidilife.

"We are not happy about this and we're pretty sure you're not happy either," Photobucket said in a company blog post.

Run your own MySpace or YouTube

KickApps Corporation today announced the launch of KickApps Version 2.0 (KickApps 2.0), a hosted platform designed to quickly and easily add social media experiences to any Web site. Unlike other platforms, KickApps provides sites of all sizes with a full range of building blocks that include user-generated content, social networking, video players, Web cam applications, Widget-building, media/member management and reporting.

KickApps 2.0 is the only social media platform offering three levels of customization. Consumers can use KickApps’ preconfigured set of building blocks to quickly create social media-enhanced Web sites. Developers can create uniquely branded solutions through the platform’s extensive component library and reach even higher levels of customization through KickApps’ standard APIs.
“With this latest release of our platform, we continue to broaden an already robust set of building blocks necessary to transform existing destinations into live community-oriented open portals,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “Very quickly these building blocks will be thought of as core elements for all Web sites rather than optional add-ons.”
Specific enhancements to KickApps 2.0 include:
Premium Player Widget – The fastest way to deploy programmable video players on any Web site.
Video Enabled Message Boards and Private Messaging – Members can post text, audio and video messages on community message boards and in private messages to peers.
New Widgets – 25 new Widget options are now available, including Forum, Slideshow, 3D Cubes and a variety of HTML-based List Widgets.
One-Click Home Page – Anyone can create their own community site with one click.
Updated Member Profiles and Roles – Community members can be designated “editors” to enable them to view and approve media.
Webcam Video Upload – Members can instantly post videos with no editing skills or software required.
Advanced Tagging and Categories – Sites create their own tag and category hierarchy for selective display media and members.


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YouTube Wrongful Viacom Copyright Claims

The YouTube's filmmaker page bore a notice that said: "This video has been removed at the request of copyright owner Viacom International because its content was used without permission."

"That note said to anyone looking for my trailer that I violated someone's copyright. And that isn't true. That's where they defamed me," filmmaker said.

Viocom said it regrets its errors.

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Judge Dismisses Online Predator Suit Against MySpace

A federal judge has granted MySpace's motion to dismiss charges of negligence, fraud and negligent misrepresentation filed by the family of a girl from Austin, Texas who was assaulted by a man she met on the website, Reuters reported.

"To ensure that Web site operators and other interactive computer services would not be crippled by lawsuits arising out of third party communications, the Act provides interactive computer services with immunity," Judge wrote in his ruling.

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