RipLounge

Social networking can be great fun if you're careful

2009-10-01T22:05:00.000+01:00

The FBI recently announced that there has been an increase in the number of hacked social networking accounts.

Social networking profiles are getting hijacked with increasing frequency, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The FBI made sure to mention that social networking sites are generally safe, but that it might also be a good idea to exercise a little caution when visiting them. This could be good advice to follow no matter what sort of site you use.

The Feds say that you should consider: adjusting your privacy settings, carefully choosing whose friend requests you accept, limiting access to your profile and not clicking on any old link that seems like it might be interesting.

They also say that one popular scam involves online dirtbags planting dangerous software onto people's computers. This will send out a spam message to all of those people's online friends and their computers could be infected with a virus that steals passwords as a result.

If you think your profile might have been hacked, the FBI says you should go to the IC3 website.

New online dating site features personality assessment

2009-10-01T21:49:00.000+01:00

A new online dating site launched on October 1 and it says it's taking dating back to the basics.

Guys And Girls Next Door (GND) is based in Seattle and wants to provide singles with a different sort of internet dating experience. It aims to do so by combining elements of regular dating with personality evaluations, feedback and coaching.

'Our goal is for all our members to find committed relationships based in authenticity, honesty and self-awareness,' said GND co-founder Angel Cruzado. 'Our philosophy focuses on self-discovery: the more you know yourself - what you want, how others perceive you - the easier it is to successfully find a long-term connection. We help our members meet like-minded, compatible people.'

On GND, you have a choice of two membership options: Group Membership and Individual Membership. Group features events like social mixers and Individual offers one-on-one discussions with GND staff to help you improve your dating skills.

Until October 31, you can become a member for free, although you'll be asked to pay an initiation fee of $50. Starting in November, participating on GND will cost $75 per month.

Social networking site has all the answers

2009-10-01T20:42:00.000+01:00

A young woman recently launched her own group on a popular social networking site and she says that she's now ready to help people around the world.

Kimberly Clo is the creator of a DVD entitled Now You Know How To Blow Dry Your Hair and she's just created her own fan page on Facebook that's meant to provide further support.

'I know from personal experience that in most salons, stylists don't typically have the time to answer all of the client's questions about styling their hair at home,' said Clo. 'This feels like the best way to help people really get the answers they are looking for; instead of reading a magazine article that may or may not apply to them.'

Clo's group is called 'Bad hair days SUCK and their days are numbered!' She encourages everyone to join.

Clo can also teach you how to smoothen and straighten your hair as well as give it more body and bounce, according to her website. Of Clo's services, American country singer-songwriter Sara Evans said, 'I've never had a blowout done to my hair the way Kimberly Clo can do it.'

Social networking site chooses Intelius to run its searches

2009-09-30T22:11:00.000+01:00

A social networking website has just announced that for the first time since its launch, its searches will be powered by an outside company.

Friendster has decided that Intelius, an information commerce company, should run its searches from now on. The new Intel-powered search bar will be located at the top of every Friendster web page.

'We're excited to work with Intelius on this important feature as it will bring a more robust and comprehensive search experience to our community,' said Friendster's VP of sales Aaron Barnes. 'It allows over 115 million Friendster users to find and connect with one another, and our users can even find people from across the web.'

Friendster says that it is a top global website. It bases this claim on the amount of traffic the site has seen since it was founded in 2002.

Intelius offers a variety of services, including background checks, employment screening and identity theft prevention. According to the internet marketing research company comScore, the Intelius website is in the top 100 of most trafficked locations on the internet.

Digitize your money for Facebook gaming

2009-09-30T21:43:00.000+01:00

An alternative payment platform has introduced a new way for gamers to spend their money on social networking websites.

Offerpal Media is a virtual currency company. Rixty describes itself as an alternative payment platform. Together, the two have developed a solution for social networkers who don't have credit or debit cards but want to spend their money on online games anyway. You take your cash to Coinstar, the kiosk gives you a voucher and then you go online and start spending.

'We are very excited to partner with Offerpal and give game developers access to the $3 billion in coins that Coinstar sorts each year,' said Rixty CEO Ted Sorom. 'Offerpal has created an extremely easy way for online publishers to facilitate payment by their users, and Rixty extends this functionality by giving users a way to capture the value of their idle coins for virtual goods and currency purchases.'

Rixty says that many Massively Multiplayer Online game publishers already use its system. The company also says it plans to expand its network in order to further support online publishers.

Offerpal Media is headquartered in Fremont, California and claims it has served more than 115 million consumers to date.

Facebook game company continues to grow

2009-09-30T21:40:00.000+01:00

A company that thought to combine the world of social networking with the world of video games was apparently on to something, as its growth is reportedly explosive.

Zynga is the company that developed FarmVille, Zynga Poker (obviously), Mafia Wars, YoVille, Vampires and a few others. The San Francisco-based operation just announced that it has quadrupled its monthly users over the past six months.

'The rise in social gaming reflects the immense popularity of Facebook and the need for people to connect, play and express themselves with others,' said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus. 'While it is still early in social gaming, the success of our games with the user community underscores the sheer size and potential of this new movement which will finally let fun become the biggest way people interact.'

Last April, Zynga says it had 30 million people playing its games. By September 30, that number had grown to 129 million. About 34 million people all over the world play a Zynga game every day.

Zynga games are available on MySpace, Bebo, Hi5, Friendster and several other sites too.

New social networking service allows trade show exhibitors to communicate with customers

2009-09-30T21:14:00.000+01:00

Virtual Press Office (VPO) is an online trade show news distributor that is now taking advantage of social networking.

VPO recently announced EventBuzz, its new service that lets exhibitors follow social media conversations that could have an impact on their businesses. The monitoring system will cover communication taking place on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

'Social media measurement is all about listening, and based upon what you learn, responding in an appropriate manner,' said VPO's CEO Peter Brand. 'EventBuzz will allow companies to get real-time market feedback on products, technologies, competitors, and people with the added advantage of being able to respond in real-time.'

EventBuzz becomes available on October 1 for any trade show or corporate event in the world. The service costs $399 and allows individuals to monitor up to 10 keyword searches.

VPO was established in 1996 and says it has changed the way exhibitors and the media communicate by offering its online press office. The company claims it provides 400 events with support.

Online dating site for the disabled

2009-09-30T20:53:00.000+01:00

A new online dating website recently launched and its services are designed for people with disabilities.

Disabledates.com is a free dating website that caters to men and women who have disabilities. The site also functions as a regular social networking platform, as users can meet friends there too. Furthermore, able-bodied people can join if they would like to meet people with disabilities. The site says all of its members must be committed to respecting other users.

'We are very pleased with the look and features of the site,' said William Banks, the website's founder. 'The site has been a goal of mine for some time as a person with a disability I have found it most challenging to find a great dating site. Being a web developer I decided to take matters into my own hand and develop a custom site for people like myself.'

Though the site is free at first, this is for a limited time only. After 90 days, users are asked to begin a paid subscription. Disabledates.com intends to connect people with disabilities from all around the world.

Online Dating Site Launches Free Video Chat

2009-09-29T22:04:00.000+01:00

An online dating website recently announced that it has launched a video feature that it says will reduce first date anxiety.

SweetLuck.com is a free online dating and social networking website that goes beyond simple profile images and allows users to take advantage of digital video.

This isn't the first time a website has incorporated video into its service, but normally the resolution of the clips isn't very good.

'Our team took that into account and really pushed and pulled our resources together until we got it right,' said SweetLuck CEO Martin Encarnacion. 'Our site prides itself in being one of the few in the market to have successfully rolled out this new feature and thereby enriching the experience of our vibrant social networking and dating community.'

The free video chat feature has reportedly been tested and retested, and with a broadband connection users can get good quality video without any delay.

According to a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association and comScore, an internet marketing research company, online dating will be a $932 million industry by 2011.

Facebook involved in a good cause

2009-09-29T21:59:00.000+01:00

Intel had a contest on its Facebook page in which nonprofits could compete to win advertising for their projects and a deserving organization won.

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is the largest nonprofit in the U.S. that focuses on curing Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne). Patricia Furlong is PPMD's CEO and she is happy to say that her nonprofit will receive $50,000 in co-branded advertising with Intel and Facebook.

'PPMD is a relatively small organization focused on a rare disease,' said Furlong. 'We don't have hundreds of thousands of supporters, but we have some of the most devoted families and friends you could ask for.'

Furlong said that she was inspired to see such a big name offer support to a nonprofit organization, especially since she says the current economic climate has forced many companies to neglect their corporate social responsibilities.

Duchenne is reportedly the most common form of muscular dystrophy in children. It is a progressive and fatal muscle disorder that affects boys and young men. People who suffer from this unfortunate condition often experience a decline in respiratory and cardiac function.

Jesse Eisenberg to play social media magnate

2009-09-28T21:56:00.000+01:00

There's a movie that's going to be made about the creation of a popular social networking site and Jesse Eisenberg from The Squid and the Whale and Adventureland got the lead.

The Social Network is a movie about Facebook that's in pre-production and expected to be directed by David Fincher, the man whose IMDB profile includes Benjamin Button, Fight Club and Se7en. Eisenberg is going to play Mark Zuckerberg, the 25-year-old millionaire founder of the site, according to MTV.com.

The story starts off with Zuckerberg and his pal Eduardo Saverin at Harvard hacking into the university's computer system to create a database of all the school's women, said the website. Although they were almost expelled for the offense, it did give birth to the foundation of Facebook.

Justin Timberlake will make an appearance in the film as Sean Parker, the young man who co-founded Napster and was the founding president of Facebook. Eisenberg told MTV that parts of The Social Network would be filmed on location at Harvard some time in November. He says he isn't sure how much Facebookers will like the movie, as it's 'very adult.'

Ghostface Killah to perform at MySpace show

2009-09-25T22:23:00.000+01:00

A member of the illustrious Wu-Tang Clan is going to perform at a show held by a popular social networking website.

Dennis Coles, better known as Ghostface Killah, is going to be at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City on September 30 for MySpace's concert series entitled THE RELEASE. Ghostface is originally from Staten Island, which he and the rest of Wu call Shaolin, and has released critically acclaimed albums including Ironman and Fishscale in between collaborations with the rest of the Clan.

The rapper's next album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, will be released on September 29, according to AltSounds.com. It will feature artists such as John Legend, Fabolous, Lloyd, Estelle and others.

Ghostface's MySpace page says that he will be in Georgetown, DC the night after the MySpace show for a performance sponsored by Adidas. The show will be held in the shoe company's store on Wisconsin Avenue and it begins at 5 p.m. The first single from the rapper's new album is called Baby and features Raheem DeVaughn.

New social networking site addresses three basic needs

2009-09-25T21:45:00.000+01:00

There is now an online dating website that combines three things that most people can't get enough of.

YouLoveMe.com is a site that incorporates the concepts of dating, social networking and revenue sharing. Don't worry, it's not as sleazy as it sounds because the website uses some of the money for a good cause.

Members get paid by uploading photos and videos and also by making more friends and writing blog entries. Each month PayPal makes a deposit into your account, depending on how much you have contributed (you have to be a top active member).

Once the deposit has been made, you're told that the site will make a donation in your name to Child Fund International. If you'd prefer a donation be made to a different charity, it is your responsibility to choose one so the website can make its donation. See? It's actually a really nice idea.

YouLoveMe.com was created by a Rutgers engineering graduate and the site is currently looking for angel investors. It is based in New Jersey.

UK dating website expands overseas

2009-09-25T21:38:00.000+01:00

A dating service that was at first only available in UK has recently begun offering its services to people living in other countries.

Chatix Dating has launched its new site and this means that millions of people outside of the UK can now access its services. The website says that users now have a better chance at finding someone they like.

Chatix Dating is separated into six chat rooms. Of these, one is meant to be used by Americans, another by Canadians, a third is exclusively for teens and there is a Christian chat room as well.

There are rooms that cater to the needs of users living in particular areas of the UK and the U.S. too. For example, there are chat rooms for people living in Birmingham, England and Ohio.

Chatix invites internet surfers to visit whenever they like. You don't need to register and joining a chat room is free. While Chatix made no mention of how successful its new website has been in the U.S., it did say its service was on a list of popular chat rooms in the UK.

Family-oriented social media

2009-09-24T21:55:00.000+01:00

A free web service has just announced a new networking platform designed specifically to keep family members connected.

Cozi.com says it helps you manage your family life with features like an online calendar, shopping menu and to do list. Now the site is offering the Cozi Family Journal with SimpleShare. SimpleShare will allow family members to customize how their online stories are presented.

'All families have a common desire and need to stay connected with relatives and friends,' said Cozi CEO Robbie Cape. 'But, every family has a different communications requirement and a different comfort level with sharing on the web.'

SimpleShare will allow users to send out a monthly family newsletter and quick email updates for emergencies or big news. Facebook and Twitter can be linked to SimpleShare so that members of all three networks can access certain information.

Cozi will also allow parents to turn their online family journals into a website by supplying a unique URL. This feature is similar to blogging, but the company says its platform is easier to use.

Cozi is based in Seattle, Washington and currently has more than two million users.

Traditional and social media: Leno show gets different reviews

2009-09-24T21:51:00.000+01:00

Almost 75 percent of viewers gave Jay Leno's new show either an A or a B rating, according to a recently published study. But one social networking site wasn't as generous.

Twitter users, or tweeters as they like to be called, did not like Leno's debut, even though it looked like a really good show down on paper. Kanye West was a guest and he spontaneously apologized for his outburst at the VMAs, but that just wasn't enough.

A study conducted by Empower MediaMarketing entitled The People Have Spoken: Comparing Opinions on The Jay Leno Show had mirror-like results with 75 percent of tweeters providing negative responses to the Leno poll.

However, the show's first night ratings were the best NBC has seen in the 10 p.m. time slot since November 2008. Empower's survey included 1,000 participants over the age of 18 and was conducted on September 17 and 18. Upcoming guests on the Leno show include radio personality Rush Limbaugh and actor Hugh Laurie, according to its website.

Thousands of virtual tattoos available

2009-09-24T20:39:00.000+01:00

A company that develops free applications for social networking websites has arrived at a milestone.

Make The Web Better (MTWB) is a company that creates apps that take advantage of the connectivity that sites like Facebook and MySpace provide. The company's main product is My Web Tattoo, which is associated with Tattoodle, an application designed specifically for social networking.

Tattoodle features graphics MTWB calls tattoos that depict butterflies, hearts, flowers and a variety of other eye-catching designs. Now Tattoodle has 10,000 graphics to choose from.

'Tattoo number 10,000 was certainly a big milestone for us,' said Mike Goldberg, head of product development. 'But we're not done yet. Every week, we continue to release fun and innovative graphics.'

The purpose of these virtual tattoos is to help social networkers express themselves as individuals. The company says that it employs world-class illustrators and colorists so that it can offer users a wide spectrum of graphics. Some are very vibrant and glittery, while others are more tranquil, according to MTWB. The company also offers a collection of virtual wallpapers.

Online dating sites keep evolving

2009-09-23T19:12:00.000+01:00

Men and women from different parts of the world are getting closer via online dating websites, and the services these sites provide just keep getting better and better.

AnastasiaDate.com connects men from North America and Western Europe to women from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On September 19, the website launched its new live chat feature that allows hopeful singles to IM real-time.

The website caters to thousands of women across the former Soviet Union and each has a chat window. Prowlers are invited to contact these ladies and watch the sparks fly. The service will reportedly get even hotter, as it will soon get a visual upgrade.

Anastasia was founded in 1993 and the site says it's the industry's leading International Introduction and Romance Tour Company. Millions of people visit Anastasia each year and about 600,000 letters are exchanged on the site every day.

Anastasia works with more than a thousand dating agencies located all over the former USSR. One user named Jerry H. commented, 'You may contact me if you want 100 percent proof, that this is a great website, it's always improving and it is fair and friendly people to work with.'

Social media doesn't have a home in workplace regulations

2009-09-23T18:22:00.000+01:00

A recent survey revealed that many businesses still haven't written any rules about social networking into their company policies.

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) did some research about what happens to people who get caught on Facebook, Twitter or (this would probably be the worst one) LinkedIn while at work.

Seems there's no standard operating procedure for managers who catch their personnel updating their statuses or playing FarmVille. Moreover, employers haven't really been monitoring such behavior in an official way. It's just the sort of thing where someone gets caught and then the boss says not to do that anymore, which isn't even the equivalent of the proverbial slap on the wrist.

When the internet first showed up about a decade ago, many companies foolishly thought that it was nothing special; that it would just go away. It will be interesting to see if these same companies will take a similar approach to the social networking trend. Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again.

Food-book

2009-09-23T17:33:00.000+01:00

A company that develops technology for restaurants in California has just launched an app for a popular social networking website.

GetQuik announced its Facebook app on September 23. The purpose of the app is to allow a restaurant's returning customers to order whatever it was they ate and/or drank last time from the comfort of their favorite networking site.

'Facebook has proven to be a hugely popular destination site,' said Ken Ryu, CEO of GetQuik. 'Facebook offers developers a robust application framework. Providing a Facebook app is a natural extension of the GetQuik service.'

The company says that the app is meant for people who want to be able to get food without having to go through the long, complicated process of leaving the Facebook site, placing their GetQuik order, then going all the way back to Facebook to sign back in and continue perusing the feed.

GetQuik was founded in 2005 and provides technology and services to over 400 restaurants in the Bay Area. The company claims it can help reduce costs by decreasing labor expenses while improving customer satisfaction.

Virtual room app for Facebook launches

2009-09-22T17:32:00.000+01:00

An new application for the social networking website Facebook has launched.

Zorap says that it's the first company to leverage the power of real-time multimedia group engagement. The company says that it's added a new dimension to social networking by offering Facebook users the opportunity to share videos, movie trailers, music videos and YouTube content, which is sort of like saying the same thing four times.

You can also share photos and web content, something that was already be possible on Facebook.

What stands out about Zorap, though, is that it allows you to participate in online audio or video group meetings, which wasn't exactly beyond the realm of the imagination to begin with, but cool nonetheless, especially since the self-described 'virtual room' can hold up to 50 people.

'Social networking and social media are the fastest growing online mediums,' said Zorap's founder Barry Spencer. 'We give people a way to hang out with friends and co-experience the abundance of rich media content available on the internet, as well as private content stored on local computers.'

The private content Spencer mentions is also a nice feature, as Zorappers can interact via group playback of MP3s, AVIs, WMAs and all the rest. If you prefer hanging out in virtual reality, maybe you should check out Zorap. It's about as virtual as virtual can be.

Bring your Facebook pics elsewhere

2009-09-22T17:14:00.000+01:00

A certain social networking site now has over 300 million users, which translates into about 15 billion photographs and a few million videos that one website says users should exploit for marketing purposes.

If you have 500+ friends on Facebook but you just feel like you're not getting the exposure you so desperately need, you're going to love Diditz. The application allows you to convert your Facebook media into other web pages or blogs that can be shared with anyone who has an internet connection. One thing though: don't forget you can make your FB pictures accessible to anyone (users and nonusers alike). Diditz just helps you move them to another location, should you want to.

'Diditz is starting a new trend of rich Facebook applications that add immense value to the existing platform,' said Matt Marshall, who produces a conference series called DEMO that focuses on emerging technology trends and was created by Network World Events and Executive Forums.

It seems many internet users think it's a pain to have to maintain their accounts, blogs and web pages and wish they could just do everything at once. Diditz allows them to selectively share their digital selves and allows them to become searchable so that anyone can enjoy them, not just their Facebook friends.

Texan students could benefit from Second Life

2009-09-21T16:57:00.001+01:00

A university in Texas is experimenting with an online virtual reality site that could help students save money by allowing them access to cheaper education.

The University of Texas is moving forward with a year-long plan to use Second Life to host classes at all of its campuses, according to InformationWeek. The school hopes that its efforts to do so will eventually result in eliminating costs related to the maintenance of facilities and energy consumption.

Dr. Leslie Jarmon is the primary investigator for the initiative, according to Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life. Jarmon, who on Second Life goes by Bluewave Ogee, says that it was hard to find a way to present the idea.

'Challenges for winning this initial 1-year launch included finding the most effective language and concrete examples from within the generous educational community in Second Life itself to craft a proposal that would be hearable by key administrators,' she said on a Second Life blog.

The University of Texas has nine academic campuses and six medical and health science campuses. Each is involved in the Second Life plan.

MySpace blog tells story of Hiero's crash

2009-09-21T16:49:00.000+01:00

A 37-year-old hip hop artist was recently involved in a car crash but he and the other people in the vehicle are apparently OK.

Del tha Funkee Homosapien, founder of the group Hieroglyphics, was on his way to Denver with his friends A-Plus, Zac Hendrix and Bukue when the car was suddenly bashed into by a Ford Expedition.

Del's car was struck in the center/rear, and Bukue says he and the other passengers were projected forward.

'If the SUV hit us from any slight angle we would have flipped and I may not be writing this to you guys,' wrote Bukue on MySpace on September 20. He also said that although no one was too badly harmed, Del was in the back, so he felt the impact the most. He was taken by ambulance for X-rays, which showed nothing out of the ordinary.

A-Plus was featured on the classic hip hop album 93 'til Infinity, which included a track by the same name that he produced. Arguably one of the best hip hop songs ever, it has been sampled time and time again (as recently as 2009).

According to his MySpace page, Del's main influences are The Funkmob and Parliament-Funkadelic.

BAM tweets ticker picks

2009-09-21T15:22:00.000+01:00

There's a company in California that is using a micro-blogging site to release information about the economy that was once only available to financial institutions and hedge funds.

BAM Investor (stands for Behavioral Analysis of Markets) said it would use Twitter as a new business communications platform and the company is sticking to that promise. This week BAM is offering free stock market predictions, and you can follow them on Twitter by looking up BAMInvestor.

The model is used by investors and hedge funds to make predictions about stock, commodity and currency developments. The company says its forecasting is built on quantitative analysis of human behavior and social movements.

'When compared to traditional technical and fundamental analyses, behavioral analysis creates significant value due to its inherent predictive - instead of reactive - nature,' said J.G. Savoldi, the company's CEO. 'This is the first time this new financial theory has been applied practically to stocks, commodities and currencies.'

A recent BAM tweet read, 'The Shanghai market continues to track the model and we expect to see the crash accelerate in China. Our target is 260 into October 8ish.'

New online dating site gets help from Cupid, Ph.D.

2009-09-21T15:18:00.000+01:00

A Pennsylvanian doctor has developed a model for a new online dating site that looks at who you are to figure out who might like you and vice versa.

Robert M. Gordon, Ph.D. is a psychologist-researcher and psychoanalyst who apparently thinks that traditional algorithms are a load of you-know-what when it comes to finding true love.

He has built a model for RewardingLove.com that is based on psychology, personality analysis, belief systems and family history. He and his wife, Alla Gordon (who is also a doctor of psychology), will also be offering relationship advice on the site.

'As far as we know, we will be the only professional husband and wife team, who met online, that will be offering advice on a matchmaking website,' said the good doctor.

Since the site is still new, users can have access to all of its features for free. Naturally, this is only for a limited time. Eventually matches will cost you. A basic subscription will be offered for $9.99 and will include 100 matches.

That's why it's called social networking

2009-09-18T17:12:00.000+01:00

A lot of teenagers are good at internet stuff and like to use that to their advantage, so it's no surprise that social networking sites have become the most exploited weapons in the arsenals of some.

The education company Kaplan recently conducted a survey that revealed 70 percent of college admissions officers in the U.S. have received messages to become friends with prospective students on Facebook and MySpace.

'Social networking has blurred previously-held boundaries, especially among those who have grown with these outlets,' said Kaplan's Jeff Olson. 'We understand that college applicants these days are seeking any competitive edge they can, so may think 'friending' college admissions officers on Facebook will help them. But students need to be smart about how they use social networking sites.'

Olson says that although many of these officers get the messages, they rarely go and explore the profiles. Moreover, depending on what's on those profiles (ahem, seedy pictures), sometimes these few visits don't work to the advantage of the college-bound.

On the other hand, some schools see the trend as a good thing. Hofstra actually goes out and invites interested students to send the university's officers a friend request.

Online dating site recommends the separation of church and dates

2009-09-18T17:08:00.000+01:00

An online dating site recently conducted a survey that generated some surprising results.

OkCupid.com took a look at half a million introductions that occurred between singles on the site and found that when you're looking to pull, don't say you believe in God. In fact, do the opposite, because researchers came across the word 'atheist' 342 times per 10,000 messages.

Another interesting discovery was that online daters seem to be attracted to people with good language skills. People with bad grammar don't get very far, and netspelling (ur, wat, wont, etc.) is a turnoff, too.

The key to successful online dating is subtlety. Physical compliments like 'You're so gorgeous' don't work because only ugly people use them, according to the site. And instead of starting off with a rigid 'Hello,' play it cool with a 'How's it going?'

Sam Yagan, the co-founder of the site, emailed the technology publication Wired and offered the following advice on how to construct your introductory message: 'Be brief. Make a reference to the recipient's profile.'

Yagan's advice is a perfect example of how less really can be more.

Another criminal caught thanks to Facebook

2009-09-18T15:59:00.000+01:00

A teenager from Pennsylvania is in big trouble for taking some things that don't belong to him and his misdeeds were traced back to him through a social networking site.

Jonathan Parker, a 19-year-old from Fort Loudon, was arraigned on September 15. Parker is reportedly a wannabe diamond thief with very little will power. He broke into a West Virginian home, stole two diamond rings and signed into Facebook while there, according to the Journal of West Virginia.

Parker's plan to misappropriate the diamonds and some Facebook time was almost perfect, but unlike the stones, it had just one flaw. See, you've got to sign out of Facebook if you don't want anyone to know you used their PC, and Parker allegedly didn't do that.

The police didn't have too much trouble finding Parker and now he's in custody at the Eastern Regional Jail on $10K bail. If he's convicted, he could face between one and 10 years in prison.

This isn't the first time FB and the man have teamed up. Two kids were recently apprehended in Wisconsin for illegally shooting at deer. A video of them reportedly doing so was found on Facebook and the State Department of Natural Resources took the necessary measures to make sure they never try to poach again.

Social networking is so cool

2009-09-18T15:57:00.000+01:00

There's much competition in the social networking world and sites seem to climax and nosedive quickly because there's always something new.

Twitter has been getting a lot of attention lately, what with its new VoIP feature and the Kennedy family using it to update the public on news surrounding senator Ted Kennedy's death. And even though Twitter has always competed with Facebook, the micro-blogging site now has a rival that mirrors its service exactly.

SOKULE is a new site that does everything Twitter can and more. Some of the features that make SOKULE a strong Twitter competitor include 500 character messages, the ability to edit posts and various multimedia capabilities.

The site also offers an assortment of membership levels. Anytime you persuade one of your followers to upgrade their membership to one they have to pay for, you get a commission.

'SOKULE is Twitter monetized. We've taken the best features of Twitter, added a long list of improvements and applications, and we're paying commissions to members,' says one of the site's co-founders, Phil Basten.

Oh for tweeting out loud

2009-09-17T22:00:00.000+01:00

Today, a social networking website started testing a feature that will allow its members to make short calls to one another.

Jajah is a Californian communications company that launched its free service on September 17, according to Computerworld. It's called Jajah@call and it allows tweeters to have two-minute conversations with others, whether the individuals are acquaintances or not.

People interested in using the service will need to be registered users of both Twitter and Jajah. Both computers and smartphones will support the new feature.

To start a voice chat session (sounds a little redundant, but that's what it's called), tweeters will type @call@ and then a username. The two-minute time limit might eventually be extended, according to the New York Times.

Jajah is apparently a trustworthy name, as the Times says the company already operates an internet calling service that's used by tens of millions of people.

The Boston-based company Vivox, whose business is similar to Jajah's, recently announced it's working on a similar feature for Facebook. Vivox's service will allow for one-on-one and conference calls, however.

Facebook helps uphold the law

2009-09-17T19:56:00.000+01:00

Two scofflaws have been captured and punished and it's all thanks to a social networking site.

In Wisconsin, two guys just got into trouble for attempted poaching and it's because there is footage of them doing it on Facebook, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Adam Frame, a 25-year-old from Mukwonago, and Dustin Porter, a 24-year-old from Sullivan, are on camera shooting at deer in Frame's town in 2007. They missed.

Even though they didn't hit anything, Frame pleaded guilty to having a gun and was ordered to pay $314 in forfeitures. Either that, or go to jail for six days.

Porter's case is still pending, and the Tribune never managed to find out if he's got a lawyer.

A State Department of Natural Resources warden named Rick Reed got the tip on the video, and he didn't let the lead go to waste. The movie was entitled Hunting Muktown style.

These days you can find all sorts of random things on Facebook. The website's stats page says it now has over 300 million users, so there's bound to be weird videos of stuff like kids shooting at defenseless animals.

Simpson Twitter Crisis: Day 2

2009-09-17T19:50:00.000+01:00

Jessica Simpson, the singer and actress known for her portrayal of Daisy Duke in 2005's big screen adaptation of the old series The Dukes of Hazzard, is still looking to Twitter for help for a current crisis.

Simpson's dog was carried off by a coyote right before her eyes the other day. Now she's hoping that by putting up a reward for it on the micro-blogging site that she'll somehow get it back. Her dog's trainer made sure to point out that most coyotes don't use Twitter. Hm. Good point.

Anyway, it's never funny when anyone loses their dog and Simpson is really upset. She recently tweeted, 'Still holding out hope despite the a**holes that say is it a dumb thing to do. Daisy is my baby...why would I stop searching? I'm a mom.'

If you happen to find the dog, which is named Daisy and is a maltipoo, go look Simpson up on Twitter. She's posted an email address, so you can write to her with the news, whether it's good or bad. USMagazine.com says the pooch was given to Simpson by her ex, Nick Lachey.

Moms use Facebook the most

2009-09-17T18:18:00.000+01:00

A study conducted by an ad association recently revealed that stay-at-home moms use Facebook and other social media websites more than any other average person.

The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) performed a study that suggests moms with kids at home are 60 percent more likely to use Facebook, 42 percent more likely to use MySpace and 17 percent more likely to use Twitter, according to the Denver Business Journal.

'Retailers who aren't engaging customers through social media could be missing the boat,' Mike Gatti told the Journal. Gatti is the executive director at RAMA. 'Twitter, Facebook and blogs are becoming increasingly popular with moms as they search for coupons or deals and keep in touch with loved ones.'

RAMAs findings don't seem to contradict Facebook's, as the website's stats page says that its fastest growing demographic is the 35 and older group.

Almost 94 percent of moms said they use social networking sites to get advice on what sorts of products they should buy. It's not difficult to imagine these sites as powerful tools, when you consider the fact that Facebook recently announced it has more than 300 million users.

Marines say no social networking

2009-09-17T17:41:00.000+01:00

The Marines really don't want their personnel going to social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace for personal purposes.

Although it uses SNSs as recruiting tools, the Marines Corps says that for security reasons, its men and women should not visit the websites recreationally if on a military computer, according to Federal Computer Week (FCW).

Now other parts of the Department of Defense might start saying the same thing, although there's also been talk in support of allowing access to the sites.

According to Marines.mil, the nature of SNSs 'exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage.'

But FCW says the Marines have a parochial view of SNSs. We now live in a world built on information sharing, and the military shouldn't put its personnel at a disadvantage by blocking the platforms upon which people communicate today.

The Ministry of Defense in the U.K. encourages its members to stay in touch with their families and friends using SNSs, according to FCW. The Ministry also says that while doing so, it is very important to release information cautiously.

Starlet finds doggone good reason to tweet

2009-09-16T21:03:00.003+01:00

A singer/actress has turned to a social networking site in hopes of locating her stolen pet.

Jessica Simpson, the 20-something Texan who played Daisy Duke in the 2005 movie rendition of The Dukes of Hazzard, has lost her dog, according to Fox News. A coyote took it and she wants it back, so she's tweeting.

'My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR! We are searching. Hoping. Please help!'

The dog's trainer, Jennifer McCarthy, seemed surprised by Simpson's tweet. 'If she witnesses a coyote taking the dog...obviously coyotes don't Twitter!' she told Usmagazine.com.

McCarthy says it's unlikely that the dog is still alive. She added that the disappearance is a lesson in coexisting with wildlife.

The dog, a maltipoo, was given to Simpson by her ex, Nick Lachey. Simpson is offering a reward for its retrieval.

Simpson's most recent tweet invites her followers to watch her jig-dancing sister be creepy on a television show tonight. If you do happen to find Simpson's dog, email her at the address she posted on Twitter.

Starlet finds doggone good reason to tweet

2009-09-16T21:03:00.002+01:00

Starlet finds doggone good reason to tweet

2009-09-16T21:03:00.001+01:00

Starlet finds doggone good reason to tweet

2009-09-16T21:03:00.000+01:00

News channel uses Facebook to remember Swayze

2009-09-16T19:53:00.000+01:00

A Tennessean news channel recently used its fan page on a social networking site as a place to mourn the death of a popular actor.

Patrick Swayze, who starred in the popular movies Ghost, Point Break and many others, died on Monday. His publicist told CNN that pancreatic cancer was the cause. NewsChannel 9 of Chatanooga, Tennessee decided to invite Swayze's fans to share their thoughts about his passing on the station's Facebook page.

A woman named Debbie Huckaby wrote, 'His comment today on Good Morning America from 'Ghost'-'you take the love with you.' What a wonderful legacy.' Another fan named Dan Lehr posted, 'I think the best movie Swayze was in was 'the Outsiders.' 'Dirty Dancing' a close 2nd.'

In an interview with Barbara Walters in January, Swayze said that he wanted to die knowing that he had tried to give something back and that he had done something worthwhile with his life.

Swayze acted until the end. The Beast, his show that premiered at the beginning of the year, was only canceled in June when doctors told the actor his sickness had gotten significantly worse.

Young singer tweets for pity and then stops

2009-09-16T19:04:00.000+01:00

A young singer who got into trouble earlier this year for beating up his 20-year-old girlfriend is venturing back out into public via Twitter after having kept his head down since the incident.

Chris Brown recently posted a link on the micro-blogging site to Ester Dean's Drop It Low, a video in which Brown is the featured artist. In addition to promoting himself, the singer has also been talking about how he is incomplete, according to MTV.

'I'm missing someone or something,' wrote Brown. Oddly, the post was later erased and the singer tweeted anew, 'I AINT POSTIN S*** ELSE ABOUT ME(PERSONALLY).... IM SO OVER ALL THIS BULLS***..'

In spite of this bizarre vow to stop tweeting, Brown then posted a link to his new website.

The singer was sentenced to serve five years probation and do about 1,400 hours of community service for what happened with Rihanna. A few hours ago he tweeted, 'on my way to community service...'

Brown and Lil Wayne just finished a track with Swizz Beatz, says MTV.

Social Networking Site To Overtake U.S.

2009-09-16T17:42:00.000+01:00

A social networking website has a user base that is growing and might soon have more members than this country does.

Facebook is getting huge. Mark Zuckerberg, the fat-pocketed CEO of FB who's only 25, announced the site now serves 300 million people all over the world.

'It's a large number, but the way we think about this is that we're just getting started on our goal of connecting everyone,' Zuckerberg wrote on his blog. 'We thank all of you for helping us reach the point where we are connecting 300 million people, and we hope to serve you and many more people in increasingly deep and innovative ways in the months and years ahead.'

Last July, FB said it had hit the 250 million user mark, meaning that 50 million people registered on the website in two months. Divvy that up and it comes out to 800,000 new members a day, says CNN.

While Zuckerberg is only in his mid-20s, his product is currently most popular with people 35 years old and up. And while he's got about 260,000 fans, most Facebookers have about 120 online friends.

CheapTweet: Twitter's remora

2009-09-15T22:06:00.000+01:00

There's a business that launched about a year ago that's apparently done quite well by having built its operation upon the platform of a popular social networking website.

CheapTweet.com is the first Twitter-based deals search engine and its grown 600 percent this year. As we all know, Twitter has been kicking some serious social networking tail these last fews months, and CheapTweet is reaping the benefits of all this exposure.

The search engine goes through Twitter posts and seeks out the best deals, coupons and sales that people are talking about. And since it's the tweeters that are posting this information, you can pretty much find anything. Furthermore, websites like drugstore.com are opening stores sort of like private businesses do on eBay.

'Drugstore.com is excited to launch our CheapTweet store and to offer our customers the option to connect with us on Twitter,' said David Lonczak, VP of of drugstore.com. 'We're delighted to be working with CheapTweet to reach online shoppers with special values on gifts for the holiday season as well as great deals everyday from our wide selection of more than 45,000 non-prescription products.'

As it says on the website, CheapTweet is in no way associated with Twitter. The business belongs to Appozite, an e-commerce operation.

Online dating site says women single and sassy, men not

2009-09-15T18:19:00.000+01:00

An online dating community recently polled some of its members and discovered that many women are fine with being alone, while men would generally prefer to be involved.

Believe it or not, National Unmarried and Single Americans Week has arrived already. My how time flies when you're absolutely alone. Anyway, the online dating site Zoosk decided to celebrate solitude this year by surveying 1,005 of its users.

Zoosk, which has 40 million members, wanted to know how people felt about being single. The site discovered that nearly 70 percent of women don't mind because it means they can do their own thing and be flirtatious whenever they want.

The men were less optimistic, nearly 50 percent of them saying the perks of a relationship outweigh the liberty of singledom.

'Singles have a lot to celebrate during National Singles Week. Zoosk has made it more fun than ever to meet potential love interests online,' said Shayan Zadeh, co-CEO of the site. 'We continue to introduce new features to our community that give singles more ways to strike up a meaningful and fun conversation online with a potential date.'

The majority of men and women (slightly more than 50 percent of both) said that one day, they'd like to find love too.

Facebook continues to evolve

2009-09-15T17:11:00.000+01:00

A popular social networking site has just introduced a new feature that could facilitate communication between users.

Facebook, a social networking site, has introduced its '@' tag, which allows users to mark posts such as status updates, kind of like you can do with pictures, according to PC World. Such tagging is reminiscent of the feature Twitter, one of Facebook's direct competitors, introduced not so long ago.

So, for example, if one were to write so and so 'is eating a turkey sandwich with his best friend,' that user could attach the identity of his friend to the post. Then other users could click on the post and see all the other posts related to that person.

The @ will likely increase the reach of peoples' networks, much like photo tagging did. This feature became available to everyone on September 14 and FB also says that users will soon be able to tag each other from applications too.

If someone writes something about you that you don't like, you'll of course be able to go and remove your tag from the post. Just follow the link that's included in the notification that's emailed to you and erase the tag as you would if it were a photo.

Twitter vs. Kanye: Now the President is involved

2009-09-15T16:26:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Twitter, a producer/rapper who recently acted crazy in front of the entire country at MTV's Video Music Awards has caught the American President's eye... again.

According to USA Today, President Obama was getting ready for an interview on CNBC when he shared his opinion of Kanye West, award-ceremony-crasher extraordinaire.

President Obama might've known mic checks were being performed, but apparently there is an unwritten rule amongst White House reporters that you can't use anything that's said before taping begins. Seems someone should write that rule down, as it slipped the mind of one ABC reporter who tweeted President Obama's comment.

'TerryMoran: Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential.'

President Obama's comment came after Kanye walked up on stage at the VMAs and snatched the mic away from Taylor Swift, a young country singer who was delivering her acceptance speech after winning Best Female Video, and told her (and anyone who has the internet and cares about this sort of thing) that Beyoncé should've gotten it.

The hip-hop artist has been known for televised outbursts, such as one that occurred during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina victims when he lambasted then-President George W. Bush.

Australiophiles will love Facebook too

2009-09-14T22:10:00.000+01:00

A certain country/continent is luring American adventurers down under by using its social networking page.

Australia's Tourism New South Wales (NSW) just announced its Sydney Facebook Life Points Contest. Until October 31st, Facebookers can enter to win airfare to and accommodations in Sydney by becoming a fan of the city's page. NSW says there will be two winners.

'We are thrilled to offer an innovative way for young travelers and adventure fans to win a trip to Sydney,' said Jodi McKay, NSW minister for tourism. 'Our city, set against a breathtaking natural environment, is a wonderful place to live, work and holiday.'

The adventure will last seven days and nights and while in Sydney, the winners will participate in a hands-on archaeological experience as well as receive an education in the Australian heritage.

According to its Facebook page, NSW is the official government agency that promotes Sydney and New South Wales around the world. V Australia, Richard Branson's newest airline, offers roundtrip tickets to Sydney from Los Angeles for about $800. One way is closer to $480.

Kanye's a real tweetheart

2009-09-14T20:17:00.000+01:00

People are tweeting about a record producer turned artist who misbehaved at a televised award ceremony on Sunday, September 13th.

Kanye West went up to Taylor Swift and snatched the mic from her hand in front of everybody at the MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was in the middle of delivering an acceptance speech, as she had just won Best Female Video.

Seems Kanye felt someone else deserved the win. On stage he bewildered everyone by shouting, 'I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.' Swift wasn't the only person who looked shocked, as the camera immediately cut to Beyoncé for a reaction shot. She appeared puzzled as well.

Now everyone is talking about Kanye's stunt, especially on Twitter. Trendrr, a social media tracker, reports there were almost 300,000 tweets about Kanye in the hour that followed the American Boy's rant.

Some of those tweeters included Katy Perry, Pink and Hayley Williams, according to MTV. Pink tweeted, 'My heart goes out to Taylor Swift. She is a sweet and talented girl and deserved her moment.' She also wrote some unflattering things about Kanye.

Kanye has a history of acting up. He once made some pretty serious accusations regarding George Bush, and then there was also the time he got really upset on stage because Justice and Simian got Best Video for We Are Your Friends at MTV's Europe Music Awards in Copenhagen.

Webinar sells social networking knowledge for price of iPod Shuffle

2009-09-11T22:20:00.000+01:00

A management consulting company has released a webinar that offers unemployed internauts tips on how to find a job using their social networks.

3Away, a division of the management consulting company ClairadonWhite, has released Social Networking for Job Seekers, an online seminar on how to leverage social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and all those other ones to connect with hiring managers more quickly.

'The days of throwing a resume onto a company's job board are gone, as employers are overwhelmed with resumes from very qualified people,' said David Moyer, managing director of 3Away. 'The new paradigm is finding someone you know inside a company who can help you get to the hiring manager directly.'

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently said that the unemployment rate in the U.S. was at 9.7 percent, which translates into 15 million people out of work. That's made finding a job a bit more difficult than it was five years ago.

Unfortunately the webinar isn't free. It'll cost you $75, which is sort of a lot, especially if you don't have a job and you're paying for an internet connection. Then again, it could teach you how to make the right contacts. And as goes the old cliché, it's not what you know it's who you know.

Pennsylvanians use Facebook to stay prepared

2009-09-11T21:30:00.000+01:00

Pennsylvanians can now turn to a social networking site if ever they need information during a time of crisis.

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) recently launched the ReadyPA.org fan page on Facebook. The page will include facts, messages, photos and general information about how to protect yourself and your family before, during and after an incident.

'We live in an information-driven society, and Facebook allows us to easily communicate important information in a timely manner,' said PEMA director Robert French. 'For ReadyPA, Facebook is a great approach to the campaign that allows Pennsylvanians to access information and learn more about ways to prepare individuals, families, pets and communities for any type of emergency.'

ReadyPA is a campaign in Pennsylvania that encourages citizens to take measures that will allow them to stay safe in the event of a disaster. PEMA supports the campaign, whose message is Be Informed, Be Prepared, and Be Involved.

The September 11 attack occurred eight years ago and one of the four planes crashed in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania. Tragic events such as 9/11 have inspired Americans to protect themselves by becoming involved with campaigns such as ReadyPA.

New phone for social network fanatics

2009-09-10T22:05:00.000+01:00

An American telecommunications company plans to release what its seems to think will be the ultimate social networking phone.

Motorola's pretty excited about its new CLIQ, which will become available this fall. The device apparently interacts with sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail and LastFM via its MOTOBLUR syncing solution. The CLIQ is a smartphone powered by the Android operating system that you'll be able to get through T-Mobile here in the U.S. A device with similar capabilities will be available in the U.K., France, Spain and Latin America.

'With MOTOBLUR we are differentiating the Android experience for consumers by delivering a unique mobile device experience designed around the way people interact today,' said Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices.

MOTOBLUR will take every conversation, update, photo and link and deliver it to the CLIQ's home screen. Opening applications and menus will be unnecessary, and users will be able to update their own status on multiple sites simultaneously.

Motorola had sales of $30.1 billion last year. The company enjoyed much success when it launched the RAZR in 2004.

iPhone users play better with social networks

2009-09-10T20:49:00.000+01:00

Apparently social networks are not all the same and different sites are visited more by users who have a certain kind of smartphone.

Facebook is supposedly the social networking site that smartphoners like to visit most. FB says it has 65 million people connecting via handheld now. But the people that really, really get into it are those who own an iPhone.

Facebook users with an iPhone are twice as likely to use the Facebook application as users with a Palm. People with an iPhone also use MySpace and Twitter more than Blackberry-ers and whoever else is out there.

While Twitter has pretty much exploded onto the scene during the last few months, 85 percent of people like visiting the site on their regular computers better than on their phones. Although Apple takes the cake here too, with 26 percent of iPhone users tweeting from their mobiles, compared to the 15 percent who do the same from their Palms and the 10 percent who micro-blog from their Blackberrys.

There are many alternatives to the iPhone, but it seems that people who enjoy social networking like that device best. And even though Twitter has been in the news a lot lately, Facebook still reigns supreme in the world of smartphones.

Tweeters could get $33.33 per word

2009-09-09T21:59:00.000+01:00

A social networking website is holding a contest in which five lucky winners will receive $33.33 for each word they've written in a message.

FiLife, a Dow Jones and IAC joint venture, has staged a competition on Twitter to see who can tweet the best 3-word suggestions to improve the American healthcare system. The partnership is calling its challenge the Fix Healthcare contest, and participants are to post their entries by noon EDT on September 16 if they want to win the $100 prize.

'At FiLife, our mission is to foster a community where users look to experts and to one another for the best advice in personal finance,' said Ezra Kucharz, president of FiLife. 'Amid the nationwide healthcare debate, and given healthcare's financial toll on families, the topic is perfect for the FiLife 'Fix Healthcare' contest.'

Twitter is becoming a platform for conducting all sorts of business and other activities. The site has become enormously popular recently, as micro-blogging appears to be a convenient form of communication for many. Twitter received attention last June when Iranian protesters used it to express themselves during their country's presidential election.

Good news: Social networking makes women happy

2009-09-09T21:53:00.000+01:00

A new social networking website has launched in Texas and apparently it's good for your health. But it's only for women.

Good News Girlz is a networking site that the founders say combines the advantages of meeting people online with the advantages of meeting people offline. The site also supports mental health and an active lifestyle.

'Good News Girlz promotes happy, healthy lifestyles and actively connects people through online and face-to-face social networking,' says Harriet Kelly, one of the site's co-founders. 'We find and deliver cutting-edge content that links emerging trends with living a full and good life. And good news leads to good living.'

According to the University of Pittsburgh, negativity is bad for you. Pitt conducted a study of 100,000 women over the course of eight years that revealed those with positive thoughts were healthier.

The Good News Girlz launch event is scheduled for September 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Shak, a clothing store in Dallas. Along with Kelly, Good News Girlz was founded by Karla Barber, Judy Dedmon Coyle and Tamara Mattison.

Tweet about your health insurance

2009-09-08T21:53:00.000+01:00

An American health insurance provider is using social networking to communicate with its members in Wisconsin.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has realized that adults use social networking to communicate, so the company has started to tweet too. Members living in the land of badgers and cheese can sign on, log in or otherwise connect to sites like Twitter and Facebook and give the company a piece of their mind.

'At Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, we understand that more teens, adults and even seniors are logging online to tweet, network, or blog about their daily activities, likes, dislikes, among other things,' said Larry Schreiber, the company's head in Wisconsin.

The company is currently experimenting with a program that uses Twitter to interact with people who are looking for medical advice or need information about their coverage.

The internet marketing research company comScore published a study last April that revealed people between the ages of 45 and 54 are Twitter's top demographic. The company also said that there are more seniors on Twitter than kids aged 12 to 17.

Drink liquor with your Facebook chums

2009-09-08T21:28:00.000+01:00

An American distillery has decided to mix the worlds of hard drinking and social networking to celebrate the life of a man who died early last century.

Jack Daniel's has initiated a month-long online birthday party in honor of its founder. 'Toast Jack' will give internauts a chance to pour themselves a glass of brown liquor and chink glasses virtually via Facebook.

'Birthdays and Jack Daniel's by their very nature bring people together, so social media seemed like a natural means of reaching our many friends,' said Mark Grindstaff, JD's marketing director. 'For Jack Daniel's birthday, we've developed two unique, fun and simple applications to give everyone 21 and older a way to celebrate on their social networks.'

So it works like this: the Facebook application scans your friends and finds everyone 21 or older. They're then categorized as 'the musical friend' or 'the mysterious friend' and are sent a toast tailored to their profile. Their friends can see the toast on their wall, and the viral marketing begins.

Facebook currently has more than 250 million users. The average Facebooker has 120 friends, according to the website's stats page.

Facebook users always get their fix

2009-09-04T21:18:00.000+01:00

Certain social networking sites have evidently become a cornerstone of life for millions of internauts, as many can't even wait until they get home to sign in.

Facebook now has more than 65 million users signing in from their mobiles, according to InformationWeek. That's more than three times what the site said it had at the beginning of the year.

Facebook claims that users who visit the site on their smartphones are nearly 50 percent more active on Facebook than members who do not.

There are now 180 mobile operators in 60 countries promoting Facebook mobile products. Nokia has even entered into a partnership with the site and has introduced its Lifecasting with Ovi app that will allow Facebookers to write status updates from the home screens of their phones.

Facebook says it now has more than 250 million users and that 120 million of them visit the site at least once a day. More than five billion minutes are spent on the site per 24 hour period worldwide. Lifecasting with Ovi will first appear on Nokia's new N97 mini, which will cost 450.

Yeah, even NASA tweets

2009-09-04T21:17:00.000+01:00

A certain micro-blogging site has enjoyed much popularity this year, attracting talented artists like Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher, but now even astronauts can't fight the temptation to tweet.

Twitter, the site whose objective is to publish human chirping in real-time, has a couple of new (identical) users: NASA's mustachioed twins, Mark and Scott Kelly.

Mark is the commander of mission STS-134 and his rocket is set to launch in late 2010. Scott is also a commander, but of station Expedition 26, which is set for 2010 as well. Barring any hiccups, the two will meet in space sometime next year.

For now, space travel enthusiasts can keep abreast of any mission developments by looking Mark and Scott up on Twitter.

Both brothers are Navy captains and both were selected by NASA in 1996. Mark has been up three times and has spent a total of 38 days floating in space. Scott has been to space twice for a total of about 21 days. He'll have out-spaced his brother when he returns from his six-month stay aboard the station, however.

Finns love Facebook

2009-09-03T18:20:00.000+01:00

A Finnish communications corporation wants its products to help people stay connected via Facebook on their smartphones.

Nokia recently announced its partnership with social networking supersite Facebook, which will operate under Ovi ('door' in Finnish), Nokia's internet services brand. Lifecasting with Ovi will allow Facebookers to publish their location and status updates directly from the home screen of their devices.

'Nokia aims at reaching the many, not the few, with our rich portfolio of services. We are doing this through an increasing number of open partnerships with world leaders in many fields,' said Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

Lifecasting will appear first on Nokia's new N97 mini. Jonas Geust, the vice president of the Nokia N series, said the consumer wants to better connect his or her physical and online worlds and the new Ovi app can help do this.

According to Facebook, the website has more than 250 million users, 120 million of whom log on at least once a day. FB's fastest growing demographic is the 35 and over group. The N97 mini will cost 450 before taxes and subsidies.

So kids actually do tweet

2009-09-03T15:56:00.000+01:00

Despite the recent hubbub regarding the absence of young tweeters, it's official: kids do tweet.

Early last week, the New York Times published an article entitled Who's Driving Twitter's Popularity? Not Teens. As its title suggests, the article discussed the absence of teen tweeters and attempted to explain why more young adults don't visit the site.

Claire Cain Miller, who wrote the story, suggested a number of explanations, including that teens don't want their personal business to be broadcast for everyone's parents to see.

But now comScore is saying no, and it has the graphs to prove it. According to an article posted on its website yesterday, 21 million Americans visited Twitter in July, and that doesn't include users who signed in on their smartphones. The research company says that most of those millions were young people.

'The most notable positive shifts are evident among the 12-17 and 18-24 year old segments, which are coming at the expense of the 35+ segments,' writes Andrew Lipsman in his comScore article What Ashton vs. CNN Foretold About the Changing Demographics of Twitter.

The reason Lipsman mentions Ashton Kutcher and CNN in his title is because the actor raced the network to see who would get a million followers first. Kutcher won, and Lipsman says it's stunts like this that are making Twitter more popular amongst teens. Shaq and Britney Spears also have Twitter accounts, says Lipsman.

Social networks host 21 percent of ads

2009-09-02T19:44:00.000+01:00

Websites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook are where web surfers are exposed to a large portion of online advertising.

The analytics firm comScore released the results of a study conducted during the month of June that reveals approximately one out of every five internet ads is found on a social networking site. Of this percentage, four out of five are found on either MySpace or Facebook.

'Because the top social media sites can deliver high reach and frequency against target segments at a low cost, it appears that some advertisers are eager to use social networking sites as a new advertising delivery vehicle,' said senior vice president of comScore Jeff Hackett.

The comScore study showed that AT&T advertised most on social networking sites during the month of June. The company had more than 2 billion ad impressions on such sites, which represented about 30 percent of its total number of display advertisements for that month.

Facebook is now the internet's fourth-most visited website. Placing an ad on a social networking site is considerably less expensive than doing so on a portal like Yahoo or AOL, according to Reuters.

'Curious' FB message reunites long-lost siblings

2009-09-02T09:00:00.001+01:00

A brother and his two half-siblings were reunited on Sunday thanks to a message sent on Facebook.

Thirty-eight-year-old Jonathan Frank of Bayonne, New Jersey, hired a private investigator to locate his biological mother last week. The investigator discovered that Frank's mother, whose family name was Sideris, passed away in 2006. However, with the information the PI uncovered, Frank managed to find his half-brother and sister on Facebook.

'I don't know if you are my brother or not, or if you are looking for me. But I have been waiting my whole life for this moment,' wrote Frank to his brother John Martino in a message entitled 'curious,' according to the NY Daily News.

Martino received the message and rushed to contact his father and sister. The Martino children, unlike Frank, did not know their mother had given birth to a child and subsequently put him up for adoption, but their father confirmed the story. Martino decided to write back to Frank and he included his telephone number in the message. A few days later, Frank met his brother and sister, Janine Martino, for a meal at John's home in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

Facebook currently connects 250 million people, according to Bloomberg. Mark Zuckerberg, the social networking site's CEO, says he plans to eventually have 1 billion.

PayPal in FB's crosshairs

2009-09-02T09:00:00.000+01:00

Facebook's online payment system could eventually overtake eBay's crown jewel, PayPal.

Facebook recently announced that it is testing a system that will allow users to buy physical merchandise using the site's online payment platform, according to Dow Jones. Currently, Facebook's system only allows users to purchase digital items such as flowers and greeting cards.

'It's not an easy business to do well, but Facebook has a good shot at it. It is a [long-term] threat,' said an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech.

Recent developments at the site could mean online payments represent a significant part of Facebook's future. Over 70 percent of Facebookers live outside the U.S. and the payment platform now accepts 15 different currencies. Some analysts have speculated that Facebook will begin by running the platform like an online 'wallet,' says Dow Jones. The next step would be to launch Facebook Connect, which would offer users the chance to use their accounts on third-party sites.

According to PayPal, the website has over 75 million active accounts in 190 markets using 19 different currencies. Facebook has approximately 250 million users.

MySpace wants waifish women

2009-09-01T18:45:00.000+01:00

A social networking site launched a nationwide womanhunt today that will give one lucky lady her big shot at making it on the small screen.

MySpace, along with Lifetime Digital and The Weinstein Company, announced their Models of the Runway Casting Challenge today in an effort to spur America's impressionable youth away from their textbooks and into the glamorous and ego-inflating world of the amateur mannequin. The winner of the competition will be a contestant on Models of the Runway, which takes viewers behind the scenes of Project Runway and airs on Thursday nights.

'We are very excited to let America help us cast Models of the Runway,' said Dan Suratt, an EVP at Lifetime. 'It's a natural fit to work with MySpace on this competition to reach a broader audience for both programs, effectively promote the Models of the Runway Casting Challenge and potentially find fashion's next supermodel.'

Contestants will have to pass through several rounds and a winner will be chosen by an online voting poll, the results of which will be interpreted by the program's producers.

Aspiring models are invited to submit their entries until September 20. Project Runway is hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum.

Facebox and Twit 360

2009-09-01T09:00:00.001+01:00

Microsoft's video game console will eventually work with social media supersites Facebook and Twitter, but they're not letting just anyone play.

The Xbox 360 is finally going to be affordable, according to ArsTechnica.com. More than that, Microsoft has announced 360 will offer both a Twitter and Facebook feature. Unfortunately, there'll be no zhlobs allowed.

'Xbox Live Gold Membership will be required for Twitter and Facebook when they are available,' says Microsoft.

Ars Technica wonders why Microsoft would require users to pay for services they can get for free on their PCs. Apparently, MS's strategy is simple: get people to become Gold members; doesn't matter how.

Starting August 28, the 120GB Xbox 360 will cost $299.99. The 60GB version will be $249.99. The Facebook and Twitter features are expected to arrive this fall.

The Xbox will also integrate Netflix and Last.FM. Gold membership will be required for these features as well. Another development Microsoft recently announced was its video service called Zune Video. Zune will feature 1080p video and Microsoft says there will be no load time. Just click and watch.

Inanimate beings join Twitter

2009-09-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

As if coexisting with other living creatures weren't complicated enough, buildings have started using social media to criticize their occupants.

The University of Mississippi introduced building automation to micro-blogging when it created Twitter feeds for its main facilities. The buildings themselves aren't jumping online and signing in to Twitter, but the school has started monitoring its energy consumption and telling its students when they're being wasteful. One building operator tweeted, 'umissgym: Is it just me, or is it hot in here?'

The project, undertaken with the help of smart grid company SmartSynch, is meant to ply the students' psychology.

'[The feeds] alter behavior to reduce electricity consumption and carbon emissions.'

Ole Miss' is hoping to save on its electricity bill with a new program that will be able to pinpoint the locations at which energy is being used excessively.

Companies like SmartSynch go around collecting billions and billions of bytes of info and use them to figure out how energy flows and then invent applications that will dictate how power will be used this century. Other companies that do this include IBM, Cisco, Google, Microsoft and GE.

Recently, many humans have been using Twitter to accomplish tasks. The site was used by protesters during the Iranian presidential election in June. More recently, the Kennedy family created a Twitter account to keep the American public abreast of the late senator's funeral arrangements.

Kennedy mourners on Twitter

2009-08-31T09:00:00.001+01:00

The Kennedys, one of the countrys most well-known political families, have turned to Twitter as a way to keep the public informed about funeral activities regarding the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy.

The Kennedys' account name is @KennedyNews and a number of messages have been posted so far. The first few included a message authenticating the account and a description of Kennedy's motorcade route through Boston.

'This is the official account of the Kennedy family and staff. Will be used for info about memorial and funeral activities. #tedkennedy.'

The senator's death from brain cancer has dominated headlines since he passed away on Tuesday and CNN says the subject has generated much conversation on Twitter as well.

Kennedy was the third longest-serving member of senate in U.S. history and the state of Massachusetts elected him nine times. Kennedy's passion was healthcare, but he also fought for a number of other causes including voting rights and equality for minorities, according to TedKennedy.org.

Mourners gathered at the Kennedy library in Dorchester, Massachusetts Friday morning. The library's doors opened at 7:40 a.m. Kennedy's wake was held Thursday and the senator's staff estimated that 25,000 people attended the service. His staff thanked mourners for their support by posting a message on Twitter.

Searching Kennedy's name on Twitter will deliver results of all kinds, including personal messages to the senator, quotations and links to photos of the politician.

More marketers get a clue

2009-08-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

Slowly but surely, marketers are moving away from the television commercial and are letting their products advertise themselves on free internet sites.

The Ford Motor Company is banking on the Fiesta making a big splash next year, according to USAToday. But instead of hawking this hot hatch by filming some exaggerated ad on a barren stretch of Death Valley in a misguided attempt at enticing America's I'd-prefer-a-Prius 20-somethings, they've given a couple away to some bloggers for a couple of months.

'It's about culture change and adapting to this ongoing way of communicating. The bloggers are fully free to say what they want,' said Ford's Scott Monty to the paper.

The bloggers get to keep their cars so long as they post a clip about them once a month on YouTube. They're also encouraged to write content about them on Facebook and Twitter.

Evidently Americans appreciate an objective opinion of a car more than a 30-second clip full of moaning exhaust tips and revving tachometers all aglow. USAToday says that companies like Levi Strauss and Chevron are also adjusting their marketing operations to better fit the social media-addicted consumer of today.

Seriously, tweeting saves lives

2009-08-28T14:22:00.000+01:00

The government is using social media to save American lives from a potentially fatal infection.

As goes the old maxim, knowledge is power. The power to protect yourself from the H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently began using sites such as Twitter and YouTube to teach the public how to identify symptoms of the condition. Sir Francis Bacon would be proud.

Apparently the YouTube videos are 'nothing fancy,' according to Janice Nall, the CDC's director of e-health marketing. 'We're just trying to get the content out in video format,' she told InformationWeek.

The CDC's videos have gotten approximately 100,000 hits so far. But that's on their website. On YouTube, they've gotten over 2 million.

The CDC also has several Twitter feeds. According to InformationWeek, there are about 700,000 tweeters consulting the information they release.

While YouTube has been around for while, Twitter is relatively new on the scene. The site has become enormously popular as people seem to love exchanging information via the micro-blog. The site received much attention last June when Iranian protesters used its service to express themselves during the country's presidential election.

Business analyst knows what love is

2009-08-28T14:21:00.000+01:00

Many men cast a wary eye on the internet dating scene, but now there's an eBook that'll apparently guide you through the dos and do not dos of meeting women online.

Rob Murphy is the founder of NetDatingSuccess.com and believes that too few men come away from online dating satisfied. So he got in touch with a bunch of his lady friends and started thinking. The product of all this rumination was his new eBook appropriately entitled The Essential Guide To Online Dating For Men.

On a testimonials page dedicated to Murphy's piece, Phillip from London said, 'Hey Rob. Just thought I would drop you a quick email, had been on a dating site for a few weeks, not really got much interest. Downloaded your guide and realised I had been making so many errors with my profile, changed it...and have never looked back!'

Murphy's background is in business analysis. His acumen in business matters shone through when he released the eBook discreetly last May and offered up a couple of copies for free so he could get some feedback and be sure his advice would help.

It's been estimated that there are more than 50 million active online daters today.

Schwarzenegger likes tweeters

2009-08-27T18:29:00.000+01:00

Twitter just got a big supporter.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger embraced the micro-blogging site on Wednesday and praised the founders of Twitter for starting something that has captivated the world and created an innovative way to communicate across great distances.

The California governor went to Twitter on Wednesday and fans were invited to listen in on his conversation with founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams via tweetcast. Schwarzenegger discussed Twitter's presence in Iran during the election and said he was sure the site never intended to participate in any sort of revolution. Stone and Williams confirmed this.

'You always try to reach out and touch the people; you need to know always what they are feeling and it changes so quickly,' Schwarzenegger said of maintaining contact with voters and getting their feedback.

The governor also said he has turned to tweeters for suggestions on how to correct California's intimidating budget deficit. One Twitter user said the state could have a sort of garage sale to capitalize on unused or unwanted property.

Schwarzenegger took office in late 2003. The 62-year-old governor's approval rating has dipped a bit recently, according to WSJ.com. The site says that California's severe budget problems are the cause of the voters' dissatisfaction.

Real business in the virtual world

2009-08-27T18:27:00.000+01:00

Today, some of the biggest corporations are using Second Life to save money.

Mattel, CIGNA, Dell, Wells Fargo, Nike, Coca Cola, Northrop and IBM are all doing business on Second Life, according to Macon.com, The Telegraph's official website.

'[Virtual reality] is not a fly-by-night technology. It's not a passing fad,' according to Matt Furman of Northrop Grumman.

One IBM spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal the company saved about $350K last fall by holding a conference on Second Life instead of having it, well, in reality.

At a Second Life corporate event, participants log on to their computers and teleport to the appropriate venue. While there, they sit in on lectures and presentations. Occasionally, there will be social gatherings afterward so the avatars can unwind together.

Doing business in virtual reality might seem normal to some, as colleges and universities have been taking advantage of platforms such as Second Life to conduct classes for a while now. Second Life was launched in 2003 by Linden Research, Inc. and now has approximately 17 million users.

Yahoo goes to Jordan

2009-08-26T22:17:00.000+01:00

Yahoo has decided to buy Maktoob.com, according to the Jordan-based website. Maktoob hosts the Arab world's largest online community.

On August 25, Yahoo signed an agreement with Maktoob Group. The terms of the contract are currently unknown to the public.

'This deal will push other online/media companies into looking at how they can expand their own products,' said the UAE's daily Gulf News.

According to Maktoob, industry figures have warned that rivals will soon be looking to follow suit.

The new team now has a user base of perhaps as many as 36 million people on 10 different websites all around the Arab world; a testament to the worldwide reach of today's social media. Evidently, one of Yahoo's missions is to better connect the world.

Yahoo and Maktoob say they'll be offering services such as news, email, IM, security features, online photo storage and social networking of course. And it'll all be free.

Zawya Dow Jones says that Yahoo is also planning on expanding into other emerging markets in South East Asia, India, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Yahoo recently joined forces with Microsoft in an effort to compete with Google in the internet search and advertising biz.

Teens text, adults tweet

2009-08-26T22:16:00.000+01:00

Marketing research company comScore says that only a small percentage of tweeters are teens, and the New York Times evidently finds that quite interesting.

The Times recently published a long article about Twitter, the micro-blog site whose chirpy name reflects its hyperactive feed. Apparently it's visited mainly by adults.

'I just think it's weird and I don't feel like everyone needs to know what I'm doing every second of my life,' said Kristen Nagy to the paper. Nagy is an 18-year-old New Jersey native who clearly has no interest in Twitter. However, she does send and receive a modest 500 text messages each day.

The Times says there are a number of possible reasons this is the case. First, most young people have Facebook. In fact, Forrester Research said that almost everyone under 35 is on some form of social network site. The news provider adds that some teens simply have no need for tweeting.

The paper also says that teenagers might not tweet because they don't want their parents to know what they've been up to; they prefer to communicate as discreetly as possible.

Last June, comScore reported that Twitter had 44.5 million unique visitors. According to Business Insider, of those visitors 22 million connected from outside the U.S. And these numbers don't account for visits made to the site via smartphone.

FB in love again

2009-08-25T21:21:00.000+01:00

Last night, Mark Zuckerberg's status message was 'Spotify is so good.' This comes after MySpace announced it would buy iLike last week.

According to Spotify.com, the service is a new way to listen to music (similar to iLike). You download and install the program and start listening straightaway.

'There are no restrictions in terms of what you can listen to or when. Forget about the hassle of waiting for files to download and fill up your hard drive before you get round to organising them. Spotify is instant, fun and simple,' says Spotify.

Zuckerberg, the 25-year-old CEO of Facebook, had expressed an interest in iLike. His site had even given the iLike app special attention, according to TechCrunch.

But when it came down to it, MySpace's offer for the service was the sweeter fig and iLike just couldn't say no. So Zuckerberg was back out on the prowl. The rub is that Spotify is only available in Western Europe right now.

A recent BusinessWeek article says Amazon wanted iLike too. Although exact figures were never disclosed, the Wall Street Journal speculates that MySpace paid iLike $20 million. As word of the possible Facebook/Spotify deal only surfaced recently, little is known about what might come next.

Skype gets sort of greedy

2009-08-25T21:19:00.000+01:00

According to FierceVoIP, beginning September 6 many outgoing international Skype calls made from the U.S. will be subject to a connection fee of $0.079. This is twice as pricey as the current $0.039 charge; not exactly crippling, but still.

For countries included in Skype's Global Rate destinations group, which includes over three dozen locations spread across Asia, Europe and the Americas, the increase won't apply. But if you plan to call Indonesia, for example, expect to pay a little more.

'It is only a small one-time increase per call, and these changes do not affect the per-minute charges for Skype calls,' said Skype spokesman Chaim Haas.

Haas says the increase is normal. He says Skype reviews its pricing and tailors it to reflect market conditions. Connection rates apparently needed to be adjusted.

The online auction website eBay bought Skype in 2005 for $2.6 billion but quickly began wondering where it fit in with the rest of eBay's portfolio. In April 2009, the auctioneers announced they planned to divest themselves of Skype by summer 2010. Gregory Lundberg, a Commresearch analyst, said the market was not ready for a Skype IPO at the time of eBay's announcement.

Jane Fonda gets her Twitter on

2009-08-25T15:42:00.000+01:00

Best known for getting America into shape, Jane Fonda is now putting her words into a fit and healthy order as she recently made the voyage into the social networking world.

Along with stars like Ashton Kutcher, Shaquille O'Neil and Ellen DeGeneres, Fonda has joined the micro-blogging site and already has almost 46,000 followers.

Her tweets are fairly interesting - one of her recent updates dispels rumors of her impending fourth marriage - (short dash)and slightly amusing, such as the post from August 11, 'Now 7 of us are getting into our hot tub.....what a night in NM.' Clearly, Fonda still knows how to have a good time.

Perhaps Fonda's increased Twitter presence may be an attempt to garner interest about her new book called The Third Act: Entering Prime Time. The San Francisco Gate reveals that it will be released sometime in the near future.

Luckily for the stars, Twitter's new geolocation tool is intended to be an optional application. Developers recently outlined the enhancement that aims to post tweeters' locations, including their latitude and longitude, right in with their updates.

Myspace secret shows still going strong

2009-08-24T21:25:00.000+01:00

While Twitter and Facebook seem to be leaders in the social networking race, Myspace is showing that it can be a very viable contender especially when it comes to all things musical.

First, Myspace announced it was acquiring iLike, a music sharing and downloading applicationa currently connected with Facebook. Now, the social network shows it can still throw a party with its latest secret show featuring Willie Nelson and Band of Horses.

The show is set to take place August 25 in Maui, Hawaii, and will coincide with the release of Nelson's latest album, American Classic. He reportedly collaborated with songstress Norah Jones on one track and Diana Krall on another, ultimately producing a jazz-based vibe in his work.

The performance will be free to the public, but via Nelson's blog fans are advised to show up well ahead of the 5pm doors time. The first 20 fans who arrive with Citi Forward Myspace cards will be allowed to skip the line and head straight in.

Nelson plans to follow this special gig with a limited U.S. tour, starting in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 19.

Facebook to hire 500

2009-08-24T17:49:00.000+01:00

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, told Bloomberg he plans to expand his staff by 50 percent this coming year. The site currently employs 1,000 people.

The recession has taken its toll on many businesses worldwide, but Facebook has taken advantage of the human capital surplus that exists in the U.S. and the company will continue to do so.

'No one else has been hiring. It's been a great environment for us because the economy has helped out,' said the 25-year-old CEO to Bloomberg.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, claimed revenue would experience an impressive 70 percent increase in growth in 2009. Last week, Sandberg also told The Guardian that the company was profitable over the last six quarters before interest and tax and that it will be 'cash flow profitable' in 2010.

Zuckerberg's aggressive hiring intentions are understandable. Although he made no mention of a deadline, the young CEO told Bloomberg that Facebook will eventually cater to 1 billion users. The site currently enjoys 250 million Facebookers, so Zuckerberg's goal could be classified as ambitious. Furthermore, it will require more manpower.

Twitter to tell the world where you are

2009-08-24T15:51:00.000+01:00

The latest initiative from micro-blogging site Twitter will include geographical data in each person's tweets, displaying their latitude and longitude along with the time stamp.

This way, you can find out just where your long-lost cousin tweets, and they technically won't be lost any longer.

Called gelocation, the program is about to be previewed to platform developers so they can tweak features to allow it to operate as smoothly as possible. The tool will be featured as an app first before appearing on the website, according to an official blog posted by founder Biz Stone.

However, the team is leaving this feature up to each user, giving them a little privacy. 'Folks will need to activate this new feature by choice because it will be off by default and the exact location data won't be stored for an extended period of time,' he wrote.

Users do have the option to include this information in each tweet they send, which could be amusing for those travelling and posting updates about their trips.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is

2009-08-21T21:38:00.000+01:00

Logging on to your favorite online dating site, you see multiple messages and flirty comments from an utterly stunning human being and can't believe they're actually interested in a date. After the joyous clouds clear away, chances are reality sets in and you become decidedly skeptical - that Antonio Banderas lookalike can't be after a date?

You're not alone in this disbelief, or at least wariness about the online dater's photograph. In a recent survey by CheckedProfile.com, around 80 percent of individuals who date online do not believe the picture of their potential mate is real.

Those who participated in the CheckedProfile's study cited experiences where they had been contacted by others who used a model's photograph rather than their own or looked nothing as they did online.

Site founder Ben Way explains that he set up his page and the survey because in the past, 'people have been able to hide behind online identities and claim to be someone they are not.' He thinks this should change since 'we wouldn't accept this in the real world [and] we shouldn't have to accept this online.'

New online dating site for the legally single

2009-08-21T21:37:00.000+01:00

The search for a soulmate can sometimes be frustrating, particularly if you feel like your dates just don't understand your career. Just dating a young professional doesn't cut it and so a new site was recently launched for lonely hearts in the legal world.

Lawdate.com aims to connect those in the industry with one another, hopefully eliminating awkward first-date questions like, 'what do you do?' or at the very least, allowing legal professionals to speak freely using specific jargon.

Those who join the site have the chance to browse profiles, blog about their lives and experiences and give their two cents on messageboards.

Each member establishes his or her online profile and is able to look for others with whom they will be compatible, taking into account unique criteria. For example, individuals can look for dates with similar work-style habits and schedules.

Founder Wendy Freedman explains the site is 'for professionals who are interested in accessing a selective database to help them meet not only other educated professionals in their fields but also to connect with others of interest outside of the legal arena.'

Virtual worlds no longer for gamers only

2009-08-21T18:38:00.000+01:00

Online gaming fans arent the only ones enjoying the virtual world anymore. Simulated environments now serve a variety of purposes.

According to the Australian Associated Press, social network strategist Lauren Papworth recently discussed the future of vacation planning at an Australian tourism conference.

'So you could navigate your way around the hotel, have a paddle, go upstairs, go downstairs and then talk to someone who probably looks like a Barbie doll, because that's what all the avatars look like at the moment,' said Papworth.

University, college and high school students have also been taking advantage of simulated environments. Virtual classrooms are becoming increasingly popular as is evidenced by Schome. Schome (school + home) was launched by Peter Twining of the UK's Open University. Twining discussed Schome in a 2007 Guardian article. Its objective is to improve the education system by using student input.

Simulated environments offer internet users the opportunity to congregate and discuss their mutual interests and at the same time create their virtual identities. Papworth claims the limitless interaction of these virtual identities is the future of word of mouth marketing.

Twitter users stopped production of car

2009-08-21T13:47:00.000+01:00

Everyone likes expressing their opinions and Twitter users perhaps prefer to communicate their views in the most succinct manner possible, given that the site's premise is to send messages in 140 characters or less.

However, these little letters proved extremely influential when it came to the new Buick compact crossover that was supposed to be manufactured by General Motors.

Media sources reveal that bloggers and Twitter users negatively discussed the new car to the extent that the company deemed it a waste of time and money to produce and therefore scrapped all future plans for the model.

The SUV was intended to be a hybrid vehicle, bringing together a powerful car with environmentally friendly technology.

According to Bloomberg, the so-called hideous model was nicknamed the Vuick because it resembled GMs car the Saturn Vue but this model was far less physically attractive as Twitter users reportedly posted things like '#Vuick must die,' the news provider reveals.

This is not the first unconventional use of the micro-blogger. Those who want to pray at the Western Wall but are unable to make the trip are encouraged to tweet their prayers to an Israeli student, who then writes them on scrolls and takes them to the holy site, news sources report.

Another reason to remove heinous Facebook pictures

2009-08-21T13:45:00.024+01:00

Last weekend was, in your friends' opinions, the best ever and it was hilarious when you fell asleep drunk, danced on the table or jumped fully-clothed into the neighbor's swimming pool. However, even if you have a great sense of humor, you may want to get any incriminating photographs off Facebook as soon as your hangover clears up.

According to a new survey by CareerBuilder, job seekers should realize that potential employers are finding ways to learn the real truth about their candidates who come in dressed up and claim to be polished Harvard graduates.

Hiring managers certainly do their research, for 53 percent of respondents found inappropriate photographs or information about their interviewee on a social network. A further 44 percent of employers also saw that candidates had content on their pages of them drinking or doing drugs.

On the flip side, those who set up clean Facebook pages actually helped their job prospects, for 50 percent of hiring managers said that the job seeker's page helped them gain a better understanding of the individual.

Facebook group goes after Whole Foods

2009-08-20T21:55:00.024+01:00

Social networking sites are a great way to bring people together. Sometimes individuals unite over a favorite band, other times it's a hit TV show.

Now one group of Facebook users have come together over their disgust with one Whole Foods official and this collective seems to be going strong.

With over 20,000 members, Boycott Whole Foods is calling on its members to stop shopping at the popular health and organic food chain. Reportedly, company CEO John Mackey made a questionable comment in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed piece.

He quoted Margaret Thatcher's words, 'the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money,' and implied President Obama's health care plan was akin to socialist practices and would therefore fail.

The Facebook group also determined that Mackey implied health care should only be for the wealthy, but do not quote him directly. He does say that reforms should 'be financially responsible, and [allow us] the freedom to choose doctors and the health care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices.'

Mackey suggests that people could take better care of themselves, and this could be open for interpretation, which Facebook followers seem to have already done.

Facebook not private enough?

2009-08-19T23:03:00.023+01:00

Once you join a social network, you might run into people you never expected to see again, like that really annoying kid from high school, or your ex-best friend from college. It is possible to restrict your online persona but for five individuals Facebook's privacy rules just aren't tight enough.

Media sources report that five California residents have sued the social networking giant because it reportedly infringes on their right to privacy due to the manner in which it collects and shares information.

According to the blog TechCrunch, the plantiffs are complaining that they set up accounts with images, and then other users could see their updates or read their posts. They feel that this should not have been the case, and that Facebook has violated their privacy because others have access to this information.

TechCrunch writer Jason Kincaid compares the suit to 'jumping into a pool and then complaining that youre wet.'

When users put information on Facebook, it is visible to friends that the user accepts. They can then see this individual's activity online. It is possible to restrict images and even a personal profile from being seen thought the Google search engine if the individual so desires.

However, Facebook's basic premise is that it is a tool for people to connect and share with one another, as displayed on the site's main page, informing everyone of its intention before they sign up.

Games for social networkers

2009-08-19T23:02:00.023+01:00

First Facebook let you follow your crush's every move, then you found your mom on the network and now, for the time-wasters out there, the site also features a nifty set of games.

World of Warcraft may not have hit Facebook just yet, but there are other equally intriguing multi-player virtual worlds over which the imaginative can rule.

Take Restaurant City, for example, that the Los Angeles Times says welcomes over 10 million users each month. The game looks somewhat similar to Sim City, but individuals instead have the chance to set up and run their own virtual restaurants.

Users are invited to decorate their establishments, put together the menu and hire employees from their Facebook friend pool, the news provider reveals.

This kind of play is known as social gaming, according to the San Fransisco gate, in that people can log in or out during the day and interact virtually with others. They don't have to dedicate hours of continuous time to it comma and Facebook or Myspace-based games are generally free.

While some find the constant Texas Hold 'em Facebook invites tedious, or don't care about the latest menu item at your pal's restaurant, these games still provide a whimsical use for social networking. Just don't get caught playing on the job.

Match.com's top cities for cheap dates

2009-08-19T23:00:00.000+01:00

Times are tough but everyone wants to find their soulmate no matter what the economic climate is like. To present less expensive dating practices, top online dating site Match.com released its list of most affordable cities in which to take out your sweetheart.

Taking the coveted number one spot was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as researchers found that a casual dinner and movie tickets came out to $77.80 for two. This seemed to be the criteria by which all cities in the list were judged.

Los Angeles failed at the dating game with the same basic activities costing over $100. If you are a single in the City of Angels, your best bet is to skip the movie or the dinner, depending on how well the date is going.

New York and San Francisco came in near the end of the list with their pricey outings but on a more positive note, Detroit ranked as the second most affordable city.

Match.com doesn't want your pricey city to squash a budding online romance for it reminds pretty young things that there are many free date options.

It suggests individuals look at free museum admission nights, bookstore readings and signings or take intro classes together at a local gym.

Huffington Post and Facebook unite

2009-08-18T21:25:00.000+01:00

A new feature called HuffPost Social News on Facebook aims to bring the news directly to social network-fiends.

Even though the Huffington Post has been working with Facebook Connect since the beginning of the year, this move makes it easier for users to share new stories with one another and pass on information, media sources report.

The new feature reportedly displays user comments plus all the stories each individual has read on his or her news feed or home page when users are logged on to the application.

According to CNet, the collaboration is interesting because up until this point, Facebook has tended not to partner often with third-party sites. It also chose to work with what some consider to be a left-leaning news provider.

However, co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington seems optimistic about theagreement, as the San Francisco Gate reveals.

She explained that 'we are actually in the midst of a Golden Age for news consumers,' reasoning that 'we now engage with news, react to news and share news,' and the new application is one way in which the paper can allow the public to be engaged with media.

Be comfortable while surfing Twitter, Facebook

2009-08-18T21:23:00.011+01:00

It's sometimes hard to drag yourself away from Facebook, particularly when a hot topic is being wildly discussed. However, one man is out to make the user's experience more pleasant or at the very least, a little more comfortable.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Justin Thomas designs and crafts pillows with popular social networking logos as designs. He then sells them through the online marketplace, Etsy.com.

Currently, Thomas focuses mainly on familiar images from Twitter and Facebook including the Fail Whale which is currently on back order, the news provider explains.

For those who don't know, the cartoon mammal comes onscreen when there are problems with the micro-blogging page.

The pillows are priced between $15.99 and $17.99, depending on their size and design.

Chicago's local NBC news affiliate further explains this socially-networked businessman works from his home by himself and also has a Facebook page of which users can become fans.

Other new designs Thomas is contemplating include Flickr, Chrome and Stumbleupon, as he recently announced via a status update on his Craftsquatch Facebook page.

Environmentalists rejoice: it's good to download music

2009-08-18T21:21:00.011+01:00

Greener members of society should feel good about that new Mp3 player they just purchased, even if it is made from non-renewable plastics and other materials. The tunes that will be added to this new gadget will help not hinder the environment.

A new Intel and Microsoft-sponsored report reveals that downloading music from the internet is better for the planet than purchasing new CDs.

The document explains that due to more energy efficient computers and devices, music fans produce less carbon emissions using the internet to obtain music than buying a physical disc even when large files are transferred.

Most energy is used getting the CD to the customer in the retail store. Transporting the item to the user also releases the most carbon dioxide, making it harmful to the environment.

For example, the report describes how a music disc has to travel and sit in a warehouse before being delivered to the store. If the user purchases the CD online, it must still be shipped and delivered, thus increasing package and transport costs, both in terms of carbon output and monetary value.

Digital downloads, on the other hand, reduce harm to the environment by 40 to 80 percent.

Myspace on the cusp of iLike ownership

2009-08-17T21:48:00.000+01:00

The social music network, iLike, may soon to operate under the blanket of Myspace, popular for connecting people with one another and for being a vehicle for artists to showcase their sounds.

The iLike music program works in conjunction with other user-powered sites such as Facebook and Bebo. Through the application, iLike offers recommendations to listeners based upon their music preferences, according to top technology blog, TechCrunch.

In addition, iLike hosts band pages in a manner similar to Myspace music and visitors to iLike can purchase and download music.

Myspace may be aiming to generate more traffic, since the news provider reveals that iLike is popular with Facebook visitors - over 10 million individuals on the latter are signed up to the music program.

Media sources further report acquiring iLike will cost Myspace around $20 million.

One new feature iLike will bring to Myspace is its download store since currently Myspace Music users are sent to Amazon if they want to purchase their favorite tunes.

The collaboration between both music platforms should make it easier for artists to connect with fans but also allow listeners to quickly hear and buy new tracks.

Study: Single male online daters willing to donate sperm

2009-08-17T21:46:00.000+01:00

The results of a new poll indicate that some single men are more than okay with helping a single female fulfill her dream of having kids, without fatherly attachments.

Three top online dating sites - Date.com, Matchmaker.com and Amor.com - surveyed singles and asked if they would consider raising a No Strings Attached Baby and the father probably not to be central in raising the child.

Approximately 50 percent of single guys would help their female friends become mothers, but 30 percent of this group would make it a requirement that they were legally the biological father only, and the arrangement was without strings.

On the other hand, 42 percent of women said that it had crossed their mind to ask a guy friend for assistance in creating a family.
Similarly, just over 43 percent of male respondents admitted that they had considered fathering a child with a girlfriend who was not married.

Online dating relationship advisor, Shira Zwebner explained that the results were indicative of changes in social attitudes. '[I]t's no longer stigmatized for [women] to choose other avenues such as adoption, anonymous sperm donation, and no strings attached babies, to become mothers,' she said.

Broadway musical squeezed through tweets

2009-08-17T21:44:00.000+01:00

As YouTube and online television networks increase in popularity, the humble Broadway musical has decided to raise the social networking bar with its new use of Twitter.

According to the New York Times, Next to Normal now playing on Broadway may have increased its fanbase thanks to its series of Twitter updates that tell the musical's story.

Over a 35-day period, character's lines were presented in the form of tweets, and it gave fans a deeper insight into their thoughts and motivations.

'[T]his is what [the characters] would say if they were tweeting,' Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal's writer and lyricist told the news provider. '[The tweets are] telling the story of the show but telling it from a lot of different perspectives,' he explained.

Next to Normal is not the first performance to incorporate Twitter into its promotion or aesthetic.
The Royal Opera House in London invited micro-bloggers to contribute lines and plot for an opera that will be performed before a live audience. The music will be composed by Helen Porter and Mark Teipler.

This Broadway musical is following suit as the latest Twitter update reveals that 'fans are helping N2N's Tony winning songwriters Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey write an original song on Twitter!'

New Radiohead track leaked

2009-08-14T20:16:00.000+01:00

Music-loving Twitter fans were all abuzz yesterday with rumors that Radiohead's latest track had mysteriously appeared online.

It transpired the rumors were true as NME.com reported that the popular band's new song, 'These Are My Twisted Words' was available via YouTube.

Last year, the quirky British group released In Rainbows, a full length album, online only at first and fans were invited to pay whatever they wanted to download it. The music was also available for free, if you did not want to contribute.

Some fans were reportedly mystified at this latest effort as the track's uncharacteristically long introduction hinted it may be a hoax. Despite this, Twitter users excitedly posted updates like 'just loved Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words' from jonkul or reported rumors - Radiohead EP Release May be as Early as Monday - Billboard' from mediazoic.

At least Radiohead fans have the chance to hear their favorite's latest material. Those who are awaiting further news from supergroup Them Crooked Vultures are still teased with tantalizing clips of sound or links through their Facebook page.

Users can become fans of the band featuring Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters, and be informed of site changes through their Facebook news feeds.

Facebook, Twitter get popular down under

2009-08-14T20:14:00.000+01:00

Australia may be absolutely on the other side of the world, but that doesn't mean they neglect their social networking. Rather, the use of sites like Myspace and Twitter is currently on the rise in the land that brought us boomerangs, according to the latest figures from comScore.

The data provider revealed that Australia's total internet audience increased by 12 percent between June 2008 and 2009. Interestingly, its social networking usage leaped up by 29 percent over the same time period.

It's probably time to find your Aussie friends from study abroad over on Facebook as 71.5 percent of the country's web users log on to social networks. This group includes individuals over the age of 15, and 26 percent of them are frequent visitors to Facebook.

Will Hodgman, comScore's executive vice president of the Asia-Pacific domain noted that this data shows how social networks are spreading around the world. '[It] is now an essential part of peoples daily online routine, providing a level of engagement and reach that far exceeds most other content categories,' he said.

JetBlue tweets exclusive promotion

2009-08-14T20:12:00.000+01:00

Out of the more popular airlines today, JetBlue is considered by some to appeal most to young people due to its focus on trendier in-flight entertainment and cosmopolitan meal offerings.

The company has also been busy with its latest marketing campaign, announced to over a million Twitter followers in order to keep with its hip image, econsultancy reports.

JetBlue plans to offer unlimited travel for those who purchase one $599 ticket during the entire month of September in an effort to fill planes during the interim month between summer vacations and holiday or winter trips.

The news provider reveals that since this announcement, there have been over 10 million mentions of JetBlue on blogs and social networking sites around the internet. After one day, spokeswoman Jenny Dervin revealed that the company has already sold a third of the special offer tickets it has reserved.

'This is a good way for people to give us a try, especially in a month that has more seats available than any other time of year,' she explained to the news provider.

Television attracts viewers through Facebook

2009-08-14T15:14:00.000+01:00

Since many people already use Tivo to skip commercials and watch their favorite shows without interruption, NBC is looking to Facebook to get people interested in fall programming.

Its new show Community will kick off this fall but for the lucky few who were able to catch it, the pilot episode of the show was streamed through Facebook, TVSquad.com recently reported.

Users can watch the episode by becoming fans and then streaming it through their site, but only until August 14. Other curious viewers will have to wait until the show airs.

The series stars Chevy Chase and Joel McHale and takes a light-hearted look at community college life for adults. McHale is most famous for his tirades on pop culture on another show called The Soup.

Since media sources reveal that NBC aims to target the Facebook-user demographic, the move is definitely a smart one that will hopefully build a solid fanbase and keep people involved.

With marketing moves such as this, it seems young people will never leave Facebook alone. Hopefully, as a recent study indicated, this behavior won't create massive amounts of jealousy between significant others over the amount of time one of the partners spends on the site.

UK celeb could look online for love

2009-08-13T17:53:00.000+01:00

If the supremely rich and glamorous have problems finding their soul mate, what hope is there for the rest of us? Apparently, all roads to romance lead to online dating, as one British celebrity has decided.

The television presenter and model, Lisa Snowdon, apparently is pondering a foray into the world of dating over the internet, even though she was reportedly once the object of George Clooney's affection.

Media sources reveal that Snowdon who also happens to host Britain's Next Top Model, is thinking about online dating because she has ' two friends who've met men that way.' 'So why not?' she said to the Daily Express.

While she probably won't be signing up to Ronpaulsingles.com, Snowdon told the news provider that finding a mate over the internet may still be 'a bit difficult as you start on an uneven playing field when one of you is well-known.'

Snowdon recently showed off her samba skills on the UK equivalent to So You Think You Can Dance with professional partner Brendan Cole. The duo made it through to the competition finals.