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Good technology has value, but leading social networks require "network effects." Facebook is infinitely more valuable because all your friends are on it. Facebook has leveraged this "critical mass" of users to stay ahead of new rivals, too. Why visit Twitter, you may ask, when Facebook has continually extended its feature set to keep up with its less popular competitor? The story of social networks is in fact a story about network effects: How can a service reach a point at which there are enough users and content to be useful?

"Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s release Wednesday of its Outlook Social Connector beta is another indication of how social networking has infiltrated not only the online world, but also enterprise software. The Outlook Social Connector, a new feature in Office 2010, blends social networking updates into the business functionality of the software. With Outlook Social Connector, a user can view an e-mail message and social networking activities from the same sender in the same window pane. For now, though, it doesn't allow posting updates back onto LinkedIn or other social-networking sites directly from the inbox."

Blog post about a media center that may forever change the way we consume media. "Boxee is a media center for the age of broadband and social networking. It doesn't just play media stored on your computer; it indexes hundreds (possibly thousands) of streaming videos from, amongst others: ABC, NBC, Comedy Central, and (thanks to a little browser-based trickery) Hulu. It's also a platform for widgets and apps that can pull in additional content from services like Pandora, Netflix, and MLB.TV. Plus, like any piece of software worth its digital weight in bytes, Boxee integrates with social networks like Twitter and Facebook for sharing what your watching with others."

...the ability to control connection points between different networks (e.g. business, media and economic networks) is a critical source of power in contemporary society...

Google's entry into the social networking space will face similar privacy challenges as Facebook and other social networking sites. Here are some facts about Buzz privacy for users to keep in mind.

The shock departure of Owen Van Natta, MySpace's chief executive, a mere nine months after joining the business, has once again thrown the future of the depleted social networking site into the harsh limelight.

Comcast/NBC combined cable networks will comprise 82% of the cash flow to the combined venture. Network and film studio will contribute only a small portion. Comcast says no overlap between it and NBC. Thus no redundancies or lay-offs.

Following the Fox TWC dispute, experts predict more retransmission battles as broadcast networks search desperately for ways to supplement falling advertising revenue.

"Apple's iPad is due in late March, pending FCC approval, and on the FCC's official broadband blog, Director/Scenario Planning Phil Bellaria and Wireless Bureau Deputy Chief John Leibovitz say there may be trouble ahead if the device drives up demand for mobile broadband. They write that the iPad announcement on January 27 "set off a new round of reports of networks overburdened by a data flow they were not build to handle," saying the problems are reminiscent of the outages AOL users ran into when the then-dialup service went to unlimited use in 1996 -- problems that persisted for months."

A News Corp. women's network is in the early stages of planning as top female journalists met to discuss some of the details.

"There's an iPhone App for CBS News and the network's content is available on FLO TV, both distributed via devices with the type of audience data the network seeks. Seidel said the network elected not to participate in the Open Mobile Video Coalitions because it has no audience authentication for over-the-air, mobile DTV."

Interesting assertion that loss of Network prestige is part of the reason that TBS is part of the NCAA basketball deal.

"The Internet, which many feared would draw viewers away from television, appears to be having exactly the opposite effect - at least when it comes to coverage of major events. Brian Stelter writes in The Times that TV executives have noticed big spikes in viewership of the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Grammys and other special events that some of them trace to the effect of social networking sites."

Facebook has a patent on "news-feed" style social networking. Uh oh.

"The trial, which should begin by this spring, will transmit up to 20 channels of free and premium programming using signals from eight mobile DTV stations: WDCA (Fox Television Stations); WUSA (Gannett Broadcasting); WPXW (ION Media Networks); WRC (NBC Universal); WHUT (Howard University/PBS); WNVC (MHz Networks); WNUV (Sinclair Broadcast Group); and WFDC (Univision Communications). "One of the key advantages of mobile DTV is the built-in ability to measure viewer activity, giving broadcasters a much better picture of what consumers are actually watching, when they watch, and where," said Brandon Burgess, OMVC President and ION Media Networks Chairman and CEO."

"Chrysler's live mobile TV will also be at the show, available in the Chrysler Town & Country, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Nitro, Ram 1500 and Ram 2500/3500. The service offers live sports, news, kids programs and primetime network shows all from the convenience of the back seat. It's a $629 plus installation cost option, but it makes Chrysler the first carmaker in the U.S. to offer live TV on-the-go."

"Chrysler's live mobile TV will also be at the show, available in the Chrysler Town & Country, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Nitro, Ram 1500 and Ram 2500/3500. The service offers live sports, news, kids programs and primetime network shows all from the convenience of the back seat. It's a $629 plus installation cost option, but it makes Chrysler the first carmaker in the U.S. to offer live TV on-the-go."

Help wanted. Must tweet. If you're "passionate about engaging millions" in advancing President Obama's \nagenda, the commander in chief has a job for you. The Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America -- the successor organization to Obama for America -- are seeking a "social networks manager" to oversee Obama's accounts on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The ideal new hire, according to the official job description, will possess "strong, sharp and personable" writing skills, as well as the ability to craft messages that "move people to act" and managing multiple "complex" projects."

Apple wants to ignite TV show sales, especially as it prepares to introduce the iPad tablet computer next month. But its proposals to lower prices across the board are being met by skepticism from the major networks.

Google is preparing to unveil a new social networking component for its Gmail Web service, according to reports published Monday. The service, The Wall Street Journal says, would add tweet-like status updates into the Gmail interf

Epicenter The Business of Tech Google Poaches Social Search Service Aardvark * By Ryan Singel Email Author * February 11, 2010 | * 3:49 pm | * Categories: Search * aardvark-answer1The coolest search engine you've never used got snapped up by Google Thursday for a reported $50 million. Aardvark, a company that lets you use IM, Twitter and e-mail to ask full-text questions and then get answers from people in or close to your social network, confirmed it signed a deal with Google. TechCrunch, which first reported the news, put the figure at $50 million, but Wired.com could not confirm the purchase price.