As you well know by now, last month a little movie called “The Social Network” was released on our cinema screens. It was all about the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. I haven’t seen it yet, but I have been told by others it’s quite a good watch. After a bit of blog browsing today, I have stumbled across this video which I think properly deserves the title of “The Facebook Movie”, much more than its big budget Hollywood predecessor. Check out the video below:
Facebook Mail could be the new service unveiled by Mark Zuckerberg, if the rumors of a new e-mail service to compete with Google’s Gmail are real.
The code name for what will appear on Monday is ‘Project Titan’ and it could offer an email service that would look like ‘@facebook.com’. The address would have POP access, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think of a collaboration with Microsoft Office Web Apps.
In fact, people talk about a source close to Microsoft which confirms that Facebook will present a full range of email services. This alliance will not be the first between the two companies, which already have agreements in other areas such as Bing, Docs.com or transfering contacts with Hotmail.
Microsoft recently launched the latest version of Messenger which includes Facebook chat to enable 300 million of Messenger users connect to it easily. The two companies have decided to extend their working relationship to improve their services. At this point, Microsoft says that only 20% of Messenger users have access to Facebook chat, which makes the figures even more surprising.
In a trial that is taking place in the court for the Southern District of New York, the AFP said that the recent update of Twitter on trademark rights grants anyone the right to use material published on the microblogging network.
Daniel Morel, a photographer who worked in Haiti, published some of his pictures on Twitter via Twitpic. Another user, Lisandro Serum copied the photos and offered them. AFP used the photos and Getty also used them with the intention of selling them. Several media sources used those photos and gave all the credit to AFP and Serum.
Eric Goldman, an associate professor of the University of Santa Clara , wrote in his Blog about the Technology & Marketing Law after Morel sent several letters demanding his rights, the AFP presented a “declaratory action” against the photographer, ” seeking a declaration of noninfringement. ” Why? Because Twitter’s Terms & Conditions give AFP the right to publish the pictures found on the microblogging network.
The terms say that Twitter can share media with its partners. The AFP made the interpretation that all of Twitter followers are partners and for such reason they were allowed to use the pics.
This case borders on the absurd, it reminds us that social networks like Twitter and Facebook need to implement some ground rules for material shared on social networks. Flickr model allows the user to decide the level of protection and rights for the pictures uploaded by users, it is true that the process is a bit confusing, but it seems to be the most successful one. AFP’s arguments are ridonkulous, but so are the Terms & Conditions of Twitter where the company has granted the right to sell the photos that users share on the network.
Twitter geolocation service was launched in June last year, for the microblogging network followers satisfaction. But Twitter’s application is still below other services, such as Foursquare or Facebook Places.
Twitter Places is investigating new ways to evolve their services. Recently it was speculated that they could launch the possibility to ‘claim’ a place, after Twitter did this for its company’s headquarters.
However, Twitter has been quick to say that this service is not available at this time. “Claiming Twitter Places is not available at this time. We’re experimenting with a variety feature”.
Fancy a Web Browser combining all your social media addictions into one? Introducing “RockMelt” (cool name huh?). This new browser enables you to easily navigate through all the social media platforms in one window eliminating the annoyance of having endless windows and separate tabs open.
This new browser is backed by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. Although it does seem a bit similar to “Tweetdeck” & “Seesmic”, Rockmelt seems to have a lot more functionality and compatibility, including full web browsing, search, apps, social network integration and a lot more. Rockmelt has been created to save you valuable time and give you an easier and more enjoyable social networking experience… check out the video below for more info:
According to the graph shown, the best time to post on Facebook is at 9 am and then at 6 o’clock. I guess the graph proves that most people working in offices check Facebok when they arrive and then when they are about to leave.
Regarding Twitter the best time is between 12 and 4 pm.
So if you are planning on creating new competitions now you know what’s the best time of the day for you tell your fans about it. Publish your articles in the morning and then Tweet about them later in the day.
Here is some exciting news for all Myspace Loyalists out there! Looks like Myspace are trying to make a comeback to compete with the social network giant “Facebook” with who they were once in competition, with a brand new revamp to their site.
Check out the video below, giving you a brief explanation of the changes/new features, plus the new direction Myspace are venturing towards:
So it looks like Myspace have realised their target audience and are sticking to what they were always good at, which is of course “Music”. This looks like a really cool site for bands & music lovers and I think that if Myspace stick to what they are good at, things could start to look up for the Former Social Networking Champs!
As you can see, the red arrows indicate the new feature Google are currently trying out (“Shared by”), but what do they mean? Well, if you click on the “shared by” link, you will be taken to the Google real time search, where you are shown the people who are sharing the particular story via social media avenues such as Twitter, Facebook & Myspace.
The other feature I previously mentioned, “Recent Updates”, can be seen in the screen shot below:
Again, the new feature is being indicated by the red arrow. So what happens when you click on this feature? When you click on the “Recent updates” link, the link brings back via Google real time search what people are saying on the social network sites e.g. Twitter, Facebook & Myspace, about the search topic you originally searched for.
This new release from Google is coinciding with the new release from Bing, which is very similar. But the major difference between the features are the fact that Bing only allow recent updates and shared by links from your Social networking friends, whereas Google are showing them from everyone and are not limiting you to just your friends. Obviously there are Pro’s and Con’s to both of the search engines new features, but whatever the case, this is yet another step forward for Social Media’s Integration with Search Engines.
NASA is developing a robot (Robonaut 2, R-2) which will be able to tweet from space all its adventures. Robonaut is already tweeting and has 15,978 followers … “Not there yet, but all packed up and ready to go. L-20 days!”
It looks like R-2 will be sent into space on the 1st of November, the space shuttle is called ‘The Discovery’.
Robonaut 2 was created through a joint project between NASA and General Motors, which began back in 2007, but NASA wants to test its response to microgravity, so first it will join the crew of the S-133 mission.
If want you to follow its tweets, visit @AstroRobonaut
