Apologies from Facebook

Facebook has recently introduced a new Ad program to its users. This program called Beacon quickly became controverisal and petitioned against. Beacon is designed to track what other sites users enter on the internet. Whether it includes purchasing items or just exploring the site as a hobby. When someone makes a purchase, Beacon then advertises the product on the persons homepage of facebook for all their friends to see. Many people felt violated and voiced the negative impact on this feature. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stated Beacon has an option where the user can choose not to activate it. However, Facebook users argued that the notice they received about Beacon were fairly small. When the notices went ignored, Facebook considered this permission to go on with the feature. This issue has led to an apology from the chief executive himself. In the article Apologetic, Facebook Changes Ad Program http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/technology/06facebook.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Mr. Zuckerberg states

I’m not proud of the way we’ve handled this situation, and I know we can do
better” .

Music in My Space

My Space has just announced that they will now be offering various musicians to perform on the site. In the article which was recently published musicians can select songs they would like to perform. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/technology/04myspace.html The performances are streamed for the audience to watch. In addition to enjoying the performance, they will be sold to immediately to the public. My Space plans to be one of the top places to purchase these video perfomances.

“If I like what I see, I can take it with me,” said Josh Brooks, vice
president for programming and content of MySpace.

Programs like this are great because it makes it convenient for people to use. An artist can choose their own format as well as the length of the song. Usually a song may be cut short due to other programs following the performance. With My Space, the performance doesnt have to be cut short and if the audience chooses to purchase the video, they get their money's worth.

" We’re enabling artists to choose how they want to distribute their
music,” Mr. Brooks said.

My Space has become a huge phenomenon over the recent years. Many artists are happy with this new introduction due to all the previous illegal downloading of music. Also it allows the artist to portray their other talents rather than the radio determining the content of the song.

Chatting By Phone Through Myspace

Did you think communication through Myspace couldn't get any better? Think again. Myspace users will soon be able to communicate with family and friends across the world, by phone. Myspace and Skype are now partnering together to make this possible. Myspace with Skype is a new product that combines Myspace instant messaging clients with Skype's free voice-calling capability using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Chris DeWolfe, cofounder and CEO of MySpace, which is owned by News Corp, says:

"Skype has the leading technology in Internet voice communications and an enormous international user base that we're thrilled to connect with our existing community."

Millions will be able to get connected. This feature will be available globally and in 28 different languages. No software has to be downloaded which makes it less of a hassle and more user friendly.

By now you could be thinking about your safety and privacy. Will this new feature allow just anybody to contact me via Skype? And the answer is no, there will be a privacy protection. This feature will be able to tap into your personal privacy settings available on Myspace and be able to determine who you be able to contact you according to your settings. You will also be able to screen incoming calls as well as block calls.

It is unknown yet if Myspaces' competitor, Facebook will ever come up wit a similiar feature in the future.

With Myspace making progress with feaures like this, it is amazing to think what will come in the near future. I do believe this feature will benefit most Myspace users, but I personal wouldn't use it. If i wanted to chat on the phone with one of my friends on Myspace, I will use my cell phone to give them a ring instead of using Skype. But in the end, it's to each it's own.

Investing In Facebook

The emergence of social networks has created many new opportunities for software developers to make money. Facebook has given a chance to upcoming developers to add new gadgets to the strongly upcoming social network. Theses networks have been on high demand and increasing rapidly, giving developers, marketers, and companies a chance to expand their experience and attributes. The is a never ending supply of oppurtunity for all developers to excel in this internet based communities, not just Facebook, but the many other social networks taking over the internet.

"Facebook, based in Palo Alto, Calif., opened its service to outside developers this spring, inviting them to create tools for the site and to try to profit from them. Since then, more than 4,000 “applications” have flooded onto the site, spicing it up with games or whimsical programs called widgets that let you turn your friends into virtual zombies and more practical tools that let users display images of their favorite books, music, movies and wine on their profile pages."

MySpace to Customize Ads

MySpace has begun to be more than a social network, it has begun to become an Internet version of Times Square. Filled with millions of people, crowded and trafficked by people all day every day, and ads shining over the streets. But there's something the Internet has over Times Square in the "Ads" department; its ads are beginning to be customized to fit the page of the person who's ad lays on. Now when you look at your friends MySpace you might see an ad for Converse because your friend is a Dwayne Wade fan. MySpace is only a few years old, every month there's something new you can do on MySpace, maybe in a few years, we will be putting in "wwm.Blogger.com" aka "WorldWideMySpace.Blogger.com"

"The social networking companies see those pages as a lush target for advertisers — if only they could customize the ads. Although Internet companies have talked about specifically aiming their ads since the inception of the Web, so far advertising on social networks has been characterized by mass-marketed pitches for mortgages and online dating sites. But MySpace, the Web’s largest social network and one of the most trafficked sites on the Internet, says that after experimenting with technology over the last six months it can tailor ads to the personal information that its 110 million active users leave on their profile pages. "

MySpace Lemonade Stand

Were you happy just being able to see and talk to friends whenever you wanted through MySpace or Facebook, well get more excited, now by placing a kiosks on your page from selected companies, you are becoming a seller for these industries, and companies like Lemonade.com, are paying you just for having your friends buy from your page. Most of these social netwoking sites have started out just to bring people together, but they have begun to bring a different aspect to it, with a more widened marketing range. And if people are making money in your cyber community, shouldn't you get a piece of the pie?

"Lemonade.com users register with the Web site and create their kiosks by browsing product categories or searching among the roughly two million items on the site. After a user clicks and drags items into a “Lemonade stand,” the stand quickly displays a slide show of those goods, along with product headings and item descriptions. From there, users can type in the Web addresses of their profile pages on MySpace or Facebook, and their Lemonade stands appear on those pages within minutes.
In contrast to other online services, like Kaboodle and ThisNext.com, which allow users to post images of favorite items on their profile pages, Lemonade pays the user every time someone clicks through to the retailer’s page to buy."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/technology/10ecom.html?n=Top2fNews%2fBusiness%2fCompanies%2fMySpace%2ecom