Online Media Cultist » social networking

iMeem Acquired by MySpace Music: A New Bright Future for MySpace?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:23:34 +0000

In 2005 and 2006, MySpace was the king of the hill. “Web 2.0″ was in its ascendancy, and everyone couldn’t stop talking about MySpace. Kids loved it and were telling their parents and friends, single people flirted and told their single friends, bands loved it and marketed their asses off, while the mainstream media pumped out story after story about privacy protection and predators, and web insiders and geeks snarked about clunky UI and design.

That’s in the past, though. Today, MySpace is still one of the most popular websites on the Internet (#11, according to Alexa, down from #6 in late 2007) but it’s an aging giant. Bands are still there, and lots of people are still there, but the buzz and early adopters and press have all long since moved on.

Over the past year or so, MySpace has looked to brand itself not so much as a social networking site, which has nearly lost its meaning and cache in the age of Facebook and Twitter, but as a social media and music site. This would be a return to its roots really, as Sparxoo notes.

Now, with the completion of MySpace Music’s acquisition of popular social media music website iMeem, MySpace is making serious strides to refresh its brand while gobbling up an additional 16 million monthly users.

It’s a smart move. Bands and artists have invested a lot of time over a period of years building presence on MySpace, so the ability to integrate iMeem’s features and community could really payoff long term. And in a crowded online music space, iMeem has distinguished itself as a popular destination to discover music and socialize with fellow music addicts (for example, if I want a quick fix of “The Breaks,” by Kurtis Blow, I knew I could just head to iMeem, search for the song, sit back and get hit with the funk).

I don’t think that MySpace will ever seriously compete with Facebook again. That battle is over, and MySpace is wise to realize it. If MySpace can hang around and dominate the online music space, battling the likes of AOL Music, Yahoo Music, and startups like Pandora, it may once again have a bright future.

(this post originally appeared on Technorati)

Blog Focus: Yahoo’s “Project Rushmore” and Facebook Connect

Eric Berlin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:18:17 +0000

We hear a lot these days about the distributed web, the interconnected web, the social web, this kind of thing. It really hits home though in the real time real world when a mammoth web entity like Yahoo throws in with reigning king of the social webs Facebook on something referred to as nothing less than "Project Rushmore."

Several years ago, Yahoo looked poised to take the social media world on (Teddy Roosevelt-like?), what with purchases of red hot web 2.0 start-ups such as Flickr, del.icio.us, and MyBlogLog. But now…

Confused? Let our bloggy friends explain:

* BoomTown: A few weeks ago, several sources at Yahoo begin telling BoomTown about a mysterious “Project Rushmore,” which was described as a massive integration of major social networking sites across the giant Internet portal.

Now, the first unveiling of Project Rushmore comes with this morning’s announcement that Yahoo (YHOO) will be integrating Facebook Connect with its many properties–from its powerful media sites to its Flickr photo service to its email.

* paidContent: Yahoo says it will begin to roll out Facebook Connect across all of its properties in the first half of the year—and says that will “create a loop that drives visitors back to Yahoo” when users share Yahoo content on the social network. The deal comes as Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has talked about making her company’s properties more “social."

* Search Engine Land: Facebook will be integrated on properties including Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Answers, Yahoo Sports and others. In addition, you will be able to see your Facebook friends’ activities on Yahoo and share Yahoo content – ratings, photos, article comments, and more – directly on your Facebook stream.

* GigaOM: If more and more sites use Facebook Connect, that is use Facebook ID, the closer company gets to becoming the ultimate identity broker of the web, which in terms helps them achieve their ultimate goal — organize world’s relationships. In comparison, Google which wants to organize world’s information.

* Marketing Pilgrim: OK, so you can’t blame Yahoo for making this move. After all, social networking is Facebook’s strength, and not Yahoo’s. But, I’m starting to worry what Yahoo has left to call it’s “strength.”

(this post originally appeared on Technorati)

Meet Google’s New Social Network: iGoogle

Eric Berlin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:51:32 +0000

via mashable.com

Facebook + FriendFeed vs. iGoogle: the next great social networking battle?

Posted via web from Eric Berlin\’s posterous

Social Networks For 2009 That Web Workers Need To Pay Attention To

Eric Berlin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:12:13 +0000

For web workers, some social networks matter more than others. What I mean by that is while MySpace is still one of the most popular web sites on the planet (Alexa has it ranked No. 9 currently), it’s simply not that important — in relative terms — for connecting with colleagues, potential customers and contacts; obtaining breaking news, links and social media chatter; or getting a sense of what’s happening in social media circles in real time.

As 2009 is shaping up, the most popular and relevant social networks and social media platforms for web workers are Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook and LinkedIn. Granted, there’s a vast galaxy of other valuable and interesting social web sites to select from, but it’s important to get a sense of how to get the most out of this particular foursome.

Twitter
Twitter was a phenomenon in 2007, a rising social media star in 2008, and has largely attained mainstream status in 2009 (cable news stations are falling all over themselves these days in attempt to send you to their Twitter profile, for example). It’s simply one of the most important places to be online. It’s also an amazingly simple and flexible product, which befuddles some and delights many.

(read the rest of this piece at Web Worker Daily)

Why would a Fox News SVP call Facebook “the leading social network”?

Eric Berlin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:46:43 +0000

Weird news item #1: Fox News is expanding its presence on Facebook
Fox News Channel, which is part of the same company (News Corporation) as MySpace, is expanding its social networking presence on MySpace’s leading social networking competition, Facebook. The New York Times speculates that the reason may be due to MySpace’s “existing partnership with MSNBC.

Weird news item #2: Fox News SVP claims Facebook is bigger than MySpace
It’s one thing to branch out to a social network that might be more geared to your demographic. Joel Cheatwood, senior vice president for development at Fox News, rightly points out that Facebook’s audience tends to be “a little older and a little more sophisticated” as compared to MySpace.

And it’s another for the “real reason” to potentially be MySpace’s deal with MSNBC. But why would Cheatwood go on to say that “Facebook is ‘currently the leading social network’ worldwide”?

Even if it were true, wouldn’t that be the kind of claim that you wouldn’t want to make about a major competitor to one of News Corp’s highest profile properties?

As always, take it with barrels of salt, but Alexa pegs Facebook as the #5 ranked website on the Internet, with MySpace trailing at #7.