social networking

Facebook's Firefox extension is either awesome or annoying. We can't really tell yet.

Although the once-exclusive social networking site Facebook has since opened up to the general public, its user base still largely consists of high school and college students who are prone to procrastination. In fact, Facebook's facilitation of voyeuristic procrastination is one reason that it probably caught on so virally in the first place. And now, Facebook users can integrate procrastination right into their Firefox 2.0 browsers, with the just-announced Facebook Toolbar. It really gives the service an always-there presence on your Web surfing experience. Paranoiacs might find it a little Big Brother-ish, kind of like they did when … Read more

Zoodango: all too literal social networking

Just what you were looking for: another social networking site! If you've tired of the purely social scene that is Facebook or MySpace, LinkedIn is just too buttoned down for you, and you want your social networking to happen in the real world, then welcome to Zoodango. (Ok, first things first: Zoodango?)

The deal with Zoodango is it will attempt to combine the over-sharing personal elements of MySpace or Facebook ("lifestyle information"), the impressive-credential listing and resume jargon ("professional information") of LinkedIn, and the time-honored coffee-shop get-together. Yes, Zoodango has a fairly novel approach to … Read more

Me.dium: One part social networking gizmo, one part spy tool.

Last week, as I recounted yesterday, I went to the TechCrunch NYC meetup and was consequently barraged by all kinds of Web 2.0 esoterica. Some were not-so-innovative (do we really need more social bookmarking and link annotation sites?) and others were pretty darn cool. In the "pretty darn cool" category lies Me.dium, a Firefox extension that aims to let you visualize traffic on the Web as though you were "walking down Main Street," according to co-founder David Mandell. It takes the form of a sidebar on your browser (see screengrab at left) and shows … Read more

Dos and don'ts of community Web sites

Just building a Web site is not enough for a blog or online community to thrive--Web site owners have to welcome the members, be diplomatic when disagreements arise and, above all, be honest and ethical, experts at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco said on Tuesday.

The biggest no-no for a Web site or blog is to lie, said Lisa Stone, co-founder of women's blogging site BlogHer, at a session titled "BlogHer Presents: World Domination via Collaboration." Wal-Mart learned that hard lesson after the blogosphere criticized the chain for not revealing that the writers behind a travel blog … Read more

3D life on a mobile phone

Could this be "Third Life"? Gemini Mobile Technologies is unveiling "S! Town," which it calls the world's first 3D community for cell phones. Mobile Magazine says this third dimension, based on Gemini's patented eXplo software, can be used for such activities as chatting with other avatars, buying goods in virtual stores and sharing multimedia content.

S! Town, which is cutting its ribbon on the Japanese market first with phones from Sharp and Toshiba, would obviously like to duplicate the success of that nation's Mixi social network. But even if it wins popularity there, … Read more

The intersection of MySpace and GPS

Honda has taken GPS navigation systems into the realm of social networking. The automaker says its latest subscription-based offering, called Internavi Premium Club, will come with built-in real-time weather and travel information, as well as a function that will enable drivers to tag points of interest with their own comments.

The social-networking element of service will let drivers post and access reviews about restaurants, for example, harnessing the "wisdom of crowds" in a similar way to that of many Web 2.0 applications. The bad news is that it looks like a Japan-only option for the foreseeable future. … Read more

Facebook's regional move

Social-networking phenom Facebook keeps getting bigger. Not long ago, it was the online-directory project of a few Harvard University students. Then founder Mark Zuckerberg let it spread to other Ivy League schools. It wasn't long before seemingly all college students were using it every day. And then, last fall, Zuckerberg let high schoolers join the fray.

Not all students could have predicted that when Facebook opened its .edu domain membership doors to a few well-known .com and .org groups, it would soon be open to the general public. But as the site considers a hefty buyout by Yahoo and … Read more