Year in review: Social networking gets its geek on
The Web phenomenon began a new phase with the debut of developer platforms like Facebook's that gave sites both tech cred and popular appeal.
Social networking gets its geek on
For most of 2007, buzz in the social-networking world could be summed up in two syllables: Facebook.
At the beginning of the year, MySpace.com was on top of the social-networking heap. And as 2007 draws to a close, the News Corp.-owned site is still far ahead in page views and user accounts. It continues to expand into both new language markets and original media content like the Web series Quarterlife, and it has earned critical acclaim for the interactive "presidential dialogues" that it organized in conjunction with MTV. Parent company Fox Interactive Media has also expanded its social-media offerings, acquiring image-sharing site Photobucket and widget start-up Flektor.
New social-networking start-ups also flooded the Web (MC Hammer, anyone?) and big names like Yahoo and Viacom
But this was the year that Facebook caught fire, and even
The real game changer came on May 24, when 23-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the site was releasing code that would let third-party developers create applications to run within the service. Experts considered the Facebook Platform launch a milestone in the evolution of social networks, and developers saw it as their ticket to success. Start-ups devoted entirely to embeddable social-network widgets, like Slide and RockYou, became some of Silicon Valley's hottest new companies.
Soon after, other social networks decided to follow suit. MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, and others all announced that they would be opening their services to developer applications, too. Google, meanwhile, had its own plan: the search giant unveiled OpenSocial, a standard that any social network could use for a developer platform. With just about every major social media player onboard except Facebook, OpenSocial was the only real threat to the Facebook platform that emerged in 2007.
The hype culminated when Microsoft confirmed that it would invest $240 million in Facebook, putting the social network's estimated value at a jaw-dropping $15 billion. But things started to unwind when several activist groups, including MoveOn.org, alleged that Facebook was violating user privacy through its new Beacon advertisements, which shared information about users' activity on retail partners' sites with their Facebook friends. In the wake of the accusations, Facebook apologized and added more privacy controls, much as it had done a year earlier when users protested the debut of the "news feed."
Smaller social networks also made headlines. The much-talked-about Digg remained a hot topic. Acquisition rumors floated around late in the year, and in the spring,
Some of the year's other social-media acquisitions included music-based network Last.fm, purchased by CBS Interactive; kids' site Club Penguin, acquired by Disney; StumbleUpon, which
Not surprisingly, privacy and safety issues remained on the horizon. Both Facebook and MySpace grappled with demands from state attorneys general who were concerned that young people could be exposing themselves to online threats through social networks. Their efforts didn't do much to stall either site, but served as a continual reminder that even though Silicon Valley might tout a company as the future of communication, legal authorities might beg to differ.
2007 Highlights
MySpace developing parental-notification software
"Zephyr" is designed to give parents access to their children's names, ages, and locations as listed on their profiles.
Cisco buys into social-networking fray
Cisco makes its first move toward courting big media companies with the acquisition of a small social-networking company.
Newsmaker: Battle of the social-networking sites
MySpace inches out YouTube, Facebook and Second Life in a war game over who has the most promising business.
Digg in tough spot with DMCA debacle
Social news site responded to readers and defied a cease-and-desist letter pertaining to a cracked HD DVD encryption key.
MySpace to provide sex offender data to state AGs
After asserting that it'd be illegal to do so, News Corp. unit agrees to provide data about registered sex offenders who use the site.
Facebook welcomes outside services
Company invites software developers to build applications and businesses to open retail spaces on the social-networking site.
eBay confirms StumbleUpon acquisition
In an acquisition announcement-heavy day, the auction giant reports it has coughed up $75 million for the "discovery" service.
What does CBS want with Last.fm?
Media giant pays $280 million for social network devoted to music, but industry watchers wonder if CBS wants the community, the tech or both.
Facebook's app feeding frenzy
Founder Mark Zuckerberg says new third-party applications will help his social network grow. But how much is too much of a good thing?
Small reviews site packs a loud Yelp
Locally written reviews site captures the attention of small-business owners and armchair critics across big U.S. cities.
Plaxo launches new Pulse social network
Address and calendar organization site branches into friendlier networking by allowing users to spice up profiles with feeds from Twitter, Digg, etc.
At Rapleaf, your personals are public
The start-up aggregates social-networking profiles and, through TrustFuse, opens the possibility of selling that data to marketers.
Viacom's Flux: It's MyBlogLog for the cooler kids
The media giant has transformed its Tagworld investment into Flux, a social-networking platform resembling a start-up Yahoo bought last year.
Social networks don their platform shoes
Facebook scored big by opening up to outside developers. Now its rivals are aiming to follow in its footsteps.
OpenSocial opens new can of worms
Google has finally unveiled its social-networking strategy, and it's ambitious even for the seemingly unshakable tech company.
Can Facebook feed its ad brains?
Social-networking site expected to tap artificial intelligence to deliver ads to its 49 million members.
Seeking 'veritas' in Facebook's latest legal battle
Fresh off the Beacon controversy, Facebook finds itself wrapped up in a renewed legal battle over its founder's past at Harvard. And this time, it's losing.
Zuckerberg: 'We simply did a bad job' handling Beacon
The company's young CEO apologized for the advertising program's cringeworthy debut, and agreed to allow users to disable it entirely.
Facebook to let other sites access platform code
In surprise move, it will let other social-media sites have access to its applications. Is Google's OpenSocial dead in the water.
Additional Headlines
Dodgeball founders quit Google
MySpace to acquire Photobucket image-sharing site
Digg chooses Microsoft as new ad partner
Social networking gets its geek on
For most of 2007, buzz in the social-networking world could be summed up in two syllables: Facebook.
At the beginning of the year, MySpace.com was on top of the social-networking heap. And as 2007 draws to a close, the News Corp.-owned site is still far ahead in page views and user accounts. It continues to expand into both new language markets and original media content like the Web series Quarterlife, and it has earned critical acclaim for the interactive "presidential dialogues" that it organized in conjunction with MTV. Parent company Fox Interactive Media has also expanded its social-media offerings, acquiring image-sharing site Photobucket and widget start-up Flektor.
New social-networking start-ups also flooded the Web (MC Hammer, anyone?) and big names like Yahoo and Viacom
But this was the year that Facebook caught fire, and even
The real game changer came on May 24, when 23-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the site was releasing code that would let third-party developers create applications to run within the service. Experts considered the Facebook Platform launch a milestone in the evolution of social networks, and developers saw it as their ticket to success. Start-ups devoted entirely to embeddable social-network widgets, like Slide and RockYou, became some of Silicon Valley's hottest new companies.
Soon after, other social networks decided to follow suit. MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, and others all announced that they would be opening their services to developer applications, too. Google, meanwhile, had its own plan: the search giant unveiled OpenSocial, a standard that any social network could use for a developer platform. With just about every major social media player onboard except Facebook, OpenSocial was the only real threat to the Facebook platform that emerged in 2007.
The hype culminated when Microsoft confirmed that it would invest $240 million in Facebook, putting the social network's estimated value at a jaw-dropping $15 billion. But things started to unwind when several activist groups, including MoveOn.org, alleged that Facebook was violating user privacy through its new Beacon advertisements, which shared information about users' activity on retail partners' sites with their Facebook friends. In the wake of the accusations, Facebook apologized and added more privacy controls, much as it had done a year earlier when users protested the debut of the "news feed."
Smaller social networks also made headlines. The much-talked-about Digg remained a hot topic. Acquisition rumors floated around late in the year, and in the spring,
Some of the year's other social-media acquisitions included music-based network Last.fm, purchased by CBS Interactive; kids' site Club Penguin, acquired by Disney; StumbleUpon, which
Not surprisingly, privacy and safety issues remained on the horizon. Both Facebook and MySpace grappled with demands from state attorneys general who were concerned that young people could be exposing themselves to online threats through social networks. Their efforts didn't do much to stall either site, but served as a continual reminder that even though Silicon Valley might tout a company as the future of communication, legal authorities might beg to differ.
2007 Highlights
MySpace developing parental-notification software
"Zephyr" is designed to give parents access to their children's names, ages, and locations as listed on their profiles.
Cisco buys into social-networking fray
Cisco makes its first move toward courting big media companies with the acquisition of a small social-networking company.
Newsmaker: Battle of the social-networking sites
MySpace inches out YouTube, Facebook and Second Life in a war game over who has the most promising business.
Digg in tough spot with DMCA debacle
Social news site responded to readers and defied a cease-and-desist letter pertaining to a cracked HD DVD encryption key.
MySpace to provide sex offender data to state AGs
After asserting that it'd be illegal to do so, News Corp. unit agrees to provide data about registered sex offenders who use the site.
Facebook welcomes outside services
Company invites software developers to build applications and businesses to open retail spaces on the social-networking site.
eBay confirms StumbleUpon acquisition
In an acquisition announcement-heavy day, the auction giant reports it has coughed up $75 million for the "discovery" service.
What does CBS want with Last.fm?
Media giant pays $280 million for social network devoted to music, but industry watchers wonder if CBS wants the community, the tech or both.
Facebook's app feeding frenzy
Founder Mark Zuckerberg says new third-party applications will help his social network grow. But how much is too much of a good thing?
Small reviews site packs a loud Yelp
Locally written reviews site captures the attention of small-business owners and armchair critics across big U.S. cities.
Plaxo launches new Pulse social network
Address and calendar organization site branches into friendlier networking by allowing users to spice up profiles with feeds from Twitter, Digg, etc.
At Rapleaf, your personals are public
The start-up aggregates social-networking profiles and, through TrustFuse, opens the possibility of selling that data to marketers.
Viacom's Flux: It's MyBlogLog for the cooler kids
The media giant has transformed its Tagworld investment into Flux, a social-networking platform resembling a start-up Yahoo bought last year.
Social networks don their platform shoes
Facebook scored big by opening up to outside developers. Now its rivals are aiming to follow in its footsteps.
OpenSocial opens new can of worms
Google has finally unveiled its social-networking strategy, and it's ambitious even for the seemingly unshakable tech company.
Can Facebook feed its ad brains?
Social-networking site expected to tap artificial intelligence to deliver ads to its 49 million members.
Seeking 'veritas' in Facebook's latest legal battle
Fresh off the Beacon controversy, Facebook finds itself wrapped up in a renewed legal battle over its founder's past at Harvard. And this time, it's losing.
Zuckerberg: 'We simply did a bad job' handling Beacon
The company's young CEO apologized for the advertising program's cringeworthy debut, and agreed to allow users to disable it entirely.
Facebook to let other sites access platform code
In surprise move, it will let other social-media sites have access to its applications. Is Google's OpenSocial dead in the water.
Additional Headlines
Dodgeball founders quit Google
MySpace to acquire Photobucket image-sharing site
Digg chooses Microsoft as new ad partner