Social Apps

Google, following plans announced by two biggest social networking sites, MySpace and Facebook, has launched their own open social engine called Friends Connect.  Friends Connect allows website owners to add social networking functionalities without any complicated programming. Visitors bring along friends from social networks like Facebook, Orkut, and others to interact on their site. Then main feature of Friends Connect is Open Social which will allow third parties to build and develop applications.

The Friends Connect is available to selected partners now

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Technorati Tags: Facebook, Friends Connect, Google, MySpace, OpenSocial

MySpace ads click-through rate is down from 1 in 100— in 2006 to 1 in 1,000 in 2007. “Users became more or less desensitized to the advertising”.

Many feel that social-network advertising is still in its infancy and expect it to take some time to be successful. Even Google founder Sergey Brin says his company still has not found the “killer best way” to advertise on social networks.

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Technorati Tags: ads, advertising, click-through rate, MySpace

MySpace launched a developer platform following� Facebook social network, to open its platform to developers. The MySpace Developer Platform (MDP) allows developers to create applications that interact with MySpace members and their social data. The Platform supports OpenSocial applications.

MySpace will let developers sell ads, sponsorships and products on special pages assigned to each application. Developers initially will keep all revenue.

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Technorati Tags: API, MDP, MySpace, MySpace Developer Platform. apps, OpenSocial, social API, social data

Google released the Google Social Graph API, which will allows developers to build apps that can link up people on the Web. The API takes the publicly declared relationships about your accounts, on Twitter, MySpace.com, and other social network sites, and then your friends and their accounts, and makes that information publicly accessible for new apps. So, when you join a new network built using the API, you won’t have rebuild your social-network contact list.

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Technorati Tags: API, apps, Google, MySpace, social apps, social graph API, Twiiter

According to Akamai, the traffic on its platform related to its social media customers saw significant growth over the past year.

Akamai supports dozens of leading social media destination sites, as well as key technologies and applications that form this global ecosystem, including Facebook, Friendster, Bebo, Metacafe, MySpace, RockYou, and Slide.

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Technorati Tags: Akamai, Bebo, Facebook, Friendster, Metacafe, MySpace, RockYou, Slide, social media, web traffic

Universal Music Group has initiated a new policy whereby streaming of songs from Universal artists will be limited to 90-second clips on sites that have not secured a deal that compensates the company for every full-song stream.

Universal recording artist Colbie Caillat told fans via her MySpace page that Universal made her swap out full songs available on the page for 90-second clips.

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Technorati Tags: music, MySpace, Universal Music Group

New research from Northwestern University finds that college students’ choice of social networking sites — including Facebook, MySpace and Xanga — is related to their race, ethnicity and education.

That study finds that Facebook is used most by white students, that Hispanic students prefer MySpace and that Asian and Asian-American students use the less popular social network sites Xanga and Friendster more than students from other ethnic groups.

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Technorati Tags: education, Facebook, Friendster, internet, MySpace, race, social networking, students, Xanga

MySpace has partnered with mobile music distributor Textango on a promotion that will provide a free download of an upcoming album from Epitaph Records artists Pennywise, Adweek reported.

The promotion, which will launch in March alongside the release of the album in stores, requires MySpace users to add Textango as a friend, and in return they will gain access to the free download.

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Technorati Tags: advertising, downloads, internet, marketing, MySpace, Pennywise, social networking, Textango

KickApps made an announcement today about VIBE Verses 3, the rap battle to end all rap battles. For those of you who have been following the VIBE Verses franchise, you’ll be very familiar with the contest to find the ‘next great rapper.’ What’s new and exciting with 3 is that the winner will be picked by Wyclef Jean to open for him during his MySpace Release Party on December 4th in LA (the finalists will be selected by the VIBE Verses community).

What’s really interesting about all this is that this is the first major collaboration between a MEGA community, like MySpace, and a niche community, in this case the leading hip hop and urban lifestyle brand.

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Technorati Tags: community, KickApps, MySpace, social networking, Vibe