Time Warner CEO Bewkes: News Corp.-MySpace Looked Dubious At First, Too

Looks like Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes might be answering questions about the Bebo deal for awhile. He’s already admitted that the company might have overpaid for the social networking site, and at today’s Deutsche Bank Media & Telecom conference, he admitted: “We did make a bit of a stretch.” He also made similar comments at D6, so he’s been on a real Bebo justification tour lately. A shareholder asked how he could explain the deal, when earlier Bewkes had said that disciplined capital allocation was a key priority. His main response was that this was not representative. Still he’s not calling it a mistake (way too early for that) and he pointed out that it was the “same thing when News Corp (NYSE: NWS). bought MySpace,” as the returns were hard to see at first. The monetization has still been shaky, but News Corp. made investors happy when it inked a $900 million ad deal with Google (NSDQ: GOOG). He also promised that Time Warner has wargamed certain (very optimistic) earnings scenarios that put Bebo’s value at over $1 billion. More on AOL and Time after the jump…

– AOL: It’s still a pretty mixed picture on the AOL front. Third-party display is growing strong, while the owned & operated sites have suffered from advertisers shifting towards performance-based marketing. Search has been disappointing (”everybody’s losing a little bit of share to Google”) as well. He still expects AOL ad revenue to be positive for the year, and there’s always possibility of a deal: “The interest in AOL by all the usual suspects has been pretty strong, during the last four months, six months.” A number of scenarios remain that could involve AOL.

– Time Inc.: Mag titles are not getting destroyed the way newspapers are. There’s no classifieds business getting wrecked by Craigslist. While the news and financial magazines are getting hurt (see: today’s US News & World Report news), lifestyle titles continue to hold up, some of which are still growing the bottom line in the double digits.

Read Full News at http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2284685,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=media

MySpace ready to prove itself in faceoff

Last fall, MySpace looked like a dance club in need of a new DJ.

Its users were spending less time on the social networking site as upstart Facebook Inc. added people at a breakneck pace and stole the spotlight with splashy interactive features that MySpace lacked.

The final blow came in the form of an investment from Microsoft Corp. that gave Facebook an eye-popping $15 billion valuation. MySpace no longer seemed the jewel it was in 2005, when News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch was hailed as a genius for snapping it up for $580 million.

“Facebook awoke the sleeping giant,” said social networking expert Joseph Smarr, an engineer for online address book Plaxo Inc.

So MySpace went to the Silicon Valley to get its mojo back. To counter the perception that it was a digital laggard run by Beverly Hills posers without technical chops, MySpace set out to win over the software developers who make the applications that keep users hanging around.

MySpace was the first to attract these developers with its mass audience, but Facebook allowed them to cash in on features they created that let users throw food at each other (called FoodFight) or join social or political causes (called Causes).

MySpace decided to win back these developers by making it easier for them to make money from their viral creations. Now, that campaign is beginning to pay off. About 1,000 new applications created for MySpace in the last two months by more than 10,000 developers have helped keep MySpace’s 117 million users on the site longer.

Last month, some major Internet players—Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc. and start-up Twitter—backed a MySpace initiative that lets users bring their profiles and network of friends to these sites.

Taking such a high-profile role in the high-tech world could help MySpace in another way: by turning its millions of users into advertising gold.

MyRevenue

MySpace already has an edge. It attracts one in four Americans. Roughly 12 percent of the time spent online in the U.S. is on its pages. If it were a country, the site’s virtual community would rank as the 11th-most-populous nation, after Japan.

Like other social networks, MySpace has struggled to make money from its online hangout. Its revenue growth, though up 49 percent per user over last year, fell short of guidance in the most recent quarter, prompting concern among Wall Street investors.

News Corp. President Peter Chernin blames the sluggishness on an excess of online advertising inventory, which has depressed prices, and the challenge of creating a new category of advertising that mines the wealth of data about users and their friends without alienating them. After all, people hang out on social networks to chat with their friends, not to buy products or services.

Even so, of the $1.4 billion that researcher eMarketer expects advertisers to spend this year on social networks in the U.S., MySpace is estimated to collect about 53 percent.

MySpace Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe said new initiatives, such as hyper-targeted advertising, show real promise. Chevrolet already has used hyper-targeting to display ads to MySpace’s snowboarders. Another ad project in trials focuses on small businesses, allowing a dry cleaner to issue coupons to every soccer mom in a 5-mile radius.

“We’re obviously huge believers in social media,” DeWolfe said. “We’ve been in business for four years. We’ve pioneered new revenue streams. … Now, it’s just a function of broadening relationships and leveraging the special capabilities we have.”

Read Full article at http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon-myspace-facebook-faceoffjun09,0,1364023.story

Social Networking Sites Come of Age

Hook-ups: something the Internet has made possible for any two people to the farthest reaches of the Earth. But it’s not just about love, it’s about building a social network.  Some choose to network to build a friend base, feeling loved when they’ve been “friended” by a certain number of people.  But more and more often, this first-social environment has become a mechanism of true use in the business world.

MySpace is five years old now, and showing the scars of its journey. While users could build their own Web page years ago on Tripod or Geocities, they were often unwieldy and not particularly sophisticated, with ad space taking up part of the pages. MySpace was much more readily accessible to the average non-geek—and it was pretty! (Or pretty horrendous, depending what the user added.)

More importantly, the MySpace pages could be changed at will, decorated with thousands of pictures, surveys, personality tests and more. For the first time users could embed music and video. It’s possible to set it up so both music AND video play at the same time—perhaps not the most well-intended feature.

Another common complaint is the spam generated by MySpace users in seemingly- innocent “friend requests.” When a user is part of the MySpace Community, he has the opportunity to surf through others’ pages as well, and perhaps find common interests. He may then send a request to the person he’s found, asking if he can be listed on the Friends section of that other person’s MySpace page.

But for users like Kim Walton, a culinary student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she finds that she receives an average of 18 emails a day, three that are genuine. The rest are from spammers. Sometimes it’s a request from one of the many musical groups who host MySpace pages who find they make music similar to music she likes and want to introduce her to new artists.  Sometimes it’s just invitation to porn sites.

So why link up with a stranger?  Good question.

Beth Steiner, who directs residential programming for Sierra Nevada Journeys, an environmental camp outside Reno, Nevada, says she has both MySpace and Facebook, and checks into MySpace “about once a week” to catch up on what old friends are doing, but prefers Facebook, which she checks daily.

As she hires new personnel, however, she finds that both sites are a resource to her to learn more about potential employees, often information that was not revealed in the on-site interview. “I like to see what they’re up to socially,” she says.

Walton, too, says she prefers Facebook, and would recommend it to students. “There are less annoying middle schoolers on Facebook, and less creeps.”  She attributes the greater comfort level to better monitoring by the staff at Facebook, and their stricter acceptance policy for who can join. Users must use their true name, address and job information, which promotes verification.

Read Full News at - http://firefox.org/news/articles/1460/1/Social-Networking-Sites-Come-of-Age/Page1.html

‘Social networking’ a threat to defence?

AHMEDABAD: Social networking websites might be a good tool for catching up with old mates but even casual conversations or sharing of a photo on these web portals, as being done by some of Army officers, are turning into a nightmare for intelligence agencies. Intelligence officials say the practice may lead to unwarranted disclosure of classified information.

An incident of a young flying officer at the Jamnagar base uploading a photograph of his while posing in front of a MIG fighter plane on a social-networking website has caused concerns among defence ministry officials. The officials have asked the military intelligence to conduct a background check on the officer.

Sources in the ministry of external affairs, Delhi, confirmed to DNA that the trend of using social networking sites catching up fast among young officials was having a negative impact on issues related to internal security.

“This is a serious cause for concern. Though in some specific cases, efforts have been made to set things right after agencies noticed some army personnel disclosing classified information through these websites,” said an MEA official, requesting anonymity.

Read Full News at - http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1162741

Google Takes On FaceBook and MySpace With Their Social Network

A new “OpenSocial” framework interface will allow Google to make inroads into the social networking world currently dominated by Facebook and MySpace. Google has built a technology for their iGoogle homepage that will give developers the ability to create social networking gadgets.

When a company want’s another company’s technology (See Video Below), sometimes they just buy the company. Google has had the potential and the money to buy social networking sites similar to Facebook and MySpace, but chose not to (at least not the major players). Maybe the plan was to integrate one in with a customizable homepage.

Google usually does things a little differently than other companies and that is probably why they are so successful. Besides providing a superior search and free software, the company is now opening up their OpenSocial framework API to everyone. This will allow anyone to create a social type gadget for the iGoogle homepage.

The iGoogle homepage is similar to Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s homepage, but without advertising and with more gadgets. Anyone has had the ability to develop gadgets in the past, but this new technology will integrate “updating” similar to other social networking sites.

Let’s say you have read a new book. You can update your profile which will tell your friends what you read and what you thought about it. This is a form of social networking with your friends.

Google has developed a platform (or framework) which allows developers to play with the new technology. Rather than Google engineers sitting around trying to figure out what people want, they developed a kernel (or script) that gives more functionality to the programmer / gadget developer. Google and everyone else will benefit from this type of open-source environment.

Google also eliminated the size restrictions to the gadgets with their “canvas” technology. Now if you are playing a game, you can open the gadget window to full screen.

Original Source -http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20080422_igoogle_opensocial_api_gadgets_facebook_myspace.htm

MySpace launches India social networking website

MySpace on Thursday officially launched in India, as the world’s most popular social networking website strives to fend off fast-growing rival Facebook in the international arena.

MySpace India is an online community tailored to that country’s culture and boasts industry alliances including a partnership with India’s largest television network Star TV.

“We’re thrilled today to be launching MySpace in one of the world’s most vibrant cultures,” said the News Corporation-owned firm’s international managing director Travis Katz. We will be providing the people of India the tools they need to live their lives online and … a launch pad for Indian creators, from developers to musicians to filmmakers, to showcase their talents on the global stage.”

A national college talent search programme called ‘Campus Star’ is broadcast on Star TV and features judging by celebrities and members of a MySpace audience. The show can be found online at http://www.myspace.com/channelv.

MySpace is celebrating the formal launch of the website, which was online previously in a ‘beta’ testing mode, with a concert in Mumbai headlining rock bands Pentagram, Super Fuzz, and Them Clones.

MySpace will host an event in Bangalore on April 21 for local software developers it wants to inspire to create hip, useful or fun applications for people to use on website profile pages.

MySpace has hosted similar local ‘devJam’ or developer jam events in China, Japan, Australia, Britain, Sweden and the United States. The unveiling of MySpace India comes two days after the US firm launched a locally customized South Korea version of the website.

MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe was optimistic while kicking off the South Korea social networking website, saying it took lessons from Internet firms that had trouble getting traction in that country.

MySpace first went international by moving into Europe in 2006 and now has websites serving 25 countries including France, Russia, Australia and Japan. MySpace rival Facebook has set out to boost its global popularity by making itself available in different languages, launching French, Spanish and German websites since the start of the year.

Read Full News at - http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C04%5C21%5Cstory_21-4-2008_pg6_5

Website Design Checklist

Here are a few bullet points on what you should do before you start building a website. Before I start building I like to draw the entire design on a piece of paper and build it from there. That way you can you can save time instead of editing in the computer. Here is a simple checklist I follow when design a Social Networking website.

Layout
-Consistent navigation bar and main logo.
-Page footer that includes copyright information and a contact email address.
-Remember that most people use an 800 x 600 resolution so you should design your pages to be no less than 750 pixels wide.
-Make sure the text on the page is easy to read. If you use a black background it is best to use white text so that people can read it.
-Grab attention with the homepage. Put as much relevant information on the main page as you can
-Check Browser Compatibility

Navigation
-If you are using buttons as your text, add links to the bottom of your page. Some people use text browsers and search bots only look at text not pictures.
-Make sure the homepage is under 50 kb for fast loading
-Navigation should be big and simple and easy to find
-Check Links to ensure they are not broken

Read Full Article at - http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Website-Design-Checklist&id=1112665

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Social Networking To Kick Start Your Career

Social Networking Websites like MySpace where launched to help people to get connected to old friends and to make new friends. However the phenomenon has turned into something much more. Nowadays, people utilize these social networking websites for other aspects like business, advertising, marketing and so on. Apart from these, social networking websites are also used to launch a new career.

REFLECT YOUR PERSONALITY

Many Internet savvy job seekers consider these customizable social networking sites such as MySpace as excellent hunting grounds for great jobs. However there are some basic things that are to be taken into consideration while using social networking sites to search for jobs. This first thing being, creating a unique profile. The layout of the profile used in these websites, say MySpace, should reflect your interest in a particular field. For example, someone who is trying to get into fashion industry should create a trendy and edgy profile layout.

Creating a catchy profile layout that reflects your personality the best requires a bit of patience and little experience. If you think you cannot create a good looking profile, nothing to worry about it. There a lot of professional MySpace designers and social networking website designers who are ready to help you. They are capable of creating unique designs for your profile. It was found in a report that, an ill designed profile layout in the social networking websites will hamper your career. Since these profiles represent your personality, one can easily judge your character with the help of the design of your profiles. So be careful while choosing a layout for your profile in the social networking websites design. They mean much more than just fun.

MEET BUSINESS CONTACTS

The social networking community websites provides its members with lots of opportunity to meet business contacts. You can find contacts with similar interests with the help of the search feature provided in the social networking websites. You can find old college buddies and high school classmates using this feature and seek help from them in getting you a career in the organization where they are working or in the company that they own.

Read Full Article at - http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Social-Networking-To-Kick-Start-Your-Career&id=1109268

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Fundamental Principles of Social Network Web Design

A good web design begins with the knowledge of fundamental principle of art and organization is always the guiding principles of effective Social Network Web designing. The quality of a web site requires more than just putting the content on the web pages. Planning and design consideration like development and visibility factors must be followed to ensure that visual communication is laid out successfully. Also, those tenets of graphic design like the use of symbols, typography, and colors are used to convey meaning and facts within every web design. Since web sites are created to communicate every visiting readers understanding the graphical user interface renders good visual communication.

Web designing is putting the client’s choice of web site’s content with the web designer’s artistic discipline. This artistic discipline then follows the basic principle of User Interface Design in conveying the meaning of visible languages.

The three principles of User Interface Design are:

Organize. Organization has three important concepts: consistency, screen layout, relationship, and navigability.

Economize. The common points to be considered in web designing in terms of economy are simplicity (includes only the most important facts), clarity (no meanings are ambiguous), distinctiveness (the most important details in the design must have distinct features), and emphasis (elements of the design must easily perceived).

Communicate. The user interface must maintain balance between all the elements for successful visual communication.

These three principles are categorized into two groups: principles and elements. These two groups determine the basic composition of web design. These basic compositions have the following principles:

• Balance
• Rhythm
• Proportion
• Dominance
• Unity

Balance

Balance is the placement of objects in relation to their visual weight within a composition. It has two forms: symmetrical (when the weight of a composition is equally distributed around a central vertical or horizontal axis) and asymmetrical (when the weight of a composition is not equally distributed around a central axis).

Rhythm

Since rhythm defines time, it creates a sense of movement and establishes pattern and texture. The three kinds of rhythm are: regular (intervals of elements are similar in size or length), flowing (defines the elements with a sense of movement), and progressive (shows the progression of elements).

Read Full Article at - http://ezinearticles.com/?Fundamental-Principles-of-Web-Design&id=1024588

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Social Networking - The Social Web Online

At the beginning, most of the websites on the internet provided static information. Later on, dynamic websites made their appearance, which started offering an online shopping experience and transactional information. The new revolution in terms of internet development is the rise of the social Networking website through Web 2.0.

Going Social

People no longer want just information. They now want to be a part of the process of conversation. The social web is like a collection of individuals who are propagating their own unique content; using social networking sites. The beginning of the social web evolution was through user-generated content like web forums, personal website etc. Over time the continued use of Web 2.0 saw the emergence of social networking, social marketing, and blogs amongst others.

Some of the popular tools of the social web include blogs, social bookmarking, social networking, file sharing sites like YouTube, etc, virtual worlds like Second Life, and a host of others.

Social Web and Blogging

Web 2.0 and Blogging go hand in hand. It is the use of this web application that has created the concept of Blogs. The success of a web blog entirely depends on the community of readers. It is one of the core components of the social web and the community is largely built through a process of online networking and promotion. It is the proper use of Web 2.0 tools that decide whether the blog is a success or a failure.

Read Full Article at - http://ezinearticles.com/?Social-Marketing—The-Social-Web-Online&id=1090832

http://www.MurderYourJob.com