Gawker
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Shut Up, Twitter
Finally, Twitter Learns When to Shut Up
The Twittersphere is up in arms over a move the message-broadcasting service made to make its site a bit less noisy: You can no longer easily eavesdrop on conversations with strangers. Hurrah!
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By Owen ThomasComment by Soup: There is a simple solution to this. Make it an option. The default can be set to turn off @... 5 Responses | Other threads
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geocities
The Billion-Dollar Blackhole of Social Media
Will anyone miss GeoCities, the antiquated homepage service Yahoo bought for $3.5 billion in 1999, and then left to rot? Venture capitalist Fred Wilson will — he hasn't seen that kind of payday in ages. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by johnnypotatoes: Owen, I may be overreacting to what is just a personal peeve, but I'm also right, and you do this... 10 Responses | Other threads
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xochi birch
Bebo founder admits her fortune came from ripoffs
Imitation is the sincerest form of getting rich. MySpace got bought early, on the cheap; Facebook has yet to cash out. Michael and Xochi Birch's sale of Bebo, a social network more popular overseas than in the U.S., to AOL for $850 million has been the best social-network cashout to date. And how did they manage it? Shamelessly copying other sites, Xochi Birch admits to the BBC. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by HardyEurytus: Xochi is the most endearing person you may ever meet. And what's so surprising about copying other sites? ... more » | Other threads
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too insidery
New Gawker editor's secret Web shame
Yesterday, I met Gabriel Snyder, the former W Magazine writer who's starting as Gawker's new managing editor next week. We're coworkers, since Gawker Media publishes both Gawker and Valleywag. He seems nice enough. But one thing worries me: He has a Friendster profile, which was quite au courant in 2003. The profile, like the site itself, is seriously out of date, listing Snyder as single. He's engaged. Sorry, ladies. -
jonathan abrams
Friendster founder still pretty bitter
I like how New York Times reporter Brad Stone ends his doom-and-gloom trend piece in today's paper — with a quote from a man who has more reason to be paranoid and jaded than most, failed Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams. Abrams, who now runs a six-person startup called Socializr, says he's prepared to “hunker down if things go bad," a scenario he's certainly familiar with. Then like some man on the corner wearing a sandwich board, Abrams rails against all what Stone describes as the "uninspired, copycat entrepreneurs" of Silicon Valley who are "obsessed with the internal gossip and minutiae of the industry." More » -
social networks
Friendster flashbacks as Facebook goes after fakesters
It seemed like only yesterday that Jonathan Abrams was waging an all-out war against "fakesters," or made-up public profiles on his social networking startup Friendster — because lord knows, we can't have people misrepresenting themselves on the Internet. Now it's Facebook's turn to play the heavy, with users of the PackRat application getting multiple accounts deleted. Players of the social card game were signing up under pseudonyms in order to give themselves an advantage in the social card game. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Migrant Blogger: Did you hear about phase 2? Facebook employees are going to use those verified names to try to sell their... more » | Other threads
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the chart
Worldwide visitors to Facebook up 153 percent in a year
Metrics firm ComScore reports that 132 million unique visitors logged onto Facebook in June 2008, up from just 52 million in June 2007. 117 million worldwide users visited MySpace during June 2008. Its Facebook's first definitive traffic victory, from a source advertisers actually pay attention to, over MySpace. Way down on the list at No. 6 — past the fast-growing Hi5, past still-kicking Friendster — there's AOL CEO Randy Falco's $850 million social network, Bebo, which saw 24 million visitors in June.
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Comment by raincoaster: I only joined up a week and a half ago. No WAY did I hit it that much! Maybe just... more » | Other threads
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hires
Googler jumps ship for Faceb... erm, Friendster
Richard Kimber, managing director of Southeast Asian operations at Google, won't be moving into the search giant's new Sydney offices. Instead, he'll serve as the new CEO of Friendster — probably enticed by a healthy share of the early social network's latest $20 million in venture capital. While it remains to be seen if Kimber can help the company's investors limp to liquidity (read: trolling for cash with Friendster's social network patents), he can probably introduce Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams to all sorts of Vietnamese hotties.
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By Jackson WestComment by Passerby: Hey even Tribe got a payday....do not doubt the secondary market for coulda-been's more » | Other threads
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quotable
Social network popularity just like high school
"Like the popular kids, Facebook will end up living in a trailer — just down the gravel road from Friendster." [Details] (Photo by AP/Jack Plunkett)
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By Jackson WestComment by BobDope: The popular kids from my high school are doing OK now. Mostly they're in jobs which would cause me... more » | Other threads
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the chart
Bebo needs cash to keep its servers running
Now we know why Bebo's so eager for more cash. It needs more servers. According to Pingdom, Bebo has already been down for 12 hours and 28 minutes so far this year. Check out the full chart to see how 13 other social networks have fared so far.
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Comment by el_googlo: err.. who designed this chart? shouldn't linkedin go before reunion.com?.. and WTF is reunion.com? never heard of them. also, consumating will... more » | Other threads
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valleyspeak
Social nerdwanking
Coined by R. Stevens in his webcomic Diesel Sweeties, "social nerdwanking" means lording your social-network superiority over others, which is secretly the only reason you bother with Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Orkut, and every other social network. Except your legitimate if fruitless use of Adult FriendFinder.
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By Nick DouglasComment by sultrysiren: All of Various Inc was sold Friday December 7th.The transition will be over the next twelve months. more » | Other threads
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the chart
VC sponsors a social-network pissing contest
VC blogger Fred Wilson gives Google and Yahoo too much credit: He's taking their "Inbox 2.0" initiatives to turn Gmail and Yahoo Mail into social networks seriously. He 's put together a chart comparing the "social graphs" — we think he means "number of users" — of some popular social networks versus Microsoft's Hotmail and AIM.com. Wilson estimates that Yahoo and Google, which aren't actually on the chart, have about 250 million and 60 million users. Here's the chart. More »
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Comment by Nicholas Carlson: @cowsandmilk: Randy, stop writing comments and just call me, wouldja? more » | Other threads
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deals
When Friendster could have bought Facebook
As a side note, a little known fact is that when I was at Friendster, I found a small company out of Harvard that we came very close to acquiring, a startup no one had heard of that time, a company named Thefacebook. I've been an admirer of Zuck and the facebook team for a long time now.
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Comment by form3hide: FB is a glorified AOL circa the late 1990s. Back then, you formed your 'social networks' by having your friends... more » | Other threads
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facebook
Google Gang apologists demand a recount
Word is quickly spreading that Google's OpenSocial is more of a PR triumph than engineering feat. Even partners, such as Friendster, for example, want to make sure you know that they were developing their own developer platforms well before word leaked about Google's plans. On top of that, yesterday we showed you a series of charts indicating just how insignificant many of these Google gang members are in relation to Facebook. Google apologists did not appreciate the imagery. Show us the aggregates! They demanded. Fine. Here's a new chart. But it's just going to teach you to be careful what you wish for. More »
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Comment by DaveMcClure500Hats: the analysis of international should actually be split into 2 groups: 1) english-speaking Intl 2) other the first group... more » | Other threads
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opensocial
Another minute, another Google Gang member
According to a source, blog-software company Six Apart has joined as another partner for Google's OpenSocial platform. For those of you keeping count at home, don't bother. The list is surely to grow as word gets out. Social network Friendster, for example, wasn't asked to join the Google Gang. The pioneering social network begged to be included after a story leaked on TechCrunch. Google's secrecy is making the whole "open" affair less than transparent, as different names leak to different reporters. Here's a list of media outlets and the OpenSocial partners they list. More »
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Comment by timlonghurst: I've created the closest to a complete list of OpenSocial launch partners that I have seen anywhere. The... more » | Other threads
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quotable
"When you see anything working, follow it as far and as quickly as you can. Uhm, we didn't even get to that stage because we were having trouble following other technology." — Friendster CEO Kent Lindstrom, admitting that the once-pioneering social network he runs has trouble keeping up with competitors. The original Vator.tv video in which he made these comments has been yanked offline. Anyone keep a copy? Send it in. [Epicenter] -
friendster
Forgotten social network Friendster surprisingly not dead, increases May pageviews by 40%. [VentureBeat]
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second acts
Friendster, thought dead, sighted in Manila. [Wall Street Journal]
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nyt
The Times just wants to party with the Web
The New York Times covered a lot of ground in writing about the net this weekend, but I noticed a weird trend: More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by eric: Tricking out their profiles? Call MTV. "Pimp my Blog." Eric http://breakoutperformance.blogspot.com more » | Other threads
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myspace
What News Corp doesn't want you to know about MySpace: Condensed edition
After News Corp. threatened to sue his publisher if they published his expos on MySpace and its poster boy Tom Anderson (pictured), journalism student Trent Lapinski sold his story to Valleywag. Why did MySpace try to block a story that really tells us what we already knew? Who knows, but it's fun to publish it anyway and see if they sue. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by OLD SCRATCH: MySpace is nothing but a Whorehouse,I have spent 3 months observing myspace with 3 different accounts,and myspace makes a claim... more » | Other threads
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friendster
It's aliiiive: Friendster gets $10 million
Board the windows! Get out your bat! Don't say the "zed" word! Friendster is back from the dead! More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Slugicide: Friendster's alive? *checks friendster account* Nope, still dead. more » | Other threads
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friendster
Caught between a rock and a Facebook: Friendster's dilemma
The game is over, and Friendster lost. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by vinnie: sweet.... i'm gonna be rich be'otch! http://businesslogs.com/technology/meetro_purchases_friend... more » | Other threads
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google
Morning news: The secret motives behind today's deals
- Google launches a tool to show advertisers when they're getting screwed by clickfraud. Will it give the same dire results that this independent tool gives? [BusinessWeek]
- Microsoft refuses to explain to its stockholders why it supports Net Neutrality, bringing us all one day closer to a shouting match where CEO Steve Ballmer screams, "Neutrality! Neutrality! Neutrality!" and bites the head off a bat. [Reuters]
- Microsoft also enters health care by buying Azyxxi. The real reason for that is to make its media player "Zune" sound less stupid in comparison. [NYT]
- Friendster weighs the benefits of suing its more successful competitors now that it theoretically owns a patent on lists of friends. (Microsoft is buying the patent on lists of enemies from the Nixon estate.) [WSJ]
- Kazaa, one of the many replacements for Napster, promises to sell out and go legit, since anybody who actually wants free music has moved to Limewire and BitTorrent. [WSJ]
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microsoft
Remainders: Vista launches Thursday, doesn't say which Thursday
- Bill Gates says Vista will be ready in January. Unless it won't. [MSNBC]
- Boston thinks it has a hard time with wifi bedouins — cafe moochers who suck up table space and bandwidth without buying a thing. Child's play. In Boston, at least the cafes charge. San Franciscans demand free wifi — and then we figure one cup of coffee earns us a full day's rent. Hell, I'm writing this from Coffee to the People, where I've sat for the last five hours. Try that on for size, Boston. [Boston Globe]
- Old-school Netscape fans are calling the new version "New Coke." That's what AOL gets for saddling progressive exec Jason Calacanis with such a fuddy-duddy user base. [Read/WriteWeb]
- Friendster's patent looks familiar, says the entrepreneur who filed a similar social networking patent five years before Friendster launched. [Boing Boing]
- Can Google do anything without pretending it just saved the world? Business 2.0's bloggers note that Google's new HQ in Michigan isn't a philanthropic effort. Google may spin it as "a shot in the arm" for Michigan's lackluster job market. But don't expect it to pay wages like it does in Silicon Valley — Michigan college grads cost just $47,000 a pop. [Business 2.0]
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friendster
Friendster's founder just copied a friend
Friendster inventor Jonathan Abrams ripped off a pal's business networking idea and slapped a dating model on it, according to Sean Ness. Sean tells major blog Boing Boing: More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by DaveMcClure500Hats: um, that's pretty old news. certainly no secret Friendster borrowed considerably from Ryze (or that previous sites like SixDegrees... more » | Other threads
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friendster
Friendster patents social networking
Friendster might actually find a buyer now that it's won a patent for social networks. The Red Herring reports that the patent is broad enough to cover activity on several other sites. Friendster's president won't say how aggressively his company will bully its competitors into buying licenses. More » -
myspace
Because of MySpace, only boring people get jobs
Corporate recruiters work just like Gawker Media (and just like you before a blind date), the New York Times reveals — by sniffing around the MySpace and Facebook profiles of prospective hires. In a sloppily researched article (no, MySpace is not only two years old), the Times checks out how this phenomenon screws perfectly cool people over. Tien Nguyen (pictured) lost interview chances because he was clever. Other kids are getting turned down for having, well, great enthusiasm for their line of work: More » -
kleiner perkins
Scoop: Kleiner Perkins boots Russ Siegelman
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers kicked out partner Russ Siegelman, according to a trusted source. The former Microsoft employee, who once reported directly to Bill Gates, won't be part of KPCB's next fund. Was the bigshot VC firm sick of seeing its property Friendster languish under Siegelman's partnership? Or was he just bumped out to make room for another hotshot? More »
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By ndouglasComment by Tiki Tonga: Well, let's face it. Aside from Doerr (and possibly Ted Schlein), all KP has left are a bunch of... more » | Other threads
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orkut
What's my social site? A handy guide to segregation
The New York Times (they are so loveable today!) features Orkut, Google's you're-nobody-til-somebody-loves-you social network invaded by Brazilians in 2004. Over 2 of every 3 Orkut users are registered as Brazilians, and if you trust some massaged numbers, nearly every regular Internet user in Brazil has a profile. More » -
myspace
Puppet Tom: an IMterview with the next MySpace star
Hey, MySpacers! It's Puppet Tom, the dummy who's everyone's buddy! And in his first vlog post, he's giving Friendster founder Jon Abrams (poor guy can't get a break today) a beatdown. More » -
friendster
Get rich: goof off!
Wired News runs a trend story (journalism rule #42: three weak stories make a trend story) on antisocial networking. The tipping point: Full-blown parody site Snubster. It's the Hot New Joke (and by "new" I mean "dated as 'I'm Rick James, bitch'") that's turning into a healthy little community. It's not the first joke-cum-business. More » -
top
Socializr: It's got stars and cartoons and we'll be RICH!
Consumating's founding hottie Ben Brown found this sign across the street from his San Fran South-of-Market office. Socializr? Hadn't heard that one yet. And Socializr.com is just a cartoon: More »
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By ndouglasComment by vestedventures: Socializr launches gamma version. Screenshots and review -- http://www.vestedven... more » | Other threads
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holidays
The hap-hap-happiest season of all
It's Saturday, it's hitting 75 degrees in the Valley, and revelers have taken to the streets. Why the hell are you on the Internet? More » -
comments
Week's best comments: SiliconValleyUpskirt.xxx
Fighting server issues and fidgety comment accounts this week, Valleywag readers bravely soldiered on in the War to be Witty. More » -
newsweek
How webby are you?
"How geeky are you," asks Newsweek, ruining a perfectly good cover story with an awkward quiz. Bad enough that half of it is desert-island questions; even worse that the "desert-island book" options don't include the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. More »
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By ndouglasComment by Nathan Weinberg: 61. Mostly thanks to Bloglines. Might I suggest that, when you use a jump, you link the word "jump" to the... more » | Other threads
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google
Why Google won't buy Friendster
There's a rumor of Google offering (again) to buy Friendster, but what could Google possibly gain from that? Plenty has changed since Google's first offer of $30 million. Five reasons that Friendster is a rotten piece of flipmeat. More » -
friendster
Friendster buys more friends
Friendster picked up yet another round of funding from Kleiner Perkins, adding to the pile of cash that KP, Benchmark Capital, and Battery Ventures have sunk into the dying social site. No one funding Friendster wants to admit it, but Myspace and Facebook have demolished Friendster's chances of ever turning a profit. And if some conglomerate were foolish enough to buy it? At this point, there'd be so many investors to pay off that the founders will never see a dime. More »
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By ndouglasComment by People Paula: Friendster is old news. Valleywag is new, crispy & refreshing. Prepare to be commented on.... more » | Other threads
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