Gawker
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marissa mayer
How Google killed Blogger's social network
The new "followers" feature on Google's Blogger, which turns the blogging service into a quasi-social network, may strike some as too little, too late — a me-too move following WordPress and Movable Type's adddition of social elements. But it didn't have to happen. Blogger had a full-fledged social network in the works years ago, called Profiles — and it was quashed by Marissa Mayer in favor of Orkut. Why? Mayer's own social network. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Figaro: Well said Owen. I have a Blogger-based blog and have been blogging for about 3 years and don't remember last... 2 Responses | 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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geeks gone wild
Orkut inventor may be best argument against H-1B visas yet
Give us more H-1B visas and we'll give you innovative products. That's the pitch Google exec Laszlo Bock made to Congress as he decried the H-1B visa cap. Projects like also-ran social network Orkut, which was created (or stolen, depending on who you ask) by H-1B hire Orkut Buyukkokten (pictured, right) represent a boon to the U.S. economy, added Google lobbyist Pablo Chavez as he echoed Block's plea for more visas. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by runrig: Classy comments? Which ones? The comments that say "The dancer" or the ones that tell NW how loser geeks... more » | Other threads
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the chart
MySpace's technical triumph
The conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley is that MySpace, based in Los Angeles, is a tech nightmare, blaring songs through a user's speakers while crashing all the time. Skilled engineers are in short supply down south, so the website must be falling over all the time, right? Not so. Pingdom, a website-monitoring service, has tracked how often some of the top social networks have gone offline. Twitter, based in Web-savvy San Francisco, has been down for 37 hours from January through April. MySpace has been up 99.96 percent of the time. That's 33 percent less downtime than Yahoo 360, and 60 percent less than Google's Orkut. Score one for the LA crowd. The chart: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by BobDope: MySpace is like a DDOS attack on your brain. more » | Other threads
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orkut
Google ceases to protect its Brazilian users' right to child porn
Felix Ximenes, Google's chief flack in brazil, yesterday gave the Brazilian government DVDs containing information on 3,261 allegedly child-lusting users of its social network Orkut. "With the information we have received, we will be able to strike a major blow against the pedophile network acting in the country," Brazilian Senator Demostenes Torres told the Wall Street Journal. Last August, the Brazilian government said Google refused to turn over information about users accused of hate speech and pedophilia. What's Google's excuse for taking eight months — they couldn't find the data?
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Comment by Widget Economist: @bugz321: Voluntary. vol·un·tar·y. done, made, brought about, undertaken, etc., of one's own accord or by free choice: a voluntary contribution. 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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hackers
Trojan targets Google's AdSense revenue
Google is the target of a trojan that could be more damaging than the worm that has affected literally dozens of Orkut users. This new trojan, however, hits Google where it hurts — its ever-swelling advertising revenues. It redirects Web ads from the AdSense program to a rival ad provider. Bitdefender, the Romanian security-software maker which identified the trojan, does not specify who is serving these third-party ads or how the trojan is propagating. Researchers do say that Google may be powerless to stop the attack, because the malware affects personal computers, not the company's ad servers. Google is unlikely to lose substantial sums, but the search giant cannot enjoy being this helpless. No wonder it's pushing antivirus software. -
hackers
Google's Orkut attacked by worm, but no Americans notice
A relatively harmless worm has rampaged through Google's social network, Orkut. You probably haven't noticed. That's because Orkut, while popular in Brazil and India, is an also-ran in the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of Orkut users saw their accounts overwhelmed by spam on their "scrapbooks," Orkut's equivalent of Facebook's Wall. More »
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By Tim FaulknerComment by smaic: The worm reportedly uses JavaScript and Flash code to create a new scrapbook entry, containing a New Year's message in... 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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orkut
Orkut, the nosiest social network ever
Want to know why Orkut never caught on? Google's motto is "don't be evil," not "don't be socially awkward." The programmatic list of "turn ons" it asks users to check off include "sarcasm," "tattoos," "erotica," "skinny dipping," and "long hair." A more perfect glimpse at the Google id won't be found anywhere. Here's the whole thing. More »
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Comment by ValleyStiff: Alas, it's only too bad that the inherent sarcasm embedded in the name of Google's fledgling social networking site is... 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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google
Fun facts about Orkut
Half of Google's revenue now comes from outside the U.S. That's why the Wall Street Journal spilled so much ink running down the company's problems in Brazil over Orkut, the world's No. 5 website. You probably stopped using Orkut 3 and 1/2 years ago, after signing up to get into the launch party. My fellow Wags were too busy giggling over the article's News Corp. disclaimer to actually read it. Here's a summary of the article's surprising stats. More » -
rupert murdoch
WSJ reporters tweak new boss
The way News Corp. monarch Rupert Murdoch manipulates his many newspapers is enough to make Charles Foster Kane blush. It's one reason integrity-laden Wall Street Journal reporters lobbied against his takeover bid. But now it seems the mockingly self-righteous crew is starting to revel in their deal with the Aussie devil. More »
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Comment by transparency: @NickDenton "Also he let me come to his party in Carmel, and it was a very nice party. I saw... more » | Other threads
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geeks gone wild
Stanford alums, Marissa wants to get some play!
Alas, poor Marissa Mayer, the Google executive who used to date company cofounder Larry Page. Her long workdays, documented in endless magazine profiles, have taken a toll on her love life. She broke up with former boyfriend Dave Jeske, another Googler, more than a year ago. No dating on the horizon, though: Her Facebook profile lists her as "single" and interested only in "friendship" and "random play." The latter, according to a quick poll of our friends, is Facebook code for one-night stands or makeout sessions. Maybe she'll get some of that at this weekend's Stanford reunion, which her profile says she's planning to attend. All of this, of course, is way more information than is listed in her profile on Orkut, Google's also-ran social network. And, perhaps, more information than anyone wanted to know.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Jimforbes: tongue tacos is called tacos con lengua. tongue is best if done al pastor and served with thick homemade tacos. AdiosJim Forbes more » | Other threads
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followup
Compete data confirms Facebook traffic drop
Earlier, we scoffed at the idea that Facebook's traffic could have dropped in September. Compete.com — the poor man's ComScore, which makes its traffic data publicly available — just released September data that shows a similar drop. Maybe Facebook has peaked. More likely: since the kids returned to college, the free time they had to screw around on Facebook this summer has disappeared in favor of schoolwork and frat parties. MySpace, Orkut and Bebo were all down in September too. Amid the hysteria about Facebook's traffic dropping, everyone seems to have forgotten that Facebook traffic was down last September as well.
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Comment by PaulSutter: These audience measurement panels are composed of home users. When kids go back to school in September, they disappear from... more » | Other threads
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lost in translation
Rest of world enjoys social networks, running water, electricity
Apparently, overseas, there are social networks other than Facebook and MySpace. Who knew? Read/WriteWeb mentions that social net Hi5 which tallies 35 million uniques per month according to ComScore, making it competitive with Facebook. And yet the name will draw blank stares at a Silicon Valley tech meetup. Like Google's Orkut, Hi5 is huge overseas and virtually nonexistent in the U.S. Hi5 even launched a developer API in August, but got scant coverage from the Web 2.0 crowd. The bias, of course, is partly driven by economics. Tapping overseas advertisers is tough, and so developers planning to build ad-supported websites and applications naturally turn to U.S. markets. But media myopia is a factor, too. Until magazine editors' teenage daughters start using it, Hi5 is likely to remain invisible. -
orkut
Google's Orkut social network draws more pageviews per day than its search engine, according to a post by videoblogger and conference hound Robert Scoble. Yeah, we're having trouble believing it, too. Anyone got the numbers?
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By Paul BoutinComment by macbeach: Orkut is HUGE in Brazil and India. That alone would account for the large traffic. What will sustain... more » | Other threads
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jeffrey veen
Wondering what Adaptive Path cofounder Jeffrey Veen has been up to since Google hired him away last year? He's helping to revamp Orkut, Google's big-in-Brazil social network. [BusinessWeek] -
feuds
Facebook repeats Google's ultimate humiliation
After a 15-11 loss in an ultimate frisbee match against a team of scrappy Facebookers, disc-flinging Googlers swore revenge. But the social network left the search engine, again, unable to find victory, dishing out another 15-12 tromping earlier this week. "All that free food weighing them down," snipes a Facebook-employed spectator of the match. Other Facebookers are more modest, crediting the Googlers for strongly competitive play — though some believe the Googlers may have brought on ringers who don't actually work for the company. Word is the Googlers want another rematch. What, are they trying to go for 3 out of 5? Have they seen what happened to Orkut? (Photo courtesy of the Ultimate Players Association)
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By Owen ThomasComment by Fidel on the Roof: Google vs FadBook huh? How about a match between my barber and Ebay? Or Krispy Kreme vs my gardeners? more » | Other threads
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great moments in journalism
ZDNet advises Yahoo to buy a department of Google
Some great reporting comes out of the once-dominant ZDNet news network. I just never happen to see it. Instead I see articles that scream "We don't do research." In the ZDNet article "How will Yahoo address social networking?" writer Larry Dignan suggests several sites that the company could buy, such as Facebook, Friendster ... or Orkut. Of course, there's not much chance Google would sell Orkut, a social network created by the Google employee shown here, to its competitor. -
google
Orkut: The Joke
NICK DOUGLAS — A joke. Because I can abuse my columnist account to post it, and because it feels like you could use one. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by jaggedlittlehelper: That was actually quite a funny joke. It's in reference to the joke in which George W. Bush is... more » | Other threads
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brazil
Brazil charges Google millions for hiding accused Orkut criminals
A Brazilian judge gave Google 15 days (as of yesterday) to deliver the data of Orkut users accused of illegal activity. Google's social site, a failure in the U.S., took off in Brazil, apparently attracting the child pornographers and hate-speech writers that the governement is now chasing down. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by anand: Orkut isn't a disaster everywhere. Orkut is to India what MySpace is to the US. more » | Other threads
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google
Googlers' Orkut profiles: The better parts
Google Blogoscoped went and did it — the search blog revealed info from the Orkut profiles of major Googlers to the unwashed, uninvited masses. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by lorenbaker: Bill Bryson fan? I just threw up in my mouth. more » | Other threads
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susan decker
Morning news: Blue Frog croaks
- Sun promises to make Java open source. It will be the loss leader for a lovely set of Sun steak knives. [VNUnet]
- Blue Security dies. USA Today publishes graph showing the Blue Frog mascot being slowly cooked. [Washington Post]
- "I wouldn't take that so literally." — Yahoo CFO Susan Decker, about projected revenue of $4.6 billion to $4.85 billion. Apparently those numbers were metaphorical. [CNN Money]
- Napster almost made money this quarter. Who'd have thought that an RIAA-approved walled garden piggybacking off the brand recognition of a stick-it-to-the-man filesharing network wouldn't be a cash cow? [CNET]
- Oh, looks like the Internet is just for child porn. At least on Orkut. [Bloomberg]
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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 » -
google
Google invades Brazil
Sergey and Larry flew to Brazil this week, scouting out the country that invaded Google's Orkut. Google wants to expand services in the developing nation, saying that the "lack of legal, cultural and censorship barriers" makes it a great spot to work. Maybe so, or maybe Google just wants to get close to the only people who liked Google's social network site. More »
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1-26 of 26 for "Valleywag, Orkut"
