Opinion: Vodafone gives us an early Christmas pressie and unwraps Social Networking on the move

Jon_small_new.jpgJonathan Weinberg writes… I saw a quick demonstration of this yesterday and it certainly looks like being a brilliant idea that I hope other mobile networks follow. With Internet prices dropping like stones across all the mobile firms thanks to bundled ‘unlimited’ data and use of social networking growing by the millions in the blink of an eye, it makes sense to match up the two.

Vodafone has designed a downloadable application that sits on your handset connecting you to Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Bebo. Nothing majorly new there, because you can surf them at present and many have their own download applications too like the excellent Facebook program for Blackberrys…

Google takes on Wikipedia with Knol – "units of knowledge"

google_g_icon.pngWikipedia: often quoted, often defaced, often ridiculed, often found to be used as a credible source of information by major media organisations even though it contains erroneous information, and often to be found lurking at the top of Google’s search results for any given search phrase.

It seems that Google wants to dive into this world of collaboratively edited encyclopaedias with one of its own.

Currently being tested behind closed doors, with a selected group of people, “Knol” is a new service which sounds eerily like Wikipedia.

Opinion: Creating our own content will never replace traditional media

Jon_smal.gifJonathan Weinberg writes…

2012, the year London is set to host the Olympics and also the year Nokia reckon a quarter of all entertainment will be created and consumed within peer communities. They think that in five years time, traditional media as we know it now, will begin to die out further with personally-created content becoming the must-read and must-watch for Internet users within their friend networks and social community sites.

But I just can’t see it. There’s no doubt it’s becoming more and more popular to make your own videos and post them on the web for all to see, but 99 per cent of it is absolute tosh – like the man who can juggle dogs while standing on his head drinking a glass of water and playing the harmonica! PS: Don’t try that at home, it doesn’t exist and we don’t condone cruelty to animals, I just use it as an illustration…

Top 20 ways to embarrass yourself on Bebo, Facebook or MySpace

facebook-embarrassment.jpgIt’s a hard life being a British tennis player. You’re constantly being compared unflatteringly to Tim Henman, you have to schlep around the world’s minor tournaments before going out in the first round at Wimbledon, and worst of all, you can’t boast about your burger and cider habits on Bebo without getting suspended by the Lawn Tennis Association. Harumph.

However, it’s not just tennis pros who are getting caught out. Social networks are meant to bring us closer together – which they do – but they’re also a minefield of potential shame and embarrassment. Here’s 20 more ways you can come a cropper – you get a prize if you’ve done more than ten of ’em.

1. Get dropped by your hard-partying kebab-munching friends when they read your Bebo profile and realise you’re really a teetotal fitness-focused tennis professional.

2. Reveal yourself as a two-faced hypocrite by praising both pirates AND ninjas on your Facebook profile. For shame.

Microsoft looking to buy 5% stake in Facebook

facebook_logo.jpgTalk of Microsoft buying some part of Facebook isn’t new, and as you’d expect, there’s already at least one Facebook group dedicated to the subject, but the Wall Street Journal reports today that a deal could be nearing completion.

Fortunately, and despite all of their cash, Microsoft are only looking to buy a minority stake — up to five per cent — of the popular, independent social networking site. It could cost them between $300m and $500m, according to analysts.

It looks like Google might be interested in a stake as well, and we know what rivalry goes on between those two giants.

Broadcast from your blog with Selfcast's new widget

selfcast.jpgP2P broadcasting service Selfcast has launched a new widget, allowing people to embed their channel in any blog or social networking profile.

It takes the form of a badge that’s available in three sizes: a button, static video image or full-size media player. Selfcast suggests that it could be used by bands to broadcast live gigs on their MySpace profiles, or local councils to embed planning meetings on their website.