Social networking has become widely adopted in the consumer and personal market place, but has not gotten the anticipated traction in the business world. I’ve been mulling over this market dilemma for a long time and have developed some ideas to explain the lagging business adoption. For clarity, social networking is defined as the bundling of all of the components of communication: wikis, blogs, podcasts, video, content development tools (document and presentation development, and spreadsheet functionality), instant messaging and email. I’d be interested in getting your feedback on these ideas, as well as your thoughts on why we are seeing such a slow adoption of social networking within the business community.

The value in the consumer arena is clear. There are literally hundreds of groups representing a wide variety of interests. These networks are essentially communities of interest. This week I saw a press release for a social network in the consumer market on the topic of shoes. Shoes are a serious topic for some shoppers, and I immediately saw the appeal of the network. Who doesn’t want to know the latest trends in shoes being shown a year in advance at the fashion shows of Paris and Milan? To get a jump on the trend affords buyers the opportunity to look for more affordable knockoffs or comparables even before the new models arrive. The point here, consumer-based social networks tend to be very narrowly focused on a specific topic.

The value of personal social networks is also obvious. By now I am sure you have signed up for Plaxo or LinkedIn or possibly both. Each of these personal networks also provides subdivisions to more narrowly focused networks such as MIT Alumni or Business Intelligence. Individuals obtain value through their professional relationships. Personal networks are not materially different than the old fashioned rolodex, it just puts the information in an electronic location. Where we once picked up the phone to speak with our business contacts, we now send emails or even group emails. The value of personal social networking has not changed, it has just gone electronic.

The value of social networking for business isn’t so clear. Most of the measurable benefits such as improved collaboration and document iteration management is already in place; ditto for customer feedback and customer forums. There are also forums and message boards on most vendors’ products and services that prospects can readily access. In terms of all the components of social networking being on a single platform, we already have that, too, in the form of unified communications (UC). In addition, mobility and mobile access is available from both types of collaboration offers. The drawbacks to social networking in the business environment are no different than those of UC. All of the issues of security come into play including access control and document sharing. I would argue that social networking outside of the corporate firewall, or offered as a service posses a substantial security threat and potential for intellectual property leakage.

What do you think? Is social networking a better solution than unified communications? Why aren’t we seeing a stronger uptake for social networking in business?

Frompo.com Provides Countless Hours of Entertainment to Bored Employees

October 1, 2008 — Frompo.com is MySpace meets Facebook. This latest social networking site is a dream for bored employees and a nightmare for their bosses. Frompo.com is the next generation of free, social networking sites. Members can stay in contact with their college friends, share photos, discover new interests and just hang out and play games. From previous experience, the people who work at Frompo.com have learned a lot about what makes social networks fun and believe that with Frompo.com, they have taken social networking to the next level.

Frompo.com is a highly interactive social network website that not only allows users to register their profiles but also provides several other outlets of entertainment and enjoyment. It’s the kind of site where hours can fly by while chatting with friends, blogging, playing games, meeting new people from other countries, getting updates on the news or meeting your next love.

Frompo.com features include:
- Video sharing
- 3D City Second Life Virtual Chat
- Free Video Chat
- Free VOIP Phone
- Flash Chat with Multiple Rooms
- Fantastic and Unique Flash Games
- Romantic 3D Chat
- Create Photo Gallery
- Make own Groups
- Personal Blogs

“Our main goal is to provide as many services to our members as possible, a one-stop networking/entertainment site if you will,” boasts Martin Nodskov, CEO. He continues, “We are constantly improving and adding features to the site to meet the members’ needs and demands. That is how we define our success.”

Contact information:
Martin Nodskov, CEO
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Website: http://www.frompo.com

imeem ( www.imeem.com), the world’s largest social media network, is releasing a new layout and new features that make it even easier for people to discover and enjoy more music and entertainment. imeem will begin to roll out the new design.

The new features, including personalized playlist, music and video recommendations based on people’s tastes and social activity, create new ways for people to experience imeem. They also open new opportunities for artists, brand sponsors and label partners to connect with imeem’s global community.

imeem is the world’s largest social media community, where millions of people discover, upload and share music, video and photos. imeem reaches over 100 million people each month through imeem.com and an extensive network of music and video playlists embedded across the web.

“We’re excited to launch our redesign and new social recommendation and discovery features,” said Steve Jang, chief marketing officer and head of business development at imeem. “We are now harnessing the scale of imeem’s content catalog and community to deliver personalized recommendations, using social activity data from the over 100 million people who use the imeem network each month.”

imeem’s new layout introduces several features to help people easily discover music, video, and people that match their tastes and interests:

Spotlight: The new Spotlight page features the latest music, video and entertainment content that people are posting on imeem. This landing page will highlight what’s hot on imeem today, including new music, popular videos, album exclusives and celebrity playlists.

Discover: imeem created the all-new Discover page to give people personalized recommendations of music, videos, artists and people, based on what they and the people they are connected to in the imeem community are listening to and watching. By constantly analyzing people’s likes, dislikes, and who their friends and favorite artists are, imeem is able to give a unique set of recommended music, video, playlists, artists and events. The more people use imeem, the better these recommendations get.

Browse: The Browse page offers chart-based browsing of music, videos, and photos based on their popularity among imeem’s community of over 100 million people. People can now filter by media type, genre, and popularity in the imeem community, making it even easier to surf the vast world of playlists, music, video, and photos available on imeem.

Artist Pages: Fans can now search to find new Artist Pages that pull everything related to that artist on imeem (including music and videos posted by the imeem community) into one central page. Now, imeem users have easy access to artists’ complete catalog of music and videos, and can see who else is a fan on imeem. Whether they like Lil Wayne or Radiohead, fans can check out their artist pages to see tour dates, auto-generated playlists for each of their albums, and their all-time most popular songs and videos.

On imeem, people can stream unlimited music and videos for free, express themselves with music and video playlists, and find friends with similar tastes. To build playlists, people can legally upload their own music and videos to imeem or choose from millions of songs and videos already available. People can easily share the playlists they find and create on imeem by embedding them anywhere on the web, including blogs, web sites, and profiles on other social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook. In addition, imeem offers people the choice to buy downloads from either iTunes or Amazon.

imeem is the first social network to partner with all four major labels and thousands of independent labels and video providers to offer free, on-demand streaming of their music and video content on an ad-supported basis. A number of the world’s largest brands and companies have worked with imeem on advertising campaigns, including Apple, AT&T Wireless, HP, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Nike, Target, and Toyota Scion, among others.

About imeem

imeem is the leading social media network that enables users to discover, interact and express themselves with media, including music, video and photos, and form connections based on shared tastes and interests. By using innovative media expression tools and social discovery features, including custom music playlists, video channels, photo slideshows and blogs, the imeem community can share their tastes with friends and fans on imeem and across the Web.

imeem is the first social network to partner with all four major labels as well as thousands of independent labels and video providers to offer free, on-demand streaming of all music and video content on an ad-supported basis. imeem attracts more than 27 million unique users each month and reaches an additional 85 million unique users through a network of embeddable audio and video playlist widgets. To learn more, visit http://www.imeem.com.

Social Networking - perhaps you’ve heard of it before, but are not quite sure what it means.  

Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will.  Although social networking is possible in person, especially in schools or in the workplace, it is most popular online.

 internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other internet users to develop friendships and business relationships, too.

When it comes to online social networking, websites are commonly used.  These websites are known as social sites.  Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users.  Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share a common interest such as hobbies, religion, or politics.  Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize.  This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them. 

The friends that you can make are just one of the many benefits to social networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites.  This means that although you are in the United States, you could develop an online friendship with someone in Denmark.  Not only will you make new friends, but you just might learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing. 

 As mentioned, social networking often involves grouping specific individuals or organizations together.  While there are a number of social networking websites that focus on particular interests, there are others that do not.  The websites without a main focus are often referred to as “traditional” social networking websites and usually have open memberships. This means that anyone can become a member, no matter what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are.  However, once you are inside this online community, you can begin to create your own network of friends and eliminate members that do not share common interests or goals.

LinkedIn, the social network for careerists, whose $53 million funding round in June valued the company at $1 billion, has agreed to swap content with business news broadcaster CNBC.

The deal, announced Thursday, will feed CNBC’s articles, data and video to LinkedIn’s 27 million users, while allowing CNBC to tap LinkedIn users as participants in surveys and on-air question-and-answer sessions with reporters and newsmakers. CNBC.com, the network’s online unit, will integrate LinkedIn’s network functions.

The agreement extends CNBC’s audience at a time it is seeking to fend off a challenge from the Fox Business Network launched earlier this year by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. LinkedIn, meanwhile, has seen rival social network Facebook evolve from a refuge for college students to an online site that increasingly accommodates mid-career professionals.

The tie-in is the latest effort by LinkedIn to broaden its content through media partnerships. In July, LinkedIn cut a deal that gives users access to personalized industry news from The New York Times that can be shared with a social network.

In June, LinkedIn nabbed a $53 million series D venture found that implied a $1 billion valuation. At the time, Chief Executive Dan Nye told CNBC that the company “very likely” will stage an initial public offering, but at a price far beyond $1 billion.

LinkedIn, based in Mountain View, California, is backed by A-list venture capitalists and angel investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Marc Andreesen, founder of Netscape.

Mr. Nye took over as chief executive in February 2007, replacing founder Reid Hoffman, who remains as chairman. Mr. Nye is a veteran of consumer products company Procter & Gamble and finance software maker Intuit.

In 2007, Microsoft invested $240 million in Facebook that implied a $15 billion valuation for that social-networking site. That deal, however, was considered a strategic investment for Microsoft and made the Redmond, Washington, company the exclusive third-party advertising platform for Facebook.CNBC is a unit of media, financial and industrial conglomerate General Electric.