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.

Speculation about the new Facebook movie penned by Hollywood scribe Aaron Sorkin has reached epic levels. Now a report says the film will be based on an upcoming book by “Bringing Down the House” author Ben Mezrich about the controversial and complex dorm-room origins of Facebook.
The website of the magazine 02138 — which is aimed at Harvard alumni –  reported Friday that Sony Pictures Entertainment and producer Scott Rudin, who are behind Sorkin’s screenplay, have also optioned Mezrich’s book, which purportedly has a working title of “Face Off” and examines Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s falling out with early Facebook executive Eduardo Saverin. A Sony spokesman declined to comment on whether Sony has optioned the book. Sorkin’s publicist could not be immediately reached for comment.

The guessing game about Sorkin’s film began when he started a Facebook group to learn more about the popular social networking site. In a later redacted description of his effort, he said he planned to write about how Zuckerberg and others started Facebook to meet women, an allegation made in a leaked book proposal.

A social network can be defined as any type of community for people with shared interests and activities, who are interested in exploring these interests and activities with others. With the advent of the Internet, social networking sites have allowed individuals and businesses from around the world to connect for this endeavor.

This is obviously the appeal of the Internet to many, as it is in a sense one large group network where people engage in activities of interest which connect them to others and to the products and services they purchase. Social networking sites appeal to consumers of all age-groups and social strata, from the more generalised, generic demographics to ones catering to specific niche interests. Apart from the communities these social networking sites provide, blogs, video and photo sharing are also great ways for individuals to share information.

From a business perspective, it is important to have a presence where your prospective customers are. In 2007, nearly 15 million households in Britain (roughly 61%) had Internet access, an increase of over a million households since 2006 and nearly 4 million since 2002. Additionally, 84% of those with access to the Internet had a broadband connection, up from 69% in 2006. It is therefore imperative that businesses - from small businesses to blue-chip corporations - create an online presence to raise their profile, and marketing via social networks is a powerful supplement to a company website and email.

Marketing to consumers online is different from traditional advertising in that it is targeting active, rather than passive consumers. For example, PPC (Pay-Per-Click) adverts only appear next to organic search results after a consumer has entered a search string into a search engine. This is different to broadcast mediums such as television adverts, which are seen by individuals who are really just looking to watch television programming.

Using social networks to reach consumers is done most effectively by presenting solutions to issues and questions, rather than the solicitation of traditional advertising, as consumers using social networks are usually seeking solutions to things happening in their lives and not looking for a hard sell. Thus, social network marketing should be thought of less as a campaign and more as a long-term investment in your brand.

Some social networks allow companies to join for free, while others charge, and some will also allow you to advertise onsite as well. In all cases, you will do best by taking an active part in a business community which closely matches your own industry and begin offering relevant and useful information and solutions. Long-term, social network participation will improve your online presence, increase revenues and branding opportunities, lead to greater consumer interaction and, if done effectively, will be a cost-effective addition to a successful online marketing strategy.

Bian Salins is the Managing Editor of BT Tradespace - an online community where businesses can advertise and sell products & services and everyone has the opportunity to shop, chat and share their opinion.