This looks like a great panel discussion. Rather than talking about the business models (or lack thereof) behind social networking software, here’s an event that’s finally focusing on the new role of social networking tools in the business enterprise.
Here’s the info:
CAFE – Current Affairs, Foreign Events Presents:
Social Networking Technology: Connecting to Opportunities – Making the Read More...

Stuart Henshall comments on Orkut’s rapid growth compared to other social networks:
Orkut bridges the gap between Ryze (too open) and Linkedin (too closed) without the “everything is for sale” on Tribe. I suspect that those with “Friendster” experience also see it as providing extra functionality.
While I think the comparisons are accurate, the “toos” need to Read More...

Computerworld’s recent article, Blogs Bubble Into Business tells how “Weblogs began as a personal communications medium, but they’re moving into corporations as tools for collaboration and knowledge management.”
While document management systems and discussion forums have been available in enterprise portal, blogging offers unprecedented ease of implementation for the company and ease of use for the Read More...

Dina Mehta says, “My blog is my Social Software and my Social Network“. Many bloggers, including Lilia Efimova, seem to share this feeling. Dina cites the richness of content of a blog compared to a profile pages on a networking cite as the primary reason. She also points to the various back-end tools that Read More...

A number of people, including Ton Zijlstra, Earl Mardle, and Martin Roell have written about the “failing” of social networking sites, Orkut in particular, to represent relationships between people in a meaningful way. They say that the sites are not doing this effectively because they are gathering insufficient information—a simple designation of “friend” or “connection” Read More...

In spite of the low-key nature of orkut’s launch yesterday, with the Google connection, it was bound to cause a buzz, and it did. One minor detail that was not mentioned in any of what I first saw about it is that membership is by invitation only. And I have to say that, while the Read More...

I see a number of applications of social network software to policy issues. One of the great challenges to economic growth that many emerging economies face is that the society is highly stratified. If you are born poor in Brazil, you have very limited access to capital, international trading partners, lawyers, government officials, Read More...

With little fanfare or forewarning, Google helped with the launch of a new social networking service, Orkut, on Thursday.
News.com reports:
A Google representative said that the site is the independent project of one of its engineers, Orkut Buyukkokten, who works on user interface design for Google. Buyukkokten, a computer science doctoral candidate at Stanford University before Read More...

CareerJournal’s article today on Expand Your Connections Through Online Networking includes some intriguing data about what requests are flowing through Spoke, LinkedIn, etc., plus this quotation:
David Teten, CEO of financial research firm Nitron Advisors in New York, who wrote “Make Your Business Click: How to Value and Grow Your Business Relationships Online,” an e-book, likes Read More...

Gary George has done an extensive analysis of the major social networking sites using Mitchell Levy’s Value Framework™, a strategic planning tool that has become popular throughout Silicon Valley through Mitch’s work with several area companies and universities.
The report lists 22 sites in this space (a few I hadn’t even heard of), and provides an Read More...