33% Report Internet Access is a ‘Fundamental Resource’
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, September 26, 2011 · 
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Demonstrating the increasing role of the network in people’s lives, an international workforce study announced last week by Cisco revealed that one in three college students and young professionals (33%) believes that the Internet is a fundamental resource for the human race – as important as air, water, food and shelter. In addition, about half (49% of college students and 47% of employees) believe it is “pretty close” to that level of importance. Combined, four of every five college students and young employees believe the Internet is vitally important as part of their daily life’s sustenance.
Case in point, more than half of the respondents (55% of college students and 62% of employees) said they could not live without the Internet and cite it as an “integral part of their lives.” If forced to make a choice, the majority of college students globally – about two of three (64%) – would choose an Internet connection instead of a car. Read more
65% of Online U.S. Adults are Using Social Networks
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, September 2, 2011 · ·
For the first time, half of all adults in the United States report that they have visited a social networking site at least once in their life, according to a survey report released August 26 by the Pew Research Center. In comparison, just six years ago when Pew first conducted a similar survey, only 5% of all adults said they used social sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace.
The Pew survey found that among adults who are online, the rates of participation were higher: 65%, according to the most recent survey, up slightly from 61% last year.
The dramatic increase in social networking is a sign of how important these tools are to our everyday lives, and how technology is transforming the ways in which people communicate. Read more
Facebook, Skype Partner on Video Calling
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 11, 2011 · ·
Last week via a press conference, Facebook announced that it has partnered with Skype to integrate video chatting into the world’s largest social network.
The goal of the integration was simplicity. “This is by far the easiest way to get connected by video,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said during the launch. “If it was any easier, it would be like reading your mind.” Read more
VOTW: Three Steps to Becoming a Social Enterprise
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, June 20, 2011 · ·
And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW). SalesForce.com CEO Marc Benioff keynoted the company’s Cloudforce event in Boston last week. Benioff describes three steps to becoming a social enterprise.
Facebook and Skype in Talks
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, October 4, 2010 · ·
Social networking giant Facebook and Internet VoIP provider Skype are in talks to mesh their communications services more closely, according to an exclusive report in the online Wall Street Journal blog All Things Digital which has been repeatedly cited by the tech news media.
The companies are said to be on the verge of announcing a “significant and wide-ranging partnership that will include integration of SMS, voice and video chat.” According to a person familiar with the matter, Facebook users will be able to sign into Skype through their Facebook Connect accounts. Users will then be able to text message, voice chat and video chat with their Facebook friends from within Skype.
According to the person familiar with the matter the integrated functions are built into Skype’s 5.0 version, which is expected to be released in the next few weeks.
The partnership will link Skype’s 560 million registered users—124 million of whom use it at least once a month—with Facebook’s 500 million members, many of whom interact with the social networking application on a daily or weekly basis. If the rumor comes to fruition it likely will pose a formidable challenge for Google which just last month integrated Google Voice into its Gmail e-mail service.
For more, see this All Things Digital post.
MTV Networks Acquires Social Express
Posted by Steve Fravel on Monday, July 12, 2010 · ·
Social Express Inc., a social gaming development company has been acquired by Viacom‘s MTV Networks. The move is the first by MTV into social gaming.
In addition to publishing a platform for independent game developers, MTV will develop social games based on characters from existing Nickelodeon, MTV and other MTV-owned networks. MTV has also indicated that it will release social games developed from original intellectual properties.