This post was written by Jody Jonnson
AdaptiveBlue has announced the launch of its new social networking web browser plug-in. The Glue plug-in works by showing users visiting a particular website what their friends looked at on the same site and any comments they had on specific item. Websites such as Amazon, Last.fm, Netflix, Yahoo! Finance, Wine.com and Citysearch are supported by the plug-in. Glue remembers the last 20 items browsed and allows users to click on a ‘Like’ button to show that they favour a particular product, as well as add comments in the ‘2Cents’ box.
Internap Network Services Corporation, a global provider of end-to-end Internet business solutions, has announced that it is working with SmacChat.com to provide spirited sports fans a forum for communicating about their favorite teams. Internap’s incomparable Content Delivery Network (CDN) is being leveraged by SmacChat.com to build an expansive online venue for its users that will be able to scale as memberships increase. Internap’s CDN enables SmacChat.com to stream online video, such as highlights and clips of different games. In addition, the CDN integrates ad services as well, providing an additional source of revenue for the site. Internap’s CDN is unique in the industry in that it is based on patented route optimization networking technology and Internap’s global infrastructure of Private Network Access Points (PNAPs).
Rocketalk has announced a partnership with LG Electronics India, following which all the new LG KT610 and KF750 mobile phone models will have the Rocketalk mobile social networking application pre-loaded on them. Subsequently, other models of handsets in 
Intridea Inc., the agile enterprise Web 2.0 company, has announced the general availability of CrowdSound. The new on-demand social feedback tool allows enterprise websites and social networking sites to gather, organize and respond to suggestions from their customers for just $10 per month. Because CrowdSound requires only minimal Web developer knowledge to implement, businesses of all sizes can quickly realize the power of interactive, Web-based customer feedback.
Small businesses thrive on their ability to network and with the popularity of social networking sites, they are shifting that zeal to get-together online on specialized, business-focused communities. Forrester Research Inc. expects small businesses’ adoption of social networking technology to grow by 20% to 33% during the current year. Many entrepreneurs have begun to carve out small business communities on spaces originally designed for individual users, such as the online directories Myspace.com and Facebook. The free community, which will be supported by online advertising, is designed to help small businesses connect with each other through robust searching tools and to gain access to resources such as “ask the expert forums” through partnerships with media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
The battle to provide social networking in the enterprise is under way between solutions from established software vendors and readily available offerings such as Facebook and LinkedIn, with these sites possessing a lot of momentum, an industry insider stressed during a conference on July 11. Antony Brydon, former CEO and founder of Visible Path said, “I think we’re in a market that could end up looking a lot like the IM market, where consumer products like AOL IM gained dominance in the enterprise.” He added he did not take it for granted that companies such as Microsoft would dominate the business social networking space.
Technology, media, and telecommunications are poised for a significant transformation over the next 10 years because of a wireless social networking revolution, according to iSuppli. Recent research from iSuppli indicates that companies within these industries need to shift their strategies if they want to maintain relevance. Widespread adoption of mobile Internet devices like the iPhone will drive a new generation of wireless social networking businesses and business models beginning in 2009, iSuppli said.
While discussing the implementation and gradual rollout of Canadian Tire Corp.’s latest communications portal based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Corp.’s general manager of SharePoint platform and tools, Derek Burney, said organizations must cease shunning social networking tools such as wikis. He said Microsoft has seen a growing interest in the collaboration space due to a number of factors ranging from the threat of individual information overload to the shifting corporate landscape that has rapidly become more global in scope.
Facebook has sued a German social networking site, StudiVZ, saying that the site has stolen its look and feel by creating a clone site and merely replacing a blue background with an orange one. Facebook, which had filed suit right before unveiling a redesign, is seeking compensatory damages from StudiVZ but has not specified an amount. However, StudiVZ is accusing its larger rival of using the pretence of protecting its intellectual property rights to make up for its failure to succeed in Germany.
Pattiann McAdams-Russell, president of Avon’s online division, said in a session with eTail 2008 that the cosmetics direct merchant is digging deeper into social networking as a way to give its sellers more power. After an online upgrade, which will be rolled out by the year’s end, Avon representatives will have the ability to blog on their personal Avon Websites. This will enable them to further tell the story of the products they sell. Representatives will also be able to offer live chat to help their customers make their decisions.