Internet

If you are thinking of complaining on Twitter about a company's service, your grumble might be more effective than you think. A customer relations management firm is now offering a service that lets companies monitor and deal with comments about ... them on the site. Salesforce calls its product the 'Service Cloud' and already covers posts on Facebook. The Twitter functionality will be added free of charge to existing customer accounts. Complaints In Context While Salesforce uses some serious jargon in its publicity, their product is remarkably simple. It takes advantage of the fact that a ... (view more)

With the growing popularity of social networking comes a growing list of social search engines that can turn up all kinds of embarrassing and potentially invasive information about you. The issue raises questions about what other revealing ... information is out there and what can be done to protect oneself. Besides making online stalking easy , specialized search engines are making it increasingly easier to combine socially shared information together into a highly detailed profile of our virtual lives. These specialized search engines go by a variety of terms such as "social search" ... (view more)

Microsoft has won another skirmish in the war for market share , as Queensland University of Technology agreed to transfer about 40,000 student email accounts to the Live@edu suite of applications. Queensland University of Technology has been ... internally testing email products from both Microsoft and Google for the past year, and made the choice to use Live@edu based on student feedback and the school's overall familiarity with the Microsoft environment. Professor Tom Cochrane, deputy vice chancellor for the Division of Technology, Information, and Learning Support, also noted that the ... (view more)

Nielsen.com reports that social networking and blogging have overtaken email to become the world's fourth most popular online sector after searching portals and PC software applications. Online networking sites are used to post gossip and other ... details about peoples' lives, but they have also become a crucial means of communication during disasters as they unfold. Time accounted for by 'Member Communities', or Facebook-like sites, has more than doubled in most of the countries monitored. 51% of Germans now access the sector, compared to 39% a year ago, giving Germany the strongest growth rate ... (view more)

Two different trials could be thrown out after jurors allegedly discussed the cases on social networking sites. One involves a $12 million civil trial and the other a five-month-long corruption charge. In one case, the jury decided construction ... company Stoam Holdings should pay $12.6 million compensation to a rival. But lawyers for the firm have complained that juror Johnathan Powell's Twitter comments broke rules when discussing the civil case with the public. U.S. courts usually allow jurors to discuss how they reached a verdict after the case. However, there are still strict rules against ... (view more)

Denise Finkel is suing Facebook, Inc. and four former classmates of University of Albany student for defamation. Finkel claims that comments intended to embarrass and humiliate her were posted on the popular social networking site. Filed on February ... 24, 2009 in New York Supreme Court, Finkel states her reputation and character were greatly injured by comments posted in a private group implying she has AIDS, uses drugs, and engages in deviant behavior, like bestiality. Denise Finkel was a victim of a growing Internet trend called cyberbullying . She is suing both Facebook for $3 million in ... (view more)

A new Facebook redesign rolls out today, with the changes intended to boost advertising on the site. Many still wonder if it's an attempt to imitate rival service Twitter, having failed in a bid to buy the firm . Facebook's last major redesign came ... just eight months ago when it introduced a cleaner look designed to cut down on clutter on pages. Though it drew some complaints at first, most users seemed to get used to it quickly enough. The latest revamp takes that process a step further. There's a much greater emphasis on the News Feed, the list of news about your Facebook friends including ... (view more)

On Wednesday, Microsoft PR firm Waggener Edstrom proved that their biggest client isn't the only source of new software, releasing their own beta version of a Twitter trend analysis tool. Aptly named "Twendz," the tool analyzes tweets about any ... specified topic and indicates whether Twitter users are commenting positively or negatively. It's no secret that Microsoft insiders are tweeting on Twitter, and that the status feed is gaining notoriety as a source of information and "leaks" such as the plans for the updated MS Live Search . Twendz, Tweets, and 'Tag-Clouds' Waggener Edstrom (WaggEd) is ... (view more)

It may seem like an obscure question, but have you ever wondered what would happen to your email accounts, digital media, and other important computer files after you pass away? While many would assume that the activity of the computer dies with its ... owner, a San Francisco-based startup is asking people to give serious thought to the idea of allowing certain people access to their digital assets. The "online will" service, known as Legacy Locker, would add a new dimension to traditional estate planning. A Will for the Digital Age Legacy Locker works in a similar manner to that of a written ... (view more)

The online advertising industry has introduced a set of guidelines intended to corral a genre of particularly controversial advertisements. Behavioral advertising -- a form of advertising that delivers ads based on a user's browsing activity -- is ... now targeted by a code of practice created by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). UK Internet Service Provider British Telecom (BT) partnered with Phorm, Inc. to roll out its new Webwise system. (Source: pcpro.co.uk ) The Internet Advertising Bureau Guidelines The guidelines (PDF) released by the IAB have been signed by Phorm, AOL, Google, ... (view more)