Social Networking Insider

Social Networking Insider #179, December 26th, 2011

The SNW/SMC Industry Insider is the weekly news summary for the social networking industry
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~ SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE ~:


Next social media conference will be held in Miami and is scheduled for January 23-30 2012.
Register before December 31st and save $325!

http://www.socialmediaconference.com/form-1-miami.php
______________________________________________________________________

:~ TOP SOCIAL NETWORKING WATCH NEWS ITEMS ~:

The Top Viral Video Campaign, Updated December 22nd, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/adcampaign139

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LinkedIn Eyes Growth In Asia Pacific In 2012

PC WORLD - Dec 22 - Professional social network LinkedIn which started its Singapore office 7 months ago is set to double its staff strength in the country in 2012. LinkedIn currently has 8 people in leadership positions in Singapore. In the region LinkedIn now boasts 20M plus members compared to the 17M about half a year ago. Worldwide, LinkedIn has now 135M members and two new members are joining the network every second.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/linkedin-eyes-growth-in-asia-pacific-in-2012.html


Facebook To Change European Service After Data-Privacy Probe

BUSINESS WEEK - Dec 21 - Facebook will overhaul its service in Europe over the next six months as a result of an investigation into how the social network handles personal data. Facebook agreed to improve the information users get on what happens to deleted or removed content and to simplify explanations of its privacy policies.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/facebook-to-change-european-service-after-data-privacy-probe.html


Yahoo Expands Sharing Of Stories Through Facebook

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Dec 21 - Yahoo will enable Facebook users to share more of their activities on Yahoo's websites, including which stories they are reading. Yahoo introduced the Facebook-sharing option in its main new section three months ago. The same feature will now be available in 26 other parts of Yahoo's site, including its "omg" service for entertainment news and sections devoted to television, movies and games.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/yahoo-expands-sharing-of-stories-through-facebook.html

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Accept multiple currency payments through Optimal Payments. Fraud prevention tools, custom reporting, and premier customer support. For more information visit www.optimalpayments.com
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2011: The Year When Japan Went Global Over Social Networking

JAPAN TIMES - Dec 21 - A report on Japanese social network usage issued by Nielsen/NetRatings on Nov. 18 made a huge impact in Japan, as the statistics indicated that the number of Mixi users (8.39M) has fallen below that of Facebook users (11.31M). This news was widely picked up by the Japanese media — forcing Mixi to issue an official statement that it has 15.16M active users. According to Mixi, the Nielsen research only includes traffic coming from personal computers, which accounts for half of Mixi's users. Mixi states that 80% of the traffic to the site is coming from mobile phones. Nielsen always says that the report is based on PC traffic only. On Dec.14, Twitter confirmed that Japanese users had once again recorded the highest number of tweets per second.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/2011-the-year-when-japan-went-global-over-social-networking.html


Appconomy Raises $10 Million

STATESMAN - Dec 19 - Austin-based Appconomy, which helps customers provide commerce capabilities in their smartphone apps, has raised $10M to accelerate its business in China. Appconomy was founded last year and its software lets large retailers, merchants and brands build apps that include daily deal, coupons, rewards and loyalty programs as well as social networking and mobile payments. Appconomy previously raised $1.5 million from True Ventures and private investors.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/appconomy-raises-10-million.html


Zynga Shares Down 5%

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 19 - Zynga, which debuted the largest technology IPO since Google on Friday, saw shares drop in early morning trading on the second day listed on the Nasdaq. On Friday, Zynga closed 10% below its opening trade of $11 per share, after pricing on Thursday evening at $10 per share. This morning, Zynga opened at $9.36 but dropped as much as 5% in morning trading.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/zynga-shares-down-5.html

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Mobile Social Media Users To Reach 650m In 2011

MARKETWIRE - Dec 19 - A new report from Juniper Research finds that the continuing increase in smartphone adoption and the rise of geosocial networking will push the number of mobile social media users from 650M this year to 1.3 billion by 2016; more than the total number of social media users on all platforms today.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/mobile-social-media-users-to-reach-650m-in-2011.html


China Imposes New Rules On Social Networks

MERCURY NEWS - Dec 18 - For many users, the most striking of the new rules requires people using the sites, called microblogs, or weibo in Chinese, to register with their real names and biographical information. They will still be able to post under aliases, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency. The real-name registration could dampen some of the freewheeling conversations that take place online, and that sometimes result in a large number of users' criticizing officials and government policy.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/china-imposes-new-rules-on-social-networks.html

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:~ TWITTER ~:

Get the Social Networking Watch newsfeed delivered straight to your Twitter account: http://twitter.com/social_news

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:~ DAILY DEALS OBSERVER ~:

Interview With Noah Kagan, Chief Sumo At Appsumo.com
http://www.dailydealsobserver.com/daily_deals_observer/2011/12/interview-with-noah-kagan-chief-sumo-at-appsumocom.html

______________________________________________________________________


The business conference for the social networking industry @ SocialMediaConference.com

Industry Message Boards @ mb.socialnetworkingonference.com

Conference Organiser, Marc Lesnick, marc@lesnick.net, 212-722-1744

Social Networking Watch, www.socialnetworkingwatch.com or snw1.com

Editor: Mark Brooks, mark@socialnetworkingwatch.com, 212-444-1636

Social Networking Insider #178, December 19th, 2011

The SNW/SMC Industry Insider is the weekly news summary for the social networking industry
______________________________________________________________________

~ SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE ~:


Next social media conference will be held in Miami and is scheduled for January 23-30 2012.
Register before December 31st and save $325!

http://www.socialmediaconference.com/form-1-miami.php
______________________________________________________________________

:~ TOP SOCIAL NETWORKING WATCH NEWS ITEMS ~:

The Top Viral Video Campaign, Updated December 8th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/adcampaign138

_______________________________________________________________________

Zynga IPO Prices At $10

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 16 - Zynga priced its IPO at $10 a share. The IPO, which is set for tomorrow, will be in the upper end of the $8.50 to $10 price range the company indicated previously in SEC filings. Zynga will sell at least 100M shares, raising $1 billion at a $7 billion valuation.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/zynga-ipo-prices-at-10.html


MySpace Out Of Top Ten Most Visited Social Networks

MARKETING MAGAZINE - Dec 15 - MySpace is continuing to slump, falling out the UK's top ten most visited social networks for the first time ever, according to Experian Hitwise.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/myspace-out-of-top-ten-most-visited-social-networks.html


Tagged Acquires hi5

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 14 - Social network Tagged has acquired the social game network hi5, doubling Tagged’s monthly active users to 20M. The combination will also increase the total number of registered users to 330M, up from 100M. The deal’s terms were not disclosed, but include the hi5 website and user base.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/tagged-acquires-hi5.html

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Accept multiple currency payments through Optimal Payments. Fraud prevention tools, custom reporting, and premier customer support. For more information visit www.optimalpayments.com
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Facebook: Social Sharing Champion - Infographic

MEDIA BISTRO - Dec 14 - AddThis has released a new infographic that looks at the sharing trends. In 2011, Twitter was responsible for 13.5% of sharing, growing 576.9% YOY. Twitter also makes up 52% of all sharing in Japan. Facebook accounted for 52.1% of all sharing on the web over the past 12 months – that’s four times the size of Twitter.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/facebook-social-sharing-champion-infographic.html


Memory Lane, Formerly Classmates.com, Cuts Staff

GEEKWIRE - Dec 14 - MemoryLane, the social network formerly known as Classmates.com, has cut an unknown number of jobs at its operations in Seattle. Earlier this year, United Online repositioned its content and media unit with the launch of MemoryLane.com, described as the “largest archive of nostalgic content on the Internet.” At the time of the move, United Online changed the name of the unit from Classmates to Memory Lane.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/memory-lane-formerly-classmatescom-cuts-staff.html


Viadeo In Venture With Russian Unit Of Sanoma

WSJ - Dec 13 - Viadeo, which competes with LinkedIn, has agreed to enter a joint venture with a Russian subsidiary of Finnish publisher Sanoma Oyj to create a professional networking site in Russia. Paris-based Viadeo said that a new platform created in partnership with Sanoma's Sanoma Independent Media will be available in Cyrillic, including services offered locally, in Russia at the beginning of next year.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/viadeo-in-venture-with-russian-unit-of-sanoma.html

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Zynga Now Has The Top Five Games On Facebook

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 12 - This is a big week for Zynga, as the gaming giant readies for its debut on the public markets at the end of the week. The company’s offering is expected to price this week and will raise ~$1 billion in the IPO. Currently, Zynga has the top five games on Facebook using daily active user numbers, with Words With Friends edging out EA’s Sims Social. CityVille took the top spot with 10.1M DAU, followed by CastleVille (8.1M DAU); FarmVille (7.2M DAU); Texas HoldEm Poker (6.3M DAU) and Words With Friends (5.7M DAU).

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/zynga-now-has-the-top-five-games-on-facebook.html


When It Comes To Mobile Devices, Focus Will Be On Location

WASHINGTON POST - Dec 12 - It’s almost impossible to separate the rise in location-based technologies from the popularity of smartphones. One locally developed smartphone app, called Sponto, promotes social gatherings by showing when users congregate in large numbers. The StrEats app, also being developed by locals, will track the District’s food trucks. But inherent in these technologies are questions about privacy, particularly when a consumer’s location is tracked by default or without his or her explicit consent.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/when-it-comes-to-mobile-devices-focus-will-be-on-location.html

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:~ TWITTER ~:

Get the Social Networking Watch newsfeed delivered straight to your Twitter account: http://twitter.com/social_news

______________________________________________________________________

:~ DAILY DEALS OBSERVER ~:

Daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social are storming along. We thought it would be nice if there was a news illumination blog for the daily deals industry. So we created The Daily Deals Observer. We hope you like it, and it's useful for you.
http://www.dailydealsobserver.com

______________________________________________________________________


The business conference for the social networking industry @ SocialMediaConference.com

Industry Message Boards @ mb.socialnetworkingonference.com

Conference Organiser, Marc Lesnick, marc@lesnick.net, 212-722-1744

Social Networking Watch, www.socialnetworkingwatch.com or snw1.com

Editor: Mark Brooks, mark@socialnetworkingwatch.com, 212-444-1636

Social Networking Insider #177, December 12th, 2011

The SNW/SMC Industry Insider is the weekly news summary for the social networking industry
______________________________________________________________________

~ SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE ~:


Next social media conference will be held in Miami and is scheduled for January 23-30 2012.
Register before December 15 and save $400.

http://www.socialmediaconference.com/form-1-miami.php
______________________________________________________________________

:~ TOP SOCIAL NETWORKING WATCH NEWS ITEMS ~:

The Top Viral Video Campaign, Updated December 8th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/adcampaign137

_______________________________________________________________________


Google To Add Local Deals To Google+ Mobile Check-ins

VENTURE BEAT - Dec 9 - A Google spokesperson confirmed that location-based deals will be coming to Google+ next week. The Google+ social network may be adding features to its mobile app that will allow users to claim deals when they check in at locations.  One year ago this week, Groupon rejected a $6 billion buyout offer from Google. Even without the daily deals acquisition, Google has been attacking local commerce from all sides. Google Offers launched soon after the Groupon deal went pear-shaped, and the company continues to buy smaller deals sites, such as TheDealMap.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/google-to-add-local-deals-to-google-mobile-check-ins.html


Spotify Launches Spotify Radio

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 9 - Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has just announced its beefed up Radio feature. Ek however did not mince words when describing the feature, “It’s kind of like Pandora with unlimited skipping and unlimited stations.” Pandora, which is now an achingly public company, currently limits users to 100 stations and eight song skips.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/spotify-launches-spotify-radio.html


Zynga Said To Receive Enough Orders To Cover All 100 Million Shares In IPO

BLOOMBERG - Dec 8 - Zynga, the biggest maker of games on Facebook, received enough orders to cover all the shares being sold in its IPO.  Zynga plans to sell 100M shares for $8.50 to $10 apiece, according to regulatory filings. The high end of that price range would value Zynga at $7 billion.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/zynga-said-to-receive-enough-orders-to-cover-all-100-million-shares-in-ipo.html

_______________________________________________________________________

Accept multiple currency payments through Optimal Payments. Fraud prevention tools, custom reporting, and premier customer support. For more information visit www.optimalpayments.com
_______________________________________________________________________


US Virtual Goods Market To Hit $2.9 Billion In 2012

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 8 - The overall market for virtual goods in the US is headed towards $2.9 billion for 2012, according to the Inside Virtual Goods report. That’s up from $2.2 billion this year, and $1.6 billion in 2010. Virtual goods on Facebook are continuing to comprise more than half of that, going from $835M in 2010 to $1.2 billion this year to $1.6 billion next year. The report estimates that mobile virtual goods (for games only) made $350M this year, and will grow to $500M next year.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/us-virtual-goods-market-to-hit-29-billion-in-2012.html


LinkedIn Opens First Latin American Office

SOCIAL BARREL - Dec 6 - Professional social network LinkedIn, which staged its IPO in June of this year, opened its first office in Latin America, in Sao Paolo, Brazil. LinkedIn’s opening of its  Sao Paolo office is part of broader efforts to expand internationally. The company started operations in Japan last month and in May launched its Asia headquarters in Singapore.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/linkedin-opens-first-latin-american-office.html


Gree Aims To Have 1 Billion User Accounts Within Five Years

BUSINESS WEEK - Dec 6 - Gree, Japan’s second-biggest social-network, aims to have 1 billion user accounts in 3-5 years. The Tokyo-based company acquired Burlingame, California-based online-games network OpenFeint for $104M in April as it seeks to expand overseas. Gree has 150M user accounts globally, with overseas operations in nine countries.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/gree-aims-to-have-1-billion-user-accounts-within-five-years.html

_______________________________________________________________________

Increase your online revenues the easy way! With paysafecard your customers pay fast and secure on your website. Without bank account or credit card. And that’s how you reach new target groups.
_______________________________________________________________________


Japanese Mobile Social Gaming Startup Gumi Raises $26 Million

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 5 - Mobile gaming publisher Gumi, which has been growing very rapidly lately, raised $26M last week in a series F round. Gumi has 140 employees. Its growth started taking off this year. The company expects to sell more than $50M worth of virtual in-game coins this year which can be used by players to outfit their characters and level up. The company currently has eight games, including Yakuza Wars, Pirate Wars, and FIFA World Class Soccer. It has 10M registered users in Japan, and 1M active users per month. The average revenue per user in Japan is between $2.50 and $4.00, with some players paying $50 to $100 a month in virtual goods.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/japanese-mobile-social-gaming-startup-gumi-raises-26-million.html


Facebook Has Acquired Gowalla

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 2 - Facebook has acquired location-based startup Gowalla. The terms of the deal haven’t been reported, and Gowalla declined to comment. Facebook says it doesn’t comment on rumor and speculation. According to CNN’s report, the Gowalla team will be working on Facebook Timeline, with most of the team moving to Facebook’s Palo Alto headquarters and some remaining in Gowalla’s hometown of Austin, where Facebook has an office as well. Gowalla, which has raised $10.4M to date, first launched at SXSW 2009 — going head-to-head against Foursquare, with a stronger emphasis on virtual goods than their competitor.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/facebook-has-acquired-gowalla.html

______________________________________________________________________

:~ TWITTER ~:

Get the Social Networking Watch newsfeed delivered straight to your Twitter account: http://twitter.com/social_news

______________________________________________________________________

:~ DAILY DEALS OBSERVER ~:

Daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social are storming along. We thought it would be nice if there was a news illumination blog for the daily deals industry. So we created The Daily Deals Observer. We hope you like it, and it's useful for you.
http://www.dailydealsobserver.com

______________________________________________________________________


The business conference for the social networking industry @ SocialMediaConference.com

Industry Message Boards @ mb.socialnetworkingonference.com

Conference Organiser, Marc Lesnick, marc@lesnick.net, 212-722-1744

Social Networking Watch, www.socialnetworkingwatch.com or snw1.com

Editor: Mark Brooks, mark@socialnetworkingwatch.com, 212-444-1636

Social Networking Insider #176, December 5th, 2011

The SNW/SMC Industry Insider is the weekly news summary for the social networking industry
______________________________________________________________________

~ SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE ~:


Next social media conference will be held in Miami and is scheduled for January 23-30 2012.
Register before December 15 and save $400.

http://www.socialmediaconference.com/form-1-miami.php
______________________________________________________________________

:~ TOP SOCIAL NETWORKING WATCH NEWS ITEMS AND WEEKLY INTERVIEW ~:

The Top Viral Video Campaign, Updated December 1st, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/adcampaign136

_______________________________________________________________________


Twitter Launches Self Serve Ad Platform

SEARCH ENGINE JOURNAL - Dec 2 - Although it is in beta testing and currently only available to ~ 20 advertisers, Twitter has finally launched its self-serve ad platform. The new platform, which enables advertisers to use a self-serve system to purchase advertising without speaking to a human, currently allows the purchase of promoted accounts and promoted tweets. Twitter has indicated the new platform will be rolling out to a much larger group of advertisers in the coming weeks.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/twitter-launches-self-serve-ad-platform.html


Senzari Prepares To Take On Pandora

TECH CRUNCH - Dec 2 - Senzari, the new music streaming service, recently launched into private beta in the U.S. and Brazil, with plans to expand further into Latin America, Spain and Australia in the future. Where Pandora currently offers a catalog of 900K songs, Senzari has launched with over 10M. It also includes Facebook integration, including live chat with Facebook friends. The new startup is backed by $2M in funding from undisclosed angel investors.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/senzari-prepares-to-take-on-pandora.html


Zynga To Go Public At $10 Billion Valuation

CNET NEWS - Nov 30 - Zynga's highly anticipated public offering is expected to value the company at $10 billion, well below a recent analyst estimate. The game developer, which is expected file its IPO plans with regulators on Friday, intends to raise $900M based on a share price range of $8 to $10,

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/12/zynga-to-go-public-at-10-billion-valuation.html

_______________________________________________________________________

Accept multiple currency payments through Optimal Payments. Fraud prevention tools, custom reporting, and premier customer support. For more information visit www.optimalpayments.com
_______________________________________________________________________


Twitter Teams Up With Japanese SN Mixi

ASSOCIATED PRESS - Nov 30 - Twitter and Japan's biggest homegrown social network mixi joined forces to strengthen their ground against a rapidly expanding Facebook. Japanese was Twitter's first foreign language platform, and it opened its first overseas office in Tokyo earlier this year.  For mixi, the announcement couldn't have come at a better time. Data released this week from Nielsen NetRatings Japan showed that mixi stood in third place behind Twitter and Facebook in terms of unique visitors in October.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/11/twitter-teams-up-with-japanese-sn-mixi.html


Facebook In Talks To Open Platform For Real-Money Gambling In The UK

TECH CRUNCH - Nov 30 - According to eGaming Review, Facebook is engaged in exploratory talks with a number of UK operators to open its platform to real-money online gambling, maybe even as soon as in the first quarter of 2012. In the United States, online gambling is essentially considered to be illegal in most states, though legalization efforts are underway.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/11/facebook-in-talks-to-open-platform-for-real-money-gambling-in-the-uk.html


Flavors.me Spins Into A Social Network

NY TIMES - Nov 28 - Flavors.me started last year as a place where people with an array of social networking profiles could pull information from each of their accounts into one polished page. Flavors.me has attracted 750K users. ~6% of those have signed up for the $20-a-year version of the service, which offers additional features. The company has raised $4.5M from angel investors.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/11/flavorsme-spins-into-a-social-network.html

_______________________________________________________________________

Increase your online revenues the easy way! With paysafecard your customers pay fast and secure on your website. Without bank account or credit card. And that’s how you reach new target groups.
_______________________________________________________________________


Facebook Will IPO As Early As April 2012

MASHABLE - Nov 29 - Facebook will make its long-anticipated move to go public between April and June 2012. Facebook is considering raising $10 billion in an IPO that could value it at more than $100 billion.

http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/11/facebook-will-ipo-as-early-as-april-2012.html


SmartDate CEO Starts Daily Deals Site

DDO - Dec 4 - We've noticed quite a few dating company founders are foraying into the daily deals space. The latest addition is Fabrice LeParc, the founder of troubled (that's being kind) dating site SmartDate. Squarechic.com offers 2 for 1 deals, on "WHATever, and WHENever", starting with New York, London and Paris. An iPhone & Android app will give users a subscription based 'virtual pass' which pinpoints their exact location to show participating deals around them. The app is due to launch December 2011. Fabrice has teamed up with Daniel Kershaw who was formerly country manager for the UK based electronics retailer Dixons. Great business model, but a lousy name. 'WHATever, WHENever' is amusingly laissez-faire. Hopefully this business will fly more smoothly, and contractors and employees will get paid.

http://www.dailydealsobserver.com/daily_deals_observer/2011/12/smartdate-ceo-starts-daily-deals-site.html

______________________________________________________________________

:~ TWITTER ~:

Get the Social Networking Watch newsfeed delivered straight to your Twitter account: http://twitter.com/social_news

______________________________________________________________________

:~ DAILY DEALS OBSERVER ~:

Daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social are storming along. We thought it would be nice if there was a news illumination blog for the daily deals industry. So we created The Daily Deals Observer. We hope you like it, and it's useful for you.
http://www.dailydealsobserver.com

______________________________________________________________________


The business conference for the social networking industry @ SocialMediaConference.com

Industry Message Boards @ mb.socialnetworkingonference.com

Conference Organiser, Marc Lesnick, marc@lesnick.net, 212-722-1744

Social Networking Watch, www.socialnetworkingwatch.com or snw1.com

Editor: Mark Brooks, mark@socialnetworkingwatch.com, 212-444-1636