Category Archives: social networking

Take my picture, please

Posted on June 18, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve been testing out a couple of relatively new social networking sites lately — FriendFeed and brightkite. Both reminded me of a pet peeve I have about social networking sites: they all want your picture, but they don’t make it … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments

More Americans get their news from… Facebook?

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

I found out about Tim Russert’s death today through Facebook. One of my friends had updated his status to say he was “shocked by Tim Russert’s death.” I glanced over at my Google Talk contacts and noticed that two other … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, im, instant messaging, journalism, media, newspapers, publishing, social networking, twitter, web 2, web 2.0 | 3 Comments

Occasional reader – Airport security, future of journalism, working with Yahoo!

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Some interesting reads from the past couple of weeks: The Airport Security Follies (New York Times blog) – Pilot Patrick Smith takes a look at the idiocy of our airport screening processes. Smith argues (and I fully agree) that airport … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, journalism, media, newspapers, reader, social networking, travel, web 2, web 2.0, weekly reader, yahoo | Comments Off on Occasional reader – Airport security, future of journalism, working with Yahoo!

Microsoft yodels for Yahoo!

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

The announced Microsoft bid for Yahoo! means a lot of different things for lots of people. An emboldened competitor for Google. A stronger ad network for advertisers. Heightened acquisition hopes for AOL. Better benefits for Yahoo! employees. (Microsoft has the … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, iphone, microsoft, mobile, mobile search, social networking, wireless, wireless data, yahoo | Comments Off on Microsoft yodels for Yahoo!

Facebook improves News Feed algorithm

Posted on December 1, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

In a much anticipated move, Facebook has changed its News Feed algorithm. The new algorithm rewards applications that compel their audiences to interact with them regularly. Scrabulous is a great example of a winner from this change.   Under the … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Facebook improves News Feed algorithm

Searching outside the search box

Posted on November 19, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

A large untapped opportunity in social networks is connecting people with information they’re looking for. I was flying home this weekend from Lake Tahoe and connected in Salt Lake City. While I was there, I updated my Facebook status to … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, search, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Searching outside the search box

Marketing on social networks

Posted on November 5, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Social networks like MySpace and Facebook are among the leaders in user engagement, with many users returning daily and some visiting many times a day. They’ve almost reached the same level of engagement as email* and have double the engagement … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, facebook, marketing, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments

The power of location in presence

Posted on November 3, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I travel frequently and have friends scattered throughout the country. I usually do a bad job of keeping track of who is where, who has moved, etc. Last week I was in Boston. As I headed out to dinner, I … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, google, gps, lbs, maps, social networking, wireless, wireless data | 5 Comments

Google Maps gets social

Posted on October 23, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google has added a profile page for its My Maps and local reviews products. The profile page allows users to roll up their maps and reviews onto one page. Here’s a screenshot of my profile page: In addition to links … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, google, local search, maps, social networking, yelp | 1 Comment

People tagging on Facebook

Posted on October 3, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a big proponent of geotagging. As I’ve gotten deeper into Facebook, I’ve also become a big fan of people tagging. People tagging allows you to uniquely identify people in pictures. Tagging can … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, flickr, photography, privacy, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | 3 Comments