A few days ago, I wrote about the commoditization of social networks or rather the social networking feature sets that currently make Myspace and Facebook so unique and neat. Pioneers in social networking like Friendster and Myspace introduced a new data and software architecture that, at the same time clumsily and elegantly, met Internet users’ desire to interact and share content with each other. Finding old friends, connecting with new friends, sharing music and videos, playing collaborative games, and expressing oneself to virtual audiences of thousands all were groundbreaking features …

This is Part 1 of a new series that explores the science of Social Media Measurement.
Much attention has been given to the Web 2.0 generation of social networks and websites. Deservedly so, this next wave of Internet properties has quickly acquired humongous user bases, rich valuations, and cultural buzz worldwide. Venture capital investors are clamoring to fund the latest spin on crowdsourcing, content aggregation, social networking, micro-blogging, video sharing, and other different takes on social media. Fortune 2000 companies are all trying to figure out how to respond to this …

 
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft (MSFT) puts on his best poker face with this letter to the Yahoo! (YHOO) board of directors. Ballmer isn’t known all over the world as an innovator, but as a former lawyer and one of the architects of Microsoft’s monopolistic business tactics, I’m sure he can hold his own at the negotiation table. Of course, that hasn’t been the case lately with the outlandish premiums he paid for aQuantive and Facebook. So maybe he’ll back off of this hard stance:
Dear Members of the Board:
It has …

ESCO receives order for 88,000 meter readers – Radio Frequency (RF) utility meters are coming to your neighborhood soon. Yes, everything is going to get networked, even your gas, electric, and water meters. ESCO Technologies (ESE) just sold a bunch to PG&E Corporation (PCG) and if you don’t live in California, expect your utility to follow suit.
Perdigao Reports Increase in Net Income of 174% in 2007 – Food prices keep rising – an issue I’ve mentioned here before. Brazilian pork and poultry producer Perdigao S.A. (PDA) has been a big …

Macro

Once again, Mark Zandi and his team at Moody’s Economy.com (MCO) comes through with something interesting. Click through on the image below and interact with the map to find out if your state and county is in risk of recession. My home state of California is definitely at risk, dragged down by rapidly falling housing prices. I currently spend most of my time in Utah, one of the few places that has seen strong economic expansion and even strong real estate price appreciation. Forbes recently named Salt Lake City first …