Keeping Up With Facebook!!!

I have seen many articles about people having trouble keeping up with all the things in Facebook. Here is one such article:

http://www.calacanis.com/2007/07/27/facebook-bankruptcy/

I agree, I think a lot of people are missing the point on Social Networking Applications. Instead of taking "real world" social networking to the next level we are simply expanding the number of people that people have access to for networking. Being a LinkedIn Lion, I do believe that this quantity is a good thing, but the problem is that nobody is really helping people manage their network properly. I am working on a solution to this an if you are interested in finding out more as it unfolds then email me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com and I will be sure to keep you in the loop as the early versions.

Facebook News

As a follower of social networking trends, there are a couple of interesting stories I would like to share with my network.

Firstly, I came across this article below. It looks like people are starting to tire of LinkedIn not offereing some of the features of facebook and are starting to jump and use this tool for both personal and business networks. Although facebook is not there and from the looks of things is not really in that demographic, I am sure someone could spin a new social networking engine based on facebook called business book.

http://www.allfacebook.com/2007/07/the-collision-of-social-and-professional-worlds/

Secondly, I came across this other article on the new article on facebook hiring a new finance boss and are possible looking to IPO. This is going to be a hot stock to have especially if google does what I am predicting and buys them.
http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/120941/facebook-hires-new-finance-boss-in-possible-ipo-move.html

There is a lot happening in this space finally. The thing I find interesting with this space is that the customers are well advanced of the applications out there. The need to catch up is staggering. I think this is the year it will hit big so the big players need to get their act together or someone else is going to come up and steal the show. Its all an open race right now and anyone can win.

No wonder Google is not buying Facebook yet!!!

A friend of mine sent me this article and possibly this is why nobody is buying Facebook yet.
Did Facebook chief steal the idea?

Its an interesting story. Once resolved its my guess whomever wins Google will buy, that is still my prediction as it makes the most business sense.

QuelchUp and Spamming

I had posted the following:

I signed up for an account with QuelchUp and then it asked me to check if anyone else in my hotmail was on QuelchUp but it didn't show me any contacts so I could choose who to invite it just sent them to my address book. If QuelchUp wants to be more than a doostang then it will need to fix this.

I look forward to hearing more from people on their Quelch experiences and if they had similar or to let me know that Quelch has fixed this bug.

I heard back from QuelchUp in this matter, basically they say this is by design and its not spamming. They have lost my possible endorsement. I don't want to send emails to everyone I know I just want to send them to a select few from my contact list. I thought I would update you below is the response I got and you can make your own informed decision on whether you will continue to use them:

Dear Member

Checking your contact lists finds matches on Quechup for you and sends an invite to non Quechup members to join. By inviting contacts you confirm you have consent from them to send an invitation. Quechup will not spam or sell addresses from your contacts. See our privacy policy"

Regards

Bettina Samain
Member Support
quechup.com

Social Network Agregators

I came across this article on Social Network Agregators at:

http://mashable.com/2007/07/17/social-network-aggregators/

I took a look at some of the tools they refer to and gave my thoughts on them.
I have not checked them all out either due to them being down, having to download some tool, or simply not enough hours in a day. I am hoping to get through the rest of them this week.

RECOMMENDED

SpokeoInteresting touch being one letter off from spoke. This is so far my favorite. I have just started using it but I like the way it brought in all my content from the other systems. I only added a couple and wish to add more but I am having trouble finding that option again. If you know how to do this email me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com

SocialURL : I have not checked it out a lot but allowing me to put the links to my profiles in one spot was a nice touch.


OTHER AGREGATORS

profilactic : This one shows the percent like me, which is an interesting addition. The new 2.0 version just got released on July 13.

iStalkr : This would be a good site for stalkers to find people I guess. I went there this morning to check it out again but its getting php/apache errors. Will have to try later. If you have any opinions on this one please let me know.

Correlate.us : The facebook integration is a nice touch.

explode.us : Its cool that you can search by name but it would be good if it offered region or other ways to reduce the number of search items

Naymz : Its interesting how they tie in reputation.


STILL NEED TO CHECK OUT

minggl : Unfortunately with this one you have to install a toolbar and I don't really want another toolbar on my system.

PeopleAggregator : Seems to be down

8hands : Unfortunately you have to download this one so I have not checked it out.

Second Brain : Still in pilot mode. I have not received my invitation yet but I am waiting.

UpScoop

ProfileOMat

MyLifeBrand

ProfileLinker

snag

Socialnetwork.in

MyMashable

Social Networking Search Engines

I saw a posting on one of the mailing lists I am on asking about various Social Networking Search Engine and Profile Collaboration Tools. Below are some of the ones mentioned. I checked them out and commented on them below:

Streakr - This is an interesting search tool as it searches myspace and other networking tools.
I found that what is missing is a public link to my profile like you get on facebook or linkedin.
I like to place these links on my sites so people can find me. But overall I was impressed.

ProfileLinker - This tool looks like they are trying to allow you to link all your
profiles in one place. I have added my linkedin and facebook profiles here.
You can access my profile linker profile at: http://www.profilelinker.com/chrisw_88

Wink - This is a search engine for people but you don't have to register to use it.
I did a search for men and found me quickly which is pretty good considering how many chris williams there are in Toronto.

UpScoop - I am always leary of giving social networking engines my email address on various sources and allowing them to grab all my contacts. If anyone knows if this one is good please let me know.

If you have any more you would like me to check out or you recommend please email them to me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com or chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Marzar - Any insight on this tool?

I got an email about joining this tool as a founding member. It seems the first 1000 people who register now will be notified in August when they launch. It looks kind of interesting.

I joined awaiting a response. The screenshot looks good with the tag lists. I hope it will allow us to tag contacts so they are more easily searchable. I guess we will just have to wait until August for more information. I will keep you posted on what I find.

If you find out more please email me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com or chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will post the info here.

Get Caught In The Spider's Webb

I have the inside scoop on a new business tool launching in September and I thought I would share it with my network. It is going to revolutionize the way we market, buy and sell our ideas.

You will want to checkout this site and bookmark it to come back in September. If you register then they will send you out an email letter when it launches.

http://www.thespiderswebb.com/

If you are interested in connecting with the founder you can email Aelia at:

aeliay@thespideswebb.com

Powerset looking to launch Social Networking around Searce Engine

This is an interesting idea and definitely adds a new piece of the puzzle when it comes to social networking. You can check out the article below:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/06/15/powerset-to-launch-social-network-around-search-engine/

You can register here and they are offering a preview to you when it launches. If you register
here please let them know you heard it here.

http://labs.powerset.com/

If you come across any more pieces to the Social Networking puzzle please email them to me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com

Clinch Portal

I have created a new website that will become the prime source to get the information you need to Clinch your Desires all in one place.

Although currently in the construction stages, it is my goal over the next couple weeks to
organize this site into a central access point for all my web resources. After that I will be
integrating other web resources.

Over the next 6 months, my plan is to create a premium access section, providing a basic CRM application and integration to various social networking sites.

If you would like to integrate with ClinchPortal please email me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com