Mediaboss Marketing

BY DEON J. HAMPTON

RUTHERFORD Municipal firefighters must now monitor what they post on popular social networking sites to ensure that they aren't revealing information from fire scenes not privy to the public.

The Borough Council has passed a resolution to create the social media policy at the request of the volunteer Fire Department.

Fire Chief John Melfa made it clear that the request was a preventive measure and not a result of any inappropriate postings.

"Even though we are volunteers, there is still a code of ethics which must be followed," Melfa said.

Postings on social networking sites can lead the public to assume that the firefighters are speaking on behalf of the department, Melfa said of the 74-member staff.

Under the new policy, firefighters can have user accounts on sites such as Twitter and Facebook, but they aren't allowed to reveal any information about fire scenes.

Officials said the policy came about when firefighters were recently discussing ways to improve the department. Melfa said the department must keep up with evolving technology.

Email: hampton@northjersey.com

See the rest here:
Rutherford asks its firefighters for restraint in social networking

According to a new poll from the Pew Research Centers Internet & American Life Project, self-described liberals are twice as likely than self-described conservatives to block material on social networking websites that they find politically disagreeable.

Thirty-six percent of social media users said they have blocked, unfriended or hidden someone because of politics, but left-leaning participants were far more likely to havetaken that action to express disagreement about a friends political views.

Liberals are the most likely to have taken steps to block, unfriend, or hide disagreeable political messages, Pew concluded. In all, 28% of liberals have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on SNS [social networking sites] because of one of these reasons, compared with 16% of conservatives and 14% of moderates.

Sixteen percent of liberal users said theyblocked someone who posted something specific that they disagreed with, compared to eight percent of conservative users.

Liberals are also far more likely than conservatives 11 percent compared with 4 percent to completely delete friends from social networking sites because they disagree with their politics.

There has been no word nor will there likely be any about whether liberals will enjoy reading this story. Many, if the Pew study is to be believed, will just block it from their news feeds.

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Study: Liberals more likely to block social-media friends over political differences

Time for Newt to exit the race

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Study: Liberals more likely to block social-media friends over political differences

A "Facebook" for tattoo lovers? Surely the social-networking bandwagon is already full to tipping. But hold on--the photos section here seems tailor-made for this community. And beyond.

I pity the fool who says social networking has jumped the shark.

Sure, Mark Zuckerberg has a hoodie with weird totemic symbols hidden on the inside. But if he were truly hard core, he'd have a Like icon tattooed on his neck and the word "HACK" inked in all uppercase black letters from one shoulder to the other.

You can bet members of the tattoo-themed social network the TatSpot don't mess around with wussy iron-on transfers. These people go the distance, as evidenced by the photos on the site.

A tattoo-themed social network? You're probably thinking, "OK, the whole social-media thing has really jumped the shark." But why not? After all, I'd wager there's a forum or chat room or virtual who-knows-what for just about every wired subculture on the planet.

And though many of the TatSpot's different areas (videos, events, blogs, and the like) have yet to be filled out with posts (we got an e-mail announcement about the site just today), the aforementioned photos section seems to be off to a colorful start and appears tailor-made for this community.

And beyond. The photos section is a fascinating little journey for anyone, tattooed or not. As new as it is, you'll still encounter a cornucopia of iconography, from Mr. T to an unknown soldier to Mahatma Gandhi. And we suspect this will only get weirder and more wonderful with time.

The only problem I have with the site is its name. My CNET colleague Jeff Sparkman came up with a far better one: InkedIn.

Link:
TatSpot: New social network gets under your skin

By now you've heard that Yahoo has sued Facebook, alleging patent infringement. But just which pieces of intellectual property is Yahoo claiming Facebook ripped off?

Surely, you'd say, Yahoo doesn't claim that it invented the entire social networking model Facebook is based uponexcept it turns out that is almost exactly what Yahoo is claiming.

"Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo!'s patented social networking technology," Yahoo claims in the lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Northern California. "Prior to adopting Yahoo!'s patented social networking technology in 2008, Facebook was considered one of the worst performing Internet sites for advertising. Facebook's use of that social networking model has reportedly dramatically driven up Facebook's advertising click through rates."

Nearly all the technology that makes Facebook successful is based on Yahoo patents, the company further states.

"For much of the technology upon which Facebook is based, Yahoo! got there first and was therefore granted patents by the United States Patent Office to protect those innovations. Yahoo!'s patents relate to cutting edge innovations in online products, including in messaging, news feed generation, social commenting, advertising display, preventing click fraud, and privacy controls," Yahoo alleged in its court filing. "These innovations dramatically improve user experience, privacy, and security and enhance the ability of advertisers to connect with users."

What does Yahoo want? Money. Lots of money.

"Even if Facebook were to subsequently pay past due royalties, it would still enjoy a market share it has developed during its period of 'free riding' on Yahoo!'s intellectual property. Yahoo! would likewise lose its portion of the market share for this period. Due to the difficulty in predicting whether, if at all, such market share can be recovered, Yahoo!'s harm cannot be compensated by payment of past due royalties alone."

Yahoo doesn't specify a dollar amount. But whatever amount of damages the court sees fit to grant, Yahoo says those damages should be tripled "in view of the willful and deliberate nature of the infringement."

Yahoo is asserting ten patents against Facebook, divided into five categories: social networking, advertising, privacy, customization, and messaging. Facebook, by the way, apparently owns just 21 US patents, while Yahoo has more than 1,000.

Yahoo notified Facebook of the allegedly infringed patents on Feb. 27, and then filed suit after Facebook apparently refused to pay the licensing fees Yahoo demanded. Let's take a look at each of the ten patents being asserted against Facebook, organized by the category divisions used in Yahoo's lawsuit.

More:
Yahoo IP lawsuit: We patented "Facebook's entire social network model"

TAMPA, Fla. & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Rounder, Inc. (Rounder or the Company) (Pink Sheets: RNDR) today announces a licensing agreement making available the creation of a 3D, user-based, online virtual world that will incorporate social interactions, poker, e-commerce/retail shopping, streaming entertainment, dating, couponing, real world social happenings, and news created on the Invicta Corridor Social Gaming Platform. Invicta is the brainchild of video game legend Jonathan Eubanks.

Rounder is taking the lead in designing the newest and most exciting gaming in virtual worlds (made so popular by Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA - News)) through global platforms, including Facebook, Google+, Apple iOS, and Google Android. Jonathan Eubanks has designed over 60 games working for some of the largest video game publishers in the industry, including Activision, Universal Interactive, Vivendi Universal Games, Warner Brothers Interactive, and Brash Entertainment. With the Invicta Corridor Social Gaming Platform Jonathan is fulfilling his lifelong dream of creating the ultimate virtual world experience a world in which Rounder World will exclusively represent the finest poker and entertainment experience available online.

The Invicta Corridor Social Gaming Platform is the very first 3D virtual world gaming platform to operate seamlessly on PCs, Mac computers and iPads, and has a version being developed for iPhones.

Rounder, Inc. also announces the expansion of its presence on Facebook with its improved fan page and direct link to the RounderLife.com online poker experience. Rounder continues to work with its current partner ZEN Entertainment to finalize development of its Facebook application to allow Rounder to directly interact within the Facebook platform.

Rounder, Inc. is a gaming company with a focus on social networking initiatives while preparing for the limitless opportunities expected upon the legalization of internet poker gambling.

Originally posted here:
Rounder, Inc. (RNDR) Announces Virtual World and Social Networking Strategy