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Microsoft is paying $1.2 billion for Yammer and is folding the enterprise social networking vendor into its Office division.

[UPDATED at 1:14 p.m. PT]

The rumors were right. Microsoft announced on June 25 it has bought enterprise social networking vendor Yammer for $1.2 billion.

I doubt seriously whether Microsoft will be integrating any of Yammer's technology into Office 2013, as the client, server and services that are part of this wave are already quite far along in development. A public beta of Office 2013 is expected by many of us Microsoft watchers in July.

So many folks have asked me since the original rumor-go-round began why Microsoft would want Yammer. After all, Microsoft already has several partnership deals in place with Yammer and has its own social-networking technology built into SharePoint.

Here's the official statement from Microsoft as to why it's ponying up for the company:

(In my earlier speculation I wondered aloud whether Microsoft might be buying Yammer for similar reasons it bought Skype: It needed a cooler brand and wanted the cross-platform support. I still stand by those wonderings.)

As I blogged earlier this month, Microsoft was working on its own Yammer competitor, known as OfficeTalk. Last week, the Softies posted a downloadable case study which indicated that OfficeTalk is now nothing more than a Microsoft IT demo project.

When I asked Microsoft officials whether the company had decided against commercializing OfficeTalk after all, I received this response from a spokesperson: "Great ideas areas such as OfficeTalk, are always coming from The Garage. We have nothing new to share." (The Garage is a Microsoft internal incubator.)

Update: Here are a few additional tidbits from a call Microsoft and Yammer held for analysts and press about today's announcement:

Read more:
Microsoft acquires corporate social network Yammer for $1.2B

Yammer lets businesses can set up private "social" networks where employees can communicate.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Is corporate America ready to adopt social networking alongside traditional office tools like word processing apps and spreadsheets?

Microsoft is making a big bet in that direction. It has acquired Yammer, an "enterprise social networking" startup, for $1.2 billion in cash. The deal is Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) biggest acquisition since Skype, which it bought last year for $8.5 billion.

Yammer operates like a gated Facebook (FB): A business can set up a private network where employees can post announcements, share files, create events, swap messages and more. It also offers more traditional corporate features like a content management system and an "extranet" that businesses can use to communicate with outside contacts like customers and vendors.

Buying Yammer "underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a prepared statement.

Yammer, which was founded in 2008, had raised about $142 million in venture funding. It claims more than 5 million corporate users, including 80% of the Fortune 500 list.

The companies' joint statement said Yammer "will continue to develop its standalone service," and that it will also be paired with "complementary offerings from Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics and Skype."

On a conference call immediately following the press release, journalists asked several more questions about what the Yammer integration will look like.

But executives wouldn't get specific, instead throwing out corporate-speak about "natural synergies."

After a few minutes of that, one reporter asked if he should look to the the Skype incorporation as a model for how Yammer will fit in with Microsoft.

Original post:
Microsoft buys social-office network Yammer for $1.2 billion

Fed up with Facebook?

Facebook is clearly the top tool for social networking, but new and arguably more innovative social networking alternatives have emerged in recent years to fill the void left by Friendster and MySpace. So if you're looking to network somewhere other than Facebook, here are five alternative sites.

Pinterest One of the most popular social networks on the web today, Pinterest has received widespread acclaim for its fresh take on the standard photo sharing social network.

"Pinterest is a good example of an alternative social network that focuses on a simple feature -- photo sharing -- which has a complete social network built around it," said Christopher Gentile, CEO of the new social network Family iBoard.

This more focused approach to social networking helps create a simpler and more intuitive user experience.

Path Path is a simple photo and message sharing social network that limits users to a maximum of 150 connections. These restrictions are designed to provide a more private and personal experience, by encouraging users to connect only with the people they know best (the number 150 is based on "Dunbar's number," which purportedly denotes the limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain genuine social relationships).

In this more intimate setting, users may be encouraged to share photos and send messages more freely than on a more public platform like Facebook.

Foursquare Foursquare is a location-based social network that lets you "check in" at venues using your phone or mobile device. You can then connect with other Foursquare users to share information about where you are and what you are doing. The program also allows you to search your location for the restaurants, bars, shops and other amenities, and receive personalized recommendations based on other users' experiences.

Nextdoor Critics argue that the impersonality of the Internet has compromised the once thriving sense of community in America's neighborhoods. Nextdoor's mission is to rekindle this community spirit in neighborhoods across the U.S., by connecting users and their neighbors through a localized social network.

Users join with their home address and are automatically placed into a home neighborhood. This ensures that all of the content, connections and messages you see will come from other users living in your area.

Link:
Tired of Facebook? Here are five social networking alternatives

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Kayt Sukel, an author who writes about neuroscience and sexuality, has given lectures around the country on the issue. And there's one word, she finds, that never fails to get her audiences squeamish.

"There's just something about the word 'vagina' that startles people - I don't know what it is," says Sukel. "I find it especially at universities. People sit back a little bit. Sometimes they start giggling. I end up using euphemisms just to make them more comfortable, and more receptive to what I am saying. And we don't seem to have the same problems with the word 'penis.'"

In a much different setting, Judy Gold has similar experiences. The popular standup comic and actress, who last year starred in her own successful off-Broadway show, focuses her routines on being gay, Jewish, a New Yorker and a mother. Her audiences presumably know what they're getting into. Yet she, too, hears gasps in the audience when she says the V-word.

And so neither woman was particularly surprised when they heard about the recent incident in Michigan, where a lawmaker was temporarily barred from speaking in the House after using the word "vagina" during debate over anti-abortion legislation.

It all began when Lisa Brown, a Democrat, was speaking about proposed legislation requiring doctors to ensure that abortion-seekers haven't been coerced into ending their pregnancies. "I'm flattered you're all concerned about my vagina," Brown said. "But no means no." Brown believes she was censured because of the word she used, though her Republican opponents later said it was the "no means no" part, which they claimed likened the law to rape. The lawmaker denies she was doing anything of the kind.

But politics aside, there's no question in the minds of many that in 2012, for whatever reason, the V-word retains shock value - much more than its male counterpart - even though it is finally beginning to surface regularly in mainstream entertainment, popping up in several network TV shows as well as in much bolder references in advertising.

"I mean, you can say 'penis,'" says Gold. "You can say 'erection,' 'erectile dysfunction,' even 'vaginal probe.' But 'vagina'? Suddenly it's a dirty word. And it's the correct anatomical term!"

Can an anatomical term really be a bad word? Even the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that tracks what it sees as objectionable content on TV, acknowledges that difficulty.

"I've got a toddler, and when you read potty-training books, they discourage the use of euphemisms for body parts," says Melissa Henson, the group's director of communications. But what troubles the PTC, she says, is "the use of this language in the context of cheap sex jokes. It's dumbed-down humor that's in no way respectful of the audience."

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Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather SportsP-word? OK. The V-word? That's trickier

NEW YORK Kayt Sukel, an author who writes about neuroscience and sexuality, has given lectures around the country on the issue. And there's one word, she finds, that never fails to get her audiences squeamish.

"There's just something about the word 'vagina' that startles people I don't know what it is," says Sukel. "I find it especially at universities. People sit back a little bit. Sometimes they start giggling. I end up using euphemisms just to make them more comfortable, and more receptive to what I am saying. And we don't seem to have the same problems with the word 'penis.'"

In a much different setting, Judy Gold has similar experiences. The popular standup comic and actress, who last year starred in her own successful off-Broadway show, focuses her routines on being gay, Jewish, a New Yorker and a mother. Her audiences presumably know what they're getting into. Yet she, too, hears gasps in the audience when she says the V-word.

And so neither woman was particularly surprised when they heard about the recent incident in Michigan, where a lawmaker was temporarily barred from speaking in the House after using the word "vagina" during debate over anti-abortion legislation.

It all began when Lisa Brown, a Democrat, was speaking about proposed legislation requiring doctors to ensure that abortion-seekers haven't been coerced into ending their pregnancies. "I'm flattered you're all concerned about my vagina," Brown said. "But no means no." Brown believes she was censured because of the word she used, though her Republican opponents later said it was the "no means no" part, which they claimed likened the law to rape. The lawmaker denies she was doing anything of the kind.

But politics aside, there's no question in the minds of many that in 2012, for whatever reason, the V-word retains shock value much more than its male counterpart even though it is finally beginning to surface regularly in mainstream entertainment, popping up in several network TV shows as well as in much bolder references in advertising.

"I mean, you can say 'penis,'" says Gold. "You can say 'erection,' 'erectile dysfunction,' even 'vaginal probe.' But 'vagina'? Suddenly it's a dirty word. And it's the correct anatomical term!"

Can an anatomical term really be a bad word? Even the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that tracks what it sees as objectionable content on TV, acknowledges that difficulty.

"I've got a toddler, and when you read potty-training books, they discourage the use of euphemisms for body parts," says Melissa Henson, the group's director of communications. But what troubles the PTC, she says, is "the use of this language in the context of cheap sex jokes. It's dumbed-down humor that's in no way respectful of the audience."

The PTC studied the appearance of "penis" and "vagina" in scripted shows on five networks, comparing the 2010-2011 season to 2001-2002. Not surprisingly, it found a large increase, largely in the last year or two.

Original post:
The Vagina Dialogues: In 2012, are we still scandalized by the V-word?