Social Networking

I first heard about Social Networking through MySpace, later Google opened up its own social networking site Orkut which has since gained a lot of ground in India.

Social networks connect people with all different types of interests, and one area that is expanding in the use of these networks is the corporate environment. Sites like Linkedln and Ryze are examples of such networks.Businesses are beginning to use social networks as a means to connecting employees together and helping employees to build profiles. This makes them searchable and be connected to other business professionals.



Cisco's move to buy a social networking company based in San Francisco, that has developed software that allows large companies to easily add social-networking features to their Web sites.Using this tool, companies will be able to create communities in which users can share audio, video and photos, as well as post blogs, podcasts and profiles.

It seems odd that a hardcore "hardware" company like Cisco would but up a social networking company! Sometimes back this would have been dismissed with a laugh, but not now. For more than a year, Cisco has been implementing a strategy to broaden its product portfolio beyond simply being the "plumbers of the Internet."

Cisco executives say this acquisition will likely be the cornerstone of the company's digital media strategy, because social networking is an important way that people connect with and discover content.

Disney has already seen the value in the social networking phenomenon. It recently revamped its Web site to create a MySpace for tots. Kids are able to play games, watch music videos, customize their Web sites with Disney characters like Tinkerbell or chat with other kids.

This trend might be followed by many more businesses across the world.

-##-Updated on 15 Feb,2007 -##-
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