Search results for Facebook
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Posted
Aug 12 2009, 02:50 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article was written by Minyanville's Nico Carbellano
Behold: Facebook Lite now walks among us. A beta version of the new service was mistakenly rolled out shortly after midnight, then yanked almost immediately. Now everyone is buzzing about what Facebook Lite really is -- is it Facebook's attempt to cut social-networking upstarts like Twitter off at the knees? That might be a good idea, since Twitter is already looking more than a little wobbly following yet another high-profile hack this morning, which prompted many to ask: Would anyone really miss the service if it disappeared, any more than we now miss Pets.com? Bing: Facebook Lite
Take a look at 10 of the highest-profile Internet failures of all time. Could Twitter be the latest name to join them?
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Posted
Aug 12 2009, 03:54 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Twitter had another hacker attack yesterday. Several media outlets reported the micro-blogging system was down periodically though the early morning and afternoon. The service had more severe problems last week. There have been rumors that the target of the attacks is a blogger in Georgia who has been critical of neighboring state Russia.
It is difficult to see what advantage the Russians gain by upsetting the tens of millions of people outside Georgia by shutting Twitter down, many of whom may actually think well of Mr. Putin and his fellow comrades.
The Twitter outage introduces the concept of whether anyone would really miss the service if it went away. Financial experts have argued that Twitter is not worth much even with its 30 million or so unique visitors, a number that varies wildly depending on the source. The press has carried stories over the last few months reporting that the service is growing 1,400%, 500%, and, in some cases, is barely growing at all. Ars Technica recently reviewed Twitter research done by HubSpot. The tech website reported that “HubSpot’s analysis of Twitter’s 4.5 million accounts revealed that 54.9% of users have never tweeted and 52.7% have no followers whatsoever.” Put more simply, many of the people who sign up for Twitter accounts never use them.
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Posted
Jul 06 2009, 03:59 PM
by
Tobin Smith
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Back in the '70s and '80s, baby boomers were at the forefront of a new wave of consumer demand. They were also the early adopters of new media technologies. Their TV viewing habits, purchasing habits, likes and dislikes were tracked intensely by the corporate world to help them determine which products, services and technologies were wanted most.
But fast forward a few decades to the 21st century -- are baby boomers still at the forefront of today's media technology?
Given the radical changes in media, particularly over the last decade, including the ubiquitous use of the Internet, social networking services and now even video content delivery over the Web, you wouldn't think baby boomers would be leading the charge forward.
Well, think again. A recent ChangeWave Alliance survey points to a powerful shift occurring among baby boomers from traditional TV to new types of online entertainment.
But what, if anything, are media companies doing to keep up with changing demand? As it turns out, they're doing plenty. And it could mean a boom for the biggest media firms out there.
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Posted
Jun 30 2009, 03:49 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Facebook is becoming one of the most dangerous places on the Internet. According to Reuters, “scammers break into accounts posing as friends of users, sending spam that directs them to Web sites that steal personal information and spread viruses.”
Since Facebook has, by some measures, more than 200 million members, the problem is extremely serious and could undermine the growth of the social network and cut into the time that current members spend on the site.
The cybercrime issue could also damage Facebook’s reputation with marketers, a reputation is just beginning to build in the hope of increasing its modest revenue by bringing in large national advertisers. Industry sources suppose that Facebook will lose a modest sum of money on $500 million of revenue this year, a tiny sum compared to the size of its audience.
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Posted
Jun 25 2009, 03:45 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
A public relations executive recently evaluated the number of Fortune 100 CEOs who had presences on social network sites including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online information site Wikipedia. Almost none of the chief executives were involved with the Internet destinations, which should not have been a surprise to anyone. The question raised by the PR person is why executives do such a poor job managing their images online. A better question is why a CEO would want to be involved with the Web sites at all.
Social network advocates have reached the point where they believe that the sun rises and sets on the interactions among their members. Facebook has more than 200 million visitors, by one measure. Wikipedia is one of the 10 most visited sites in the U.S. The frenzy of activity around having multiple and well-managed online presences has become a mania without a purpose.
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Posted
Jun 03 2009, 07:41 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The market's recent thaw has again opened the window for
initial public offerings. But investors
hoping that a gust of IPOs will fuel the market's rally are due for disappointment.
The hottest tech companies are unlikely to make a public exit any time
soon. In fact, investors hoping to buy
stock in popular social sites such as Facebook,
Digg and LinkedIn will likely have to wait until 2010 and beyond.
"We have no plans to go public," said Facebook
spokesman Larry Yu in an interview. His comments echoed earlier statements by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg that an IPO is not on the horizon.
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Posted
Apr 01 2009, 03:59 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The business of having online sites with content created by amateurs to be viewed by other amateurs never had a reasonable chance of making money. The fact that Facebook once had a $15 billion valuation, and that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (NWS) bought MySpace, and that Google (GOOG) bought YouTube only proves the “greater fool” theory.
YouTube was started in 2005 and MySpace in 2003. Normally, having a social network where people go to share profiles of themselves, write blogs and submit videos would not seem like much of a business. But MySpace has well over 100 million users. People viewed over 5 billion videos at YouTube last month.
Investors assumed that any medium with such a large number of users had to become a huge business. Millions and millions of users must be worth something. They can’t be worth nothing. That couldn’t be possible.
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Posted
Apr 01 2009, 03:09 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
Ousted General Motors (GM) boss Rick Wagoner might consider this an April Fools' joke, but The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is looking to ease the distressed automaker into “controlled” bankruptcy -- that's "somewhere between a prepackaged bankruptcy and court chaos, by persuading at least some creditors to agree to a plan that would cleave the company into two pieces."
Essentially, the government plans to use its considerable leverage of being the de facto lender of last resort to calm the fears of potential creditors. GM's new chief executive, Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, also telegraphed the government's plans in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying, "They think that I can lead this company inside or outside of bankruptcy court."
The administration appears to be drawing in part from its experience with troubled banks, the goal being to create "a new, healthier GM, but leaving behind its liabilities and less valuable assets, perhaps for liquidation," writes the Times.
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Posted
Mar 05 2009, 02:13 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
Eight percent growth in 2009. That's the lofty outlook China delivered on Thursday, reiterating a growth rate that remains unchanged even as the rest of the global economy continues to sink, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times report this morning. Both newspapers are a bit suspicious of Premier Wen Jiabao's rosy outlook. The FT points out Jiabao spoke of choosing the right policy mix to achieve the 8% target, but he was vague as to what that might be. The WSJ adds that Jiabao failed to deliver on a long-rumored new economic stimulus package. There's a lot riding on this target. Not meeting it could lead to further social unrest, even Jiabao acknowledged.
Jiabao's vague address probably won't please market watchers. Shares in the U.S. surged on Wednesday, breaking a five-day string of losses, on hopes China might introduce a new stimulus proposal, the WSJ writes. Yesterday, the newspaper writes, the so-called "China trade" was back on. Shares in Japan and China, though, remained buoyant on Thursday, climbing slightly after Jiabao's address, the BBC reports.
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Posted
Mar 02 2009, 02:14 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
Six months after first stepping in to save American International Group (AIG), the U.S. government has once again agreed to bail it out. The federal government will offer an additional $30 billion in taxpayer money to AIG just hours before the "battled insurer" is expected to announce a $62 billion loss, the biggest quarterly loss in history. Given that the government already owns nearly 80% of AIG's holding company, it's not surprising that this latest plan will expose U.S. taxpayers to more financial risk. Yesterday's agreement raises the prospect of breaking up the 90-year-old giant into various units and relaxes the stringent loan terms set in September by "wiping out interest in hopes of preserving AIG's value over a longer period," writes the Wall Street Journal. Simply put, with credit-rating agencies on the brink of downgrading AIG's shares, the Treasury felt it had no choice but to prop up AIG "because its business and trading activities are so intricately woven through the world’s banking system," writes the New York Times. Now that we the people have a majority stake in AIG, perhaps it might reconsider the lawsuit it filed Friday against the federal government over a disputed $306 million in taxes, interest, and penalties?
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