Brightkite aggregates location content for businesses, fun

Location may be the next holy grail for social networking, and plenty of startups are already chasing it. Brightkite, a location-based social network focused on meeting friends and making new ones, has just introduced a new way to show off what everyone is doing in a particular location. Businesses, meet location-based social networks.

November 20, 2008 - 05:40PM CT - by David Chartier

Your school chum's not asking about you: Classmates.com sued

No, your old high school buddies really weren't trying to contact you. Classmates.com has become the subject of a class-action lawsuit, thanks to e-mails sent to members claiming that their old classmates had been trying to contact them. The e-mails turned out to be a trick to get people to subscribe, and some are getting fed up.

November 12, 2008 - 01:55PM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

Can you spare $500? Nigerian scammers turn to Facebook

What would you do if you got a message from your best friend on Facebook, saying that he's stranded in Nigeria and needs money to get home? Well get ready, because that's exactly what's beginning to happen as Nigerian scammers get into people's accounts in order to ask "friends" for money.

November 11, 2008 - 06:25PM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

Linkedin's new application platform takes your résumé social

The days of bullet points, résumés, and cover letters have been replaced by collaborative file-sharing widgets and dynamic trip planners. LinkedIn would like to welcome you to your new, more social, professional résumé.

October 29, 2008 - 11:12AM CT - by David Chartier

Fear of economy, job loss has LinkedIn buzzing with activity

Professional social networking sites like LinkedIn are seeing major growth during the latest economic downturn. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, since people are more likely than ever to start updating their résumés and try touching base with old colleagues, "just in case."

October 28, 2008 - 09:00AM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

Studies: Social networks exploding, may appear in government

A new study reveals that Social networking services are experiencing explosive growth in the US. An analyst at Gartner thinks that, given current economic circumstances and the public's comfort level with these services, it may be time for government bodies to get more social.

October 26, 2008 - 03:30PM CT - by David Chartier

Report: Motorola planning to join the social with Android (Updated)

Motorola is reportedly focusing on social networking with its first Android phone. Some innovation possibilities and a social networking slant could help Motorola turn around its sagging mobile sales.

October 20, 2008 - 12:25PM CT - by David Chartier

Rumors resurface of a Facebook music store

Digital music distribution is big business for iTunes Store competitors now that DRM is (mostly) dead. Rumors have returned that Facebook may finally join the bandwagon, but don't expect a "Facebook Music" store.

October 19, 2008 - 07:46PM CT - by David Chartier

Brightkite iPhone app preview, invites, video in action

After a long wait and a busy beta testing process, Brightkite's location-based social networking service is finally arriving in a native iPhone form. Wrap your head around how cool Brightkite can be with a demo video, then sign up with an invite link that we scored for Ars Technica readers.

October 16, 2008 - 03:30PM CT - by David Chartier

Flock 2 browser takes flight with a few surprises

Version two of the "social browser" offers custom rich media and social networking features built on a Firefox 3 base. A couple of surprises tag along for this big release as well.

October 15, 2008 - 01:48PM CT - by David Chartier

Amie Street gets more social, releases web player

Amie Street pairs an all-new website and web-based media player with its clever business model. A new, much deeper recommendation system also provides a better music discovery experience, so we spoke with one of Amie Street's co-founders about what's new.

October 15, 2008 - 11:59AM CT - by David Chartier

Two new laws try to keep kids safe from online creeps

Two new laws target online child molesters, but it's not clear that they are constitutional or likely to be effective.

October 15, 2008 - 10:10AM CT - by Julian Sanchez

Report: enterprise to embrace web 2.0 as prices drop

Enterprise tools for managing blogs and wikis are collectively maturing as competition in the space gets crowded. Prices are set to fall, according to a new report, which is both good and bad news.

October 14, 2008 - 09:17AM CT - by David Chartier

Science and Social Networking: can it work?

Scientific social networking sites are popping up all over the place, but are they actually going to have any impact?

October 09, 2008 - 09:22AM CT - by Jonathan M. Gitlin

MySpace, Facebook holding mobile social networking back

A new study says MySpace and Facebook dominate social networking on mobile phones just as much as on the desktop. The findings also inadvertently highlight the fact that these giants are handicapping progress towards the next holy grail of social networking: location-based services.

October 07, 2008 - 10:25PM CT - by David Chartier

Big Blue goes social with Bluehouse collaboration platform

IBM opened up a beta Monday of its forthcoming web-based productivity suite infused with collaboration and social networking tools—a significant nod toward "the cloud," and a large push into an increasingly competitive market.

October 07, 2008 - 05:12AM CT - by David Chartier

Flickr updates mobile site to be iPhone-friendly

Popular photo sharing site Flickr has tweaked the mobile version of its website to be more iPhone-friendly. That mobile compatibility, however, comes at the cost of many features.

October 03, 2008 - 12:19PM CT - by Chris Foresman

Hands on: NPR gets social with new community

What happens when Car Talk meets Facebook? NPR's new social network may have been a long time coming, but the organization was careful to pick a good set of features that wouldn't overwhelm its mainstream audience.

October 01, 2008 - 07:07AM CT - by David Chartier

Survey: companies should give a Tweet, join social web

Americans not only expect companies to have a presence on various social media sites, according to a new report by Cone, they also expect those companies to interact with customers, help troubleshoot problems, and even solicit feedback on products and services.

September 29, 2008 - 11:55AM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

Hands on: Strands, a lifestream with a brain

Strands is another new lifestreaming service that can aggregate all the stuff you do at social media sites, but also help you discover interesting stuff and new friends. The company has some unique technology and an unobtrusive business model, so we sat down with Strands' VP of communications and scored 500 invites for Ars Technica readers.

September 18, 2008 - 07:25AM CT - by David Chartier