According to Business Week the reason why Google is raising $2 Billion, may be to buy Facebook. I guess that would be the final nail in the coffin for Orkut. Could be interesting to see what Google would do with another social networking site. The first attempt didn’t seem to be very successful. Perhaps they have different plans for this one? Personally I think $2 Billion is a bit to much for the site.
There’s yet another social network (like friendster, orkut, the facebook). Yub is backed by Buy.com, Target, and Apple iTunes which gives you “points” for what you buy, or persuade others to buy. You can write reviews, and if someone buys through your review, you get 1% of the product’s price in points. Which are redeemable for cash (shockingly). It’s designed as a social network, but for purchasing products.
I gave it a spin today, and found it rather good. It’s got a nice design, very usable, and it’s actually pretty informative. I can definitely see myself using it as a frontend for purchasing products.
It’s themed like a mall, and even feature’s a map. There are “raves” (topics of interest), including Firefox!
I’d recommend giving it a look. You can find my profile here. If you join, add me as your friend (if you want to be my friend that is).
Social Networks are part of life on the net now. They provide a new way of interacting unlike more archaic forums and chartrooms. This just adds the dynamic of seeing what products other people like/dislike.
I’m curious how Amazon will respond.
Hopefully they will add an web service so I can make (or find) a WordPress plugin to keep my latest reviews on this blog and a generic signup link.