Continuing our video date series, what better service to pair up with than online-dating service DuoDater. Online-dating is nothing new but there has always been a certain stigma attributed to...

Read More: DuoDater makes online-dating a group effort

"We believe that viral video is a myth," Jun Group CEO and Founder Mitchell Reichgut told me in a Skype call yesterday afternoon.  What does he mean by "myth"?  Basically, he means that the idea that a video can get millions of views on its own, without a very well funded and constructed strategy or a push from mainstream media, is bogus.


Read More: Jun Group CEO: “Viral Video Is A Myth”

Doodle doesn't have the most glamorous or sexy of products, and it rarely gets much press coverage, but the Swiss startup is clearly doing something right as it's announced this...

Read More: It’s not sexy but it sure is popular: Group scheduling tool Doodle hits 10m monthly users

Flickr's new Photo Session service lets up to 10 people view a slide set at the same time over the Internet. A Photo Session remains active for 24 hours. When viewed in a group, anyone can navigate through the photos. Only the Photo Session creator needs a Flickr account. However, a Flickr account is needed in order to chat or draw during a Photo Session.


Read More: Flickr Photo Session: View Slideshows as a Net Group – iPhone & iPad Supported

One of the "big things" for major non-carrier players to do this year, it seems, is to have a group messaging product in their consumer tools checkbox. Google started things going with the Google+ Huddle group messaging feature (renamed to Messenger this week). Facebook launched Facebook Messenger soon after. And, now, Skype announced its GroupMe group messaging service.


Read More: Skype Added its Own Group Messaging Service: GroupMe

Facebook's role in Egypt's current state of affairs has once again begun to make headlines, but for a very different reason. While Facebook has often been linked to the Egyptian uprising which brought down the government of former president, Hosny Mubarak, the social network has now become a small but significant part of his ongoing trial.The former president is facing charges of complicity in the deaths of protesters following the uprising that began on January 25, calling for him to step down. [...]

Read More: Facebook group publishes leaked testimony from former Egyptian president Mubarak's trial

In the age of digital, there's no shortage of ways to communicate en masse. You can send group emails/text messages, post messages on social networks, publish an impromptu blog post, hold VoIP conference calls, and even host a group Twitter chat.The latter of these may not be the most conventional ways of grouping people for a multi-way conversation, but it can actually be a very effective way of getting many people from different disciplines and walks of life involved in the same dialogue. Firs [...]

Read More: 8 tips for running an effective group Twitter chat or debate

In a report released last week by Altimeter Group, they studied more than fifty social media case studies gone wrong and discovered some surprising insights, among which was 76% of the crises could have been avoided by having proper training, staff, and a response process in place. Some of the examples used to measure in this Altimeter Group study are enterprise level, who often have resources at their disposal that SMB's or entrepreneurs do not. So what someone not on the enterprise level [...]

Read More: Altimeter Group Shares Brand Preparedness of Social Media Crisis

Just today, the Altimeter Group released a study titled “Social Business Readiness: How Advanced Companies Prepare Internally” that gives deep insight as to how advanced companies are preparing themselves internally to transform into a social business. While some organizations are being forced and literally “thrown into the fire”, the smart ones are being proactive and building out requirements that will help social business transformation. Baseline Governance: Established and reinforced a corpo [...]

Read More: [REPORT] Altimeter Group Reveals Social Business Readiness

Group text and picture messaging looks to become a crowded category as 2011 rolls along. Apple started the ball rolling with the announcement (but not the release) of iMessage earlier this summer as part of its iOS 5 announcement. Google provided Huddle as a the group messaging component of Google+ apps for iOS and Android. Facebook Messenger for iOS and Android soon followed.Next up? Samsung announced their own worldwide messaging service that they claim works across all major smartphone and fe [...]

Read More: Samsung ChatOn Joining Increasingly Crowded Group Messaging Category

Soon Twitter and Facebook became popular services that looked and worked much like them emerged to meet the demand for closed private social messaging. Status.net (formerly Laconica), for example, is a Twitter clone while Yammer provides a Facebook-like experience in a private setting. Glassdoor appears to provide a closed audience take on Google+ Circles. The difference is that while Google+'s Circles is one-way (only the Circle creator knows who is in a Circle), members of a Glassdoor "Boards" [...]

Read More: Glassboard for Android & iPhone: Private Group Sharing

Have you considered starting your own LinkedIn Group? These groups are excellent for networking, prospecting and establishing thought leadership. You can start your own LinkedIn Group based on any of the following categories of professionals: prospects, peers, alumni, geographical, existing organizations, interest and more. You are limited only by your creativity! In my experience, professional [...]

Read More: How to Build a Thriving LinkedIn Group

Google's latest attempt to crack the social network market launched on June 28. And, Google+ has been a source of constant coverage and change since then. Its Android app was updated again this week and includes 11 enhancements and new features.


Read More: Google+ for Android 1.0.5 Enhancements Includes Some for Huddle (group messaging)

Soon Facebook will be expanding its Chat product with video calling functionality, powered by Skype. It won't support group video calling, though, at least not at first, and we haven't heard anything about support on mobile phones so far.

Next week, Tinychat will submit a group video chat application that will work on both iOS devices and desktop browsers, and supports video chat sessions of up to 12 people at the same time.

Read More: Coming Soon: Tinychat’s 12-Way Group Video Chat App For Facebook

One of Google+'s main components is Huddle. Huddle is a group messaging component that can essentially replace text messages for Google+ users. People who do not use Google+ can still be part of the message group via traditional text messages.Google apparently thinks this feature is so important that they automatically install an app shortcut icon in the Android programs list. It is simply labeled "Huddle" and uses the g+ icon.The second screenshot here shows the Google+ Androi [...]

Read More: Google+ Huddle (group messaging) Has its Own Android App Icon

Soon Facebook will be expanding its Chat product with video calling functionality, powered by Skype. It won't support group video calling, though, at least not at first, and we haven't heard anything about support on mobile phones so far.

Next week, Tinychat will submit a group video chat application that will work on both iOS devices and desktop browsers, and support video chat sessions of up to 12 people at the same time.

Read More: Coming Soon: Tinychat’s 12-Way Group Video Chat App For Facebook

Citizen journalism is back on the bus for the 2012 presidential election with AOL Huffington Post Media Group’s relaunch of OffTheBus.

Read More: AOL Huffington Post Media Group Relaunches OffTheBus for 2012 Election Season