You can also watch the video in HD by clicking through to the Spiked Studio channel on YouTube.

Using search functions powered by Bing’s API, So.cl encourages students to search for topics and then create montages of the visually rich web content. The links are automatically shared as you search, in case there are other students looking for the same thing. You can also have “video parties,” which “let you search, and quickly assemble a list of movies to view together with friends.” (Those friends are other online So.cl users.)

There is an opt-out ability at the very end but quite sneaky.  Mainly when they chose not to use their own Windows Live service as an authentication mechanism. Take a peek in the video above.

Here is what you missed the last two episodes by not subscribing to the podcast.

Episode 41 – On the Path

• Why did Facebook buy Gowalla?
• What we think of Path and the update to 2.0
• Whim launches in beta
• I ask the question “Are we too early as early adopters?” and get surprising answers

Episode 40  - Cover Your Face

• New facial recognition apps, privacy and usability
• Personal.com launches and wants you to share more personal information than ever before
• Google Plus discussions
• Pepperspray memes and viral videos

Use TheSocialGeeks as your personal filter for the top social news and opinions.  Why not look smarter tomorrow by listening anytime you get a chance.

You can stream live, subscribe on iTunes and even find us on numerous other devices.

I found a few UI issues along the way, but nothing to call a show stopper. Plus this is still a beta product with room to grow and take over what was a space for Gist before they were bought by Research In Motion (BlackBerry).  The service includes seeing:

• inline updates
• it’s own menu on the left navigation
• reminders
• a global address book feature
• new contact alerts

I am eager to see how they evolve and add new social services into the product.  Their feature request list in the FAQ listed Skype and even Google Voice on the wishlist.  So give them a shot and see what you think.  Did I mention it is free?

Related posts

• Gist for BlackBerry review
• Rim buys Gist and deletes all my data?
• Rim buys Gist – thoughts

Beluga is using Facebook authentication to log in, so you are forced to get a Facebook account, if you happen to have neither by some random chance.  This makes logical sense as having group chats with those you are already connected to is something of value.

Photos, location, chats and more are shared instantly with the group.  Adding users is simple and if they do not have the Beluga application installed, they are sent an SMS that allows them to interact with the chat portion.

I was easily able to edit my mobile profile and add my photo, a group photo for the pod and see everyone’s location.  I was unable to set my location in the application or see where anyone would, which could be discouraging to new users.

Notifications are on by default, as shown in another image above.  It can be overwhelming quickly once you join or start numerous pods.  So be sure to visit the preferences panel to adjust how you want notifications to appear.

The interface is the same calming blue as Facebook, so bringing these together will be quite simple in the long run.  I would like to see the ability to search for existing Beluga users directly from my local phone directory on the mobile device.  Later, grabbing contacts from other social networks would ease making pods to those you do not have listed on Facebook for personal reasons.

Beluga is using data, so it is really not a text based (SMS) service for those using the native app.  Some friends stand the chance of having large SMS fees if they choose to go that path, so beware when inviting someone to a busy pod.  Also watch your data plans, just as I would suggest for anyone not on any phone plan that does not have unlimited text or data.

Overall, this leads the pack with me for group messaging dealing with SMS.  Yobongo leads for on the fly chat rooms with strangers and there are even more apps trying to make their mark.  Watch closely as SXSW hits in a couple days.

You can also watch this in HD and all the network videos on the Spiked Studio Productions channel on YouTube

Upon first looks, it was a simple browser interface. No download outside of verifying you have a current version of Flash.  Authentication was performed via Facebook, with some strange access to your personal information.  I highlighted those concerns in the video.

I found the groups a bit strange to work with and soon started hearing strange sounds after recording.  It took a minute, but I found little Facebook like pop-ups in the bottom browser corner on that page of people randomly chatting away.  I found no way to see the profile of the person or block them.

via PaidContent.org

You can see a sample of the multi0video interface here, along with the Facebook friends down the left side of the image.  You can have individual video chats, or what they call “scrums” for group video chats.  I can see this feature taking off for teenagers right away that live in Skype and Oovoo right now.

My thought is Facebook always sits back and let’s other develop this type of functionality and generate the buzz needed to elevate it to the next level.  They then look into the architecture needed and will bring some form of video capability into the product.  With the recent changes to messaging that were made (see Episode 14), to make it seamless, video is direction to keep Skype away.

I plan on testing more with some Facebook friends that answered the call to also get into the site and test it out.  Feel free to join my Facebook network.

Once I make some more runs through, I will make an updated posting on ease of function, clarity of video streams and stability of the multi-way video.

I also have some questions around monetization if they are offering this as a free service with the millions (over $5M) of funding they have received to launch the product.  I imagine with the access to personal information, your friends and profile, they could build some decent advertising into the UI that would be unobtrusive.

Cisco^® SocialMiner is a social media customer care solution that enables your company to proactively respond to customers and prospects communicating through public social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook or other public forum or blogging sites. By providing social media monitoring, queuing, and workflow to organize customer posts on social media networks and deliver them to your customer care team, your company can respond to customers in real time through the same social network they are using to communicate

It is a good play when larger companies invest heavily one a select number of vendors.  Offering a wider array of services, like Cisco is doing here, gives them leverage into installing and hooking into existing enterprise deployments at a rapid rate.  If you already run the call center servers, phone systems, VOIP and even network hardware from Cisco, then extending it with hooks into the social networks makes more sense then staff installing and managing an entirely new set that may not integrate at all.

IBM has done the same with their Customer Experience push and the upcoming Project Northstar (see my Part 1 and Part 2 launch coverage).  Aggregation, metering and deriving value from communication is a key driver in this world of scream out your concerns for many to read.  BOth require you to purchase more of their hardware and services, but that would be exptected.

Cisco is launching light with support for RSS and only Twitter and Facebook.  Mining into the social datra goes much further.  I trhink the investment in any of these enterprise solutions needs to be weighed heavily against the costs and capabilities of the free or smaller company deceloped products until more meaningful interactions can be derived.

Companies have invested huge sums of money building campaigns and tracking on their websites.  While evolution in marketing is a key factor to success, what happened to getting people to your webpage and then sending them to Facebook?

Facebook may be a focal point, but what if something else comes along?  Do we revert back to the root of where all your information is stored?  Is your brand name that unimportant to make it the entry point in your marketing needs?  I provide a link to my Facebook network page, but I point everyone to my homepages that aggregate all my data.  I own and created my brand.

Companies are falling into the Geocities mindset where a custom URL that identified a brand gets swallowed up by another domain that already wants to be your personal directory.  Will Facebook be a corporate directory as well?

Note: I only picked Kleenex as an example after seeing a different commercial and couldn’t remember the product.  I wonder why?

In this short screencast I walk you through the coming setup for Facebook Messages and what privacy concerns you should have.  Pay special attention to the links below for the direct links to the help files on the new Facebook Messages you will all soon have rolled out.

• Overall Q&A on Facebook Messages
• Privacy controls for Facebook Messages

Everyone should make sure you have selected a custom name on Facebook.  If not, this setup will force you to do so.  The sooner you grab one, the better your chance at getting the name you want.  You can see my personal URL in the screencast or better yet, join my Facebook Network.

Remember, you can find me as IdoNotes across all the networks

• 39% block access to Facebook
• 30% block access to Twitter
• 27% block video sharing sites
  

  Image courtesy: Geek.com

Amazingly 21% give employees the right to view such sites before work and during their lunch hour.  Let’s be honest.  With the amount of third party tools, websitesand options for Twitter (see EverythingTwitter), you aren’t stopping employees.  Blocking access via a string on the URL or even traffic isn’t the solution.  Implementing the proper policies and controls around usage and expectations goes much further.

Most companies have an Internet usage policy, but rarely list individual sites, tools or social networks.  With the mass amounts of mobile devices in play, bothy personal and business, the tools and hooks to the sites are built in.  Native clients from Twitter for Android, Blackberry and iPhone permeate all the devices.  Facebook interfacing blurs the lines between business and personal contacts.  Heck, many have coworkers and bosses as friends on Facebook.  They are whom you spend much of your time with in the first place.

The study goes on with the concerns over data leakage, malware infections and more.  This is inherent to email and every other tool you have.  So is the site the issue and problem or is it the way the sites are used?  Have you implemented a social network usage policy?  Are there strict guidelines and governance in place?  Do employees sign off and get training on how they will represent themselves and/or company on these networks?

My guess is the companies in the survey missed the point but creates the fear.

I worked through the pages quickly, even folding corners on pages I really found value in.  I was shocked to see the number of them I flagged when I had completed the book.  It made me realize this book of less than 200 pages answered many questions I personally had about how best to market across Facebook.

The author starts the book with a quick 5 page summary on social network growth and then a required 25 pages for anyone new to Facebook.  I know it seems strange, but there is those that have never been in Facebook yet.  So this snapshot is always important.  The author even suggests you skip that chapter is you know it already.

Chapter 3 begins the knowledge transfer of building a corporate presence and deciding between pages and groups.  Throughout the book he does a great job of explaining why one would be better in certain circumstances over the other.  Promotion of the page is key in any company advertising and he makes a quick case for ways to build a following through grass roots.

Interestingly, he also jumped into Facebook Connect in Chapter 4, which you do not see many corporate sites using.  I know his main focus was on the sharing aspect but he also addressed single sign on.  Chapter 5 focused on advertising and the best ways to invest to build your presence in Facebook.  The strategy talk continued in Chapter 8-10.

He crammed Chapter 7 on Privacy in the middle.  I personally would have liked at the end for flow of the marketing piece.  In saying that, privacy and account management is key when promoting company information.  He explains the need for individual account, with more than one person having the ability to administrate the group or page for the company marketing.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking into Facebook marketing.  Whether you are an individual through giant corporation.

Disclosure: Que publishing sent me this book for review with no guarantee of what I would write.  Facebook Marketing (Second Edition) by Justin Levy definitely goes into my Amazon Store of recommendations for the book category.  Yes, all the book links are Amazon affiliate.