Wow, Comcast buys Plaxo

Just recieved and email from Plaxo. Apparently they've been acquired by Comcast. Check out the press release here.

BrightKite: New location based Social Networking site

This morning I was checking my iGoogle and came across the following blog post that reviews a new social networking application called BrightKite. What separates Brightkite from many other social networking apps is that every activity and or event is based around your location which is really cool idea. After watching a video review it also seems to integrate with Google Maps so events and activities are visually plotted out using Google’s Maps API. Sites with this kind of intelligence are definitely the future. And fit into the roadmap of what the semantic web is all about; an internet that offers targeted content centered around what the user wants versus the one size fits all mentality. I've signed up to try the app and look forward to sharing some insights.

Recent validation of Linkedin - networking 2.0

I recently had a situation in my day job where more work than we could handle. I needed a qualified group of five internet developers with varied skill sets such as: XHTML/CSS, Flash, .NET, PHP and we needed them quickly.

Formally we would try two things:

• Mine existing freelance resources
• Go to a local staffing firm that specializes in interactive to find the desired candidate(s)

We tried option one, and everyone we knew was committed. Option two takes time and we were under the gun with tight deadlines.

So what do you where you in a bind and need to recruit in a vacuum? Networking 2.0 utilizing your social networks!

Within a few hours of identifying the need I hit my LinkedIn network. By the end of the day I had answers and people lined up to do the work. It was instant validation to me of the power of social networking tools like LinkedIn, and putting my network that i'd built overtime to work for me.

The power of community and social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Myspace

Lately it seems the shift to community driven websites and social is becoming bigger and bigger, everyone is jumping on the Web 2.0 band wagaon. Whether you look at the success stories of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook or any of the other bigger user generated content (UGC) sites it seems "community is king". I've got to admit I was a late adopter of MySpace and Facebook, but I have been a member on the UK equivalent of Classmates.com known as Friends Reunited since 2001. As someone who's lived in 3 countries: Australia, England and the U.S. Through these sites i've noticed first hand the power of social networks and community first hand as I began to reconnect with classmates and old friends who lived all over the world. My 10 year high school re-union was organized through it… I can’t even imagine the effort involved in doing this prior to the internet!

Now in my professional life one site that has had a profound effect on me is LinkedIn. Again I embarrassed to say I a late adopter, a sales rep from a software company invited me after a pitch and I was on the way to becoming LinkedIn.

In my opinion LinkedIn has become the most important and useful professional community and social networking site I use today. Gone are the days of word resumes, my rolodex full of business cards and costly searches for new hires and vendors. LinkedIn has provided a great platform for helping prospective, existing and former clients keep in touch (networking). Not to mention a great tool for recruitment. Having your LinkedIn profile linked on my blog has also helped in the seeding giving me an SEO lift.

I've been involved in participating in question and answers sessions centered on the internet and web technology. I've also been approached by software vendors, headhunters and job seekers who instantly qualified me as they know who I am and what I do, some of this can be good or bad depending how you look at it.

So if you are looking for a way to build your professional network and get connected with a community that opens up networking and career opportunities today I suggest you to get LinkedIn.