MICROSOFT WATCH — May 3 — Microsoft has moved 10 of its social-computing experts from Microsoft Research onto its Windows user interface team. Social-networking technologies, including blogs, Wikis, and RSS, are likely to play a key part in the Longhorn "Aero" interface. Cheng is known as the main mover and shaker behind "Wallop," Microsoft's Friendster-like social-networking prototype that combines blogging, Wiki and RSS technologies. Cheng and her team also have worked on Stacks for organizing photos; Personal Map for organizing contacts, and MS Connect and Point-to-Point, which show connections between people, individuals and groups.
The full article was originally published at Microsoft Watch, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: In 1999/2000 I was working on a site called eturn.com; an early version of plaxo/social network. MSN killed jump.com in 2000 after acquiring it in 1999. They melded new features into MSN including, "the ability to invite others to group events," and, "your space on the web to create, publish, and share pictures, files, calendars and information with friends and family." MSN wanted to further their, "vision of The Everyday Web and are dedicated to offering solutions to help simplify your life and you keep in contact with friends and family." Social networking is not a new concept. Friendster got the design, name and viral seeding right. MySpace added a little meat to the bone with their affinity for music, and they recognised users wanted more freedom to express themselves.