Social networking site Twitter announced Thursday morning that it will launch its own URL-shortening service, and start tracking how individual users use the web.

Millions of Twitter users woke up on Thursday morning to a personalized email from the micro-blogging website.

While also making changes to the way users' passwords are handled, Twitter also announced the formation of a new URL shortening service that they've dubbed t.co. Set to compete directly with other URL-shortening services like tiny.url and bit.ly, t.co will allow twitter users to compress extremely long web links into shorter, easily sent packages.

It's also going to be more secure.

Twitter also said that it will start tracking which sites users access through the t.co clicks, and use the data to "provide better and more relevant content to you over time."

The move is likely another attempt by the social networking site to boost its revenue stream, as the company is often criticized for not having a solid business model.

Facebook introduced yet another exciting feature of you connecting your AIM & Facebook account so that you can stay tuned in to whats  going on in your  friendly circle.

The feature allows you to:-

-    Get all your Facebook friends’ updates
-    Chat with them through your AIM all the time.
-    Comment, like and update your facebok status instantly.
-    Get  your social network updates with lifestream tab in Aim.

Download the New AIM software ...DOWNLOAD AIM

Like they said “Don’t be the last person to connect  Facebook & AIM!”

Hot Potato a social site announced the deal on its blog Friday, 20th/08/2010 "Today, we’re thrilled to announce that some of the features and thinking behind Hot Potato are going to be exposed to a much larger audience: We’ve been acquired by Facebook."

Facebook's main aim of acquiring Hot Potato help further its move into location-based services that they have just been introduced.

Hot Potato aims to let people share what they're doing with friends and connect with other people doing the same thing. People visit the page and choose the beginning of a sentence like "I'm attending..." or "I'm listening to..." and then fill in the rest of the sentence. They then join a group of people who have posted similar ideas. The group can share photos and videos and ask each other questions.

Users can also create whole new categories by writing an entire sentence following "I'm."

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 75 million members globally made its FIRST acquisation yesterday.Linkedln acquired mSpoke, a startup focused on making media more relevant through their recommendation technology with offerings for content publishers, research analysts and individuals.

LinkedIn said it acquired startup mSpoke, whose technology makes it easy for consumers to find relevant content, for an undisclosed amount. The technology should help LinkedIn get a handle on the rich stream of content being created by its members.
According to the chief executive officer of LinkedIn Jeff Weiner said “We’re actively investing in solutions that help deliver valuable professional insights to LinkedIn members. The addition of mSpoke’s talented team of technologists make it an even more compelling opportunity for LinkedIn.”

About mspoke:

mSpoke is based in Pittsburgh and was founded by chief executive officer Sean Ammirati, chairman of the board Dave Mawhinney and chief technology officer Dean Thompson. The company was also co-founded by seed investor and board member Ed Engler. The mSpoke team has deep ties with Carnegie Mellon University, a recognized world leader in advanced computer science technologies.

“As we spent time with the LinkedIn team, we were struck by how similar our visions are,” said Dean Thompson, one of mSpoke’s three co-founders. “Both LinkedIn and mSpoke are passionate about generating relevancy from the rich stream of content being created by our members. We’re looking forward to joining the team and helping provide useful recommendations that help professionals tackle problems quickly and more efficiently.”

As world cup is going on in South Africa with the famous vuvuzelas blowing all over the world, popular video-sharing website YouTube has now added a button that plays the high-decibel buzzing sound of a vuvuzela along with video clips featuring US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The button appears in the shape of a football on the bottom right hand corner. It allows fans of the "controversial" African plastic trumpet to overlay its sound on clips of political events as well as music videos, often to hilarious effect, the Telegraph reported.
Among many clips which feature the new button is one of David Cameron's speech on being elected as the British prime minister, a fist fight in the Nigerian parliament following the suspension of 11 legislators and US President Barack Obama's duel with a fly during a broadcast interview with MSNBC.

However, technology bloggers have given negative reactions to the website's move, which, they say, virtually drowns out the clips' original soundtracks.

"YouTube always has had a way with pranks," Jason Kincaid wrote in Tech Crunch. "Clicking it will activate an endless, incredibly annoying sound that sounds vaguely like a swarm of insects."

"As if we haven't been hearing the buzzing sound of vuvuzelas enough in the last couple of days," Stan Schroeder wrote on social media blog Mashable.