SocialTimes.com

Obama Banned from Facebook? Posted: 22 Jan 2009 09:42 AM PST There’s always some disparity between the plan of action laid out by a presidential candidate and what can actually be done once they get into the White House. And two days after being sworn in, President Obama is already faced with a few challenges regarding his plan to keep an open and transparent communication plane between his administration and the people. According to PC World, Obama’s team has already been required to use Gmail accounts while waiting for their White House emails to be activated. And Obama’s team may also have more trouble utilizing online social networks than previously anticipated. Facebook is no longer an option for the team, nor is logging into outside email accounts or using instant messenger clients. What’s that mean for some of the other media-sharing services, like MySpace, Flickr and YouTube, Obama’s team has been using to send out information to large amounts of people? We already knew of some possible setbacks regarding government use of online social networking. Some federal regulations demanding internal records being kept for all online activity limit the type of social networking sites and actions that can be used on the Web. More specifically, such federal regulations have a negative affect on Facebook usage though other services like Twitter are pretty much in the clear. But where does that leave the people? PC World goes on to hint that the lack of readiness for Obama’s administration to use their White House email and have all the other necessary tools needed to update online content could be directly correlated to the apparent aversion for updating the newly reformed White House blog. It hasn’t been updated since Tuesday and has yet to live up to the standards set forth by Obama’s own website which is full of content and encourages engaged, two-way communication with the people. Hopefully all of the technological issues can be resolved regarding the use of online social networking. But considering the other factions of the U.S. government that have a say in the matter or are looking for ways to use online services, there are widespread implications to any changes Obama’s administration is able to make internally.

Bebo Chooses Motionbox to Power Video Uploads, Sharing Posted: 22 Jan 2009 07:31 AM PST After shutting down its own video upload service and recommending Motionbox as an alternative, AOL has managed to find a way to actually partner with the company it suggested for video uploading and sharing. Motionbox has a new partnership with AOL’s recently acquired social network Bebo, to provide video storage, publishing and sharing services to its users. If you’re a Bebo user, you may have noticed the transition messages via email and on Bebo’s website for the past month or so. Those that choose to use the new Motionbox-powered video services will be able to access basic membership features, enabling them to use online editing tools, secure storage and sharing options. Similar to other partnerships between social networks and third party media editing/sharing services, a subscription option is also available for Bebo users taking advantage of Motionbox’s tools. Offered at a discounted price, the Motionbox subscription includes HD video formats, unlimited storage, and download of user’s personal video capabilities. Seeing as Motionbox was already a highly recommended service by AOL, it’s not surprising that the two companies ended up working together for powering Bebo’s video uploads. Unlike large video networks like YouTube, Motionbox provides options for closed video sharing along with several other privacy settings that give users more control over the video-sharing process. Such attention to privacy may have made Motionbox even more attractive to Bebo for use within its own social network. And having raised an additional $6 million in funding earlier this year, Motionbox will be able to expand on its feature offerings, including the advanced sharing options Motionbox is known for. Of course the other huge benefit for Motionbox’s partnership with Bebo is the access to the social network’s tens of millions of users. While no monetary details of the partnership have been revealed, this should give a significant boost to Motionbox as a result of its own premium features and the discounted prices offered to Bebo users.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Social Times To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Inbox too full? Subscribe to the feed version of The Social Times in a feed reader.
If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: The Social Times, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610