The survey, participated by some 716 people online, has dispelled the notion that social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace has an addicting effect even to people who are known as wide readers.

Results showed that out of 716 people, some 536 or some 75 percent said that social networking sites rarely affects their reading habits while 180 people or 25 percent voted it has somewhat or significantly altered their love for books.

Of the 25 percent that said their habits have been changed, majority showed interest in interactive games that can be found on social networking sites. Among the leading online games were Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, FarmVille, and other popular flashgames commonly found on Facebook.

The readers said that the online games help them relax from hectic work schedules while still maintaining constant interaction with their online friends.

Some of the respondents said that they are maximizing the potential of social networking as a way to express themselves.

Meanwhile, majority of those who said that they were not addicted to Facebook and other social networking sites, cited privacy concerns as the major reason why they opt to keep out of such websites.

Also, majority of the non-addicts said that they still prefer to read hard copies rather than digital files.

Meanwhile, analysts said that the trend could change in the coming months as Facebook announced that it is adopting a “location finder” feature to its homepage, which would allow people search a particular “hotspot” in town.

The new mobile feature is particularly designed for people who own Smartphone and other e-reader readers.

And with the increase in the number of people who have iPhones and Android phone, there is no doubt users will be more addicted to the social network’s mobile feature.

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The propaganda campaign includes tweets, shoutouts, and updates on popular social networking websites and even video clips posted on YouTube, authorities said.

Authorities also said that the “top secret” Twitter account has already been blocked by the South Korean government, adding that the propaganda will have no bearing to the worldwide community.

The north, under the leadership of Kim Jong-Ill, has been isolated from the rest of the world for several decades.

The regime, under the username @uriminzok, has been using Twitter microblogging to urge dozens of its followers to rise against the South and the US. The said tweet can also be seen on the country’s official webpage (http://www.uriminzokkiri.com).

Most of the followers of the Twitter account even posted harsh comments against the allied nations, even denying that the North Korean government has ordered the torpedo attack against a South Korean warship in March.

Another posting condemned the US-led war against Iran, and economic sanction against North Korea.

Seoul-based authorities believe that the postings are part of the desperate propaganda campaign being implemented by the North to gain sympathy from the global community.

Tension on the Korean peninsula heightened following investigation results, showing that North Korean intentionally torpedoed the Cheonan, the South Korean warship, which has sank near the border.

However, the North vehemently denied the accusations, even threatening to conduct nuclear attacks if provoked by the US.

Meanwhile, despite desperate hacking and other cyberattacks conducted by the North Korea, the South and the US even held a joint military exercise as a show of force against the socialist regime.

Seoul views the Twitter and social networking postings as a “pitiful” and “desperate” action by the Pyongyang because it now fears to be overtaken by the much stronger military force of the United States.

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In a statement, Yahoo said that its users will have to personally turn the link to avail of the services, which include regular updates on Yahoo shoutouts and other services such as photo-sharing on Flicker.

“The new features were part of the makeover that we have announced last year,” Yahoo said in the statement.

The company hopes to attract more users into their e-mail services and other website features through the Facebook tie-up.

It will be recalled that Yahoo users significantly trimmed down e-mail usage, prompting Yahoo to take action. The Internet giant has over 600 million users but the numbers keep on dropping progressively over the past three years.

“One of the main reasons we see for the fall in Yahoo usage is the proliferation of social networking sites like Facebook, where people can now exchange emails, music, and video clips.

But with the inclusion of these Facebook features in Yahoo websites, we hope to bring them back into using traditional email services,” a Yahoo official who refused to be named said.

“More visitors will stay on Yahoo if they can simultaneously monitor what’s happening on Facebook,” the official added.

Yahoo, the same with other websites, is banking on the number of people using their services to be able to sell online advertisements, which is the main source of revenue of the company.

Aside from the update capabilities, Yahoo said that it will also begin to feature Internet games that can be found on Facebook such as “Farmville,” “Mafia Wars” and “Fishville,” made by Zynga.

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The groups, led by the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), has filed a complaint before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calling for a regulatory intervention to prevent further privacy violations being committed by social networking sites like Facebook and others.

CDD executive director Jeff Chester said that “more is needed” even with the positive changes in Facebook’s approach to its users’ privacy.

“Specifically, we want an opt-in approach on even the most basic personal information in Facebook, as well as the website’s Instant Personalization option,” he said.

Facebook’s Instant Personalization feature allows the automatic displays of any website-related information on its partners like Pandora and Yelp.

On Wednesday, Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg announced the changes in the privacy setting of the website, saying that the privacy option is made simpler for users.

Among the changes in the privacy setting is the one-stop webpage which allows users to choose their settings depending on who they would to view their accounts – they can choose whether everyone, friends of friends, or just friends.

Personal information of the users are also made less publicly available and users can now opt-in or opt-out in any third-party applications in the website.

Also, users can choose to limit the display of the webpages that they clicked or “liked.”

But despite all the changes made in the social networking website, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) called on federal regulators to continue its investigations and file the necessary charges against the Internet giant if there were evidences that people’s privacy was violated.

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The Seesmic App was earlier released for Research in Motion’s Blackberry and other Android-based Smartphones, giving many iPhone users something to envy.

The application works by making social networking simple. It offers users customizable spaces that they can use to link their searches, shoutouts, trends, and topic list to all their social networking accounts under one program.

Users can also link their Facebook and Twitter accounts to Ping.FM, which was acquired by Seesmic in the first quarter of 2010, to be able to update multiple social networking sites.

The iPhone version of the application shows the main splash screens that are made accessible to the users through an icon placed in the upper left corner. Users can also swipe between spaces to navigate the App.

Aside from the said feature, the new Seesmic application allows iPhone users to integrate their files through file-syncing application called Evernote.

Access to Evernote allows users, without Instapaper or Read it Later support, to store messages for later reference to avoid inbox clutter.

However, several technology experts said that the application has several outdated features like pull-to-refresh option. It also failed to include a contact database and updating feature can only give users harder time by connecting to a built-in link.

But the experts said that Seesmic will figure out something to make the application more worthy for many iPhone and iPad users in the near future, saying that the initial launching was just a test run for many developments in the application.

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The study, which was conducted in March, discovered that many social networking addicts even wake up in the middle of the night just to look at the recent developments in their homepage while others don’t sleep anymore just to wait for their friends’ reply.

Another alarming case that the study found was the fact that couples, who were addicted to social network platforms, were no longer enjoying their sex life. Some of them were even checking on messages while having sex with their partners.

Retrevo said that 30 percent of the social networking users woke up during the night to check their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Another 47 percent said that they “sometimes” check their accounts while 53 percent said that they can’t wait to open their homepages as soon as they woke up.

Many of the respondents who are losing sleep were 25-year-olds and most of them were also owners of Smartphones like iPhones.

Experts expressed concerns that the new generation of mobile phones are depriving the youth the much needed sleep. They also said that the mobility of social networking has replaced the traditional TV habits of the average Americans, which they claimed is more dangerous for the people’s health.

Meanwhile, 40 percent of the respondents said that they do not mind if their friends send their messages even if they were working. Seven percent, on the other hand, said that they will look at messages from their social networks while having sex.

Since the integration of social networking sites to mobile phones, many of the users are now having psychological problems that are related to wide exposure to the platform. Many of them cant even socialize personally and just live their lives on the Internet.

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Hitwise director of media relations Matt Tatham said the social networking site has surpassed the popular search engine tool between March 6 and March 13, a trend which may continue for the next several years.

Tatham explained the new trend as a proof that “content sharing is now becoming a huge driving force online” especially when online users are preferring “information from friends they trust” rather than “anonymity of search engines.”

According to the survey, Facebook has accounted for 7.07 percent of all the US web traffic while Google search engine has accounted for 7.03 percent last week.

While the margin is minimal, Tatham believes the result “is a big moment for Facebook” especially when there are countless of social platforms and search engine tools competing for the attention of online consumers.

Aside from toppling Google search engine tool, Facebook has also experienced a significant year-over-year growth that outpaced Google.  According to the survey, Facebook’s traffic growth increased by 185 percent compared to last year while Google’s traffic growth jumped by 9 percent compared in 2009.

However, Google is still dominating the online industry since its properties like Maps and YouTube accounted for 11.03 percent of all the traffic visits in US; this was followed by Yahoo which accounted for 10.98 percent of traffic visits.

In 2007, Google has toppled MySpace.com as the most visited site.  And over the past several years, the social networking site’s traffic has plummeted after Facebook emerged in the market.

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In an order, the Pentagon said that troops in the field, civilian leaders, as well as high-ranking military officials, can now use social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. However, the order also stated that only non-classified computers or PCs that is not connected to sensitive files and top secret system can be used to post blogs, photos, and announcements.

“We need to take advantage of these capabilities that are out there, this Web 2.0 phenomena. The idea is be responsible and use these tools to help get the job done,” said David Wennergren, deputy assistant secretary of defense for information technology.

The Defense Department has issued the order following an extensive seven-month review, which aimed to weigh in the threats and benefits that the Internet, particularly social networking sites, can do to the entire Pentagon network.

The review also aimed to identify the management options that the Pentagon can use on their recruitment, public relations, and information dissemination using social networking sites.

The Pentagon, according to the order, recognized the big help that social media present to the military, especially the troops in the field, incommunicating with their families.

Meanwhile, officials said that they can always cut off access instantly to all computers whenever they needed, adding that it will be done during missions and high-risks situations where the whole bandwidth is needed.

With the new directive, viewable Internet sites will be in uniform with the entire Pentagon system allowing no other unwanted websites being viewed by the military men.

It will be recalled that the agency has blocked the entire Internet connection of their men after discovering that the computers inside the Pentagon was being used to watch pornographic materials and playing online games.

These sites where among the many online websites can slow down the connection because of a large bandwidth requirement.

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The new feature, which is called Google Buzz, includes many of the popular characteristics that can be seen in Facebook. These familiar features are also the reason why Facebook is so dominant in the social networking world.

However, the new Google Buzz will not be readily available to more than 176 million Gmail users. But they can opt to acquire the new service just by clicking the service button on the top left of the page.

Google has launched the new Gmail channel less than a week after Facebook initiated several changes in its homepage interface.

Like the new Facebook homepage, Gmail also has the same chatting window placed on the left side of the page, where users can see who among their friends are online.

Like the one in Facebook, Google Buzz will allow users to post updates about themselves and the activities that they are doing at the moment. Users can also choose which friends can view their thoughts and comments.

Google Buzz will also allow users post video, photo, and web links for their friends.

Also, the new Google Buzz also host the same feature as to those of Twitter, which gives users added communication tool that can send 140-character messages to their friends. But the Buzz is only limited to the people within the same vicinity as those sending the updates.

It will be recalled that Google had already tried its fate in the social networking arena with the launching of Orkut some six years ago. But unlike Facebook and Twitter, the social networking site failed to gain traction from the online audience.

This time, Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google, said that Google Buzz will be a success, citing the new capabilities of the new application.

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Based on the report of Pyramid Research, the telecommunications arm of Light Reading Communications Network; mobile social networking usages in the region will boom significantly this year by over 112 million users and could possibly reach over 450 million by 2014.

In 2009, mobile social networking increased to more than 52 million users.

The 18-page report also tackles the three major potential drivers in the growth of mobile social networking. This includes the quality of user experience in the use Smartphone and 3G networks in Europe, operators’ initiative to increase network access, and online networking companies’ promotion of the platform for mobile use.

Stela Bokun, an analyst at Pyramid Research, said that the technical issues mentioned in the report will play paramount roles in many of the mobile markets in the region.

“3G network penetrations in vital European markets, including the development of advance handsets, will be the key factors the boom of social networking in the region,” Bokun pointed out.
She also said that mobile phone operators and social networking websites will have to strengthen its collaboration and bring new ideas for mobile users to make the growth projection possible.

“Both mobile network providers and social networking sites will have to bring its collaboration to a new level to cope up with the increasing demand in mobile networking usage. With this, they can increase revenue opportunities not only with their respective industries but also other business across the region,” the analyst said.

She added that the move will need a more proactive approach, citing the immediate need for more advance technologies in mobile phones and websites.

“One of the best examples in the usage of mobile phones for social networking is Facebook. In 2008, there are only five million users, which then increased to more than 85 million in December 2009,” Bokun pointed.

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