AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

The Wall Street Journal
Social, Video Sites Duck Some Old-Style Pitches And Go for Interactivity
As concerns mount that the slowing economy may hurt the online-ad market, Silicon Valley Web start-ups are developing new approaches. Companies such as online-software venture Slide and video and social-networking site Bebo are trying to run ads that appeal to a younger [...]

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Everywhere and nowhere - The Economist.com
Social networking will become a ubiquitous feature of online life. That does not mean it is a business
A LARGE but long-in-the-tooth technology company hoping to become a bigger force in online advertising buys a small start-up in a sector that everybody agrees is the next big thing. A decade ago, [...]

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AOL to Buy Bebo for $850 Million - Advertising Age
Social-Networking Site Could Help Once-Dominant Portal Regain Status
Amid a slew of executive departures, AOL put out some good news this morning: It is acquiring social network Bebo for $850 million.
The move is the latest in a string of midsize acquisitions for the Time Warner-owned portal over [...]

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Video’s New Friends - The Wall Street Journal
Social-Networking Sites Ramp Up Original Online Series To Lure Users, Advertisers and Compete With YouTube
College student Zoey Colson joined social-networking Web site Bebo.com last summer for one reason — to watch Bebo’s hit video series “KateModern,” a mystery show about an art student.
To promote the show, whose first [...]

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LinkedIn Opens To Developers; So Does Friendster & Bebo - paidContent.org
Two “old school” social networks have opened up, and Bebo is announcing later today:
– LinkedIn: Borrowing a cue from Facebook and others, business social net LinkedIn will let developers build app for its site, and added an activity feeds for its users connections. It [...]

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Amateur Hour Is Over - BusinessWeek
Forget user-generated videos. Advertisers want to see some slick glitz and tinsel
Note to aspiring Net cineastes hoping to ride those rough cuts to Hollywood fame: It’s suddenly getting a lot tougher out there.
Online video sites that have showcased such fare as skateboarding dogs and personal rants are scaling back [...]

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