April 6th, 2007
Google Maps goes social; Copyright infringement on YouTube exaggerated?; Washingtonpost.com to embrace UGC; Facebook Diaries goes live
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The social web weekly: a quick-fire roundup of some of the news, announcements and conversations that have occurred throughout the week…
- Google Maps goes social. Google Maps has launched a new feature called 'MyMaps' which the company says "makes it quick and easy to create your own custom Google Maps just by pointing and clicking." You can also add place marks, draw lines and shapes, and embed text, photos and videos — all within a drag 'n' drop interface. Maps can then be shared and have the option of being included in Google Maps' search results. Whilst it's great to see Google adding social features, MyMaps competes directly with Platial and Frappr — two services which are built on top of Google Maps' API. (Mathew Ingram provides a great summary of the blogosphere's reaction to Google's announcement).
- Copyright infringement on YouTube exaggerated? According to a recent study by Vidmeter (full report here), less than 10% of videos uploaded to YouTube infringed copyright — or more specifically, less than 10% were subject to DMCA take-down notices. The argument that this proves that copyright infringement on the Google-owned video sharing site is exaggerated, is a rather contentious one. What this more likely proves is that copyright holders issuing take-down notices can't keep up with the pace of copyright infringing uploads permitted under 'safe harbor'.
- Washingtonpost.com to embrace User-Generated Content. The online version of the Washington Post will roll out social features later this year. In a move similar to the recently re-launched USA Today, readers will be able able to set up their own blogs and upload audio and video. This is more evidence of how newspapers are experimenting with ways of making their website more 'sticky' — through adding social features ala MySpace/YouTube — in an attempt to make up for the decline in revenue generated from their dead-tree version.
- Facebook Diaries goes live. The user-generated television series launched by Facebook and cable network Comcast has now gone live.
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
