There is a large amount of excitement in the blogosphere about Facebook’s opportunity to become the new Google. John Batelle corals the argument in this post, for instance, and then Small Business Hub goes on to argue that Facebook is in the same position that Google was before it stumbled upon the AdWords business model – an audience waiting to be monetised. He thinks it is a good thing: ZDNet begs to differ. Donna Bogatin argues that Facebook presents many more privacy worries than Google.

However, there are counter arguments which suggest that Facebook’s “walled-garden” approach will limit its growth. Jeff Jarvis argues back: there are big differences between AOL’s attempts to wall us in and Facebook’s attempts to wall others out, he says. Time will tell.

Technorati Tags: privacy, social media

Jeff Jarvis chronicles content start up MyFootballWriter.com‘s move to a low-cost subscription method. From August the site will offer a subscription service for just £1.50 – text the site and you’ll receive a premium SMS with a unique code which will provide access. Could be a really simple way to build a subscription revenue base – provided the audience segment is large enough…

Technorati Tags: commerce, media, business models

Marc Andreessen, of Netscape fame, explains on his blog all about his latest venture, Ning, a social network platform.  He says he and his co-founder Gina Bianchini created Ning to let thousands of social networks bloom.

Four words Steve Rubel says many journalists have trouble saying, he believes. Not so Jim Hopkins of USA Today. Steve recounts how he responded to a link asking him to fill out a survey seeking his iPhone buying intentions. From then on the enterprising journalist enlisted readers to help develop his story with first hand accounts and pictures. He gets full marks from Mr Rubel.

Among the acres of newsprint, virtual and physical, devoted to Apple’s iPhone, this homage stands out:

This device, portrayed as a harmless product of science, is obviously designed to introduce our children to witchcraft and sorcery.

Read on….

The Crisis in Darfur project uses Google Earth to organise information about the humanitarian crisis in one of Africa’s blighted spots in a very effective way. Makes you wonder what other, perhaps less emotionally challenging, data sets might not find a better way of expressing themselves in the Google Earth metaverse. Wired has the story.

And seperately, Wired writes about the impact Google Maps has had: “Google maps is changing the way we see the world“, no less.

Is the new, open, content-friendly Yahoo! going to end up as the publisher’s best friend. This video of Yahoo! Network boss Jeff Weiner hints at some changes to come, as Yahoo! tries to differentiate itself in the post-Semel world.

Technorati Tags: GYM, media, search

Just downloaded the Blogger widget for Mac and this post is proof (or otherwise!) that it works.

20 tips for searching more efficiently with Google, including how to use Google as a calculator, and how to search for types of information – music, videos etc.

Technorati Tags: GYM, tips, search

Google has provided the ability to add user reviews and rating to any business listed on Google Maps.

Technorati Tags: GYM, mashups, maps