Socialstream is based on a unified social networking concept in that it interfaces with a wide array of social media accounts to make networking simpler and more interactive. The Quicktime Demo of Socialstream’s functionality revealed some incredibly useful tools that simplify networking a large number of people. The Socialstream features page does show highlights of the program but actually seeing the product at work in the demo was far more revealing.

These are the most intriguing features of Socialstream:

1. Timelines: in a single, very clear report, the timeline provides the Socialstream user with an overview of the new content added by all of their contacts. This snapshot of networking activity is a crucial concept for the proper administration of multiple networking accounts. What I found most interesting was how the titles for each piece of content in the timeline drove the user’s activity.
2. Multimedia Sharing: in the demo the user sees that a friend posted a new image from a trip he went on. The user then decided that she wanted to share her own image. All she had to do was open a dialog, browse for the picture she wanted to share and post it with a note to her friend. The picture was then posted directly to Flickr seamlessly in a manner that was very Apple-esque in its simplicity.

Expect to see this kind of functionality on other unified social networking (USN) platforms rolling out within the year. For example I predict a rumored program at Yahoo called Mosh (that is currently password access only) is going to be a USN as well; after all, the word Mosh definitely works well with the concept.

For now the only one I am aware of that is available is Fidgt.com which is more like a unified address book; created from multiple accounts. If you know of another active USN please let me know.

Comments

Tag:

Ionut Alex Chitu of the Google Operating System blog reports that Google is developing "Orkut 2.0," or as the Carnegie Mellon graduate team they’ve enlisted calls it: Socialstream.

Socialstream looks intended to be a one-stop social networking shop, allowing users to bring together data from several networks in one place to view it. They call it a unified social network, aimed at users over 20.

From the project website:

Prototype Goal: Create a system for users to seamlessly share, view, and respond to many types of social content across multiple networks.

[W]e chose to focus on the effects of a new model for online social networking: a unified social network that, as a service, provides social data to many other applications. Our user research examined needs related to online as well as offline social networking and considered how they related to a unified social network service model. Through this user research we identified a set of archetypes that represent common behavior patterns that existed across multiple study participants and also formulated a summarized list of their high level needs.

Chitu points out that such a network would require the opening or the participation of competing social networks. "This also assumes that other social networks have an API and don’t act like walled gardens, which is not the case right now."

Meanwhile, over in Sunnyvale, Yahoo is looking for "damn funny" interns to work on its new social network product. They’d rather you didn’t know that though, and have most likely disowned, or at least disavowed, Michael Arrington’s email evidence.

Arrington notes the existence of mosh.yahoo.com, accessible internally from the Yahoo camp before posting the text of an email sent to a prospective (anonymous) intern. The intern would aid in development and promotion of the network, and have active accounts on MySpace and Facebook.

Mosh is possibly a replacement for Yahoo 360, or perhaps a place to share pictures from the pit, or, if they’re bad at Japanese transliteration, a hangout for expatriate chatters and their girlfriends – moshi, mosh!