Facebook Wants You To Post to Twitter

This week Facebook will reportedly be rolling out the ability to send status updates to Twitter directly from the publisher box. There are apps that cater to the cross-posting of updates between the two social networks, but this would mark the first time Facebook itself actually encouraged it.

The move is an interesting one, considering that Facebook has spent much of its time making itself more Twitter-like. Nick O'Neill at AllFacebook has a good piece chronicling the company's "Twitterfication" over the past year, which includes events like opening the Status API, letting users subscribe to their friends and Pages and receive status updates via text message, releasing @replies-style tagging, and encouraging users to make status updates public. O'Neill says the only step left is to open a search API. Of course Facebook has also just released its own URL shortener.

Facebook employees are already testing the Facebook-to-Twitter functionality:

The feature will utilize the new Facebook URL Shortener, which could actually lead to more widespread awareness of it. Once Twitter is flooded with Facebook links, people may start gravitating to that to shorten their own URLs, although the service at FB.me is not live for everyone to use yet.

Either way, things are really starting to heat up in the URL-shortener space. Not only does Facebook now have its own, but so does Google. On top of that, Twitter-favorite Bit.ly has just launched Bit.ly Pro.

Have You Read This?

> Facebook URL Shortener Makes Appearance

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Google Finally Shows Off Chrome OS

Everybody has been waiting to see a glimpse of Google's upcoming Chrome OS - that is Google's new operating system. Those who attended an event at the company's headquarters today had a chance to view a demo in person, and many more details than previously available are now out on the OS.

Google has now opened up the code for Chrome OS, so developers can get in there and see what it's really all about. For all of the non-developer types, Google has provided the following short video, which sums up what Chrome OS is as a concept.

Google says Chrome OS is focused on three main things: speed, simplicity, and security. The main philosophy behind Chrome OS is that most people use their computers mostly to access the web, so Chrome OS cuts out the middle man, which is your operating system. With Chrome OS, your browser is the operating system. The programs you would use on Chrome OS are all web apps. They're all in the cloud. Nothing is saved on your computer. This mean that if your machine dies on you, or you lose it, or if it gets broken, you can just get another one and all of your data will be readily available, because it's all in the cloud.

Google says that it takes about seven seconds to go to the log-in screen, and three more to log on to an application. That's much less time that it probably takes you to boot up and get onto Facebook on your current machine.

The look of Chrome OS is very similar to the Chrome browser, but it has application tabs and an app menu. You may have seen the screenshots at TechCrunch recently. Google did note, however, that the user interface could change to some extent by the time it actually launches.

When you use apps in Chrome OS, they can take up the entire screen, so that it doesn't even look like you're using a browser or an OS. You can also drag and drop tabs. If you hook up additional hardware to the machine, it will bring up windows for that. For example, at the demo, they pointed out that if you hook a camera up, it will bring up a window with the picture files, and you can pull a picture up and open it in a new browser Window.

Fore more technical details about Chrome OS, and how it handles security issues, read this live blog. Here is another account from Danny Sullivan.

From the sounds of it, Google Chrome OS will not be replacing established operating systems for users who use a lot of programs that aren't web-based. However, it has the potential to cut significantly into the market share of Windows, Mac, etc. among users who do mainly use their machines to connect to the web. I can see this catching on in a big way, particularly with the Netbook crowd, which Chrome OS is essentially aimed at.

Google Chrome OS is currently scheduled to launch sometime before the holiday season next year. Do you think Chrome OS will be a hit? Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends... what you think.

Have You Read This?

> Will Google Chrome OS Challenge Windows?

> Intel Apparently A Google Chrome OS Partner, Too

> Steve Ballmer Skeptical Of Chrome OS

MySpace To Host Exclusive Stream Of “New Moon” Red Carpet

Don't be surprised if MySpace experiences a big traffic spike on Monday, November 16th.  The social network intends to host a live stream of red carpet arrivals at the world premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

In one sense, this could have been something of a cheap trick; it's a good bet that boatloads of young girls would tune in even if they could only catch a glimpse of Robert Pattinson and listen to a random correspondent babble.  MySpace is demonstrating its influence and taking things quite a bit further, though, offering fans an exclusive experience.

According to an official statement emailed to WebProNews, "Viewers will . . . be able to take part by posting comments or questions to The Twilight Saga: New Moon Premiere MySpace page that may then be presented to the celebrities during the broadcast."

What's more, "Anya Marina, writer and performer of 'Satellite Heart' on The Twilight Saga: New Moon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, will co-host the broadcast."

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Trailer and Premiere Announcement New Moon Premiere | MySpace Video

So consider passing word of the event along to any relatives or friends who are Twilight fans.  And with respect to what sort of traffic numbers MySpace might see, it should interest even the franchise's biggest detractors to know that the New Moon trailer received a whopping 4.2 million views within 24 hours of its debut on MySpace.

Have You Read This?

> Paramount Follows Up "Paranormal" Marketing With More Social Fun

> Facebook, MySpace May Share Content

> MySpace Introduces New Music Features

Facebook Shows a Glimpse of Twitterness

Facebook confused some users when it accidentally invited too many people to a beta test of what is being referred to as "Facebook Lite." Facebook Lite is basically a stripped down verson of the social network, which includes just status updates, likes, and comments, without things like activity stories, app stories, and embedded content.

Facebook Lite has been compared to Twitter and FriendFeed, due to its simplicity. This was probably particularly interesting to those users who experienced it, since Facebook just acquired FriendFeed, and Facebook has been known to go for more Twitter-esque approaches in some areas.

Was this a sign of Facebook to come? Not really. Facebook Lite is a version of Facebook being tested for countries with low-bandwidth. Inside Facebook offers screenshots like this one:

Yes, it does look quite similar to Twitter. Nicholas Carlson at Silicon Alley Insider makes a good point in that even if Facebook isn't really going this direction, it still highlights the fact that at its core Facebook isn't all that different from Twitter. Sure, it has some more bells and whistles, but at the end of the day, it's main functions are very similar.

Who knows though? Twitter has a while to go before it reaches Facebook status, but if one day Twitter were to surpass Facebook in users, Facebook could conceivably go for something more like Facebook Lite. As noted, Facebook has done a variety of things that made it more like Twitter, and as you may recall, Facebook has been willing to implement radical redesigns, even when many users clearly objected.