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Microsoft Is Closing the Social Network You Forgot It Ever Launched (techcrunch.com)
So.cl, the little-known and probably much-forgotten social network project from Microsoft Research's FUSE Labs division, is closing down. From a report on TechCrunch: The service was launched in late 2011 as a social community where the objective was "collaborative consumption, not communication." Initially for students, So.cl opened up to anyone once it had gotten going and subsequently added support for mobile devices, too. When word of the project first leaked out prior to its launch, many had assumed that Microsoft was building a social network to compete directly with Facebook -- this was a time when companies might be inclined to do that, remember Google Buzz launching in 2010? But Facebook this wasn't. It actually used Facebook log-in for user sign-up so if anything it is/was a Facebook app. If you're looking for a comparison, the focus on image collages and video made So.cl a little like a Pinterest-style service for visual content.
I wonder how many /.ers remember
I feel like everything MSFT does is some crappy, lesser knockoff of a better service that they attempt to force their users to adopt.
>> building a social network to compete directly with Facebook -- this was a time when companies might be inclined to do that, remember Google Buzz launching in 2010?
Don't you mean "Google+", which launched in 2011? If you're looking for a higher profile social network flop from Google...
Seems to me that most "social media" is exactly the same - everyone consuming - there's very little actual communication going on. Just people screaming past each other like two cats with their tails tied together thrown over a clothes line (and if you want to know what THAT sounds like, just listen to Bohemian Rhapsody).
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
a sweat-drenched and slightly bloated Steve Ballmer furiously copies and pastes his so.cl content into notepad. "developers....developers..." he whispers under his breath, again and again.
Good people go to bed earlier.
This was the Zune of Social Media.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I still dislike it when articles, and such, make assumptions about me.
neutrality of media, my ass.
...nothing of value was lost.
I always considered Microsoft an anti-social kind of place, but they have gone too far!
"Microsoft Is Closing the Social Network You Forgot It Ever Launched "
I didn't forget, I never heard of it in the first place.
Another smashing success from Microsoft.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Google's Social Network was Orkut, and launched way before Facebook did.
Well, not really. This aside, Microsoft, please do make sure to let the door hit you hard in your ass on your way out.
I've never even heard of it...
And here's the weirdest part: Back around 2013 I got myself a Lumia 1020 and followed Microsoft centric blogs like Windows Central among other Microsoft resources. And I had accounts in weird new social network attempts like Ello.
Just visited the page, it kinda looks like a more barebones version of Google+. Awkward...
Apparently Microsoft is in the smartphone business now too.. Who knew?
... as MS tries and constantly fails to stay relevant.
The Road Ahead, Bill Gates, 1995.
* Social Networking
I guess they didn't follow the Bing Strategy: 5 years after dumping a Billion dollars into Bing is finally profitable.
Sooo, how is that Windows Phone working out ...