Tag: Socl

Microsoft Social Network Socl Gets New Design, “Me Pages”

Remember Socl? It’s a social network that Microsoft Research launched in beta a while back. It was initially for students, but in May, they launched it to the public. Now it is out with a new design and something called “me pages,” which are essentially profile pages.

“What began with a focus on social search for students and learning has evolved to be a service where people connect over shared interests expressed through beautiful posts,” Microsoft says in an email about the product.

Socl was spotted back in November, originally under the name Tulalip, and then Microsoft officially announced it in December, as a way to give students a new way to learn. It was initially made available to students at the University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University. Here’s what it ended up looking like eventually:

Here’s what it looks like now:

Microsoft is encouraging those who have signed up for the service in the past to “come get your ‘me page’.” That would look something like this:

Bing’s Duane Forrester noted back in May that So.cl is not included in Bing’s social graph. It least it wasn’t at the time.

December 4, 2012
So.cl Does Not Have Any Impact On Bing’s Social Graph

Earlier, we looked at So.cl, Microsoft’s new(ish) social network, which seems to be something of a testing ground for interactions between search and social media.

While some of So.cl may look familiar to Bing users (or those who have read about the recent Bing redesign), and some of the features may one day make their way to Bing, So.cl currently has no impact on Bing’s current social features.

Duane Forrester answered a user question on Twitter:

Follow @mwilton13 Mike Wilton
@mwilton13 @DuaneForrester will this so.cl thing impact the social graph of Bing search at all?
3 hours ago via Seesmic · powered by @socialditto
Reply · Retweet · Favorite

Follow @DuaneForrester duane forrester
@DuaneForrester @mwilton13 So.cl is not included at this time. We focus on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Quora, LinkedIn & Google+ currently.
51 minutes ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto
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It is nice to see where Bing’s social efforts are focused.

It’s just been a Duane Forrester kind of day. We also looked at some advice he gave regarding Google’s Penguin and Panda updates in a different article, as well as his suggestion that you should be using Pinterest.

On that note, its interesting that Pinterest isn’t mentioned on Forrester’s list of Bing’s social focal points. Perhaps he was hinting at the future. A Pinterest-based image search integration could be cool.

May 21, 2012
Microsoft’s So.cl Social Network No Longer Just For Students

Remember Microsoft’s So.cl social network? It has now launched to the public. You can sign up and use it if you want.

Socl was spotted back in November, originally under the name Tulalip, and then Microsoft officially announced it in December, as a way to give students a new way to learn. It was initially made available to students at the University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University.

At the time, Microsoft said, “So.cl has been designed for students studying social media to extend their educational experience and rethink how they learn and communicate. They can build posts with many elements—photos, video, text, and more—and share them with colleagues. They also can find students with similar interests and build communities around specific educational goals. So.cl might even give students the ability to create their own social tool, customized for their own community.”

To use the service, you can either sign in with Facebook or your Windows Live ID. When you go to sign in using Facebook, it says:

So.cl is an experiment in open search. That means your searches on So.cl are viewable by other So.cl users and will also be available to third parties.

So.cl does not automatically post your searches, comments, or likes to your Facebook stream unless you choose this option. Also, we don’t contact your Facebook friends unless you invite them.

Then, you’re asked to choose interests (not unlike StumbleUpon) and follow the most popular users on So.cl:

Then, you’re taken to your home page, where you can “explore the best of So.cl”. The top bar and notification counter looks somewhat like Google’s:

If you click on one of the categories, you get a newsfeed for the category. This is comprised of searches that people have performed and posts that people have made to that category. For the ones based on searches, it tells you what they searched for, and then gives you a specific link (I’m not sure if this is the top result for the search, the one that person clicked on, or what). It’s a different experience. That’s for sure.

If you search for something, you’re presented with a set of results from both Bing, and feed results from So.cl. You can add results to your posts, not unlike Bing’s social features. When you’re ready, click “done” and it will post your update, with results.

They may still have some bugs to work out. When I tried to post the one from the screen cap above, it didn’t really give me any indication that it was actually posted. When I went to “My Posts” it was nowhere to be found. It’s also telling me that I have 0 interests. Then why did I accept all the suggestions it gave me at the beginning? It also says I am following 0, even though I also elected to follow the popular people it suggested.

Another feature of the service is called “Video Parties,” which appear to be Microsoft’s version of Google’s Hangouts. Here’s what the site says about them:

Watch videos with your So.cl friends in real time by creating a party in So.cl. Note: Video Party allows other users to see the videos that you have posted or viewed

It appears that users get 10 invitations to start with.

So, it seems this is about more than a tool for students now. It’s unclear whether Microsoft is really trying to build its own social network like Google has done with Google+, or if this is really just a testing ground for social Bing features. It seems like the latter.

For one, they’re letting you sign in with Facebook from the get go. This could make the whole thing more useful, since everyone is already on Facebook. Think about how much more complete Google+ would be if it had all of your Facebook friends. Of course, if it has all of your Facebook friends, what’s the point in using both? That’s where things get a little hazy with Socl too. It seems to be largely about search, and BIng is obviously Microsoft’s baby in that department (complete with a fresh, socially-focused redesign, no less).

Lili Cheng, one of Socl’s creators, reportedly said that they’re using Socl as “an experiment with the search + social networking experience from Microsoft Research,” and that we’ll see “other experiments in Socl over time.”

Have you tried Socl yet? What is your impression? Let us know in the comments.

May 21, 2012
Socl: Microsoft’s Answer to Google+?

Remember those reports about about a Microsoft domain at Socl.com carrying a landing page with the name Tulalip? It said, “With Tulalip you can find what you need and Share what you know.” It showed Facebook and Twitter sign in options.

It’s OK if you don’t. I had pretty much forgotten about it myself, and I covered it. It’s been pretty well out of the spotlight since very soon after it was in it.

Until now.

Initially, very little was known about it, and officially, that’s still the case, but The Verge (hat tip to Matt McGee) has posted an exclusive look “inside the company’s secret social network.” Apparently it’s not Tulalip anymore. Just Socl. They give a run down of the design and functionality, both of which seem to borrow a fair amount from existing social networks (which is to be expected). They also have a gallery of screenshots. Here’s one of them:

One particularly interesting part of the The Verge’s description is one that describes the “video party,” which reportedly includes chat and the ability to watch YouTube videos together. This sounds exactly like Google+ Hangouts.

In some ways, Facebook is already Microsoft’s answer to Google+. Bing and Facebook have a nice little relationship going on. In fact, Google+ is really Google’s answer to that, but it appears that Microsoft doesn’t want to have to solely rely on Facebook as its access to people’s social behavior. That could backfire in the long run.

There’s really no mention of Bing in the description of Socl, beyond when you search from it, it gives you Bing results, but I have to wonder how much more this will play into Bing. Microsoft may be able to harness its Windows, Internet Explorer and Xbox brands in some ways to really make this a relevant offering. They could utilize Skype, for that matter.

Obviously it’s very early right now, and we just don’t know what Microsoft is up to exactly. This will, however, be an intriguing storyline to keep an eye on. It could turn out to be a delicate balance for Microsoft to develop its own social network and maintain a positive relationship with the reigning king of social networks.

November 17, 2011