March 11, 2010 by James Oliver
It is quite rare these days to find an internet user that frequents both the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program and the often forgotten spawn of social networking that is MySpace. The former is often used by people with a lot of e-mail accounts usually for work and the later by teenagers hoping to get their attempt at a chart topper heard.
Nevertheless it has been announced this week that Microsoft and MySpace have created a beta version of a tool that will allow users of their Outlook program to see their MySpace connections and friends within the e-mail client.
Microsoft will be adding an all new ‘social connector’ feature within Outlook that will allow users to connect to a social network of their choosing which will include MySpace, the lesser known Linkedln and inevitably Facebook, which will be added soon. This will work with all versions of Outlook from this decade; 2003, 2007 and the new 2010 edition.
The service will allow Outlook users to view their friends and colleagues in the ‘people pane’, they will also be able to view activity or ‘status’ updates, sync contact lists with Outlook and have one click access to their friends profiles.
Just how popular this will be remains to be seen, but what has become evident is the fact that the big players on the internet have recognized the pull and demand for social networking. It is looking as though constant connection to ones social network is becoming a staple whether being on a computer or a phone, but is that what we really want? It would seem that is what we’re going to get whether we like it or not.
Related posts:
