Microsoft opened So.cl social networking to Public

So.cl display

Microsoft opened So.cl social networking to the public. Previously, this is a social network specifically created for students and limited to the invitation in a number of campuses and schools in the United States.

So.cl designed so that users can share and comment on the searches they do. This site also allows users to connect with people who have similar preferences.

As quoted from the BBC website, Microsoft said the site was developed by Fuse Labs, the research project unit. "Focused for social experimentation and learning in the future," wrote Microsoft.

Microsoft-style social networking users were invited to create a "collage" content using Microsoft's search engine technology, Bing. With an external link, users can share the results with others.

Users can identify those who are interested in similar topics, monitor feeds friends, join in the "video parties" while viewing the online video joint, and comments through the chat feature.

Interestingly, the user can enter or sign in to So.cl through Facebook account. Even so, the activity in so.cl will not appear on the account Facebook, except in the FB setting to show.

social networking

"The fact that So.cl addressed to the students to take advantage of the popularity of Facebook in the first raises the assumption that this is a clone of Facebook," said Eden Zoller, principal analyst at consultancy Ovum technology.

"But So.cl, such as Microsoft planned, designed as an experiment to be the coating of the social networks that already exist," said Zoller.

Increase Bing
In addition, the presence of deliberately presented So.cl also predicted to increase the popularity of Microsoft's search engine Bing. As a comparison, based on comScore, Microsoft's search engine gets only 15.4 percent market share, compared to Google which currently controls 66.5 percent.

Previously, Microsoft also announced it will work with Facebook in improving the performance of Bing. The trick is to integrate a number of tips on social networking to Bing search results.

Users in the U.S. will be shown a new sidebar that identifying friends who can answer questions based on topics they like or the ones on-post.

Actually, Google is also interested in working with Facebook. However, Google still objected to the closure of information Facebook users, who do not want to share openly.