MICROSOFT RELEASES THEIR OWN SOCIAL NETWORK SOCL FOR PUBLIC

In a world where social structure plays a major role more and more companies are trying to pump into the competitive world of social networking to grab a piece of the action after seeing how Facebook rose from a room in Harvard to a full blown 100 Billion Dollar IPO. Last year we saw the attempt of Google doing it with their Google+Social network and this year Microsoft takes the leap of faith with their brand new website called so.cl.

The name might sound a bit odd at first but Microsoft believes that the social network will specifically cater in connecting students from across the globe. We all know that Facebook’s initial objective back in 2004 was to connect all guys studying at Harvard University. So the question is with Facebook domination this segment of the industry do we see a place for so.cl? In 2011 we all saw how Google+ was all hyped up and compared to Facebook. Many critics thought that Facebook’s domination will finally be over with Google jumping into the niche but after a few months things looked rather flat for Google and we saw Facebook crossing the 900 million user mark.

The reason why so.cl might attract certain audience is the fact that it integrates searching the web and social networking into a seamless environment. In fact when you join so.cl the first page that you are going to land looks a lot like a windows phone layout with various tabs covering different topics which you can browse further.

Microsoft has been respectful to Facebook by offering a Login with Facebook button on their social networking platform as well.  This gesture passively displays yet another confirmation of Social Media domination from the industry giant Facebook.Most of the features of so.cl are pretty similar to other social networks. The peer to peer connection happens with the help of a follow button similar to that of Twitter. You have your own personalized feed, profile pages, and you can browse through various topics using the explore button.

A significant new addition to this new network is a feature called Video Party. The dedicated button to start a video party can be found on the top right hand sidebar. Video Party allows you to stack up multiple videos and watch them together while you guys can still enjoy commenting and sharing your views. It’s like watching a concert or a sports match together virtually with your friends.

So.cl is still pre-mature and I am sure that Microsoft will be improving and adding lots of features to this website. I am keen on seeing how users respond to yet another Social Network and how it will integrate with later version of Windows Mobile.