socialmedian: Microsoft Vine is Twitter for Emergencies

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Wheel being Reinvented by Microsoft By daynamarcum

Apr 28, 2009

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Microsoft Vine is Twitter for Emergencies

Source: Mashable!

Apr 28, 2009

Summary

Microsoft has an early beta of a new product called Vine. Currently available for beta testers in Seattle, it’s a location-aware social networking application focused on being a robust means of local communication that’ll work even in times of emergency.

It’s a desktop client (available for Windows only), and you can also post to it via e-mail or SMS. It gathers local news from 20,000 sources and displays it on a map. It lets you post alerts (short messages) and reports (longer posts). Finally, it integrates with Facebook, while Twitter integration will be added at a later date.

Now, when it comes to online stuff from Microsoft, it’s usually “me, too” services. Sometimes, though, the talented folks that are working in those odd research departments come up with a really good idea. A social network for emergencies seems important, clever and marketable; the problem, however, is that for a social network to thrive, it needs a lot of users. And I’m not sure that Microsoft will be able to get them.