Facebook Buys FriendFeed, Goes Lite. Twitter Retweets.

Law firms big and small are using dynamic, interactive such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with the public.  Here is rundown of recent social networking tech news that your firm should be aware of.

• Facebook did some back-to-school shopping this week, grabbing up the 12-member company FriendFeed for $50 million.  And to further primp and preen for the new school year, it also starting testing out "Facebook Lite"--a streamlined, Twitter-like feed for microblogging. 

• FriendFeed is a social networking site, much like Twitter, and was launched in 2007 by 4 former-Google employees. They envisioned the site to connect friends like Facebook, but without many of the bells and whistles that also tend to slow down the Facebook site.  FriendFeed acts to view and report back on a user's activities.  If you take a quiz, Digg an article, post a blog, your FriendFeed account will update your stream with the activity.  And the stream can be shared with friends.  And like Facebook, all of your actions are up for comment by friends.  FriendFeed's real-time search has also been considered hot stuff and Facebook may stand to gain from incorporating the souped-up search functions to its existing service.

• "Does this make me look fat?"  Facebook must have wondered that this week before it began testing 'Facebook Lite' a streamlined version of Facebook feed comparable to Facebook mobile that aims on faster load times by limiting actions to commenting, accepting friends requests, writing on walls, and viewing photos.

• Twitter is restocking its tool belt by developing a way to easily retweet (or re-post) a message, crediting the original poster.  Retweets allow posters to effectively follow how far their tweets reach and also to connect with a broader audience.

If your firm hasn't already created a presence using social networking tools, it may be the time to make a move into the microblogging hemisphere.

Related Resources:

• Facebook Buys FriendFeed: What Does It Mean? (PCWorld)
• Facebook buys FriendFeed: Is this a big deal? (CNet)
• Twitter to Bolster Tools with 'Retweet' Function (PCWorld)