Workers Refuse Jobs with No Facebook [News.com.au]
For younger workers, staying socially networked is essential–even at the office. According to a recent study, a third of 18-to-24-year-olds would consider jumping ship if Facebook was banned, while 21 percent more said they’d be “annoyed”. Nearly half of businesses in the U.S. restrict employee access to social networks because they hog bandwidth (both digital and mental). But lets consider this: the 40-hour workweek died with the Internet; there is an expectation of 24/7 access now. Social and professional lives have bled into one another, and social networks like Facebook fuel both. Perhaps Singaporean company, Serena Software, has the right idea with their “Facebook Fridays.”
Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage [Research Brief]
Global mobile usage continues to grow with two third of the global population texting daily. The US is scheduled to reach 100% per capita mobile usage by the year 2013.
Loopt Social Mapping Service Now Available on Most Popular BlackBerry Phones From Sprint, Alltel, T-Mobile and AT&T [PR Newswire]
Location-based social mapping and networking service Loopt will now be available to download free for BlackBerry-wielding customers, regardless of their carrier. With the creation of social LBS apps for the iPhone, will people just hang out with like-phoned friends? There’s always Dodgeball!
So Young, and So Gadgeted [NY Times]
What comes first: Cellphone or avatar? When should a kid get a laptop? Matching Piaget’s developmental stages with hip, education tech tools looks to be the next phase of education.
Survey: 80% of Youth Using P2P Would Pay for Legal Version [b-side]
80% of UK Youth overwhelmingly agreed to pay for a legal music file-sharing subscription. UK youth average 1,770 song files on their MP3s with half of them illegal downloads.
Sony lifts mobile gaming with Wii-style handset [Times Online]
Sony Ericsson has released a gesture-controlled handset with Gesturetek technology, similar to the Korean Samsung phone we talked about. Hoping to tap into the casual gamer market, everyone’s favorite time-waster, Brickbreaker, will come pre-installed.
WeMix turns mobile into mic for artists [Mobile Marketer]
Want to be the next Ludacris? We sure do. The rapper’s new site WeMix.com is a music creation community that acts as a user-generated record label, giving unsigned singers, rappers, musicians and producers a channel to be heard and get discovered. Now thanks to VoodVox you can audition over the phone, laying down vocals, tracks and beats and uploading for others (and Luda himself) to hear.
