Inside these posts: Social media

Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.

 

YouSwoop expands to North Shore

Chicago-based daily deals provider YouSwoop will be launching in the North Shore as early as Tuesday, marking the company’s first expansion outside of the city. Get the full story »

Court: Winklevosses must accept Facebook deal

Tyler Winkelvoss, left, and his identical twin brother Cameron. (Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times)

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss cannot back out of a settlement with giant social networking firm Facebook over claims that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea, a U.S. appeals court ruled Monday.

The saga of the Winklevoss twins and Zuckerberg became silver screen lore with the release of the film “The Social Network” last year. It has long been a legal battle as well. Get the full story »

Groupon gets into real estate with Dream Town

On Friday, Chicago real estate brokerage Dream Town Realty launched a week-long deal on Groupon, hoping to tap the popular social buying model to attract clients. Get the full story »

Local Offer Network raises $1.5M

Local Offer Network, a Chicago technology company that aggregates daily deals from providers such as Groupon, has raised $1.5 million in a Series A round led by Matthew Pritzker and IllinoisVentures. Get the full story »

Google mimics Facebook with ‘1′ button

In Google’s latest attempt to become relevant in the social networking space, the search giant on Wednesday unveiled a new tool — a “1″ button akin to Facebook’s “Like” button — that allows people to share helpful search links with their friends. Get the full story »

Amtrak tweeting major N.E. corridor delays

Amtrak is introducing a pilot program to notify Northeast Corridor passengers about major service disruptions via Twitter.

The program using the @AmtrakNEC handle began Tuesday. Get the full story »

Gap site lets customers name their price

Gap began promoting the site GapMyPrice.com on its Facebook page this month, with its first offer that allowed customers to name their price for a pair of men’s khakis, reports Advertising Age. Get the full story »

Travel social network Gogobot partners with Orbitz

Gogobot, a Menlo Park, Calif,-based startup that culls travel recommendations from users’ online social networks, said Thursday it has integrated its service with Chicago-based Orbitz and four other booking sites. Get the full story »

Dealed out? Traffic to deal sites dropping

After Gilt Groupies changed the 12 o’clock hour and Groupon made vouchers cool, users may finally be over it all. Traffic to flash sales and daily deal sites has been dropping during the past few months, according to online traffic monitor comScore.

Gilt is down 22 percent since the start of 2011, and Groupon has fallen off 13 percent during the same time period. Though both are still up year over year. Get the full story »

Groupon exploring mobile coupons

From BusinessWeek | Chicago-based daily deal site Groupon Inc. is preparing to make its deal-of-the-day business even more local, launching a mobile product that will allow it to offer discounts to subscribers based on their location. The new program it is planning, Groupon Now, consists of two buttons for consumers to pick from: “I’m Hungry” and “I’m Bored.” When users click on one of the buttons, Groupon Now offers up a host of discounted options near the user’s location. Get the full story>>

Groupon to start offering movie tickets

A promotional still for "The Lincoln Lawyer," starring Matthew McConaughey, right. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Groupon launched a two-day national deal Wednesday offering discounted tickets for the upcoming movie “The Lincoln Lawyer,” partnering with Lionsgate in what the studio said was a first for the feature film industry.

“The Lincoln Lawyer,” starring Matthew McConaughey in the lead role, opens nationwide on Friday. Groupon is selling $6 tickets to the film. Subscribers who purchase the deal will get a special code to redeem their tickets on Fandango at any time during the movie’s theatrical run.

Lionsgate said it is the first Hollywood studio to promote a major feature film through Groupon. Movie tickets have been featured on daily deal sites in the past; earlier this month, Groupon rival LivingSocial offered a national deal where consumers could purchase two tickets on Fandango for $9. Get the full story »

LinkedIn to add industry-relevant news

LinkedIn, the online network that connects professionals, unveiled a “social news product” Thursday that provides members with the top news in their industry circles.

Using social networks as an arbiter of personally relevant information is nothing new in the online world, where sites such as StumbleUpon, Reddit and Digg help members sift through the vast amount of content on the Web, from news articles to videos to blog posts. Sharing links and commenting on content is also a major part of what Facebook and Twitter users do on those networks. Get the full story »

Minn. man sues Groupon over expiration dates

Groupon Inc., an online provider of daily e-mails offering deals on everything from restaurants to dance lessons, was sued Tuesday by a Minnesota man who alleges the expiration dates on the company’s discounts are deceptive and illegal. Get the full story »

Facebook valued at $65 billion in new investment

Investment firm General Atlantic is investing in Facebook, valuing the leading social network at $65 billion, representing a 30 percent boost from its last big investment in January, according to a report on CNBC.

General Atlantic is purchasing a block of roughly 2.5 million Facebook shares from former Facebook employees, giving the firm a 0.1 percent stake in the company, CNBC said. Get the full story »

Twitter CEO: No IPO or funding talks

Twitter has no plan to go public in the near future and does not need additional funds because it is making money, the co-founder of the popular microblogging site said. Biz Stone also dismissed reports JPMorgan Chase & Co. was in talks to buy 10 percent of Twitter for $450 million, which would have valued the company at $4.5 billion. Get the full story »