Andrew Koenig, a star actor in the iconic American television sitcom ?Growing Pains,? has mysteriously gone missing. But as a clear sign of the growing importance of social networking, fans and fellow celebrities have turned to Twitter to try to solve the star?s disappearance. According to media reports, the last time anyone saw Koenig was in Vancouver, just before the start of the Winter Olympics. Koenig?s parents have tried to reach their son as well, but his mother told journalists that his mobile phone has been turned off since 16 February 2010. Kevin Smith, Sarah Silverman and Alyssa Milano are just some of the celebrities who used Twitter to ask their followers to help track Koenig?s whereabouts. One of the actor?s closest friends in Vancouver also turned to Facebook, in order to express her concern for a star who had reportedly been suffering severe depression.</p> <p>Lance Miccio, a director who had worked with Koenig in the past, noted that only a week before his disappearance the star declared that he would not be accepting any projects in the future, despite the fact that acting seems to run in his family. Koenig?s father, for example, was one of the lead actors in the original hit series Star Trek?having played Chekov for years?and the Growing Pains star himself played in a 2008 sci-fi film.</p> <p>Vancouver constable Raymond Payette is leading the investigation into Koenig?s disappearance and director Kevin Smith was one of the most prominent Twitter users to ?file? an online missing person?s report, in the form of a tweet on Sunday morning.

Bloggers are frequently criticized by those involved in the troubled world of print journalism for borrowing from their work. The vast majority of prominent bloggers, however, give their sources proper credit, but can the same be said for authors who are inspired by the increasingly influential blogosphere? The answer to that question might be a resounding ?no,? if we look at the plagiarism controversy that German bestselling author Helene Hegemann currently finds herself in. Hegemann recently published a novel entitled Axolotl Roadkill, but she reportedly ?lifted? passages from the work of a blogger who wrote on the German capital?s techno music scene, and the role of drugs in this subculture. Hegemann?s book is on its way to selling 100,000 copies and it is now the number two bestseller in the country.</p> <p>The blogger in question was interviewed by Der Spiegel magazine. The 28 year old man calls himself Aiden, he is an employee of a consultancy firm and he only moved to Berlin two years ago. Finding himself burdened by loneliness and the stress associated with a hectic workplace, Aiden began to blog about Berlin?s Bohemian nightlife and, in particular, about the city?s techno music clubs. He soon realized that drugs were front and centre in these clubs and Aiden decided to experiment with controlled substances, in order to provide the most authentic accounts possible in his blog.</p> <p>The young blogger?s entries proved so genuine and riveting, that when Hegemann decided to write a novel about a 16 year old girl who dabbled in the dark side of Berlin?s nightlife, she immediately turned to Aiden?s blog entries for first-hand accounts.</p>

In a turn of events that took even the savviest Web 2.0 experts by surprise, recently released statistics indicate that Facebook now directs more traffic to major websites than Google, the world?s most prominent search engine and one of the internet?s iconic brand names. According to Compete Incorporated?s web survey, 13 percent of all traffic to Yahoo, MSN and AOL came from Facebook profiles this past December, while Google only managed to lay claim to 7 percent of the traffic to these major portals. In fact, even eBay managed to narrowly beat Google, as 7.6 percent of the traffic to these sites was directed from the online auction giant. MySpace, a pioneer in social networking, only directed 2 percent of the traffic to Yahoo, MSN and AOL. Social networking experts note that the younger generations are surfing the internet in a very different manner than people did only five or ten years ago, and fewer of them are relying on search engines. Instead, links posted by Facebook friends are often what drive internet users to specific articles, videos, pictures and websites.</p> <p>Facebook currently counts over 400 million active users, and this number continues to expand by significant proportions. The social networking leader managed to attract a staggering 225 million new users over the course of the past year. Web strategist and consultant Jeremiah Owyan noted that the way in which we browse and search the web is increasingly based on an ?intricate set of connections,? especially on sites such as Facebook. The clear message to companies and organizations is to be active in the world of social networking, particularly if their target clientele includes the youngest, most web savvy generation.

Celebrity film director Kevin Smith decided that a public shaming was in order, when Southwest Airlines threw him off a flight for being too fat. Smith immediately turned to Twitter, in order to spread the new of his ordeal on the American carrier; his story spread far and the response from his fans was furious. Smith tweeted about how a Southwest pilot decided to eject him from a flight after he had already occupied one of the seats, simply for being overweight. Smith was flying from Oakland to Burbank, but he was forced to leave the aircraft and wait for a later flight. Southwest does have a policy of requiring passengers who are unable to fold down both armrests due to their size to purchase an additional seat, allegedly in order to appease thinner travelers who are irritated if their travel mate encroaches on their personal space. But this explanation wasn?t good enough for Smith?s Twitter followers. His tweets on the subject attracted a staggering 1.64 million comments from other micro-bloggers.</p> <p>Smith posted a long series of tweets, as part of a tirade against an airline which publicly humiliated him for being overweight and deemed his less than perfect body-mass index to be a ?safety risk.? Smith used Twitter to muse loudly about whether the flight?s captain was justified in kicking him off the aircraft. Southwest Airlines, however, must have noticed that the situation was rapidly turning into a public relations catastrophe, so the carrier used Twitter to issue an apology and indicate that the firm?s vice president would personally contact Smith to assure him that such a situation would never repeat itself.</p> <p>But the Twitter apology hasn?t appeased the irate director. Smith has indicated that he would use a podcast to talk about his experience at the hands of Southwest?s ?PR-challenged, fatty-haters.?

Google?s unilateral decision to delete six of the world?s most frequented music blogs over claims of copyright infringement has unleashed the fury of the entire Blogosphere. Google sent out curt letters to six prominent music industry bloggers, informing them that their blogs have been deleted due to violations of the firm?s terms of service. ?Living Ears,? ?It?s a Rap,? ?I Rock Cleveland? and ?Pop Tarts? were just four of the six blogs deleted without any warning or advance notice. All of the archived posts and links to music files have also been removed, making it impossible for the respective bloggers to retrieve years of online writing, unless they saved a backup copy of their blog on their computer. All of the blogs in question were hosted by Google?s Blogger and Blogspot subsidiaries, giving the search engine the right to remove these sites without warning.</p> <p>But ?I Rock Cleveland? blogger Bill Lipold argues that Google made a mistake in deleting his blog and that it based its action on incorrect information that the songs he had linked infringed on copyright regulations. In fact, what Google failed to take into consideration was that the MP3 files included on Lipold?s blog all constituted official promotional material for specific labels, which he had the right to distribute. </p>

Within days of the news that Facebook planned to challenge Google?s Gmail service by offering its own full e-mail program to users, the world?s largest search engine announced that it would take on the increasingly lucrative and popular world of social networking by launching a brand new service named ?Buzz.?</p>

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker made a highly publicized entry into the world of micro-blogging late last week, but her Twitter debut was nothing short of a cringe-worthy embarrassment for the American television celebrity. After enthusiastically sending out one of her first tweets, Longoria wanted to encourage her new followers to also check out her husband?s Twitter profile. Tony Parker happens to be an accomplished basketball player and is now also an avid micro-blogger. But rather than linking in the sports star?s Twitter page, Longoria accidentally posted a tweet linking her followers directly to a pornography site.</p>

Facebook is about to launch a major challenge aimed at the world?s largest free webmail providers by setting up its own e-mail service, based upon the message sending facilities that already exist on the social networking site. The new e-mail program is part of a larger attempt to make Facebook an even more essential part of the web experience and supplements plans to revamp the website?s much maligned photo uploading tool. Facebook has reportedly named its new goal of taking on Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo as ?Project Titan,? and the very name aptly summarizes the challenges that the social networking site may face as it tries to dislodge brands that have been around much longer than itself.</p> <p>According to media reports, Facebook?s new e-mail system will be accessible without having to sign in to one?s actual social networking profile. Each user?s e-mail address will automatically be based on his/her current Facebook vanity URL. For example, user Jane Doe?s e-mail address would be janedoe@facebook.com. The new e-mail system will dramatically alter the way in which the social networking site?s often criticized messaging system operates. It will be easier to search the contents of old messages, delete unwanted e-mails and the service will offer complete POP or IMAP support.</p> <p>Some observers in the tech community have mused about whether or not Facebook?s new e-mail service may just become a ?Gmail killer.? The social networking site already attracts a staggering 60 million log-ins per month and repeated surveys suggest that people are spending an increasingly larger portion of their online time using Facebook. While it would be premature to mull the demise of the largest names in the e-mail business, it is almost certain that Facebook?s new webmail service will give them all a run for their money.

The Winter Games in British Columbia will be the world?s first Olympics where athletes will communicate with their fans and supporters using Twitter, but some athletes are confused by the U.S. Olympic Committee?s rules, which restrict the topics that American athletes may tweet about. For instance, Lindsey Vonn, a US skier, has already informed her Twitter followers that restrictions put in place by the US Olympic Committee mean that she will only be able to start tweeting again once the Winter Games have ended.</p> <p>But the Committee?s rules may not actually prohibit athletes from using Twitter outright, even if their tweets must follow certain content guidelines. For example, athletes must be sure to tweet in the first person, and may not use their Twitter accounts to post journalistic material. It must, therefore, be evident to the reader that a given tweet pertains to an athlete?s personal experiences, rather than general journalistic observations about other aspects of the event. Athletes with Twitter accounts must also avoid promoting their sponsors in tweets, unless they are considered to be official partners of the Winter Games.</p> <p>Despite these restrictions, the US Olympic Committee?s spokesperson, Bob Condron, predicted that this year?s games will be known as the ?Twitter Olympics.? Condron believes that it is likely that sports enthusiasts will see athletes sending out tweets from the medal stand, or perhaps from the bench, right in the middle of a hockey game. But for the micro-blogging site to play such a central role, Condron will have to get the message out to athletes like Lindsey Vonn, that tweeting is still welcome, even if blatant marketing for sponsors is not.

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