nypd forms new social media unit to mine for mayhem

from national terror alert: The NYPD has formed a new unit to track troublemakers who announce plans or brag about their crimes on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O’Connor, one of the department’s online and gang gurus, has been put in charge of the new juvenile justice unit. He and his staff will mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem, sources said.

6/30 defcon: copywrong, dislike, discoveries

leaked: uk copyright lobby holds closed-door meetings with govt to discuss national web-censorship regime*

terrorists terrorised: al qaeda hacked*
scotus term in review: it's a mixed bag*
as hulu flirts, comcast must stay mum*
facebook 10th most hated company in US*
news corp. on verge of myspace sale*
judge: google can be sued for wiretapping in street view debacle*
kkr - kohlberg, kravis, roberts - to buy top web hosting/domain registrar 'go daddy'; but who is kkr?*
scientists discover most distant quasar known to exist*

myspace loses 10 million users in a month

from telegraph: MySpace lost 10 million unique users in one month at the start of the year, according to new figures. The steep decline follows a further round of major redundancies at the start of 2011 and the continued growth of Facebook, which now has 30 million registered users in the UK. According to the latest comScore figures, MySpace lost 10 million unique users between January and February of this year, going form 73 million to 63 million in a matter of four weeks. This time last year, when site began the first in a series of major relaunches, MySpace attracted 95 million unique users. Parent company News Corporation is reportedly still trying to sell off the ailing social network – which had hopes to reinvent itself through its streaming service, MySpace Music and its renewed focus on entertainment content. At the start of the year Mike Jones, MySpace’s chief executive announced that the company was making 500 staff members redundant and slashing its international operation to a skeleton staff.

related updates: facebook wants to add friends in washington*
fmr obama press secretary gibbs may join facebook executive branch*