Microsoft launched Research Social Network So.cl

Microsoft’s famous FUSE labs launched its most hyped product So.cl (pronounced as social) last week. Contradictory to the previous statements, So.cl won’t be a rival to the Facebook or Google+.

According to Microsoft, So.cl will be an experimental social search project, focused on social search for the purpose of learning. The primary target will be students since it will give them a chance to share and collaborate the ideas from various web pages and other resources.

The main features of So.cl include social search, which is usually public and can be made private on demand. The search interface is made with the help of Bing. Users can create communities with like minded people around them and post pictures or data. The video chat room facility helps the community members to watch a video together. It also offers public file sharing, with the most searched topic having the high priority. The interesting feature is that users with a Facebook or twitter account can collaborate their account with So.cl and start Searching! But for the time being, new users trying to login to the So.cl are greeted back with the message that the site is overcrowded.

Even though Microsoft says that So.cl won’t be a rival to Facebook, we cannot forget the fact that Facebook also began its journey as a small community search for a college.

What is So.cl?

So.cl (pronounced "social") is an experimental research project, developed by Microsoft’s FUSE Labs, focused on exploring the possibilities of social search for the purpose of learning.

So.cl combines social networking and search, to help people find and share interesting web pages in the way students do when they work together.
So.cl helps you create rich posts, by assembling montages of visual web content.
To encourage interaction and collaboration, So.cl provides rich media sharing, and real time sharing of videos via "video parties."

We expect students to continue using products such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other existing social networks, as well as Bing, Google and other search tools. We hope to encourage students to re-imagine how our everyday communication and learning tools can be improved, by researching, learning and sharing in their everyday lives.

Who can join?

We are formally partnering with selected schools (including University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University).

However, anyone can participate in the FUSE Labs research community as several of our experiments are available for use on the web. For those who wish to be more involved with FUSE, please e-mail Socl@microsoft.com.

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