Contentinople - Erin Barker - News Bits: Twitter Rejects Facebook's Friend Request

Written by Erin Barker

Monday, November 24. 2008 at 11:45 AM EST Post a comment

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Facebook and Twitter have been apparently mulling a merger over the past few weeks -- and who could blame them? Social networking and microblogging go together like... one mind-numbing thing and another mind-numbing thing. But Twitter has reportedly rejected Facebook's offer.

There was a disagreement over the offered price -- $500 million of Facebook stock, which Twitter felt was inflated. But really, Boomtown's Kara Swisher says, Twitter just wasn't ready to sell and hopes to give its super secret monetization strategy some time to play out.

For Facebook, Twitter's "lack of revenues was an issue." [Ed. note: Gee, you think?] Not to mention the fact that they would have to deal with SMS fees Twitter pays to deliver its messages to phones -- which, it estimated, could add up to $75 million annually after the acquisition.

Despite this, Swisher speculates that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), or a large telecom company like Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) could also be interested in Twitter.

In other news:

Ustream.tv, a video site startup previously known for tech conferences and interactive chats with celebrities, has been launched into the big time by, what else, six Shiba Inu puppies. A live Webcam of the six-week-old puppies (sort of a canine Truman Show) has attracted a bigger audience than even Barack Obama, according to The New York Times, amounting to 6 million viewers from all around the world. "Not in a million dog years did I ever think six puppies were going to be the Ustream show that people shared the most," said founder John Ham. But thanks to Autumn, Ayumi, Amaya, Aki, Akoni, and Ando, the site has received a 25 percent spike in growth of new shows -- and renewed interest from potential investors.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE)'s Crackle.com will today unveil its shows for the winter season, which begins Dec. 1, Reuters reports. Unlike many other sites, Crackle releases its Webisodes in season; its Winter season will kick off with The Jace Hall Show, followed by five other shows such as The Groundlings and Star-ving.

Tags: Acquistions, Business, Facebook, Google, Social Networks, Sony, Syndication

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