Shashi Tharoor gets 6L Twitter followers

In soccer, it is bend it like Beckham. In cricket, it is scoop it like Dilshan. Now, among Indians in virtual world the brouhaha is all about tweet it like Tharoor.

With his delightfully humerous and insightful comments on travelling cattle class, new visa rules and call to work on Gandhi Jayanti that tickled his fellow Cabinet colleagues the wrong way and stirred up controversy, the minister for foreign affairs has won the hearts of half-million followers in the virtual world and many more outside.

Adding yet another feather to his leaf, he scaled a milestone in Twitter on Wednesday as the number of Shashi Tharoor followers crossed the 600,000-mark.

And now, the US-based firm Twitter itself has praised the minister. ‘‘We’re always excited to hear about the new ways in which the world of communication is changing thanks to the clever new uses of Twitter by different folks in all areas of the world, including politicians like Tharoor. The simplicity and flexibility of Twitter allows for much creativity by users,’’ Twitter co-founder and creative director Biz Stone told TOI.

According to statistics on twitterholic.com, from just 26 followers and three tweets in March 23, 2009, the minister has come a long way with more than 6 lakh followers till January 14, 2010.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Facebook going Lite to take on Twitter

Seems a lighter version of Facebook is on the cards. The world’s no. 1 the social-networking site has sent out invitations to select users to beta test the site, termed Facebook Lite.

According to TechCrunch, it has been inundated with social networkers who have been asked to try out Facebook Lite saying that, surprise, it is more Twitter-like.

The message sent out to beta testers reads, “You have been selected as a beta tester for Facebook Lite! We are building a faster, simpler version of Facebook that we call Facebook Lite. It’s not finished yet and we have plenty of kinks to work out, but we would love to get your feedback on what we have built so far.”

Check out Facebook Lite now at http://lite.facebook.com.

Facebook recently announced that it is buying FriendFeed, an up-and-coming social media startup, that allows people to share content online in real time across various social networks and blogs.

The service is similar to, though less popular than Twitter, the microblogging site that Facebook tried to buy for $500 mn in 2008, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed so far, but Facebook said FriendFeed would operate as it has for the time being as the teams determine long-term plans.

Popularity: 3% [?]