
©Tumblr's menu makes it easy to do quick multimedia posts across multiple platforms and networks.
The social blogging movement continues to gain momentum as a newer generation of blogging tools add more social networking features. In case you're wondering, social blogs are a cross between a blog and a social network. The software programs creating them are often called microblogging tools because they encourage short or "micro" posts analagous to status updates on Facebook.
...The annual Consumer Electronics Show typically showcases prototypes and technology that are months, if not years, from hitting the market. So it's an early barometer for winds of technological change.
And when it comes to social media, one big wind at the 2012 CES last week was integration with technology of all kinds, suggesting it will be another newsy year for social networking and related services. In particular, social TV and connected cars were two areas where social media made plenty of news in Las Vegas.
...The new search system Google rolled out this week incorporating more social networking content and contacts into search results has stirred quite a backlash from privacy advocates and competitors. It represents perhaps the most advanced type of social search the Web has seen so far.
...It's a ritual to look back at each year when it ends, and there was plenty to look back on in social media during 2011.

So for all you social media news hounds, here are two lists of noteworthy trends and news in the 2011 social mediasphere.
...An obscure blog called PhoneDog burst into the media limelight after the New York Times ran an article last weekend about its legal spat with a former employer over a Twitter account and its followers.
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