Digital Week in Review: Google Tackles the ‘Like’ Button with +1

Google Tackles the ‘Like’ Button With +1; PC World
Google expanded its social offerings Wednesday with “+1” – a feature that lets you recommend certain Web sites with the click of a button, much like you might “like” something on Facebook.
The Takeway: As a Google Product Manager, Rob Spiro said, “The beauty of +1’s is their relevance—you get the right recommendations (because they come from people who matter to you), at the right time (when you are actually looking for information about that topic) and in the right format (your search results).”

Facebook feature converts profiles to business pages; CNET
Facebook users ready to move from a personal profile to a business page can now make the switch through a new process offered by the company.
The Takeaway: Be aware that the conversion is a one-way trip. Once it’s finished, you can’t transform your business page back into a personal profile. Facebook advises users who need to save content from their personal profile to download the information through the data downloader feature that the company set up last year.

Twitter has less than 21 Million Active Users’; Silicon Valley Insider
Thanks to a source with full access to Twitter’s API, the Silicon Valley Insider was able to report there are 56 million accounts on Twitter following 8 or more accounts. But it turns out that Twitter doesn’t actually count a user as “active” until they are following many more than 8 accounts. That moment happens when users follow 30 accounts, and when one-third of the people they follow also follow them back. So, how many such “active” Twitter users are there? Less than 21 million.
The Takeaway: Are we being mislead about Twitter’s power? Put this numbers in context. Facebook has more than 600 million monthly active users. MySpace reached 44 million people in the US in January. The Huffington Post reaches 30 million people each month.

RockMelt Refreshes SocialBrowser; Information Week
RockMelt, which is hoping to crack the browser market by piggybacking on the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, has released its 20th update in five months in its continuing effort to make its namesake software more social-network friendly.
The Takeaway: The number of RockMelt downloads to date is fewer than 1 million, according to the company. While the number is small given the size of the market, users spend more than six hours a day in the browser. Will these numbers see an increase once the social integration is in place?