User generated content refers to various kinds of media content that is produced by end-users.
The term entered the mainstream lexicon in 2005 and reflects the expansion of media production through new technologies that are publicly accessible and affordable. These include digital video, blogging, podcasting, news, gossip, research, mobile phone photography and wikis. In addition to these technologies, user generated content may also employ a combination of open source, free software, and flexible licensing or related agreements to further diminish the barriers to collaboration, skill-building and discovery.
UGC is often monitored by sites to avoid offensive content or language, copyright infringement issues, or relevance.
Disney’s investment and joint-venture partnership with ad-supported streaming video site Hulu, will seriously impact existing players like Google’s YouTube and Apple's iTunes service.
Arun Muthirulan, 02 May 2009
Cisco has acquired PostPath, a provider of innovative email and calendaring software, based in Mountain View, California, for $215m. PostPath, which also has a development team in Bulgaria, should enhance the email and calendaring capabilities of Cisco's WebEx Connect collaboration platform.
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Reiko Uchida, 28 August 2008
MyHeritage, the family tree site has acquired Kindo, a genealogy 2.0 site based in Putney, London, UK, which will also now become MyHeritage's London office.
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Sarita Jones, 23 September 2008
MyHeritage, the Tel-Aviv, Israel based site, which claims to be the second largest online destination for families, has received a $15 million in second-round funding from Index Ventures' London office.
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Michelle Wong, 09 September 2008
Google is preparing to launch Google Translation Center, a new translation tool for freelance and professional translators. The new service has broad implications for the translation industry, which is still very fragmented and technologically un-sophisticated.
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Reiko Uchida, 02 September 2008