Who would bet against Facebook today, as it readies for the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the United States in the coming months?

Yet, amid the excitement, one thing that investors will read about is this troubling reminder of the threat coming from rival social networking efforts from the likes of Google, which can take away key advertising dollars.

…

With a successful initial public offering and the recent opening of its Asia Pacific (APAC) headquarters in Singapore under its belt, professional networking website LinkedIn is gearing up for more growth in the coming year despite a projected economic downturn looming on the horizon.

In fact, you might even say the company is counting on it.

“Talent remains key to how companies compete,” said Arvind Rajan, Managing Director and Vice President of LinkedIn in Asia Pacific and Japan. LinkedIn aims to elevate the role of these “talents” to be an important source of competitive advantage for companies.

…

From the angry to the sarcastic, Singapore’s frustrated train commuters have taken to Facebook pages – real and fake – to vent their unhappiness at the massive train disruption yesterday. Thousands of commuters were left stranded when train services on segments of the North-South line were disrupted during yesterday’s evening peak travelling  hours.

Folks on one particular train, trapped in a tunnel between stations, resorted to smashing a fire extinguisher at a window to get fresh air, after power came off and the air conditioning went offline. They then hiked to the nearest station in a dimly-lit tunnel, during the latest but one of the most serious disruptions to the city’s train services.

Today, Internet users were fast to vent their anger at SMRT on the social media space, whether this was through a fake SMRT Facebook page set up by online pranksters or on SMRT’s own page. …

Going on the Internet is so important to its wired Gen Y users today that they rate it as something as essential and basic as air, food, water and shelter, according to a report released late last week.

A third of a group of about 2,800 youths told a survey conducted by networking vendor Cisco earlier this year that they considered the Internet as important as some of the most basic needs for survival. More than half of them said they could not live without the Internet, citing it as something that was “integral” to their everyday lives. …

(Credit: Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Facebook has taken down an app developer’s ads promoting this Google+ account and promptly banned his other ads on the social networking site, as the tussle for control of the Internet heats up between the online giants.

According to reports over the weekend, Michael Lee Johnson had put up an ad telling fellow Facebook users to visit his Google+ page, where he claimed to be an “Internet geek, app developer (and) technological virtuoso”. But a few days later, Facebook yanked his ads out, saying that he had flouted their terms and conditions. …

This is it, folks. No more half-hearted and half-baked social products. Google has revealed their trump card in the war for your online social life and gone all in with their chips.  Google+ is an amalgamation of all of Google’s efforts to penetrate the social sphere thus far.

Although initially open only to a select number of users, the service has since expanded into the hands of quite a good chunk of people. But how will this latest foray into social networking fare for Google?  I spent the last few days playing with Google+ and messing around with it, so here’s my verdict, for what it’s worth.

Google+ is no Facebook killer, but it’s nothing to scoff at either. …

In what could possibly be the most exciting iPad-related announcement since the iPad itself, word is going around that our social overlords at Palo Alto are finally preparing an app for the iPad.

According to The New York Times, “people briefed on Facebook’s plans” have revealed that the app has been in the works for almost a year, going through several design iterations that fully optimises it for the tablet form factor. It is even reported that Mark Zuckerberg himself has been “heavily invested in the process”. …

The Web is buzzing with Google’s newly announced addition to their search engine. Called “+1”, it works like Facebook’s “like” button, except that you use it on search results from Google search.

For example, when you try searching for “strawberries” on Google, a bunch of results come up. You feel that one of the results is the best and would like to let other people know about it. With +1, you can do so with just one click, and it’ll appear as one of your recommendations the next time somebody else searches for “strawberries”. …

With four times more budget than the previous season, Refinery Media’s hit reality TV show SupermodelMe returned for a second season last week on March 17th, and sees 12 aspiring models vying for the top spot to kick-start their careers in the fashion industry.

This new season by the home-grown production company promises enhanced interaction with audiences through new media technologies, building on the previous season’s use of social media.

…

A series of massive earthquakes hit Japan at 5.45 GMT today, causing widespread devastation in the form of landslides, floods and even a 4-metre high tsunami. If you have family and friends in Japan, and want to keep track of everything that is happening, here are a few ways to do so:

Google’s Person Finder
The search giant launched “Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake” shortly after the earthquake hit. The Web-based app allows you to look for a person by searching his name, and, should there not be a result, let you create a new record for a missing person. The service is available in both Japanese and English, and should be very handy for those trying to locate a loved one.

Live blogs
Many news outlets are live-blogging the catastrophe on the fly, including BBC News, Reuters, and The Guardian. Accompanying the live blogs are interactive maps, videos, and pictures. You can also contribute by submitting information on the unfolding disaster.

YouTube
Arabic news network Al-Jazeera is providing live coverage over on their channel.

Twitter
Twitter is an excellent place to hear what people on the ground are saying. Virtually all trending topics right now are about the disaster, including #prayforjapan and #tsunami. Searching for “Japan earthquake” on Twitter also yielded numerous results.

If you have any other ways of tracking the earthquake, do share them in the comments below. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people affected by the disaster.