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Product research can be difficult for companies that are setting up shop online.  However, a new website facility aims to make it much easier for companies to receive feedback from people.

TheCom.it is designed to enable people to explore the world of start up businesses and to comment on the things they like and the things they do not like.  It is unlike anything else provided online, and although it is in its very early days, it shows a lot of promise.  Companies who are new to the internet and want some feedback on what they are doing right and wrong should be impressed with the service that TheCom.it offers.

The blog for the website mentions the idea of alpha testers.  This means that people who visit the website can interact with a start-up in its earliest stages.  At present, there is very little information on the home page of the website, and you have to create an account to log in and find out more.  Nevertheless, perhaps as more and more people discover what The Com.it is all about, we can see more information and feedback from those who are using the service and benefiting from it.

The best bet at the moment is to check out the blog and keep reading it to see the latest developments.  Becoming a member of the site is also a good thing, so you can see how it works and perhaps be an active member as well.

It would never have been thought of a few years ago.  But now the state of Missouri in America has a new law that focuses on the rise of social media – and the relationship between teachers and their students.

The law does not come into action until the end of this month, but it has already made headlines around the world.  According to the law it will no longer be legal for teachers to talk to their students on social media sites.  They will not be able to friend them on Facebook or interact with them on any other social media site of any kind.

This may seem like a drastic measure, and it has certainly got everyone talking.  This is true even in areas outside of Missouri, where no such law currently exists.  However State Senator Jane Cunningham has said that Missouri is in 11^th place in the entire nation for (in her words) “teachers losing their licenses for student sex misconduct with their students.”

Some say it is wrong for the law to focus purely on social media sites.  The law will be known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act.  According to reports and Ms Hestir’s testimony, she was involved in a sexual relationship when she was in junior high.  There is no mention of social media in the reports of her relationship with a teacher, but clearly lawmakers want to ensure that teachers and students do not form relationships online.

It is certainly a question worth pondering after the social media giant bought the e-book publisher Push Pop Press.  The acquisition by Facebook has led many people to wonder whether Facebook will start publishing its own e-books, or at least venturing into this market in some way.  The About page on the Push Pop Press reveals the answer.

According to the information given on the page, Facebook is not going to go down this route.  However the best bits of Push Pop Press are likely to be integrated with the social networking site.

Push Pop Press was in its early stages when it was bought out.  It had produced Al Gore’s Our Choice app for books and this will still be available.  But no other developments or e-books shall be released now that the site has been purchased by Facebook.

Facebook has so far denied any thoughts of making inroads into the e-book business.  But there is no denying that e-books are profitable and becoming ever more popular.  For now it seems like Facebook simply wants to make the most of the technology available at Push Pop Press.  Integrating this into its own offerings will undoubtedly make Facebook even more impressive for those who want to use it in different ways.

But will there come a time when Facebook decides that it will start looking more seriously at e-book publishing?  We can only wait and see.  But one thing is for certain – the acquisition has certainly got a lot of people talking.

Social media news has focused largely on the launch of Google+ in recent days.  But some developments garnered more news than others, as people started to find their way around the new service.

One of the highlights – or lowlights for the person concerned – was that William Shatner, former star of Star Trek, had his own Google+ account suspended only a short time after he opened it and started using it.  William seemed rather laid back and puzzled by the event.  He stated on Twitter that “my Google+ account was flagged for violating standards.”  The only question was what the nature of the violation was, since he had only said hello on the service up to this point.

It has been speculated that someone at Google suspected the account may not be genuine.  There have been instances in the past of people signing up to social media sites under the guise of someone famous.  This is why Twitter has started using verified accounts so you know who the true famous people are.  Was this the reason why William Shatner could not use his Google+ account for a while?

Whatever the reason might be, things have now been restored to normal.  It would appear from various news reports that several other high flying and well regarded people also vanished from the new social media site for a while.  They too were reinstated after a short period of time.  Whatever was going on, we can hope it has now passed.

A recent survey conducted by OnePoll makes interesting reading when it comes to how parents use social media sites.  According to the results over half of all the parents surveyed said they use Facebook and other similar sites to see what their children get up to.  They do this without telling their children – and apparently the figure would be higher but for the number of parents who do not know how the social media sites work.

The age limit for youngsters using Facebook is 13, but some are using it at a younger age.  It would seem that parents are going onto such sites to keep tabs on their children.  They do so to ensure they are not getting into trouble or doing things they would disapprove of.  While the survey results may seem shocking, perhaps it is the fact that fewer parents feel able to talk face to face with their children that is most shocking.

According to other reports many teenagers feel offended that their parents are thinking of joining the site.  They enjoy having a space where they can communicate with friends and not feel as if their parents are watching them.  In a sense it feels no different from how most of us remember our own teenage years.  These are the years when parents and teenagers are least able to talk to each other.  But nowadays the parents use Facebook to keep tabs on them rather than any other method.

The cloud content management system Box.net has just released a client for Android phones to cover a larger proportion of the business market. Interestingly, this client went live before the Blackberry offering – a strange move considering the large numbers of business users.

So far, Box.net’s iPad and iPhone apps have been a hit and the success looks set to continue.  Both Android and iOS apps offer similar functionality allowing mobile access and management for consumers on the go which is a fantastic feature road warriors. Features include mobile uploads from devices, file previews, and sharing via email links.  One advantage included in the Android app is a powerful search capability which doesn’t slow down with increasing numbers of files.  Not surprising given that search is deeply integrated into the Android platform.

According to the founder of box.net, larger firms like Microsoft don’t offer much in the way of competition. Although SharePoint has recently added cloud capabilities – along with other Office programs – but how successful the SharePoint offering will be remains to be seen. There are other advantages to box.net including integration with other web based services that many find extremely useful in a business environment. Integration compatibility includes Zoho, Gmail, Twitter and even Fedex. There are more on the horizon and with such easy customisation integration becomes potentially limitless. Now with Android, iOS and (soon) Blackberry mobile acces box.net becomes a serious contender in the mobile cloud space.