ReadWriteWeb

After seeing how hard it is to combat the goliath that is Google when it comes to search, you almost have to wonder about anyone launching an alternative search engine these days. Are they crazy? Overly ambitious? Probably a little of both. The latest attempt to snag a little search market share comes from Lavva, a company with big ideas about social search. Instead of retrieving sites based on a search algorithm like Google does, Lavva bases its search results on what people say are the top results. According to the company, this makes search "100% democratic." After a few test searches of our own, we can only say this: there's a reason why Google is king. Algorithms work.

In wake of the news of the FriendFeed acquisition by Facebook, we're faced with the real possibility that FriendFeed.com will be shut down for good. According to the press release, "FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being..." In other words, it's only a matter of time before the site is gone for good. What is the FriendFeed community to do?

At one time, FriendFeed clones like Lifestream.fm and Socialthing! looked like promising alternatives, but neither of them offered the same rich and innovative features that FriendFeed does - the very features which made FriendFeed the standout service that it is today. However, there is one service that may have an opportunity to capitalize on the FriendFeed exodus: social media aggregator Streamy.

ThisMoment is a new media-sharing site (see our previous coverage) which lets you post photos and videos in a slideshow format while also sharing them across the web to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Part microblog, part social network, and part sharing platform, thisMoment's goal goes beyond simply providing a place to store and share your media. In other words, it's not just a Twitter clone with pictures. Instead, this beautifully crafted site is designed to allow you to share media that has meaning to you - the special moments that will in turn create a "digital reflection" of your life.

It's here! It's clear! It's the apply named AppUseful, the Yelp of social media applications.

Just login with your AppUseful account or with Facebook Connect, and you're magically transformed from a disgruntled social media fanatic to a pithy tech reviewer with a vengeance. Remember that time in 2008 when you couldn't get a beta invite for that one startup? Here's your chance to let it all out.

Sometimes, all you need is a MySpace profile and a dream. And a shopping cart.

For casual Internet users who are all over the social web but don't have the knowledge, resources, or desire to set up and market full online storefronts, there's PutACart, which democratizes the long tail of e-commerce, allowing users to peddle their wares from a plethora of the most popular social destinations online.

FreedomSpeaks.com is an L.A.-based startup dedicated to taking the friction out of civic engagement. The site, a politically neutral platform for activism, allows registered users to identify and communicate with government representatives without once using a printer or stamp.

Angel investor Dale Okuno gave founders Kurt Daradics and Jason Kiesel an undisclosed sum in April 2009, and the company has already reported marked success with their first client, faith-based media conglomerate Salem Communications.

Bob Nanna of Threadless, the online superpower that capitalizes brilliantly on hipster T-shirt culture, takes a moment at the company's Chicago, Illinois, headquarters to talk about how employees have used social media to build and grow "brand love," a bleeding-edge, white-hot marketing term I just invented.

From CRM via Twitter to Facebook live video contests, the folks at Threadless have knocked online engagement out of the park and created a community around a brand while building a great reputation for responsiveness. Watch on and be schooled.

With a name like SocialMedia.com, it had better be good - right? The company called SocialMedia is launching a number of new advertising products today and they beg a question that could be fundamental to the financial viability of this new online world - do people want to talk about products and be active participants in advertising campaigns? We're not sure how we feel about this idea and we're curious about your perspective.

SocialMedia.com has raised millions of dollars in financing and says it's seen excellent results in previous campaigns on Facebook and other social networks. Now it's going to bring its strategy to Twitter, dedicated microsites and elsewhere around the web. The strategy is essentially to track, highlight and prompt casual conversations online about an advertiser's product. Do you want to be part of those kinds of conversations?