A new site has emerged amongst the doom and gloom of today's economy. The Recessionwire.com is hoping to bring positive news to victims of the economic crisis. Labelled as a "pop-up" site by it's founders Laura Rich and Sara Clemence, two former editors who were laid off from Conde Nast's Portfolio and author/freelance writer Lynn Parramore. The idea is that the site will only survive as long as the recession lasts, which we're all hoping is quickly! [via Wired Blog]

"The customer is always right." This may always have been true but you wouldn't know it from the experience most have had before the days of social networking. Rest assure, that in this connected age we as consumers are much more empowered.

The trend of social shopping has been growing now for several years but the timing for this community is perfect. With smart phones gaining popularity, the masses are arming themselves with portable knowledge, equipped with several means of communication, high quality cameras, and social networking apps, retailers need to be aware that the consumer has evolved. Beware the multi-tasking consumer.

Here are a list of some social shopping sites:

Stylehive http://www.stylehive.com/

Jelly Fish http://www.jellyfish.com/

Crowdstorm http://www.crowdstorm.com/

This Next http://www.thisnext.com/

Wist http://wists.com/

Shop Wiki http://www.shopwiki.com/

Kaboodle http://www.kaboodle.com/

The trend towards "connected tv's" and devices is a sign that people more and more want to enjoy the convenience of being connected without being chained to a desk. Laptops are becoming the norm as prices fall, next-gen kids are growing up not even having used a desktop computer, and smartphones are becoming more accessible and user friendly. So what does all this mean? Well, I hope it means that we've reached the stage where technology is finally adapting to us and not only facilitating but simplifying our connected lifestyle.

ABI Research released a study which included over 1,000 households, and found that the younger consumers want to interact with their friends online and watch tv simultaneously. Yahoo! is on top of this movement with their tv widgets, and have partnered with some of the larger electronics company to stream flikr, news, and weather to your livingroom via the internet.  So can we expect channels/widgets for Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter in the near future? I don't know about you but I already use my TV for online content, listening to Last.fm and Twittering. So I welcome a more user friendly interface so I can continue to do these things but on the comfort of my couch and a remote control. [via cnet news]

There's a good article today in the Wall Street Journal called "Out of Office: Job Loss in the Age of Blogs and Twitter". There a lot of people these days that have been laid off, looking for work, or retiring. For some it can be quite a bleak and lonely road ahead. Thankfully, the internet has really become a source of all things, ranging from entertainment to social facilitator. The article points out that online gaming, social networking and movie rentals are on the rise as people are heading online to escape this doom and gloom economy.For the recently laid off or those looking for work in a downturn economy, the internet has been a great resource and support network. The days of veggin' on the couch flipping channels have been substituted by interacting online: searching job sites, participating in support forums, networking with friends, playing games, watching movies, and other time-wasters that are available online 24/7.