So.cl: Microsoft’s social network with social search

Just under a year ago on FullPress we dealt with what immediately seemed to us the new Microsoft social network project probably named “Tulalip”Microsoft’s social network probably named “Tulalip”.
Already then we highlighted how the reference site wasSocl.com and today it is officially learned that theMicrosoft-branded social network is actually called “So.cl“.
It almost seems like a seemingly harmless project compared toFacebook: on the So.cl homepage, in fact, you can even log in via a Facebook account.
Not that this means much: Microsoft’s project is still far from a final version, initially more based on the concept ofsocial search called “open search”.
In practice, searches generated by So.cl users can be seen by other registered members and by undefined other “third parties.”
Obviously, Facebook is meant – since the two services can be linked – but perhaps also the results found onBing, Microsoft’s search engine, still waiting for a real breakthrough.

It is important to keep in mind that accessing via Facebook account does not mean automatically sharing all updates, photos, or shares: onSo.cl it will be possible to set the desired privacy level and decide what should remain only on Microsoft’s social network and what can also be posted on Mark Zuckerberg’s blue site.
More than a real social network, it seems to be talking about a storage and consultation container forsocial searches.
In this, with the due differences, the operation does not seem very different from whatFaceskin, Claudio Cecchetto’s social network.
The Microsoft project is therefore still evolving, apparently much more focused on enrichment on the search engine side than on the social side.
After all, competing with Facebook seems decidedly too difficult even for the big web giants that have the power to invest huge amounts of dollars.
One last curiosity: So.cl is simply pronounced “Social.”