These were the four main points of view from the panelists at last month’s New York Times Developer Network event. The speakers represented four very different companies and approaches to the growing social landscape.

The first speaker, Andy Mitchell, a strategic partner developer for Facebook, spoke about the changes to the social graph on the most widely used social network in the world. The most influential change in his opinion is the yet-to-be-released open graph. After showing off two well-produced promotional videos for the new releases, the key message finally clicked with me. Now, more than ever, brands will be able to follow their fan-base as they perform nearly every task on Facebook. Well beyond the like at this point, the open graph opens up the possibility to perform set action/object combinations pre-determined by application developers. There will be three global actions, listen, watch, and read, that anyone on Facebook can utilize as well.

You can already see early usage of the listen action if you have any friends that are avid Spotify users. Ultimately, Mitchell said, Facebook would like to make this social graph completely open, allowing users to determine the words and objects to define what they are currently doing.

But for now the approach is to build relationships with partners and application developers to begin indirectly teaching Facebook users how this new feature works.

The next speaker up to bat was Jason Ellis, a member of the research team at IBM that specializes in developing technology to improve the lives of inhabitants of developing countries, who they consider to be the next billion users on the Internet. Most of their recent projects use SMS to help people do things like trade farming tips, or learn about HIV. He imparted his extensive knowledge of these countries, especially those in Africa, and mapped out the expansive growth of wireless internet technology on the continent.

The approach needs to be simple enough for users understand immediately, but the technology needs to be able to solve many problems we do not face here in North America. Once the Internet becomes more stable in Africa, Ellis hopes social media will be more inclusive of these too consistently overlooked populations.

Nicole Valentine took the podium to talk about just about the exact opposite type of community, Figment.com. She is the VP of product and technology at Figment.com, and her goal is to build products that improve the experience for her “Figs” as they produce and read fiction on the site. Figment has grown to be the major hub for young adult readers and writers because it connects aspiring writers to their favorite authors, giving them direct access to those they admire. Rabid fans have attracted the attention of major advertisers who partner with Figment to produce online contests aimed at the tween/teen population. Book publishers have also found a new medium to promote their wares to a very welcoming audience.

Valentine  said she believes niche is the future of social media — all we need to do is find the thing we are geeky about.

Cameron Koczon, more commonly known as Fictive Cameron, started his presentation using the biting wit that has drawn attention to his latest project, Gimme Bar.

His question is “why can’t I keep all my bookmarks and cool stuff I find on the web forever?” The issue is that when you begin using a service to store bookmarks, images, recipes, content, or memes, there is a pretty good chance you are going to leave that service when something newer and cooler comes along. What happens to all the stuff you collected while you were using that app? Well, you’ve got to let it go and start fresh.

Gimme bar gives you the option to store all kinds of content you find on the internet in a collection that you can own, and even upload to dropbox if you so wish. If you haven’t already,  give Gimme Bar a try so you can start saving all of your favorite images of Boo the dog, landscapes of Tahiti, or whatever it may be that gets you going.

I really enjoyed the format of the NY Times Open event. It was extremely interesting to hear about the ways to approach social media from so many differing perspectives. If there is one overall takeaway I can provide, it’s that social media is what you make it, and there really is a place for everyone on the Internet. Isn’t that sweet?

Word AIDS Day is held on the the first day of December as an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV and to show support, and remember, those with HIV and those who have died from AIDS.

It’s a day to learn the facts and take this information to make healthy choices and remember to treat people with HIV fairly.

In Vancouver today, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS launched their brand new website, www.treatmentasprevention.ca. Designed and built by Invoke, the site is a resource for people who want to learn more about HIV, where to get tested and where to find local resources. Treatment as prevention may sound backwards but what it comes down to is this: the more people who get tested, diagnosed and treated, the less chances of them spreading HIV. Treatment as Prevention has a positive message to share — HIV treatment prevents spreading the illness. So while there isn’t an immediate cure, it is possible to slow transmission. It’s a good thing to consider on World AIDS Day.

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is dedicated to improving the health of BC residents through monitoring, research and treatment programs for the disease. Use the  new site to take the Fact of Fiction quiz, share your story about an experience you had getting tested and get the basics about HIV and AIDS.

Get the latest news, check out Treatment as Prevention twitter feed and join the community on Facebook from the site.

So what happens after World AIDS Day? You can still take action and take the pledge to  get tested and to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS in British Columbia — and elsewhere — by visiting the Treatment as Prevention website, or liking the organization on Facebook.

Cold, rain, sleet, and snow – why face the elements to grab a bite to eat when you can just do it from the comforts of your home without breaking a sweat? It’s the season for giving and Foxee wants to treat you to your next meal.

Food.ee is a new way of thinking about take out and delivery – a web application for discovering restaurants and ordering food online. It launched in October and features some of the best Vancouver restaurants that offer take out and delivery.

Here are two ways your next meal could be on Food.ee:

Facebook Sweepstakes
Until Nov. 30, you can visit the Food.ee Facebook Page, enter your email address and be entered to win a $50 gift certificate to one of our participating restaurants. Draws happen weekly so don’t be discouraged if you don’t win this week!

Twitter Trivia
Every Wednesday at 1pm @foodee runs a trivia contest on Twitter to test your food-knowledge. Answer the trivia question correctly and hashtag it with #FoodeeTrivia to be entered to win a Rasoee classic curry bowl.

Also, Food.ee was on TV today! Check out this great segment of Connected Life on Global TV’s Morning News where Bradley Shende (@b_radley) discusses Food.ee with Sophie Lui and Steve Darling: http://ow.ly/7EuCm

Listen up Los Angeles, LA.com is giving away tickets to see Jay-Z and Kanye West in concert, Dec.13 at the Staples Center. This is your chance to win free tickets to see the Watch the Throne tour! Our pals at LA.com Deals are running a contest that we think you’ll love.

We’re working with LA.com and Deals.LA.com, (which is not only has hyper local daily deals), but they also have monthly contests too. Last month it was Katy Perry tickets, *swoon. This month: Jay-Z and Kanye West tickets.

It’s not just two nose bleed tickets either. No siree. Deals.LA.com is hooking you and 12 friends up with a luxury suite at Staples Center. And all you have to do is register to win. The contest is on now until Nov. 30, so register soon.

We also recommend you share this contest with your friends. Because if they win they’ll be obliged to take you, because you were the one that told them about the sweepstakes in the first place! Right?

Register here for your chance to win.

You can also check out LA.com’s Facebook and Twitter profiles for deals, events, and news in and around L.A.

Ashish Gurung teaches an undergraduate social media course at SFU Beedie School of Business. He is also involved with a bunch of other stuff ‚ some startups, some consulting and lots of non-profits. Find him @ashishgurung and http://www.ashishgurung.ca

Tell us a bit about the social media course you created. What motivated you to create an entire course about social media at SFU’s Beedie School of Business?

Jan Kietzmann, a SFU professor, had the idea to bring social media to the business school. We noticed students were entering the work force with little or no formal education in social media. So, we paired up to teach this course. This is the first course dedicated to social media at the SFU Beedie School of Business. It just makes sense — students need to be educated about social media, especially from a business-driven context. It’s a natural and needed extension to our undergraduate program. Plus our class reached the waiting list within a few days of registration.

Why do you think it’s important for students to learn about and familiarize themselves with social media?

It’s important for our students to not only learn about current trends in social media, but to understand social media as a whole – from learning about behavioural economics, to virality and building communities. We’re bringing the gap between the classroom and industry. We’re skyping in awesome startups like Summify and Launchrock, and the students get a chance to meet leaders from Invoke, HootSuite and EA. It’s a great balance between theory and practical applications. Students will be leaving our class with a greater understanding of social media and its impact on both society and businesses.

Why do you think it’s important to incorporate social media in universities and lecture halls?

I think it’s very important to incorporate social media in our classrooms. I know many instructors who still don’t believe in the power of social media and refuse to integrate it in their classrooms. It’s how the students communicate with each other — it’s how they hear the news. There’s a high probability that students are browsing Facebook while in class. It’s important to now use these tools to enhance the learning experience.

Invoke: Where do you see the future of social media in the classroom?

Our class uses a Facebook group and Twitter chat (#bus495) to communicate with each other and it’s awesome. Students are posting articles, comments and having discussions everyday on our Facebook group and Twitter chat. I’m surprised by how much the students have embraced it — they’re communicating with each other, getting to know each other and are having intelligent conversations over these channels. As the instructors, we’re using Facebook to post online notes, presentations and class updates. I’m hoping to see more classrooms embrace social media. The goal is to create a culture in the classroom where students are learning from each other and from the instructors. I believe we’ll start to see educators adopt web apps that encourage a social learning environment.

What are your top five industry sites that you check out on a regular basis?

Hacker News,  Summify, 
Hootsuite , Social Media Examiner and TechCrunch.