Teens on myYearbook.com are cleaning up 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide (C02) from the atmosphere, have saved 3 million square feet of rainforest, sent 22,000 books to Africa, and bought 40,000 pounds of rice for the hungry – and that’s in just the last six months.

Teens on myYearbook donate the virtual currency “Lunch Money” to their favorite charities in myYearbook’s popular Causes application. myYearbook users earn Lunch Money either by completing activities on myYearbook or by buying Lunch Money credits. Lunch Money on myYearbook can be used to buy virtual gifts for friends or for the recently launched Causes program. myYearbook turns the virtual contributions from users into concrete, real-world items by making monthly donations to an array of charities on behalf of its members.

Originally posted on May 13, 2009 @ 10:28 am

The Knot Inc. announced the acquisition of several registry patents from Felicite.com, as well as the ongoing business of eWish, a web-based service that enables online merchants to easily add online gift registries to their websites.

With Felicite’s patented group gifting technology, wedding guests can pool gift money online to put toward the pricier items on a registry. The patent pending cash substitution technology allows brides and grooms to get more of the gifts and cash they actually want from their registry. These new features will provide couples more options and flexibility when creating and updating their wish lists.

Originally posted on May 23, 2009 @ 7:21 am

Social music discovery service iLike announced a suite of new features for musicians, including integration with Twitter, YouTube, and MySpace, as well as a turnkey system for any artist to quickly create and distribute their own custom iPhone app. These integrations expand on iLike’s existing syndication model and enable more than 300,000 artists who use the iLike Artist Dashboard to save time and reach more fans via these new channels.

iLike also unveiled a new Premium Artists Stats service providing each artist with detailed reports on fan interactions with their content and messages across iLike’s vast syndication network.

Originally posted on May 15, 2009 @ 6:39 am

Writing community Helium announced that its writers have exceeded $1 million in total earnings. The amount, more than half of which was generated over the last six months, is a significant validation of the Helium publishing model. At present, over one thousand Helium writers have earned more than $100, and top earners have made over $5,000 in a matter of months. In addition to the rapid acceleration in earnings, the company has experienced a 70% increase in traffic to Helium.com over the last six months.

Recently named by Writer’s Digest as one of the “101 Best Websites for Writers,” Helium rewards its writers based on merit, including the number of articles purchased through the site’s Freelance Writing Marketplace, winning writing contests and achieving high ratings from fellow writers.

In addition to increasing interest on the consumer side, Helium has benefited from forming partnerships with major media companies. Last fall, the company announced an alliance with Hearst Newspapers, which is leveraging the platform to cost-effectively access premium local and lifestyle editorial content for its newspapers.

Originally posted on May 19, 2009 @ 7:18 am