Episodes like this put the onus on companies to be social, and some do it better than others. Today the Dachis Group, an outfit that helps companies get a handle on all things social media, launched its Social Business Index which ranks, in real time, the most socially-active companies. Dachis had previously offered the data only to companies in the index, but now it’s open for all the world to peruse and use as a research tool.

You can probably guess the most social company on the list: Facebook. It’s followed fairly closely by Google. But the rest of the top five as of this writing are a bit of a surprise. News Corp. (owner of this Web site); Coinstar, the outfit that puts those coin-collector machines in supermarkets; and Wal-Mart.

Where does the data come from? Dachis runs what it calls a Social Business Intelligence as a Service platform that tracks hundreds of millions of “signals” ranging from tweets and Facebook posts to posts on customer forums around tens of thousands of brands. It then crunches the numbers as to their meaning and turns it all into usable data. The point is to give companies useful information so they can track marketing efforts to see if they’re paying off, analyze sentiments about different brands, and so on. It can also help determine whether or not spending on one campaign paid off so that ineffective approaches can be avoided.

There’s no question that Dachis is winning business from big players. Its list of customers is a who’s who of household names: Coca-Cola, Samsung, Intel, HBO, AT&T, Citibank and Disney, to name a few. Now there’s a fascinating new data tool to evaluate on an almost minute-by-minute basis which companies are the most social, and it allows you to drill down by industry, company size and lots of other factors. Since it caught my eye as being surprising, there’s a quick glance of Coinstar’s screen below.

Story image is a collection of social media icons I found at Rankraiser.com

On Tuesday, News Corp.’s 16-member board will meet in person for the first time since the long-simmering scandal over voice-mail interceptions in the U.K. flared last month with news that a teen murder victim’s phone was hacked.

Then, on Wednesday, the company will deliver its fiscal year-end results, which it hopes will defuse pressure relating to the scandal, people familiar with the matter say. In its fourth quarter, News Corp. (which also owns AllThingsD) sold Myspace, the struggling social network, and analysts expect the cable network and television businesses performed well.

After trying to stem the initial scandal fallout with moves including closing the News of the World tabloid, abandoning a more than $12 billion deal to buy the rest of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC and accepting the resignations of two senior executives, the company isn’t likely to announce any major deals or management changes soon, according to people familiar with the matter.

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The mobile entertainment unit, which includes Jamster, Mobizzo and mobile video service BitBop, will be renamed and become a part of Jesta Mobile Holdings.

“We believe that mobile entertainment is an important emerging market and we are excited about this acquisition and the opportunities for growth it presents,” said Jesta President Jason Aintabi in a statement. “FMG’s unique 10-year history in mobile entertainment services; its stature as a trusted partner with carriers and device manufacturers; and its many successful consumer brands give it a clear advantage in this rapidly developing sector.”

BoomTown’s Kara Swisher reported earlier this year that News Corp. had been looking for a buyer for the unit. Fox Mobile Group, which also saw job cuts earlier this year, is made up largely of properties acquired from VeriSign for more than $300 million. (It was a two-stage deal, with News Corp. acquiring a stake in 2006 and buying the remaining part back in 2008.) The company had also launched the BitBop mobile video service earlier this year.

The deal is the latest in a series of online divestitures for News Corp., which has sold a number of properties, including movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.

(Disclosure: All Things Digital is owned by News Corp.)

“It was clear that internationally, just as in the US, MySpace’s staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions,” said MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta. “Today’s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy.” Operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and Spain are “under review,” he added, and face possible closure.

The cuts follow a 30 percent reduction in headcount in the states last week and the hastening erosion of MySpace’s position in the social-networking market. MySpace lost the title of world’s most popular social network to rival Facebook last year and was overtaken by it in the U.S. last month as well.

“It was clear that internationally, just as in the US, MySpace’s staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions,” said MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta. “Today’s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy.” Operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and Spain are “under review,” he added, and face possible closure.

The cuts follow a 30 percent reduction in headcount in the states last week and the hastening erosion of MySpace’s position in the social-networking market. MySpace lost the title of world’s most popular social network to rival Facebook last year and was overtaken by it in the U.S. last month as well.

“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,” CEO Owen Van Natta said in a statement. “I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product.”

“MySpace grew too big considering the realities of today’s marketplace,” said Jon Miller, News Corporation’s (NWS) CEO of Digital Media. “I believe this restructuring will help MySpace operate much more effectively both structurally and financially moving forward.”

The news follows a report by market research outfit comScore (SCOR), indicating that Facebook has surpassed MySpace in the U.S. market as the top social-networking site.

Below, CEO Owen Van Natta’s all-hands memo breaking the ugly news.

Everyone,

Today we are making a number of changes to MySpace’s domestic organizational structure. For the long-term health of the company we are making some very tough, but unfortunately very necessary decisions.

We are reducing our workforce from 1,420 employees to 1,000 – all divisions within the company are affected by this restructure.

These decisions are difficult for everyone, but especially for our friends and colleagues who contributed to MySpace’s success and are directly affected by the changes. Through no fault of theirs our company’s size became unsustainable. The future success of MySpace is dependent upon us operating as a nimble and entrepreneurial company with the adaptive mentality of a start-up.

I believe this is the first difficult step toward a major turnaround – a step that will not only shore us up in the short term, but position us for long term success. We need to become a more innovative company. Becoming more innovative is an ongoing responsibility for all of us, not a one-time effort. We are developing a process that will empower anyone in the company to contribute ideas and enable us to integrate your thoughts into our plans for the future. We will follow-up with details on this process in the coming weeks.

This week we will communicate the foundation for our company strategy. In the days ahead, I will visit a number of U.S. offices, starting tomorrow at HQ, MySpace Music, and El Segundo. On Thursday I look forward to seeing everyone in Seattle and San Francisco, and on Friday, I’ll be spending time with the team based in New York.

I’m honored to be working with you on the next phase of MySpace and I’m grateful for your patience during this difficult process.

Thank you,
Owen

“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,” CEO Owen Van Natta said in a statement. “I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product.”

“MySpace grew too big considering the realities of today’s marketplace,” said Jon Miller, News Corporation’s (NWS) CEO of Digital Media. “I believe this restructuring will help MySpace operate much more effectively both structurally and financially moving forward.”

The news follows a report by market research outfit comScore (SCOR), indicating that Facebook has surpassed MySpace in the U.S. market as the top social-networking site.

Below, CEO Owen Van Natta’s all-hands memo breaking the ugly news.

Everyone,

Today we are making a number of changes to MySpace’s domestic organizational structure. For the long-term health of the company we are making some very tough, but unfortunately very necessary decisions.

We are reducing our workforce from 1,420 employees to 1,000 – all divisions within the company are affected by this restructure.

These decisions are difficult for everyone, but especially for our friends and colleagues who contributed to MySpace’s success and are directly affected by the changes. Through no fault of theirs our company’s size became unsustainable. The future success of MySpace is dependent upon us operating as a nimble and entrepreneurial company with the adaptive mentality of a start-up.

I believe this is the first difficult step toward a major turnaround – a step that will not only shore us up in the short term, but position us for long term success. We need to become a more innovative company. Becoming more innovative is an ongoing responsibility for all of us, not a one-time effort. We are developing a process that will empower anyone in the company to contribute ideas and enable us to integrate your thoughts into our plans for the future. We will follow-up with details on this process in the coming weeks.

This week we will communicate the foundation for our company strategy. In the days ahead, I will visit a number of U.S. offices, starting tomorrow at HQ, MySpace Music, and El Segundo. On Thursday I look forward to seeing everyone in Seattle and San Francisco, and on Friday, I’ll be spending time with the team based in New York.

I’m honored to be working with you on the next phase of MySpace and I’m grateful for your patience during this difficult process.

Thank you,
Owen

As chairman and CEO of News Corp. (NWS), Rupert Murdoch commands what may be the world’s most powerful media empire, spanning movie studios, television networks, newspapers and a growing stable of Internet properties, including the wildly popular MySpace social network. In 2007, he purchased Dow Jones, which owns The Wall Street Journal and wsj.com, as well as this conference and its associated Web site, AllThingsD.com. Mr. Murdoch, an Australian by birth and an American citizen, is a graduate of Oxford University and a canny, outspoken and often controversial business executive. He has a personal passion for news and a deep interest in the transition from traditional print and broadcast forms of journalism to digital formats.

• Walt and Kara return to the stage to introduce the final guest of the evening, Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO, News Corporation. They note that they’ve been trying to get him as a guest for years and he didn’t agree until he actually acquired the company. And here he comes…
• Kara: So, you enjoying yourself? Murdoch: Yes. Kara: Good. Let’s get into it.

  

• Walt’s first question concerns newspapers and their future. Murdoch says he loves news itself, he doesn’t care how it’s delivered. He notes that the average newspaper in the U.S. is down 25% to 30% in revenue, though they’ve made every economy possible in production. Now, they’re turning to making cuts in journalism, which is a huge opportunity for a paper like the Journal to fill in the gap.
• Kara notes that Murdoch has changed his tune about online subscriptions (there was talk that he was going to make the Journal free; now, it looks more like a part-free/part-paid model). Murdoch agrees, adding that people with money, sitting in Florida in a nice house, want to read the Journal every day and they’re willing to pay for it.

• Walt asks about the lack of clear delineation between the Journal’s free content and its subscription content. Murdoch says he’s working to clarify that division and maximize its effect. He notes that the Journal has seen a great increase in unique visitors since it made more of its content freely available.
• Kara: How will you make the Journal better? Murdoch says Journal stories are too long and edited by too many people. Walt’s column is the exception, he jokes.
• Murdoch says that the average Journal subscription brings the company just $125. The New York Times collects almost $500. He seems to be saying that the Journal’s payment-processing system is antiquated and that the paper has lost readership as a result.
• What will he add to the Journal? Murdoch says more financial news, more international news. Businessmen need and want international news, so the Journal needs to deliver more of it.

• Walt wonders: Is Murdoch’s focus on broadening the Journal’s content and shortening its stories fueled by the belief that people don’t want to rely on too many different publications for their news? Murdoch says it is. Seems to feel that there will be a day when there will be two big news publications (the Journal and the New York Times) and people will read one or the other.
• Moving on to the online business … News Corp. was early to the social-network business. Why did you pick MySpace and why did that area interest you? Kara asks. Murdoch says the company actually came to the space late. Points out that when he approached MySpace, it was just days away from being acquired by Viacom (VIA).
• Walt: That’s not at all like this Yahoo/Microsoft deal, is it? Speaking of that deal, what does Murdoch think about it? Murdoch says he’s been “mystified” by Yahoo’s (YHOO) response to Microsoft’s (MSFT) offer. “I can’t understand the whole thing, he says.” Jerry Yang is a friend, but unfortunately, he only owns 5%. Someone offers a price which the vast majority of holders said give me quick. He managed to hold them off.” What would Murdoch have done in Microsoft’s situation? You offer a huge premium, you fire the gun and you sit and wait, he says.

• So what will Yahoo do now? Murdoch says he sees the company trying to appease its shareholders with various new efforts in search and advertising, but none of them working. Suggests that a deal with Google (GOOG) might also be dangerous because if it’s held up because of antitrust concerns for, say, a year, Yahoo will find itself in a very dangerous position.
• What about the Carl Icahn portion of all this? asks Kara. “That’s not serious … he just wants to make himself a few hundred million dollars …”
• Walt circles around to MySpace. Notes that Facebook has had quite a bit of buzz lately. Wonders How Murdoch feels about that. Murdoch says MySpace is doing just fine. It’s growing audience. User visits are lengthening. He seems to feel MySpace and Facebook are different beasts. He says that a large portion of MySpace users are over 35.
• Kara asks how MySpace fits into News Corp.’s business. Murdoch says it’s great because its platform can be extended across various News Corp. properties. Kara asks how he’ll extend the MySpace brand. Murdoch says he’ll do that by taking it to new countries, setting it up in local languages. He mentions India as the latest example.
• Kara: Do you use MySpace? Murdoch: No. Kara: Facebook? Murdoch shakes head: No.
• Talk turns to MySpace’s new music service. Murdoch says it’s recalibrated the company’s relationship with the music industry. Before, the two were at odds; now they’re partners.
• Walt asks about Hulu, notes that it was initially thin on content. Murdoch says the company was more concerned about controlling its copyrights than the breadth of content the service offered. We want to monetize our copyrights, he says. We want to control distribution as much as we can.
• If that’s the case, says Walt, then why haven’t you sued YouTube? Murdoch doesn’t seem to think it would be worth it.
• What about the new set-top box Netflix just debuted with Roku. Is there a big future for theatrical distribution of films or are we moving towards a model where we watch movies exclusively in our home? Murdoch says he doesn’t see theatrical distribution going anywhere. Kara asks how he feels about the film industry’s windowing policy. Murdoch says he hates it. He’d love to see films released to all mediums simultaneously. Then why don’t you do it? asks Kara. You’re Rupert Murdoch! Murdoch says he’s not powerful enough. It will happen someday, though, he adds.
• Moving on to the cost structure in Hollywood. Kara notes that there’s never been an online hit that wasn’t re-purposed from some other medium. Is it possible? Murdoch says sure. But people want to watch video on big screens. Walt disagrees, notes that his sons watch a lot of online video. Murdoch suggests that what they’re watching is probably high-quality video that they paid for. The Mossbergs are ethical, right? he asks.
• Kara: The Mossbergs are ethical, the Swishers not so much. …

  

• How do you look at Google right now? asks Kara. We love them, says Murdoch. We think they’re fantastic, the greatest company in America. But, he says, you don’t want anyone to be a monopoly.
• Walt recalls Steve Ballmer’s comment yesterday about Google looking more and more like a monopoly to top publishers. What would you do if you were Yahoo? They made a “fatal mistake by not leveraging Overture when they had the chance. They have a huge job ahead of them just to hold onto their 20%. I wish them luck.”
• Talk turns to politics. Where are we politically, asks Kara. What’s you assessment of the current situation. I think you have two candidates, says Murdoch, and they both have their problems. I think you have a unique situation today, where public opinion of the government and politics is at an all-time low. It’s abysmal, he says. And then here comes this candidate who positions himself as above it all. Murdoch seems to feel that the public will rally this year to elect Obama.
• Walt asks if Obama can overcome the race issue. Murdoch believes he can. What about McCain? He’s been in Congress too long. He’s a friend, but he’s unpredictable. And he’s got a lot of problems.
• So who are you backing? asks Kara. I’m not backing anyone, Murdoch says … “but I want to meet Obama. I want to know if he’s going to walk the walk. The educational system in the states is a disgrace. If he wins, Obama needs to address that.” He needs to deal with the teachers’ unions, Murdoch says.
• Walt: Did you have anything to do with the New York Post’s endorsement of Obama? Murdoch deadpans: “Yeah.”
• Walt asks about tech policy. Notes the lousy broadband speeds in the states. Murdoch agrees they’re lousy. He says he hopes the telephone companies will pour a lot of money into broadband and unseat the cable companies.
• How do you look at the device market? asks Kara. How do you look at a company like Apple (AAPL)? I have enormous admiration for Apple, says Murdoch. A wonderful company with beautiful products. But in a corporate sense, it’s slow and limited. Kara circles back, what about devices? Where do you see those headed? Murdoch stresses mobile. It’s a big new thing, he says. It’s huge for MySpace, he says. Mentions that customized mobile alerts would be perfect for the Journal.
• What’s happening in the economy, how do you feel about it? “I think Congress has just mucked it up,” he says. “The typical family is just being horribly squeezed by taxes, rising food and gas prices. People are cutting back, and pretty soon we’re going to start seeing unemployment.”

  

• Walt: So do you think this is a real recession? Yes, says Murdoch, and one that we won’t come out of for some time. There’s a lot to put right, he adds.
• Kara: How do you imagine News Corp. expanding in the Internet space? We need more organic growth, he says.
• Q&A: Three years out, who do you see as your major competitors? I don’t know, replies Murdoch. What do you think? Questioner suggests Google and Facebook. Murdoch says that’s possible. What about the Financial Times, asks Walt. No, says Murdoch. The FT will be broken up. Viacom, asks Kara. Murdoch doesn’t seem too concerned.
• Q: If you woke up tomorrow owning a number of midlevel local newspapers, what would you do? I’d run, quips Murdoch. In short, he says, he’d tell them to write stories people want to read, instead of ones written to win Pulitzer Prizes.

For more coverage, see The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s Tech Trader Daily.

A note about our coverage: This live blog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations expeditiously written and posted to the Web as quickly as we were able. It was not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.