High-tech resident makes social networking a breeze

He’s small, round and lovable. His name is Digsby and he may be the best thing that has happened to e-mail and Facebook—since e-mail and Facebook.

Digsby is the latest product to launch from Venture Creations, RIT’s high-tech incubator, which assists students, faculty and staff with the growth and success of new enterprises. The free, downloadable program allows users to link their various e-mail accounts, social-networking sites and instant-messenger clients, creating easy management of all programs through a single desktop widget.

“Anyone who has ever tried to manage multiple e-mail accounts, networking sites and messenger programs knows exactly why we created Digsby,” says Steve Shapiro, a 2004 graduate of RIT’s information technology program and creator of Digsby. “Not only does it save time, but it also makes staying connected easier.”

Along with a team of fellow RIT alumni, co-op and graduate students, Shapiro has taken Digsby from a concept he began develop-ing in Senior Vice President James Watters’ entrepreneurship class to a fully functional product receiving significant buzz throughout the industry on technology blogs and review sites like CNET.com.

For a free download of the program, visit at www.digsby.com.