NBC.com to offer social networking functions

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media company NBC Universal said on Thursday it would introduce social networking and video sharing functions to its NBC.com Internet site in another move to compete for viewers with the likes of YouTube and MySpace.

NBC.com users will be able to share NBC videos with friends and post them on other blogs or social networking sites, the company said in a statement.

Users will also be able to upload and share their own videos and photos, create public profiles about themselves and build fan groups around their favorite shows, the company said.

NBC Universal, which is controlled by General Electric Co., announced a deal earlier on Thursday to build an online video venture with MySpace owner News Corp , Yahoo Inc. Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.