Networking communities these days harp on and on about the closeness of their members.  There are so many out there on the internet that it’s hard to distinguish which ones are which? Well, I guess that’s only true if you were to ask anyone over the age of 40.  It doesn’t matter whether the community is your lame ass company putt-putt tournament featured on ESPN 4, or online friend communities like Myspace and Facebook, they all try to bring people closer together (and even some people you don’t want to).  Yep, I’m talking about Herbie “Pervy” in Accounts Recieveable.

Microsoft is set to add content from the Facebook and Twitter communities for Gold members of Xbox Live hoping to tap in to even more communities.  Also in for the update is the addition of an online music service called Last.FM and a new HD streaming service in the Zune Marketplace.  I happened to do the last write-up on the other major update to the NXE here, and I’m doing it again since I got into the preview program.

The interface for Facebook on Xbox Live is really easy to use, and it actually comes in handy if you use Facebook a lot.  I currently don’t have a keyboard for my Xbox for setting my status or Twitter updates, but I do see that being something on my buy list soon.  I almost think that this update is Microsoft’s way of pushing those gamepads that attach to your controller.  I’m sorry Microsoft, I can usually type around 85 or 90 words a minute on a normal keyboard, so using this really small texting pad just hurts my typing skills.  The only downside I saw while previewing the Facebook app is the failure to show your friends lengthy comments.  It’s not THAT much of a deal breaker, but it is time consuming selecting each comment to read the whole thing.

Twitter on the other hand is still relatively new, but Microsoft has deemed it the next big thing and is adding it in with this NXE update.   I won’t be surprised if we start seeing more games come out that update statuses (like Uncharted 2 for Twitter).  I on the other hand am not that in to Twitter, but the Twitter app on Xbox Live works, and does what it should.  Both apps aren’t too flashy and I really didn’t have any “oooh I can do that” moments, but Twitter has a definite lack of functionality since the Xbox360 doesn’t have a web browser.  All of those funny links your Twitter friends send out are useless (same with videos or links in Facebook).

If you’re into buying or renting new movies and you have an assload of Microsoft Points just laying around, the Zune Marketplace is for you. Did I mention that the marketplace includes 1080p video and 5.1 surround sound instant streaming? Oh yeah, that’s included on all of the movies.  Just think of it as Netflix+.  Most of the movies appear in a Neflix style menu system, where you’ll have the option to select movies to rent them in high-def or standard definition for cheaper.  You can actually use your points to buy movies for a slightly higher price and watch it whenever you feel like it, but renting movies gives you 24 hour grace period to watch the movie at your leisure.

Last but not least, is the Last.FM music service update.  This is by far my favorite of the new features (right behind the Facebook app), so if you are a Pandora fan you need to stop reading and get the hell out right now!  There is a reason Microsoft went with Last.FM.  It’s better!  So BLAH! If you are not familiar with either of these services, Last.FM is an online music streaming service.  Type in a band name to start a station and Last.FM chooses music for you based on that band or era and will continue to tune what you like and dislike.  After your first song starts, you can tell Last.FM that you love it and want to hear more like it or you can ban that song and more like it from your station forever.  It is an ever changing evolving music selection.  The only downside though is that the music won’t continue playing if you leave the app, so no in game music for you.

All of these apps in Xbox Live link up and help spread the community love with their website counterparts, essentially turning the 360 into a media center PC.  This update actually adds a few pretty good features that you might use every once in awhile with the keyboard, and some really great features to keep you coming back for more (like starting Last.FM for a party and checking out random tagged photos of you).  You’ll get your hands on with the update coming soon, but if we were to go by the last update preview-to-live timetable we are looking at early November.