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| Facebook Winning at World Domination Posted: 20 Jun 2008 11:19 AM CDT Last night Eric Eldon posted that Facebook has opened up its worldwide lead over rival social network, MySpace. Facebook has 123.8 million visitors while MySpace has 114.5. This is big news for Facebook and with today’s news that Facebook has launched in Chinese and Russian, there is a pretty good chance that they will continue to expand their dominance. Not everything is rosy though as Erick Schonfeld points out. In the U.S. MySpace continues to dominate over Facebook with 73.7 million unique visitors last month versus Facebook’s 35.6 million. MySpace also continued to grow in the U.S. while domestic growth for Facebook was stagnant. Yesterday I highlighted the global battle for social network domination. While there is still a fight in the U.S. for social network users, the majority of the race has shifted to abroad where there is still a ton of growth potential. China appears to be one of the most hotly contested countries with 51.com, Xiaonei and other Chinese social networks each launching their own platforms to compete with Facebook. The race is on to become the largest global social network and for today, Facebook is winning that race. |
| New Seesmic Player Launches, iPhone Version Will Be Killer Posted: 20 Jun 2008 10:34 AM CDT Seesmic has released a new version of their player and I have to say that it is pretty amazing. The player has threaded comments and the ability to embed the player elsewhere. This is extremely powerful because it means that the conversation can literally be transported to another site. Take for instance the following conversation started by Duncan Riley at the Inquisitr:
The concept that the conversation can literally be transported anywhere is one step beyond what Disqus is currently offering with their blog comments solution. The idea of video comments makes a lot of sense but I think it makes even more sense on a mobile device. Ultimately when I’m in front of my computer it’s easier for me to type out my messages faster than I say them. Then again, perhaps that’s why I have a written blog instead of a video blog. While each person has their own preference of video versus text, I think that when traveling, video could be more convenient. For instance, imagine a video conversation being shared with your friends about where you’d like to go for the evening. Rather than having a threaded text you can have a threaded video conversation and the background of your friends in their videos adds a ton of context to the message. Overall, while I personally not an active video commenter, I think that this new feature is a killer one. I can’t wait for the iPhone version to launch. Do you think the threaded video comments player is useful? |
| Do Social Networks Bridge the Digital Divide? Posted: 20 Jun 2008 10:08 AM CDT Caroline McCarthy has an interesting post about a recent report which suggests social networks are actually educational for youth, rather than simply acting as a time suck. Social networks have rapidly become one of the most predominant communication tools on the web especially for the youth who have flocked to MySpace and more recently, Facebook. If you haven’t watched the Frontline special “Growing Up Online“, I highly recommend checking it out. The program covers the impact that social networks are having on children growing up today. It is less than an hour long and is an extremely engaging program for anybody to watch. One of the most interesting highlights of the study, Caroline McCarthy suggests, is that “social networks may be part of the reason that low-income students are largely just as technologically proficient as their peers, contradicting parts of a 2005 Pew study that detailed an economic ‘digital divide.’” The assertion that social networks help to eliminate the digital divide is a substantial one. This study would also suggest that school policies of blocking access to social networks may not be the best idea. In fact schools should encourage student participation in sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and MyYearbook. Even while social networks may help bridge the digital divide, Danah Boyd suggests that there is yet another divide within social networks: a divide of classes. While there will continue to be social divides, it appears that social networks tend to create a net positive impact rather than further the existing social divides. Do you agree with the findings of this study? |
| Robert Scoble & Gary Vaynerchuk D.C. Bash! Posted: 20 Jun 2008 07:59 AM CDT It’s summertime and it’s time to let lose with two of the biggest rockstars in social media: Robert Scoble and Gary Vaynerchuk. Capitol Valley Media has been working hard to put this together and with the help of Frank Gruber and the Social Times this is sure to be an amazing time. Come network with the best of the best in D.C.’s social media and technology scene. It is guaranteed to be a hell of a party and a great way to connect with fellow D.C. professionals in the industry. Did I mention free wine? Gary V has got the wine and you’ve got the time to come and connect with some of the most passionate people in the city. We hope to see you there! To register for the event, head on over to http://dcsocialmedia.eventbrite.com. Tickets are going fast to be sure to get yours!
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| Can MyYearbook Take on Facebook? Posted: 19 Jun 2008 05:53 PM CDT
Eric Eldon has posted the rumor that MyYearbook is working on raising a large round of capital. This wouldn’t be surprising given there growth over the past year. They still have a long way to go, commanding less than 1.5 percent of the social network market currently. It’s a great start though and at this pace, the company may be able to secure a fairly sizable chunk of the market. While I’m not sure if college students will continue logging in once they graduate, the company will at least have a large piece of the high school market. Then again Facebook and MySpace have both done a great job on that portion of the market. Apparently there’s still space for one more though. |
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