15 April 2009
Gain some useful insight into the global phenomenon known as 'Social Networking'. Facebook, blogging, MySpace and micro-blogging all mean nothing to you? Then have a read on what is hot in the world of online networking.

Introduction

You may be wondering what the hell I am on about from the title of this article? Well, it's the phenomenon known as Social Networking. I must assume that the vast majority of people on the planet who use a computer on a daily basis know or have heard about this revolution. In a nutshell 'Social Networking' is the method of communicating to a global audience, via any computer station or mobile device. And according to a recent survey by Nielson-Online.com in 2008, two-thirds of the world's Internet users visit a social network or blogging site and the sector now accounts for almost 10% of all Internet time. Sounds huge right? Well, member communities have grown so large that it has now overtaken personal Email to become the world's fourth most popular online sector behind searching, portals and PC software applications. Now it's enormous!

{ Information sourced from Nielson Online | Read their report on Global Networking }



So what are these 'member communities'?

In simple terms they are a space on the Internet where users from across the globe can join and then communicate with each other via the web. Examples of these communities include LinkedIn, My Space and most recently, the ever-growing Facebook. They allow users to chat to one another, share photos or applications and generally communicate on a large-scale and in one place, all securely. Facebook is the interesting one as it is the newest, is growing at an alarming rate and is beginning to gain more and more users globally. As Facebook has moved from being within a niche market to a much more global scale, its audience has changed in very interesting ways.

{ Large Member Communities: LinkedIn | MySpace | Facebook }



Facebook

The major shift has primarily opened up the possibilities of social networking to a much broader audience and this now includes the older generation. Within the year 2007-2008, the amount of 35-49 year olds increased by 24.1 million and the amount of 50-64 year olds increased by 13.6 million. Compare this with the number of under 18 year old visitors that only increased by 7.3 million in that time. Consequently, people under 18 years old are making up less of the social network and blogging audience, whereas the 50+ age group are accounting for more of the overall audience. Amazing when you consider that Facebook primarily started out as a service for university students!



Social networks/blogs now 4th most popular online category - ahead of personal e-mail


These sites account for one in every 11 minutes online.


Facebook has the highest average time per visitor amongst the 75 most popular brands online worldwide.




Blogging

A blog is a type of website that is maintained with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events or other material such as graphics or video. Entries, also known as 'posts' are displayed in a reverse-chronological order and account for the majority of a blog's content. Most blogs provide commentary on specific subjects, company news/events or as personal online diaries. The structure of a typical blog consists of a main page where all posts are first placed, links to pages within the blog or to another blog and most will contain pages of useful information such as contact details or an about the author page. Blogs become an interactive medium by giving the reader of the blog the ability to leave comments and this is an important feature of most blogs.

Blogs 'Of the moment' include:

Whitehouse blog - Official blog for the Whitehouse and President Barack Obama

Number10 - The official site of the Prime Minister's Office (built using wordpress)

StephenFry's blog - Stephen Fry develops and creates blogs, podcasts and other content on this site specifically for its members, contributors and occasional visitors

Guardian's blog - The Guardian's blog on news, current events and journalism from around the web.

Google's blog - Official weblog, with news of new products, events and glimpses of life inside Google.

Facebook's blog - Find out what's happening behind the scenes at Facebook.

CNN’s - Political Ticker

People Magazine’s - Style Watch



Micro-blogging

Micro-blogging is another form of blogging that allows a user to write and send a very short update, which can be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group of users. The most famous micro-blogging platform of the moment is Twitter which was launched in July 2006, followed closely by Plurk and Jaiku. The system of displaying instant messages has been around for years, and you may be used to a system such as MSN Messenger to do this. However the difference with these new platforms is that everything is kept online and viewed through your web-browser, meaning you don't have to open up a separate piece of software. This only emphasises the growth of online networking and its increasing importance to web users in today's society. It also shows that a lot of web users would prefer to use a program on the web than a one they have to download, install, configure and open every time they need it and indicates the way in which users are shaping the online community and I am very sure it will continue as expectations reach higher levels.

Check out our ramblings on Twitter.



Final Thoughts

This article barely touches the surface of how much is out there and what can be achieved. I wanted to give you a brief summary of today's major players in this sector and some information on how well they are doing and expanding. The phenomenal success of these companies relies solely on the web users themselves. Facebook for example will be paying a huge amount of just to host their site on huge servers, and yet they don't charge a penny to use this service. Put a price on their services and would users still flock to join the community? Maybe, or maybe the next big thing will crop up that is free to use. Ultimately, these super-companies rely on us to keep them going, and this is part of the reason why they must keep on improving services, speed and generally become more innovative. The web has a bright future ahead and Social Networking is another stepping stone in the right direction...