HomeSocial Media Networking
By Jason Smith, Business Developmet Manager, White Hat Media Ltd
Social media networking has enjoyed explosive growth over the past three years and as of yet there is no sign that it is levelling off yet. Advertising spending on social media sites in the US is expected show a growth rate of 70%, climbing to $1.6-billion in 2008 from $920-million in 2007. Social networking sites burst into the internet communities online world with a vengeance during 2007.
We believe that social networking will gain even more traction during 2008, as even more users flock to social networking sites and tools. We may see the rise of new social media networking environments during the year, including a rise to prominence by local alternatives to the likes of MySpace and Facebook. Other examples of current social media applications are Google (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube (social networking and video sharing), Second Life (virtual reality), and Flickr (photo sharing).
Facebook is a social networking website, launched on February 4, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard student. Facebook has recorded more than 60 million active users (including non-collegiate members) worldwide. From September 2006 to September 2007 the site’s traffic ranking increased from 60th to 7th, according to Alexa. It is the number one site for photos in the United States with over 60 million photos uploaded weekly.
In October 2007 Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share in Facebook for $240 million. An outright sale of Facebook is said to be unlikely as founder Mark Zuckerberg would like to keep it independent. On November 7, 2007, Facebook announced Facebook Ads; Facebook Beacon, a marketing initiative which includes a system for websites to allow users to share chosen information about their activities on the sites with their Facebook friends; the capability of businesses to host pages on Facebook for various brands, products and services (Facebook Pages); a targeted ad serving program based on user and friend profile and activity data (Facebook Social Ads); and a service for providing businesses with advertisement analytic data including performance metrics (Facebook Insights).
MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally. According to Alexa Internet, MySpace is currently the world’s sixth most popular English-language website and the sixth most popular website in any language, and the third most popular website in the United States, though it has topped the chart on various weeks. The service has gradually gained more popularity than similar websites to achieve nearly 80%of visits to online social networking websites. According to Internet research firm Comscore, almost two-thirds of all Internet users visit MySpace at least once a month.
But don’t for one minute be sitting there thinking “yeah but those sorts of sites are for kids”. Research shows that half of the users visiting social media sites are people over 35. Facebook alone has more than 100,000 users older than 64. These sites are doubling in popularity at ridiculous speeds. I can bet that a number of you now bypass Google and head directly to Wikipedia when searching for certain kinds of information.
The reason for the rise of social media sites isn’t that big a surprise really. It’s the same reason why the telephone - and later the mobile phone - have became popular and why the internet has become indispensable to us now as a communication, marketing and research tool. Can you imagine life without your mobile and access to the internet now!?
The reason for this is that these social media sites have made it easier for us to connect with people on a much deeper level than we could have imagined a few years ago. I’m guessing that a lot of you know a lot more about people you have never met in person than you do about some of your neighbours. I know I’m guilty of this! This is because it’s now easier to collaborate and share information on social sites.
The main point I’m trying to make here is don’t just think these social media site are just playgrounds for children. They are powerful marketing tools and you should not overlook the importance of social media marketing to your business right now, as well as in the future. If you’re currently advertising on Google AdWords, you may want to check out Facebook Ads, which gives businesses another avenue to get in front of the right audience based on demographic and activity data.
