Facebook leaves Myspace lagging behind.

In May 2008, Facebook’s total number of unique visitors surpassed that of MySpace and social media organisations the world over were silenced. Facebook had surfaced with a total of 123.9 million unique visitors. What had become of the social network that had a three year head-start? What had it done wrong?

Launched in August 2003, Myspace was the pioneer of social-networking sites, offering a free platform with no obligations. It encouraged users to customise their profile pages by entering HTML and musicians went a-wall when given the opportunity to share 6 MP3 songs. Currently over 8 million artists have been discovered on Myspace and there are those select few such as Lily (granted she does have a famous dad) and M.I.A who managed to propel themselves from Myspace haven to the global music domain.

Facebook had its inception in 2007 and offered many of the same features as Myspace including: banner ads, creating customized profiles and the ability to increase or decrease the level of visitor restrictions. However, it also features the Wall, Pokes, Photos, News Feed, Facebook Notes, Chat and Gifts and an ever-expanding number of applications. Eventually Myspace caught on to the photo tagging frenzy and were quick to add the option.

The most significant difference between the two websites is the level of customisation. Facebook presents a rather simple and easy to use interface which only allows plain text as opposed to HTML and CSS. Its ‘dummy-proof’ approach was a big winner with those less technologically inclined, who assumed Brazilian band CSS had collaborated with Myspace. It is especially popular with the adults.

In April 2009, it was found that a greater percentage of visitors aged between 25 and 34 and 35 and 49 were logging onto Facebook. In contrast, the highest indexing demographics on Myspace.com were people aged 18 to 24 and 12-17.

According to web information company Alexa, Facebook's ranking among all websites went from 60th to 7th from September 2006 to September 2007. In Indonesia it holds 1^st place, in the United Kingdom it is at 2^nd place and both the United States and Australia rank it at number 3.

The social influx from Myspace to Facebook is evidence that every social networking site is disposable and unless you stay relevant you will only get left behind.

Watch your back Twitter.

Freemium - Getting More Than We Deserve

Free media begins with: Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, Google, Blogger, Youtube, Myspace and every news and information website, yet it certainly does not end there.

The big question is: Do we take these gratuitous services for granted?

Do we still respect what is on offer, when the cost is nil?

The majority of people can afford to buy a newspaper yet decidedly choose not to. But then again, why would you when you can get the same thing for free, in digitalised format? Yet, although this media comes at no price, consumers still expect to receive top quality services. Therefore, in this day and age where these said media services are financed by endless advertising, the new transaction is time.

We are now basing our decision on whether a product is worth our 'time'. Time is the new form of currency that we consumers are safeguarding and sharing with those who manage to impress us, with those whom expect no financial benefits.

Time has become a pretty important factor, one of which many different companies are vying for.

So who is worthy of your time? Or more to the point, who is not?


Check out Harriet Denny's article on free media and the public's expectations at Media Week.

Picture also from Media week

Social Media Influx

Illustration by Matt Hamm

Kyan Media

Social Media is Written in Stone

I feel this blog is becoming home to my rants on technology and its effect. It's sheltering write-ups that shed light on the ever expanding realm, that is social media and the ramifications that its users (ie. us) are ignorant to.

But hey, life's all about the equilibrium. Right?

After reading Adam Ferrier's 'Social Media is Anti-social Media' [Consumer Psychologist] it made me think about the written word and how popular it is becoming. When I say written word, I really mean the typed word, that enters cyber-space through whatever social media site you subscribe to. Such sites are becoming increasingly popular with today's technology enthusiasts, ie. the generation of the noughties, so much so that an individual is more than happy to make their mark, but neglects to think of the consequences.

Social media sites, such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and even Blogger enable opinions to be heard. They are port-holes through which one can voice their concerns and sometimes make a difference. Of course one would have to go a step further than merely informing Sally Tyler about 'all the crazy things she may have done last night'. What I refer to is Facebook groups that attempt to gather like-minded people together for the good of the cause. In Ferrier's article, he refers to a group of NSW Corrective Services Officers who formed a facebook group which 'opposed the privatisation of Australia's prisons' and in turn may be reprimanded for their actions.

The officers advocate that creating the group is no different to heading to the local pub and having a gripe. The key difference, unfortunately, is that unintentionally these individuals have created evidence that has the potential to work against them. Everything that they have discussed in the casually created group puts them at risk of being fired. In an age where every man and his dog is hastily typing away and pressing submit, it does not help that the internet is 'unconstrained and indeed unconstrainable by state' [ETA]. No doubt the defamation laws are in over-drive.

Ferrier believes that these days everyone should be vigilant with what they decide to publish on the web, stating that such a way of life 'fosters a culture of nervousness'. Although I agree that those who share their opinions via the web should choose their words carefully, I do not believe that enough attention is being given to cause any apprehension. Instead, we are constantly inundated with new and improved ways of cyberally expressing our opinions that we are forgetting to approach with caution.

We are like kids in a candy store, with a credit card to boot; filling our lolly bags with every colour of the rainbow before stuffing them in our big -opinionated- gobs. However, we negelct to pre-empt that upset stomach, that understandably, follows in suit.

Due to the vast and sometime unexplored territory that is the internet I do not believe there is much the government can do to regulate what is 'said'. Instead, it is up to the individual whose finger tips are skipping over the keys, to decide which words should not be 'said'.

Google L(aTtitude) and Bed(me)post

Those social networks and those 'not so'..

Continuing with the topic of social networking applications, I recently stumbled across Google Latitude. It's very similar to the application Twitter, a site that is purely dedicated to status updates; very similar to the feature found on Facebook; but Latitude takes it that step further.

Google Latitude is more like a tracking device, a device that tells other subscribers your exact location and even provides images/maps, at your discretion. However, Google do promise that the user has complete control over how much information is released. Hell, you can even say your somewhere you're not.

Check our this great site Another Advertising Wanker and its write-up on the application:

'Social. To be, or not to be?'

Really does just show how society's voyeuristic needs are only increasing and that there are those who are only happy to keep the "beast's" hunger at bay. You know what they say: 'Supply those who demand'.

A further note for those whose 'little black book' is weighing them down. A program called 'Bedpost', which is anything but a 'social' site, allows you to keep track of those you 'bed', where you bed them, and an overall rating. Pretty neat, huh?

Jesus 'they' will stop at nothing.

Curious? Bedpost

For statistics sake, it would be rather interesting. However, rather than play the waiting game, if there are any nymphomaniacs out there who would like to volunteer and attack any lasting shreds of dignity, let me know.

It's even compatible with iPhone! YAY.