New data from M:Metrics for the month of January confirms that folks who own an iPhone tend to do more entertaining things on their devices–such as watch video and visit social networks–than those who own smartphones. However, February data from mobile ad network AdMob points out that iPhone users are still a relatively small part of the overall mobile phone market in the U.S. Good thing, otherwise we’d never get anything done.
While the big news in the online world focuses on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, a more profound revolution is taking place on the online social networks: The discussion about privacy is changing as users take control over their own online data. While they spread their Web presence, these users are not looking for privacy, but for recognition as individuals–whether by friends or vendors. This will eventually change the whole world of advertising.
by Peter Kafka, Managing Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
Good news for MySpace: January comScore numbers show some audience metrics ticking up–and in many cases, outpacing rival Facebook. The bad news for both social networks: Those same numbers still indicate that American users, at least, may be reaching social-network fatigue.
I just got a hold of the comScore numbers for U.S. social-networking sites, and it ain’t pretty, folks. After peaking in October of 2007 with 71.9 million users, MySpace, the leading social network, has seen its audience fall back to around 68.9 million unique visitors. December saw no growth over November, though visitors were up 13% from last December. More alarming are the engagement metrics.
In the networked Web era, influentials may not be people with a particularly connected temperament or Rolodex, or people who control and influence monopoly distribution channels (e.g., newspapers), but rather people who influence the network by leveraging the most powerful force on the web–the link. People like bloggers, top Diggers, power users, Facebook users who share lots of links, MySpace users who embed videos, Twitter users who post lots of URLs, or any social-network user with links to lots of friends.
by Brian McConnell, Founder, Open Communication Systems
As Facebook enjoys its moment in the sun, we should take a moment to step back and look at the history of computers and social communication. Some historical perspective is in order, both to assess the real value of social networks as businesses and to anticipate how they are likely to evolve in the future. I’ve been using the Internet since 1988, and have been using various commercial online services such as CompuServe, Prodigy and GEnie since I had my first computer. A lot of things that could be described as social networks have come and gone in that time.
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