Myspace v Facebook

Google Friend Connect - Preview Launch

Over the last few weeks there has been considerable movement within the social network environment with both Facebook and Myspace announcing they are going to allow their networks to be accessed in open-source environments. Possibly the most fantastic news though, was the announcement of the launch of Google Friend Connect. Friend Connect will allow sites to integrate a social networking gadget into their site to bring social network environments to them. Below is the introductory video outlining the basic functionality of the gadget.

Twitter 101

You're probably aware of the social networking giants Facebook, Bebo, Linked in and MySpace . However keep an eye on Twitter. In their words "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? " With a word count limit of 140 characters (less than the 160 that a text message offers) creativity, lateral thinking and the mundane exist side by side.

The Washington Post have written a nice little introductory article on the site that's worth reading.

Facts and Figures

Courtesy of the Mike Craney's Mediacom Marketing Digest, here's some ridiculous numbers. the source of which is Andy Lark, guest at a recent Marketing Association "Brainy Breakfast"

· 40 exabytes (that’s 4.0 x 1019) of unique new information will be generated worldwide this year. That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.
· There are 106 million users of MySpace.
· If MySpace were a country it would be the 11th biggest in the world (between Japan and Mexico).
· There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month.
· 120,000 new blogs are created every day.
· Can’t keep up with your online reading? Read faster – there are 58,000 new blog postings every hour.
· 90% of all commentary on a blog happens in the first 24 hours following the original posting. After that, it’s old news
· And finally – a factoid that fascinated the audience: 1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.