Jul
23
2008
MySpace is still the top dog among social networks in the United States, according to researcher Hitwise, but its No. 2 rival Facebook is gaining fast.
MySpace attracted as much as 73 percent of U.S. visitor market share for social networks in June, down by 6 percent from the same period last year, according to a report released Wednesday from Hitwise. Facebook, its more staid social rival, lured about 17 percent of the U.S. market, up 40 percent from June 2007.
It’s still a wide margin, but Facebook’s threat looms large. And Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg emphasized this week that the company’s primary goal is growth.
Also of note was MyYearbook.com’s ascent in the last year. Its market share grew by 318 percent to a 1.54 percent market share in June.
Hitwise reported a similar story in relation to time spent on social networks. In June, MySpace commanded the most time from its members, who spend an average of 31 minutes on the site, down by 4 percent from the previous year. In contrast, Facebook members logged an average of 21 minutes, up by 41 percent from the comparable period last year.
In the United Kingdom, Facebook’s picture is even rosier. There, the company accounted for 45 percent of the U.K. market share for social networks in June, a year-to-year rise of 188 percent. Former leader Bebo.com was No. 2 with a 25 percent share; and MySpace ranked third with a nearly 15 percent share.
CNet News
no comments | tags: Facebook, MySpace, MyYearbook | posted in Social Networking
Jun
21
2008
As if there weren’t already enough social networks, MyYearbook has been showing spectacular growth, growing over 384 percent year-over-year according to the most recent Hitwise data. MyYearbook targets high school students. Next we’ll be hearing about the elementary school social network experiencing spectacular growth.
Eric Eldon has posted the rumor that MyYearbook is working on raising a large round of capital. This wouldn’t be surprising given there growth over the past year. They still have a long way to go, commanding less than 1.5 percent of the social network market currently. It’s a great start though and at this pace, the company may be able to secure a fairly sizable chunk of the market.
While I’m not sure if college students will continue logging in once they graduate, the company will at least have a large piece of the high school market. Then again Facebook and MySpace have both done a great job on that portion of the market. Apparently there’s still space for one more though.
no comments | tags: Facebook, MyYearbook | posted in Social Networking
Jun
21
2008
Caroline McCarthy has an interesting post about a recent report which suggests social networks are actually educational for youth, rather than simply acting as a time suck. Social networks have rapidly become one of the most predominant communication tools on the web especially for the youth who have flocked to MySpace and more recently, Facebook.
If you haven’t watched the Frontline special “Growing Up Online“, I highly recommend checking it out. The program covers the impact that social networks are having on children growing up today. It is less than an hour long and is an extremely engaging program for anybody to watch.
One of the most interesting highlights of the study, Caroline McCarthy suggests, is that “social networks may be part of the reason that low-income students are largely just as technologically proficient as their peers, contradicting parts of a 2005 Pew study that detailed an economic ‘digital divide.’” The assertion that social networks help to eliminate the digital divide is a substantial one.
This study would also suggest that school policies of blocking access to social networks may not be the best idea. In fact schools should encourage student participation in sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and MyYearbook. Even while social networks may help bridge the digital divide, Danah Boyd suggests that there is yet another divide within social networks: a divide of classes.
While there will continue to be social divides, it appears that social networks tend to create a net positive impact rather than further the existing social divides. Do you agree with the findings of this study?
no comments | tags: Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, MyYearbook | posted in Social Networking
