The Gender and Age Gaps in Social Media

John Todor recently looked at the different statistics consulting age and gender of those using social media. Since this is becoming an important way for businesses to create a value and connection with their audience, companies should realize who is online.

According to the article, females are the dominant users of certain social networks sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, as they are 63% of the users,. The majority of users of these sites are 18 to 25 years old.

On the contrary at LinkedIn, males are the majority of the active users at 61%. This group is also older with average users are between 26 to 35 years old.

New Developments in Online Social Platforms

Socializing on the web started with chat rooms, e-mail, and instant messaging, and then it morphed into social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Some have wondered, as this blog post indicates, about what the next step in the evolution of these sites will be. In the quest for an answer the post uncovered a new company, called RocketOn, that has a solution. They have created a program where each individual would have their own mini avatar that would be present with them at all times.

As described in this article from TechCrunch “Instead of integrating virtual worlds into webpages, it has actually placed one on top of them so that avatars can roam the web just as you currently surf it.” Avatars would have all the basic capabilities that similar programs have such as the ability to change outfits, and chat. As an added layer, however, consumers would have the option of paying for virtual goods through real money, or by earning points through completion of tasks, and simple use of the program. Below is a video with the demonstration of this product. .

Friends Make Better Marketers

Many companies have acknowledged the influence of social marketing. Confirming the influence of peer-to-peer marketing is Sephora, a retail beauty chain. As reported in this article in Internet Retailer last year, Sephora, after implementing an “online viral marketing campaign” where certain individuals were picked to test products and spread the word, the company reported that their online response rate from this campaign was three times higher than other forms of online marketing including banner ads, and links from company generated e-mails.

More recently, as reported in this article at cnetnews.com, Internet start-up SocialMedia Networks is announcing that they have a new twist that will also help media buyers increase the success of their online advertisements. What they are offering is a new technology, called Social Banners that will incorporate consumers that are deemed influential among their peer group into their ads.

Social Banners would use a Friend Rank system, similar to that of Google’s Page Rank, where a specific algorithm would determine an individual’s influence on their peer group. As stated by Seth Goldstein, founder of SocialMedia Networks, "FriendRank basically helps us choose which friends to put in the ad." The data would be gathered from sources such as Facebook, and MySpace. But the question remains, will consumers respond to any overt marketing even through their social network.

Facebook Challenges Traditional Media

As posted by B2B Magazine, Visa is launching the Visa Business Network on Facebook in order to connect businesses to this social forum and their potential customer base. According to a press release by Visa, the focus of this venture is to help small businesses “Connect with others, manage more efficiently, and grow business.” Visa also announced as an added incentive that the first 20,000 U.S. based businesses that join this new network will be awarded with a $100 Facebook Ads credit.

Controversy, however, has surrounded Facebook and the ability of companies to use this platform for advertising since Facebook’s difficulties with Beacon, including MoveOn.org’s online petition with over 50,000 members protesting the use of this tool. Despite this, the new program offered by Visa is one of over 24,000 applications created on Facebook in the past year in order to appeal to Facebook’s 80 million users. Many companies are still experimenting to find ways to effectively communicate with this market.

Facebook Officially Growing Faster than MySpace

As reported yesterday by Kevin Allison in the Financial Times, Facebook has, for the first time, grown faster than MySpace. According to the article, during the month of May, Facebook had 123 million unique visitors, which was 162% more than Facebook had in May of 2007. MySpace only grew 5%, with 114.6 million more unique visitors. These measurements were taken by ComScore.

This is the first time Facebook has taken a significant lead in growth, but it comes with shakeups in the management. Both Adam D’Angelo, the Chief Technology Officer and Matt Cohler, the person in charge of product development, departed from the company. However, when it comes to active users, MySpace still dominates with 110 million while Facebook only has 80m users.

LinkedIn Valuation: Professionals are Valuable Social Networkers Too

In an article this week at the New York Times, they discussed where LinkedIn is going in the future, and how it got to its current position on the social networking market. On Wednesday, it was announced that LinkedIn is currently valued at $1 billion. On Wednesday, there was a $53 million investment from Bain Capitol Ventures. To put this in perspective, the NYT pointed out that when MySpace was purchased by NewsCorp, it was worth $580 million, and Facebook was valued $15 billion when Microsoft purchased a share of the social networking site. The corporation is currently private, and hopes to stay that way.

How does LinkedIn keep pulling in the money? Currently, only one-fourth of its projected $100 million is from ads. What are the other ways it keeps the revenue streaming in? It offers premium subscriptions where users have more flexibility with their actions, it offers premium subscriptions, and it also offers recruiting tools for businesses.

It also has a few plans for its future. It will soon offer a group company function. Everyone who works at a company will be automatically pulled into a group, therefore fostering an easier way for everyone to communicate with one another. They also plan to add a calendar function and allow independent developers to build programs that allow for collaboration.

Update: We have updated this post. Microsoft owns a share of the social networking site Facebook, which it's value was $15 billion at the time of valuation. LinkedIn is valued at $1 billion. We apologize for the errors.

New Study Shows Small Businesses adopting Social Media

According to this article here at Customer Think, social networks are using social media to enhance the world of mouth of their business. Warrilow and Company reported that 28% of small businesses have at least one profile on a social networking site, most likely to be Facebook or LinkedIn. Another statistic was that fast-growing companies, those with 20% or more annual growth, mare more likely to be participants in social media. However, there weren’t to many details released beyond those numbers. John I. Todder, Ph.D., the author of this article, believes that most small businesses believe that visibility on the internet is very important, and realizing the power that social media tools can harness.

Build Your Own Community

An abundance of “build your own” social network platforms has recently surfaced due to massive success gained by Ning. Wackwall is another free social-network creator that allows you to easily customize your network in easy steps. It even allows you to use CSS coding to give it a great visual feel and to map your domain name instead of having something along the lines of “mynetwork.wackwall.com”. Although customization of advertisements on your page will require a premium package from Wackwall.

It’s a startup now, but I expect a lot of upcoming traffic on Wackwall as people build more niche communities tailored to their specific interests.

More Dangerous Storms, More Web 2.0 Used to Communicate

Yesterday, we reported that weather enthusiast now have a place to congregate on the web. In the past, we’ve also reported about how Web 2.0 tools were used to spread word of natural disasters (Post is Here). With the intense weather gripping the Iowa, the Red Cross has adapted Web 2.0 tools to the fullest to communicate what’s going on with the resident of Iowa. As reported here at Read Write Web, the Red Cross has started a blog on Wordpress to issues the latest press releases, media and information about shelters to those affected in Iowa.

Through the use of Utterz (where reports are filed from the field), Flicker and YouTube, to Slide powered by User Generated Content, as well as mashups provided by Google Maps to show the affected areas, the Red Cross is spreading the information people need to know, as well as getting those affected by the flood to communicate where and how they are affected.

Weather Enthusiasts Now Have a Social Community

Recently, it looks as if almost everyone has jumped on the social networking bandwagon. Fox Interactive has launched Fox Weather, which allows its users to create profiles, write blog entries, participate in discussion forums, and upload photos. It will be interesting to see the kind of activity this site will generate when huge storms, severe warnings, and unusual weather conditions appear.

Steve O’Hear mentions that this is another example of “social networking as a feature rather than a product in itself”. Organizations are beginning to see the benefits that come from deploying a social community can bring to the table. It allows consumers to voice their opinions and concerns with a community that shares the same interests. We’ve recently seen how communities have helped Obama clinch the Democratic Presidential Nominee spot and how restaurants like Chipotle have created blogs to reach out to its customers. I’d like to see what other avenues of social networking we can expect to be opened in the upcoming months.

What’s Driving Users Away From Social Networking Sites?

How many unwanted, unsolicited friend requests/invitations do you receive on a monthly basis from your networking site of choice? I came across this report in eMarketer which explains that nearly two thirds of respondents said that they would consider switching social networking sites if spamming became excessive. The problem with these unwanted requests is that it often includes links that lead them to a malware site or phishing site.

Spamming is not the only factor that’s driving away users from social networking sites. Privacy is the number one issue why users over 40 are most hesitant to use social networking sites. Here’s the results provided by a survey from eMarketer.

Facebook was even quick to re-work its Beacon targeting system to not create a privacy backlash within its users. As advertising becomes more and more popular on social networking sites, marketers must be weary of their methods. Spamming and breaking privacy barriers will not get you far.

Yahoo! Lands NetLog Advertising

According to this article at CNet, Yahoo will begin advertising on Netlog, a German social networking site, and begin the display advertising immediately. With 1.3 million users a month, advertisers will be able to reach ½ of the German population who uses the internet. The users spend an average of 177 minutes on the site. It is also a very global site, as it’s available in 17 different languages. Yahoo will also be able to give advertisers the guarantee that they will be able to reach a high level of 15 to 24 year old. Global growth for Netlog is expected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2007 to $8.2 billion in 2011, according to this article at IT News.

Andreas Ludwig, Director of Business Development of Yahoo! Deutschland, had this to say about the partnership:

"This agreement with Netlog is yet another decisive step on our path to establishing the largest, most efficient online marketing network worldwide, and provides the perfect compliment for our strong network with partners like ebay in the USA or Bebo in Great Britain."

Encyclopedia Britannica Opens Up

It was announced earlier this week that Encyclopedia Britannica will switch to a wiki model, details are located here at Wired. The Encyclopedia has fallen from it’s previous pedestal, and is now allowing contributors to edit it’s material. In doing so, they’re wishing to create an open community for scholars, experts and lay contributors.

There will now be three categories of content: content from the existing community of experts (via the new wiki model), content provided by Encyclopedia Britannica, and the combination of the two once facts have been checked and verified.

Seven Important Parts of Social Media

In a recent post by Harry Gold at ClickZ, he lists seven components of your social media strategy that are critical for you to understand and use throughout your social media strategy.

1. Paid media – You advertise through social media sites. You buy your way into the sight of your customer.
2. Profiles – Create a profile for your company on one or all of these big social networking sites – Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace – then keep your profile up to date constantly adding information to show your customers that you’re an active member of the site.
3. Channels – If you have a lot of media, put it out there. Create a page on YouTube, or upload your photos up to a Flickr account. Once your videos and photos are out there, people can begin posting them to their site, and your information can freely flow, spreading the awareness of your company.
4. Gadgets/Wigets – These are useful applications for your site. If they’re catchy, and people like them, they’ll post them on different sites, letting your gadget spread the word about your company through other people.
5. Chicklets – The buttons on your webpages that spread the word. This is your RSS feed button, your bookmark on del.icio.us button, and all those other things that will spread the word about your site.
6. Blogging and blog outreach – Start a blog. Continue writing the blog, and also find others that blog about what you’re writing about. Keep up with their blogs, and make comments, and they’ll read your blog
7. Crowd Sourcing – Through all the sources you now have, ask your readers a question. Let them know you care about their opinion, and even give a prize or to out so they know you’re listening to them.

The Unseen Side of Social Networking

There are still many individuals who are yet to be convinced that social networking is a dominate part of lives today, and will be for years to come. In a recent article at the Washington Post, they discuss some new research that has surfaced that indicates that social networks are proving to be beneficial to today’s health: by helping smokers networking with other smokers who are quitting. The research found that those who networked together were more likely to quit all together.

If this is the case, pointed out by the Harvard research group, then social networking could be put to use for other needs in society that are ill-addressed, such as fighting crime, safe sex and exercise. If social networking has proven to help networks of people quit smoking, the influence is evident. What other positive things can social networking be used for?

MySpace Community Connects Fan to Band

In a recent news story at CNet, they tell the story of how Boston found their new lead singer.

Tommy DeCarlo had always listened to the band Boston, so when their original lead singer committed suicide last year, he posted songs he’d sung on MySpace as a tribute. After encouragement from friends, he sent his MySpace page to the Boston camp, and was contacted and told that Boston had no intention to replace their lead singer.

Tom Schultz’s (the founder or the band) wife was listening to Tommy on MySpace, he reconsidered because he believed it to be Brad Delp, the deceased lead singer. He then contacted Tommy, and Boston, in addition to their new lead singer, will start their summer tour this month in Ontario.

Could Your Ad be Blocked from Facebook?

If your company is trying to purchase an ad on Facebook, check to see if your company name is blocked. This post on TechCrunch reveals that any ads containing 4-letter words are automatically blocked. That means that companies like 3Jam, eBay, and others are blocked from buying ads. Names of other companies that are viewed as “competitors” are blocked as well. Some of these companies include MySpace, the Brazilian social networking site Orkut, Hi5, and Friendster.

I’m interested to see what other companies out there are potentially viewed as competitors by Facebook.

Why Obama is the Democratic Presidential Nominee

Bruce Nassbaum took a minute to comment on the news surrounding the democratic presidential nomination.

He believes that Obama was able to win with his campaign simply because he adapted to the new strategy that Generation X, Y and the Millennials are using to communicate. Obama’s campaign consisted of a new way of designing typical campaigns, and focused on the new social networking principles that are growing among today’s younger generations.

He developed some theories that involved the use of the coming tide of the importance of social networking:

-- Social networking is a more effective way to communicate compared to old fashioned, person to person, in person networking. Obama was able to leverage these generations, and come up with more money from people who couldn’t afford to donate much, leading him into more campaign dollars.

-- Generation X is becoming more powerful than the Baby Boomers. They’ve found a new way to communicate and organize with each other, which is through the web.

Not only is this important to notice with the presidential campaigns that are running, but it’s also critical to take note for managing these generations. Generation X is on it’s way up in the business world, and change is necessary.

Jones Soda bring Participation to Life

In a recent article at Generation Y, they shed light on what Jones Soda is doing to increase participation with their product on their website. This small soda company, located in Seattle, Washington, is already known for their willingness to connect with their customers, as the photos on their bottles come from the customers themselves.

Now, they’ve introduced a new level of customer participation online. For $30, customers can choose a photo, and a soda flavor, and in thirty days, have their six pack of soda personalized. It’s a brilliant way to bring people to the website, and once there, they’ve provided a very interactive online community area.

Social Media Etiquette: Build Relationships First

Searching through the blogosphere, I came across Paul Chaney’s latest post on Conversational Media Marketing. Here, Paul gives this example of what not to do when using social media marketing:

Hello Paul, ____________ here from _________,Va, and I would like to connect to you as a business connection. Also would you be open minded to hearing about a business if it could potentially add substantially to your income, without jeopardizing what you do now?

In this LinkedIn request, notice that the pitch is made before an actual relationship is established. What’s the result of this? Most likely the invitation to connect will be declined. Paul also makes the point that marketers must build rapport with users and find out what they are interested in.

Social media marketing in communities takes time, as trusted relationships must be built before a community member will listen to your pitch. Think about this cardinal rule before you deploy a social media campaign in your business.