3.7 Social Networking
Social
networking sites, which allow users to keep track of their
existing interpersonal relationships and form new ones, are experiencing
extraordinary growth in Web 2.0. According to the “Hitwise US Consumer Generated
Media Report,” in September 2006 “one in every 20 Internet
visits went to one of the top 20 social networks.” A large portion
of the traffic on shopping sites (and other Web 2.0 sites) comes from
social networking websites such as MySpace.1
Network Effects
“What distinguished 2.0 is the design
of systems that harness network effects—a broader
way of saying community—to get better the more people
use them.”
—Tim O’Reilly2
The term network effects refers
to the increased value of a network as its number of users grows. Metcalfe’s
Law states that the value of the network is proportional to the
square of the number of users.3 Consider, for example, eBay—the more buyers and
sellers that use the site, the more valuable the site becomes to its
users. Google’s AdSense advertising program also increases in
value as the number of participating advertisers and publishers grows
and ads can be better matched to site content (see
Section 3.3). Social networking sites also rely heavily
on network effects, often attracting users only if their friends are
on the site.
A key part of building a successful network and creating
an architecture of participation
is setting the user preferences to default to
share content so users will automatically contribute to the value
of the network.4 Most users do not think about sharing capabilities, let alone
care to alter their preferences. If companies do not enable sharing
automatically, few users will take the time to share their data. Providing
the option to disable sharing is an important privacy feature.
Network effects also make it difficult (though not impossible)
to break into markets already claimed by successful companies. User
content often loses value when moved into a new network. For example,
a photo’s tags (created by the community) on Flickr
are lost if the photo is taken to a different site. Competitors must
then find a unique way of convincing users that it’s worth the
switch.
Friendster
Friendster
was an early leader in social networking. Within a year of Friendster’s
founding in 2002, Google offered to buy the site
(Friendster rejected the offer). Created as a dating site, Friendster
experienced a boom in popularity that quickly overwhelmed its servers.
Friendster’s popularity declined as new sites like MySpace emerged.5 Though Friendster has not been able to keep pace with competing
social networking sites, it still claims over 45 million members worldwide.
It was granted a patent in 2006 on a key part
of social networking, specifically how networks of friends are developed
(i.e., identifying mutual friends and degrees of separation).6
MySpace
MySpace
is the most popular social networking site. Hitwise reported it as the top
website in May 2007 based on market share (beating Google by 1.5%).7 Self-defined as “an online community that lets you meet
your friends’ friends,” MySpace allows you to build a network
of friends and identify mutual friends. Each user’s page can contain
general info, pictures, blog entries, a message board and more. Customization
options, such as changing the background or adding music, give users
an easy way to create their own unique web page. The site also features
a private messaging system and special sections for film, music, videos,
classifieds, etc.
MySpace
plays an important role in the music scene, and even companies and politicians
are creating accounts. MySpace reaches a younger audience than most
conventional media outlets. Some political candidates have used MySpace
to reach out to young voters and find new volunteers. Though candidates
risk embarrassing connections (to inappropriate accounts) on these sites,
they have often found the benefits to be worth it.8 Businesses can also create profiles, which then become a form
of free advertising. News Corp, which acquired MySpace
in 2005 for $580 million, recognizes its benefits for local businesses
that want to gain exposure.9 Though many consider social networking sites to be more popular
with teenagers and young adults, the largest user group on MySpace (and
other large social networking sites) consists of 35–54 year olds.10
Facebook
Hitwise named Facebook
the “preferred network among college students. Because Facebook
was closed to non-students, students felt safer than on MySpace,
and Facebook became nearly a social necessity for students seeking to
connect with peers.”11 In July 2007, Facebook held an 85% market share of four-year U.S.
universities and had over 31 million users.12 Though Facebook has since allowed users without an .edue-mail address to join, this elitism and idea of increased privacy
drew a large enough crowd to compete with MySpace. A user can set privacy
levels for networks or even individuals, but Facebook users (as well
as users of other social networking sites) are warned about possible
repercussions from information they post.
“Remember, unless you’re
prepared to attach something in your profile to a resume or scholarship
application, don’t post it.”
—Facebook13
The site has added many features over the past few years,
including photo albums where you can tag your friends in pictures, recently
updated profiles lists, events, groups, a marketplace for classified
ads, and user status updates. In May 2007, the site introduced third-party
applications that can be integrated directly into Facebook. Not all
feature implementations have gone smoothly, though. In Fall 2006, Facebook
experienced resistance from users concerned over privacy issues when
it added a “News Feed” feature, which lists updates of friends’
Facebook activities in real time.14 Facebook increased privacy options in response, quieting most
complaints.
LinkedIn
In June 2007, LinkedIn
claimed a membership of “11 million experienced professionals.”
The business-oriented social networking site allows users to stay in
touch with professional contacts, network with new contacts, check references,
and find a job or a potential employee. Its low-key design and feature
implementations keep the site unobtrusive.15 Because of its older, more mature audience, privacy concerns are more prevalent—some
users worry that their professional contacts will be abused by other
users or even their employers for marketing reasons.16 However, the site has gained popularity as a convenient way of
networking. Members can find other professionals through their mutual
acquaintances and get introductions.
LinkedIn
monetizes the site through advertising, premium accounts for power users
(mostly recruiters), and groups for companies and organizations. Because
of the growing size of its network, LinkedIn maintains a strong hold
on the professional market.17
Xing
Xing is a
professional networking site based out of Germany. Xing is most popular
in Europe and offers its services across many countries, industries,
and languages—an important factor, given today’s globalization
of organizations. With its discovery capability and management tools,
Xing helps members find professionals, search for job opportunities
and locate other business prospects. In April 2007, Xing reached 2 million
users.18 Xing has
also been acquiring other social networks in an attempt to increase
its global reach.
Second Life
Second
Life, developed by Linden Labs, is a 3D
virtual world with millions of inhabitants. Users create avatars,
digital representations of themselves that they can use to meet other
users with similar interests, conduct business, participate in group
activities, take classes and more. Some users have created profitable
businesses or continued their real-life professions in the virtual world.
For example, lawyers have used Second Life to meet new clients (often
software developers wanting to discuss patent laws).19 Many large corporations, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, have created
Second Life presences to connect with customers, hold meetings and even
recruit and interview new hires.20, 21
Users can create objects and add scripts (to animate the
objects) in the virtual world. Because Second Life allows users to maintain
rights to whatever they create, a dynamic marketplace has emerged that
does millions of dollars in transactions monthly—the site has
its own exchange, the LindeX.22 Not only does this create monetization opportunities for users
(one woman claims to have earned over $1 million in Second Life assets23), but Second Life earns revenue from premium accounts, purchases
of virtual land and more.
Gaia Online
Gaia Online
is a popular teen virtual world. This online community allows teens
to play games, make friends and express their creativity. Similar to
Second Life, Gaia has its own marketplace where members can earn Gaia
Gold for various actions they perform on the site (e.g., playing games
or posting), and use their earnings at the virtual stores or for creating
their own shops. Nearly 300,000 members login daily and about 2 million
unique visitors login to Gaia every month.24
Mobile Social Networking
Many social
networking sites have found innovative ways of connecting
people through the Internet and their mobile devices (such as cell
phones and PDAs). Mobile users can send instant messages, check e-mail,
and post content to the web from Internet-enabled mobile devices. The
new Apple iPhone further realizes the dream
of having the Internet in your pocket by
allowing the full Internet (not a simplified mobile one) to be accessed
wherever wireless Internet access is available.
Google’s Dodgeball.com
provides users with mobile access to a network of friends in many cities.
GPS chips in mobile devices allow Dodgeball users to update their location
and be notified of nearby friends or “crushes.” Dodgeball
also provides an easy way of sending messages to groups of friends to
plan get-togethers. (See Section 3.14, Location-Based
Services.)
Other sites such as Twitter
provide similar services, accessible by text message, IM or a web client.Twitter users can message groups of friends
at once and automatically receive their friends’ updates on a
cell phone or through a chat window. The site is considered to be amicroblogging service (since users are
limited to a small number of characters for each update). Twitter offers
a web services API, which allows developers
to integrate Twitterinto other applications. (See Section 3.13,
Web Services, Mashups, Widgets and Gadgets, for more information
on web services APIs.)