Social networkers lack loyalty

Social networking users tend to get around, as they say, and not stay faithful to one network according to a new study.The report -- Web 2.0 & the New Net -- by research group Parks Associates found that MySpace users are chronically unfaithful. The survey found that nearly 40 percent of MySpace users keep profiles on other social networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook.Meanwhile, loyalty among the smaller social networking sites is even lower, with more than 50 percent of all users actively maintaining multiple profiles.A straw poll in the offices of ENN matched this pattern with roughly half staying loyal to one social network while the remainder had multiple accounts.According to Parks these trends highlight a peculiar aspect of the market for social networking services. The report found that nearly half of all social networkers regularly use more than one site while one in six use three or more.Parks said the result of its findings is that users are operating in an increasingly interlinked online environment, which is tied together by links, widgets.

facebook

With an ambitious strategy for expansion, Facebook is getting into MySpace's face.Facebook, the Internet's second-largest social network, was originally popular on college campuses, but over the past year it has opened its dorm-room doors to all and seen its membership rolls explode at triple-digit growth rates.Some of the new features, demonstrated by software developers at a Facebook event in San Francisco on Thursday, will allow members to recommend and listen to music, insert Amazon book reviews onto their pages, play games and join charity drives -- without leaving the site.The Facebook invitation is expected to result in a proliferation of new tools and activities for Facebook's 23 million active users, who have largely been limited to making online connections, sharing photos and planning events.

Mobimii

Mobimii, a cross platform social networking portal for cellphones, launched in its Beta-phase today enabling users to chat and share photographs and video-clips through their cellphone with no additional charge other than that of their regular online network fee.Another benefit according to mobimii (pronounced mobi-me) is the unlimited free content that users have access to. Subscription to the site is free thereby combating the premium rates of current cellphone content. So whilst the subscriber would usually pay around R5-00 for a wallpaper or R15 for a ringtone with mobiwii the only cost they have to worry about are their network data charges.

social networking

As a percentage of all visits to the Web by US adult Internet users, 6% are made to social networking sites, which puts it above the percentage of visits made to news-gathering sites but below those to online shopping sites. The bottom line is that social networking has broader appeal than just MySpace and Facebook.

Social Networking Sites

JupiterResearch report, "Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape," finds social networks to be a way for advertisers and marketers to break through the clutter and enlist brand advocates for their cause. This year will likely see an increase in the number of brands using social marketing to reach consumers.In 2007, as many as 48 percent of brand marketers will deploy marketing on social networking channels. Last year, about 38 percent were messaging on the channel. Adoption of social marketing tactics stems from the discovery "30 percent of frequent social networkers trust their peers' opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only 10 percent trust an advertisement," said Emily Riley, JupiterResearch analyst and lead author of the report.

Tribe.net

Networking company Cisco Systems is to buy the underlying technology assets of also-ran social networking site Tribe.net, according to a report in the New York Times. The paper says the announcement will be made this week.As the New York Times points out, it’s a curious match. With 55,000 employees, Cisco makes networking equipment for large companies, while Tribe.net has eight employees, and has been outpaced by successful social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

social networking

Following in the footsteps of deals with MySpace and Facebook, eBay is now on board with Bebo, reports the Wall Street Journal. Social networking sites have a large teen user base, an age bracket eBay is keen to target. Over 50 percent of Bebo users are under 18, compared to eBay’s 35-44 age range. It is unclear at this point how the companies plan to enforce eBay’s minimum age limit of 18 on social websites where the minimum age is as low as 13.