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Social media: myth versus reality

The nature of the internet economy has given myth new importance in the digital age. One need only look at the field of SEO to see just how prominent (and destructive) myth can be.

Social media has a lot in common with SEO and one area where that's especially true is in the number of social media myths that have become entrenched. From the belief that social media ROI can't be measured to the idea that your business can thrive if you get to the right influencers, social media myths run rampant today.

by Patricio Robles 27 July 2009 12:59pm 15 comments

The Friendster Lesson: Being first to market isn't always best

Did faulty servers kill Friendster? Discussions of Friendster may sound like ghosts from social networking's past, but the site's founder Jonathan Abrams is back in the news today, telling the LA Times today that Friendster got too big too fast, and attributes his company's downfall to poor functionality resulting from exponential growth.

Abrams, who's now working on start-up Socializr, says that MySpace was able to eat Friendster's lunch because of better targeting and reliability:

"They opened it up to minors, which hadn't even occurred to me for the legal and safety reasons... the real reason that Friendster got supplanted by MySpace in the U.S. was that MySpace's website just worked and Friendster's didn't."

While dependability is key to a website's success, Abrams is still missing the big picture on what makes social networks stick around online.

by Meghan Keane 24 July 2009 00:18am 3 comments

Twitter fears Facebook. As it should.

TechCrunch's been airing Twitter's (not so) dirty laundry all week. Courtesy of a hacker, TechCrunch has gotten hold of 300 confidential Twitter documents, and yesterday they released notes from a set of executive meetings that laid out the company's upcoming strategy plans.

What did we learn? That Twitter is scared of Facebook. As it should be.

by Meghan Keane 17 July 2009 16:47pm 7 comments

PPC arbitrage Facebook-style

Facebook, which just announced that it had reached the 250m user mark, continues in its quest to build a sustainable business. Currently, Facebook's self-serve PPC ad platform accounts for the largest share of the company's revenue.

In an effort to grow that chunk of revenue, Facebook is adding on to its self-serve ad platform to meet the needs of developers and I think this could open up a potential arbitrage opportunity for savvy developers.

by Patricio Robles 16 July 2009 08:59am 0 comments

Real-time, red herring: why real-time on the consumer internet isn't the real deal

The buzz in the consumer internet right now is real-time. Twitter and Facebook have put the spotlight on real-time but now tech giants like Google and Microsoft are giving real-time the time of day.

Where is this all leading? Is real-time the most important thing taking place on the internet today as some believe or is it the next overhyped web fad?

by Patricio Robles 13 July 2009 12:30pm 0 comments

Facebook Fan Box and what it means for brands

Facebook has just launched Fan Box, a new widget. This is great news for brands wanting to grow a Facebook fan page. But it's probably going to drive traffic in the wrong direction for most brands.

by Charlie Osmond 10 July 2009 12:39pm 4 comments

Facebook sued for click fraud

Facebook claims that its recent problems with click fraud are behind it but one advertiser is sending Facebook a clear message: your problems are just beginning.

Sports website RootZoo has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in federal district court in San Jose, California and is seeking class action status. The company is being represented by Kabatek Brown Kellner, a law firm with a history of litigating click fraud actions.

by Patricio Robles 10 July 2009 09:28am 2 comments

Google closes in on real-time search

When will Google get into real-time search? Soon enough.

Last week, both Bing and Facebook incorporated Twitter and Twiiter-like features into their services.

This week, Google's Marissa Mayer says Google finds real-time search "interesting," but she's still not spilling the beans on when Google will integrated the service into its search portfolio.

by Meghan Keane 09 July 2009 18:55pm 6 comments

Facebook users are getting older

Facebook may have begun as a network for college students, but if new demographic estimates are correct, the social networks' audience is skewing much older.

According to iStrategyLab, the overall number of users between 18 and 24 years of age has grown only 4.8% between January and July of this year. That's compared to a 513.7% growth among users older than 55.

Of course, more high school and college students use the site than 55 year olds, so there's less room for growth. But if younger users don't replace current users as they age, it could be very bad news for Facebook.

by Meghan Keane 07 July 2009 16:56pm 2 comments

Facebook threatens national security

Family details of Sir John Sawers, the incoming head of MI6, were posted on Facebook by his wife. This could prove to be a serious lapse in security for the future Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service.

At the very least, it's an embarrassment for MI6 and another demonstration that people frequently use Facebook and social media to publish things they later regret.

by Charlie Osmond 06 July 2009 09:51am 2 comments