Social Networking Watch: News on the Social Networking and Social Media Industry

Social Network for Gay Women

GAY WIRED -- Apr 26 -- FabFemme launches this week and is dedicated to helping women turn online connections into real-world fun, friends, adventure and relationships. The debut marks the national expansion of FabFemme, a successful, six-year-old lifestyle and networking organization for gay and bisexual women in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. FabFemme has attracted a passionate, grassroots following of career-savvy women thanks to its diverse range of inspired events and activities-from intimate dinners to group theater outings and day trips to large-scaledance parties. Premier memberships are $18/month and $100/year. FULL ARTICLE @ GAY WIRED

Users Like Branded Personal Pages

BIZ REPORT -- Apr 26 -- Social networking has become a more trusted advertising medium for many consumers according to a study from Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions and MetrixLab. The study indicates that branded personal pages are the best way to connect online. 64% of social networking consumers trust information from friends and will visit other sites to confirm what they have read on a friendly site. About 43% of users have visited a brand's social site on MySpace, Bebo, Friendster or another social networking website. FULL ARTICLE @ BIZ REPORT

MySpace Test Launches Hispanic Site

REUTERS -- Apr 25 -- MySpace has launched a test version of its U.S. site in Spanish and another that targets users in Latin American countries, as part of a rapid global expansion that will see the service operate in about 20 global regions by June. About 50% of MySpace's overall growth comes from international regions. MySpace launched into new regions including striking a joint venture in Japan, the Netherlands and Germany. MySpace sees the Hispanic market as one of its most lucrative opportunities as it is one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the U.S. according to the 2000 U.S. census. 43% of all U.S.-based Hispanic Internet users visited MySpace in March, according to Nielsen Netratings. FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO NEWS

MySpace, Photobucket Reach Truce

IDGNS -- Apr 25 -- Photobucket CEO Alex Welch wrote on the company's blog Monday, "Following discussions with MySpace, we're pleased to announce that all Photobucket videos and remixes are enabled once more on MySpace with immediate effect. Both our companies are committed to putting our users first." Photobucket receives 57% of its upstream traffic from MySpace, according to Hitwise. FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO NEWS

Jangl Powers Tagged

PRESS RELEASE -- Apr 25 -- Jangl is bringing calling and texting capability to the more than 40 million member and visitors to Tagged.com members. With just a few keystrokes, the Jangl Widget for Tagged generates a private phone number enabling people to connect with their Tagged friends over any phone, without exchanging their true phone number. FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO NEWS

Honeymoon Over for Social Networks?

WEBPRONEWS -- Apr 23 -- MediaPost reports on an In-Stat report that says the honeymoon is over for social networks. "They need to start generating revenue now or bow out of the race, according to a new report from In-Stat. She encouraged social networks to get down to business by using the demographic information they've already collected to attract advertisers looking for a particular target. Ad spending on social networks this year is expected to total $865 million, according to eMarketer. MySpace is promised the bulk of that spend to the tune of $525m, while its myriad rivals (Facebook, Bebo, Friendster) will fight over ~$200 million. "The notion of creating a MySpace ad profile page and collecting friends was popular in 2006 but will likely give way this year, as users tire of collecting 'friends,'" said Williamson. Meanwhile, Wired reports that schools are embracing social networks for students to congregate, discuss and learn. See elgg.org. FULL ARTICLE @ WEBPRONEWS

MySpace Research Study on Social Networks and Marketing

BUSINESS WIRE -- Apr 23 -- Fox Interactive Media (FIM) released a series of research findings from a study examining the growth and marketing power of online social networks conducted with Isobar and Carat USA by research firms TRU, TNS and Marketing Evolution, incorporating quantitative and qualitative feedback from ~3,000 U.S. Internet users, as well as MySpace clients for in-depth case studies. The results were released this morning in Los Angeles at "Never Ending Friending," a conference for FIM marketing clients.

Key findings:

• Social networks have caused a fundamental shift in the way people interact with each other and with media. 70%+ of Americans 15-34 are actively using social networks
• Brands such as adidas and Electronic Arts attributed more than 70% of their marketing ROI to the "Momentum Effect" a new metric coined by Marketing Evolution, quantifying the "pass along" power consumer-to-consumer communication.
• 40%+ of social networkers said they use social networking sites to learn more about brands or products that they like
• 28% said at some point a friend has recommended a brand or product to them.
• U.S. social networkers chose interacting on sites such as MySpace.com as their favorite activity online or offline, ahead of television viewing and on par with cell phone usage.
• The vast majority of time was spent connecting with family and friends as opposed to meeting new people.
• 69% said they utilize social networks to connect with existing friends and 41% said they use the sites connect with family members.
• Social networkers spend on average more than seven hours per week on social networking sites. More than 31% of online social networkers claim they spend more time on the Web in general after starting to use a social network. They were also more inclined to engage in other entertainment media and activities including listening to music, playing games and talking on the cell phone.
• Social networkers use the sites not just to improve their online lives, but also to make their offline lives richer and more exciting. 48% said they are having more fun in life in general and 45% said their lives are more exciting as a result of spending time networking online.

FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO NEWS

Yahoo's Undercover Social Network

BUSINESS 2.0 -- Apr 18 -- Data from Nielsen//NetRatings, released today, shows that Yahoo Answers is by far Yahoo's fastest growing channel; it went from an average monthly unique audience of 2.3 million last winter to 15.7 million this winter. Facebook has more than 19 million monthly unique users in a system that's more closed than Yahoo Answers; you have to be a member to poke around in Facebook, but Yahoo Answers is browseable. Amazon's four-month-old Askville site has a similar bent, and it gets a lot of questions that seem to be from the young parent demographic – questions about what kind of birthday cake to get for a 1st birthday party, how much work is right for a kindergartener, and what the best cookware brands are. Yahoo is collecting a staggering amount of data about user questions and interests. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS 2.0

YouTube 'Killer' Jalipo.com

MARKETING VOX -- Apr 18 -- Jalipo is a new online distribution network for high-quality TV and video content, launched today in London, with the aim of becoming an alternative to YouTube. For consumers wanting to watch live events and video-on-demand online, Jalipo offers a pay-per-minute credit service called J:Credits. 10 British Pounds buys 1550 J:Credits. It allows rights owners more control over their footage by letting them set their own pay-per-minute price. Jalipo's chairman, the former president of Sony Europe, Chris Deering said, "This is absolutely not for user-generated content. ...Put us at the other end of the market to YouTube. This is rights protected, territory restricted and monetized every minute."  Partners include France24, BBC World, GP Masters and Al Jazeera English among others. It is looking to sign deals to show live sports, concerts and more independent films. FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETING VOX

Mark Brooks: YouTube has spawned a massive shift in the way people will watch TV in the future. Will Google drive YouTube to successful partnerships with rights holders, or will YouTube become the Friendster of the internet video world?

Xing's B2B Social Network Surpasses 2m Users

E-CONSULTANCY -- Apr 17 -- Xing (German, formerly OpenBC) membership has now passed the 2m mark, up 149% over last year, from 680,000. Xing continues to grow new members in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The acquisition of Spanish business network eConozco last month contributed to the growth, adding a further 150,000 members to its network. Last week LinkedIn surpassed the 10m mark. FULL ARTICLE @ E-CONSULTANCY

Mark Brooks: Whoever figures out how to integrate their service with a top flight online email system that works with Blackberry as seamlessly as MS Exchange, wins. I'm using Intermedia.net for Exchange 2007 right now. It's a breath of fresh air to have everything in synch and have the fast search functions of Outlook 2007. The LinkedIn Outlook bar crashed Outlook 2007 and lost it's place on the bar this morning, alas.

Gay and Lesbian Social Network

MARKETING WEEK -- Apr 17 -- QSoft Consulting, the owner of the Gaydar portfolio, is launching a social network for gay and lesbian people under the GaydarNation brand. It will go live on April 27.  The network will include GaydarGirls, Gaydar.co.uk and GaydarRadio with Rainbow Network and will reach 1.6m gay and lesbian people across the UK and accounted for 76% of visits to gay and lesbian sites in the UK during
February (Hitwise). FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETING WEEK

Reunion.com Receives $25M Funding

BUSINESS WIRE -- Apr 16 -- Reunion.com (28 million users), the leader in helping adults find, reconnect and keep in touch with their friends and family, completed a $25M round of funding from Oak Investment Partners. Reunion.com has been a profitable online business since its inception, with revenue growth of over 100% annually. With almost 8 million unique visitors conducting 60 million searches for people monthly, Reunion.com is now one of the top-ranked social networking sites (Media Metrix). The company had $1.4 million in angel funding from Jeffrey Tinsley, former founder/ CEO GreatDomains.com, the former MySpace.com Chairman, amongst others. "Reunion.com is targeting the large and valuable post-Facebook demographic," says Jeffrey Tinsley, CEO/Founder. "This infusion of financial resources from Oak Investment Partners will help us accelerate our organic growth as well as give us capital to pursue strategic add-on acquisitions." FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO NEWS

Groundbreaking Internet Drama to Air on UK's Top Social Network

PR NEWSWIRE -- Apr 16 -- The creators of internet phenomenon Lonelygirl15 and leading global social network Bebo.com have teamed up for the launch of "Lonelygirl15 presents... KateModern" and will expand from the original storyline to that of a teenage university student in London and her struggle to balance her complex social life with the dark forces that shadow her. See www.LG15.com. FULL ARTICLE @ YAHOO NEWS

MySpace Blocks Photobucket

VENTURE BEAT -- Apr 13 -- Photobucket, the popular photo storing service, recently unveiled new advertising features - as it reportedly seeks to sell itself for hundreds of millions of dollars. However, MySpace, pissed off by the new features, has shut down links by MySpace users to their videos and slideshows hosted at Photobucket. Last night, Photobucket launched a PR offensive, posting about the flap on its blog. Hundreds, if not thousands, of users have responded in comments, with their ire directed mainly at MySpace. MySpace responded with a statement saying that the new slideshow features violate its terms of service. The problem is not actual advertising within video, so much as the branding efforts such as the Spiderman sponsorship. See more here in Adweek. FULL ARTICLE @ VENTURE BEAT

Mark Brooks: Fox Interactive Media (MySpace) may be interested in acquiring Photobucket, apparently. What better way of lowering the acquisition price.

Frengo SVP, Dan Mosher - OPW Interview

OPW INTERVIEW -- Apr 14 -- Frengo is a 'Social Play Network.' It's MySpace on the go, with some fun bells and whistles. I talked with Dan Mosher, SVP Ops (formerly of Intermix/MySpace) - Mark Brooks

Dan can you tell me what is Frengo, why is it unique and why do people need it?
Frengo is a company that we put together where we created a set of games and text message services. The games revolve around sports and celebrity themes and popular culture themes. And the services revolve around the theme of bringing together groups and connecting groups and providing fun and interactive experiences for groups.

We put together a set of services and games that really connect people, provide fun entertainment vehicles and really bridge together some of the social networks that are online today with people’s mobile phones. I think people need Frengo because it makes your phone a lot more useful and allows you to share and compete and connect with friends, and within groups of friends in ways that you could never do before with your mobile phone.

Please see full interview at MobileDatingWatch.com

OPW INTERVIEW -- Apr 14 -- Frengo is a 'Social Play Network.' It's MySpace on the go, with some fun bells and whistles. I talked with Dan Mosher, SVP Ops (formerly of Intermix/MySpace) - Mark Brooks

Dan can you tell me what is Frengo, why is it unique and why do people need it?
Frengo is a company that we put together where we created a set of games and text message services. The games revolve around sports and celebrity themes and popular culture themes. And the services revolve around the theme of bringing together groups and connecting groups and providing fun and interactive experiences for groups.

We put together a set of services and games that really connect people, provide fun entertainment vehicles and really bridge together some of the social networks that are online today with people’s mobile phones. I think people need Frengo because it makes your phone a lot more useful and allows you to share and compete and connect with friends, and within groups of friends in ways that you could never do before with your mobile phone.

Please see full interview at MobileDatingWatch.com

Mobile Video to Reach 750MM Users in 2011

MARKETING VOX -- Yet another study has been released claiming that mobile is the next up-and-coming form of media - and advertising will play a crucial role, according to eMarketer. The total number of mobile TV and video subscribers globally will rise from 40 million in 2006 to over 750 million in 2011, and paying subscribers are forecast to reach nearly 200 million, with resulting revenue of nearly $13 billion. FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETING VOX

Business Networking In Europe

IHT -- Apr 12 -- "The ideal social network should work as a computer-enhanced friend that suggests people you ought to know," said Lars Hinrichs, the founder of the Xing social network (formerly OpenBC), based in Hamburg. Founded in 2003 in Germany, Xing has a relatively complex interface that provides details of interests, experience and personal history. Imity, a mobile phone-based network started in Copenhagen in January, is betting that actually meeting people in the real world will remain important to social networks. Monitoring the unique number produced by each Bluetooth device, Imity builds a list of all the people whom a person has come in contact with. Over time, the system can show which people share a large number of friends, but have never met. The system can also alert people when a member of a common interest group is in the vicinity. Large-scale implementation of the system is planned for this summer's Roskilde rock festival. FULL ARTICLE @ IHT

This post also appears on MobileDatingWatch.com

LinkedIn Reaches 10 Million Users

RED ORBIT -- Apr 12 -- The ten-millionth member was a businessman from Belgium. LinkedIn is growing 130,000 members a week. Most users join upon receiving an invitation from a friend or colleague. LinkedIn was nominated by The Webby Awards as the Best Website 2007 in three categories: Employment, Services and Social Networking. The Webby awards will announce winners on May 1. FULL ARTICLE @ RED ORBIT