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

Social Networking's Next Phase

NY TIMES -- Mar 2 -- Next week Cisco Systems plans to announce one of its most unusual deals: it is buying the technology assets of Tribe.net (8 employees). The deal will give Cisco the technology to help large corporate clients create services resembling MySpace or YouTube. A multitude of start-ups like Ning say that social networks will soon be as ubiquitous as regular Web sites. Those setting up Ning communities can pay $20 a month if they want the site free of ads. FULL ARTICLE @ NYTIMES

Mark Brooks: Ultimately, our profiles will be ubiquitous and social networks will be more personalised. We will each be members of many social networks. LinkedIn for business, MyChurch for our church group, Zaadz for our group of do-gooders, Facebook for college buddies (although that could change now that Facebook is open to the world) and Nuzizo for culture/fun. The internet world will more closely resemble the real world.  However, our reputations and credibility will be more visible and readily apparent from the social networks we reside on/in, the company we keep and the testimonials our friends, work associates, and ex-work associates leave for us. 

NY TIMES -- Mar 2 -- Next week Cisco Systems plans to announce one of its most unusual deals: it is buying the technology assets of Tribe.net (8 employees). The deal will give Cisco the technology to help large corporate clients create services resembling MySpace or YouTube. A multitude of start-ups like Ning say that social networks will soon be as ubiquitous as regular Web sites. Those setting up Ning communities can pay $20 a month if they want the site free of ads. FULL ARTICLE @ NYTIMES

Mark Brooks: Ultimately, our profiles will be ubiquitous and social networks will be more personalised. We will each be members of many social networks. LinkedIn for business, MyChurch for our church group, Zaadz for our group of do-gooders, Facebook for college buddies (although that could change now that Facebook is open to the world) and Nuzizo for culture/fun. The internet world will more closely resemble the real world.  However, our reputations and credibility will be more visible and readily apparent from the social networks we reside on/in, the company we keep and the testimonials our friends, work associates, and ex-work associates leave for us. 

Online Personals Aussie Rankings

OPW -- Feb 27 -- Meir from Date.com had asked me about SNS rankings worldwide so here they are...  Here's the Alexa online personals rankings for Australia extracted from the Australian top 100. - Mark Brooks

Australian Alexa Rankings for Online Dating and Social Networking as at 2/26/07.

1. MySpace (5)
2. YouTube (7)
3. Bebo (17)
4. Flickr (22)
5. LiveJournal (41)
6. Friendster (44)
7. Photobucket (47)
8. Orkut (59)
9. Xanga (73)
10. Hi5 (88)

1. RSVP (34)
2. AdultFriendFinder (66)
3. AdultMatchMaker (69)
4. Red Hot Pie (94) 

OPW -- Feb 27 -- Meir from Date.com had asked me about SNS rankings worldwide so here they are...  Here's the Alexa online personals rankings for Australia extracted from the Australian top 100. - Mark Brooks

Australian Alexa Rankings for Online Dating and Social Networking as at 2/26/07.

1. MySpace (5)
2. YouTube (7)
3. Bebo (17)
4. Flickr (22)
5. LiveJournal (41)
6. Friendster (44)
7. Photobucket (47)
8. Orkut (59)
9. Xanga (73)
10. Hi5 (88)

1. RSVP (34)
2. AdultFriendFinder (66)
3. AdultMatchMaker (69)
4. Red Hot Pie (94) 

YouTube Impasse

MEDIA POST -- Feb 22 -- Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Google-CBS talks faltered when the companies couldn't agree to terms for distribution of shows like "CSI," even though Google reportedly promised CBS more than $500 million in ad revenue. These signs of trouble come several weeks after Viacom took a dispute with Google to a new pitch, ordering the company to remove 100,000 clips from YouTube. Earlier this week, Viacom said it was going to distribute on upcoming YouTube rival Joost. Joost hasn't launched yet. Two months ago, after CBS placed 300+ clips on YouTube, the TV network unveiled a study showing that ratings had increased.

YouTube Advertising

MEDIA POST -- Feb 19 -- Barely one year ago an explosion of video service providers came streaming to the attention of advertisers. They had names like ROOTV, Brightcove, Maven, Tremor, Broadband Enterprise and the now infamous YouTube -- and your average interactive agency planner/buyer had enough trouble remembering, let alone recommending, which of these VC-backed darlings to get behind. YouTube has emerged as the video portal/destination of choice. We must start producing ads in the context of these video destinations. i.e. EepyBird's Coke/Mentos craziness to the latest round of Doritos and Chevy spots. Shoot for creative for the context. Not for the masses.

Orkut Adds Video Sharing

EWHISPER -- Feb 7 -- Orkut has added a feature to allow you to add Google or YouTube videos to your profile. You can also bookmark videos as favorites so they are shared within your list as well. FULL ARTICLE @ EWHISPER

YouTube to Share Revenue With Users

ASOCIATED PRESS -- Jan 29 -- One of the major innovations YouTube is working on is a way to allow users to be paid for content.  "We are getting an audience large enough where we have an opportunity to support creativity, to foster creativity through sharing revenue with our users," Hurley said at the World Economic Forum. "So in the coming months, we are going to be opening that up." FULL ARTICLE @ AP

Mark Brooks: Revver already cuts video contributors in on the ad revenue.

The Social Network Difference

E-COMMERCE -- Jan 19 -- Last year, Piczo, BeBo and hi-5 partnered with a company called VideoEgg to provide video editing, uploading and display tools for their users. "This generation that's claiming the Web, they are very photo-, video- and music-driven. That's how they express themselves," Piczo CEO Jeremy Verba told internetnews.com. Last year, Facebook became the #1 photo-sharing site on the Web. MySpace partnered with Snocap in September to provide digital-music retail tools. Multiply's Peter Pezaris insists that their media-sharing technology is a differentiator. Other social networks seem content to license white-label media-sharing platforms. Friendster partnered with YouTube to help its users share videos.  So has Piczo. Said Verba. "Why would we try and create another YouTube when we can go and do a deal with YouTube?" Friendster's Lindstrom said "What we do and focus on really well is give you a way to connect with your friends. Invite friends, make friends and then keep in touch with what they're doing. Our expertise is all about how to make that better and more efficient." Lindstrom's company has patents to back his claim -- Friendster was just awarded their third this month -- tools to invite friends, make friends and keep in touch aren't unique to Friendster. FULL ARTICLE @ INTERNET NEWS

YouTube Now 4th Biggest Web Property in World

READ/WRITE WEB -- Jan 10 -- On current Alexa figures YouTube is now ranked 4th in the world, behind only Yahoo, MSN and Google itself! I also checked out the comparisons on Compete and comScore. FULL ARTICLE @ READ/WRITE WEB

Mark Brooks: YouTube is wonderfully addictive. It's destined to reshape the media landscape. Expect to see more homespun hits springing from it, a la "Blair Witch Project."

This post also appears on Online Personals Watch.

Web Sites Without Rules

NY TIMES -- Jan 1 -- YouTube and MySpace are cracking down on piracy and depictions of nudity and violence. So where do the young thrill-seekers go? Stickam.com is building a business by going where others fear to tread: into the realm of unfiltered live broadcasts from Web cameras. Dailymotion had 1.3 million visitors in November (ComScore Media Metrix). LiveLeak is based in London and is a source for reality-based fare. FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES

Mark Brooks: See the fruitcake woman or the Iraqi prime ministers reaction to Saddam's sentence.

YouTube response to Japan 'not satisfactory'

PC ADVISOR -- Dec 28 -- A group of Japanese content producers that asked YouTube to act on the large amount of copyrighted material on the popular site say a response received from the company was unsatisfactory. YouTube CEO Chad Hurley and CTO Steven Chen indicated that they are willing to come to Japan to discuss the issue. The Japanese group are open to discussions. FULL ARTICLE @ PC ADVISOR

YouTube Brings out Media Giants' Competitive Claws

HERALD TRIBUNE -- Dec 17 -- A handful of giant media companies, like NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom and possibly CBS, are close to announcing a new Web site that will feature some of their best-known television programming and other clips in an attempt to build a business for distributing video on the Internet to rival YouTube. The new business could be announced as soon as this week. FULL ARTICLE @ HERLAD TRIBUNE

This post also appears on Online Personals Watch.

YouTube Site Design Lessons

MEDIA POST -- Dec 1 -- YouTube's popularity is thriving, at least in part, through its ability to nail the sweet spot of "game mechanics." Ami Jo Kim, creative director at ShuffleBrain and holder of a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience suggests "game mechanics" as a framework to create services that are more fun, compelling and addictive. As YouTube's popularity has skyrocketed, so has its alignment with these five key elements of game mechanics: Collecting, Points, Feedback, Exchanges and Customization.

• 1. Collecting
  The human drive to show off collections is what drives addiction and convincing experiences.  At YouTube, collecting occurs by uploading videos, and creating favorites and playlists.
• 2. Points
  i.e. page views and eBay ratings. Points demonstrate value, create a social experience, define achievement levels and punctuate the experience. Points make it hard to stop playing. On YouTube, the number of views, comments and e-mail-forwards are gold!
• 3. Feedback
  Feedback draws attention, accelerates mastery, increases enjoyment and induces flow. In terms of feedback on YouTube, viewing and sharing metrics are key, but so is the commentary. Even seeing your own video on the micro screen, knowing it's discoverable by millions, is an important form of visual and auditory feedback.
• 4. Exchanges
  Explicit or implicit exchanges, or interactions, such as trading or gifting. Successful interactions feel like a conversation and foster a compelling experience. To give a YouTube recommendation, in any way, is a gift among video viewers and creators.
• 5. Customization
  Finally, customization increases investment and creates barriers to leaving. The greater the investment, the harder it is to exit. If you're a video creator, your ultimate investment is your videos that YouTube hosts, followed by the audience and all the personalized functionality and data in YouTube's personalized accounts; Subscriptions and subscriber stats, groups, messaging, friends and contacts, channel settings and general preferences settings.

Yahoo Pilots Social Sites For Brands

MEDIA POST -- Dec 1 -- Aiming to compete with corporate pages on MySpace and YouTube, Yahoo is rolling out a series of sites dedicated to brands and products with devoted consumer bases. These "brand universes" on Yahoo will allow fans to find product information and connect with each other. Rather than being paid upfront by marketers, Yahoo is building the sites at its own expense in hopes of attracting relevant advertisers. The first of the 100 brand universes was for Nintendo's Wii and drew 250,000 visitors during the first 24 hours. FULL ARTICLE @ MEDIA POST

The Google/YouTube Come-On

BUSINESS WEEK -- Dec 1 -- Google and YouTube are dangling nine-figure sums in front of major programming and network players (Time Warner, News Corp, NBC). 'Don't sue us over copyrights. Take this (substantial) payment, and trust us to figure out how we'll all make serious money once we get advertising and revenue sharing worked out.' No publicly traded media company today is in a position simply to dismiss, say, $100 million. Such a sum far exceeds what any single broadcast network can extract from the online world--and drops straight to the bottom line. But taking the dough fortifies an already threatening rival. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WEEK

Mark Brooks: Who will take the bait? One of these companies will surely take Google/YouTube's deal, and then YouTube will meet it's true potential. These are landmark, society morphing deals. TV will unify with the internet as wireless technologies mature. The wireless internet will become pervasive and everyone will watch TV on mobile phones, and SONOS type receivers at home within the next ten years.  Rhapsody partnered with SONOS to deliver music on demand. Movies and TV will be available on similar delivery systems shortly. I'm intrigued with the battle between Netflix and Blockbuster. Blockbuster must realizes it's stores are doomed. Netflix should also realize that 'movies-by-mail' will have a five year half life. What are the implications for online dating? Video on the net will become part of the paradigm of the masses. Video communications have been a long time coming but are perfect for the online dating experience. Webcams don't lie. Dating site users will demand seamless video and voice offerings. 

This post also appears on Online Personals Watch

First YouTube, Now Revver on Verizon Wireless

MARKETING VOX -- Nov 30 -- Verizon V-Cast subscribers will get another early Christmas present as Revver joins YouTube in providing content via Verizon's music and video service. Revver offers contributors 50% of the ad revenue generated from their submitted videos. FULL ARTICLE @ MARKETING VOX

YouTube Takes Clips Mobile

MEDIA POST -- Nov 29 -- In a move likely to spur the growth of mobile video, YouTube will allow subscribers of Verizon Wireless' V Cast media service to view a selection of videos on their mobile phones starting in early December. The deal marks YouTube's first major agreement with a wireless carrier and gives Verizon at least a temporary advantage over its competitors in trying to lure customers to sign up for lucrative data services. V Cast costs $15 a month.

YouTube Goes 'Moblogging'

BUSINESS 2.0 MAGAZINE -- Nov 3 -- The mobile phone industry got some leftover Halloween treats this week.  Registered users on JuiceCaster can use their cell phones to post to weblogs and social networking sites. Juice Wireless, the shop that operates the JuiceCaster network, is teaming with College Tonight, a social network that will use cameraphones and video to help college students stay plugged in to their local social scene. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY

YouTube Mobile in 2007

REUTERS -- Nov 2 --YouTube, the popular online video sharing site, said Wednesday it hopes to launch a service for wireless devices within a year. Chad Hurley, YouTube CEO, said video services on mobile phones was a key opportunity for the company. "Within the next year we hope to have something on a mobile device, it's going to be a huge market, especially for the video mind-set we're dealing with, it's a natural transition," said Hurley. In May, YouTube To Go launched, enabling users to upload clips directly from their mobile phones. Over 100 million clips are viewed on YouTube every day. FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Mark Brooks: Mark my words, the future online dating leaders who figure out how to mesh webcam based services with mobile phones. Mobestar (new, tanked stock), Enpocket (enabled Match), Trilibis (enabled Webdate), Plutolife (enabled Lavalife). These are the companies you should talk to if you want to take your dating site mobile.