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Bhopu / Tags /
Friendster
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Posted On
Sep 19, 2007
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I have discussed a lot on social networking sites, their advantages, disadvantages, business approach, growth etc. By now, we all know that by joining a social networking service, users create personal profile and allow friends to contact them. This self-managed administrative service at times provides limited control or unlimited control over their profile visibility.
There has been an explosion in the size and number of social networking sites, resulting in some privacy issues. Today users manage more than one social networking sites, juggle between different passwords for each of them, leading to the inability to conveniently share profile across networks.
Various social networks are currently attempting to address these convenience issues, but this raises new privacy concerns and makes users even more insecure over their information.
I would like to address these privacy, security, and user convenience issues in online social networking and look out for some solutions on the same. Let me start with highlighting the social network privacy issue by explaining you the same.
Social Networking Privacy?
Cyberspace privacy is a lot different from the constitutional freedom and privacy that goes hand in hand. Whenever a huge number of people join any social network, serious privacy concerns are certain to emerge.
On the other hand, privacy in cyberspace is a whole different animal. Whenever a critical mass of people join a network community, serious privacy concerns inevitably emerge.
This platform is a channel of personal information online that positions a lot of site members at risk by displaying their private information publicly. It isn’t too late for us to look out for solutions and effectively try and apply it.
As social networking sites like as MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster have emerged as the most established forums for keeping in touch with old friends and meeting new ones. This change of information among friends have also lead to a major disadvantage of breaching information as users are releasing that their private information is being circulated far more than they would like.
In September 2006, Facebook's recently introduced News Feed feature spurred additional privacy concerns from users. Over 700,000 users signed an online petition demanding the company discontinue the feature, stating that this compromised their privacy.
Who access your information on the social networks?
The easy way to share information online, a big advantage of social networks, but are we aware of who is accessing it?
There are a number of users who intend to share information with friends and family, find its way into the hands of the authorities, strangers, the press, and the public at large.
For example, job recruiters are looking to these sites as well as performing more traditional background checks on potential employees. Performing a search using these sites may provide a lot of unedited information about a person.
The search tools provided by each site easily effects our information. Like MySpace allows the general public to search its database of members, using search terms such as a name, e-mail address, or school. This search if further filtered down to a particular country of even postal code.
This search can be filtered down to a particular country or even to a postal code. At times if users don’t change their privacy settings, searchers can view their full profile such as occupation, hometown, marital status etc.
If users included in the search results have not changed their privacy settings from the default level, searchers can view their full profiles. These profiles may include personal information such as occupation, hometown, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and religion, as well as photos of users, and their friends or family.
One the other hand Facebook carries a more limited search feature. Users must be registered with the site to conduct a search, and can only view the profiles of those in their network, or of those already on their list of contacts. Some profiles viewed in this way include cell phone numbers and postal addresses. E-mail addresses always appear on Facebook profiles.
Friendster also restricts searches to members. However, members can view other users' full profiles, whether they are on the member's contact list or not. Notably, if the person searched for does not turn up in the Friendster database, the Friendster search engine provides a direct link to a data broker, which offers to search for the person.
Hence, there is a possibility that any one of a user's several hundred "friends" can download this information and use it wherever and however they wish. In fact, access can extend beyond friends and members. Users need to realize that prospective employers, job recruitment agencies, law enforcement, and members of academic staff, can gain access to photographs, comments and information posted on profile pages, whether or not this information comports with the image you would like to portray to the world outside the network.
How can users prevent this problem?
Social networking's been growing like crazy over the past year or so and companies everywhere have been scrambling to jump on the bandwagon either as advertisers or as creators of social networking sites themselves.
To the users, the good news is, social networking sites are working on progressive privacy policies. Several answers which cover many of the above-mentioned concerns should be addressed.
As good business dictates a significant online presence, we as consumers should demand more severe privacy regulations.
A lot of users are disheartened to know their information that they place online for their friends and family is viewed by people away from their interest.
Once we publish our information online, we have very little control over it. In this case right privacy settings can prevent your information to be showed to all. If the default settings are set at a higher level, users can immediately have more control.
For example if you being a user don’t want every detail of your profile available to those outside your network of friends, or did not want to allow photographs on your profile page to be downloaded can regulate their privacy settings accordingly.
Privacy and Security: How far is too far?
Concerns about security and privacy on the Internet will continue to influence social networking trends.
The September, 2006 release of Facebook's News Feed and Mini-Feed features and the ensuing reaction among Facebook users prove an excellent point about the future of social networking: users do not like it when websites sacrifice user privacy for "improved" features. Facebook users were outraged by the features, which allowed other people in the network access to continuously-updated feeds of information about them. Development in social networking technologies will likely be tempered with an undercurrent of caution. In a world where identity theft is facilitated by easy access to personal information and employers judge potential employees by analyzing their social network profiles, users will be uncomfortable with features that readily offer up too much of their personal information. Video networking could face similar roadblocks if users decide that they do not want to share their physical appearances on the Internet.
Conclusion
The future of social networking is very much up in the air. Unforeseeable technological developments and the unpredictable nature of the course of trends in popular culture make predicting the next big thing in social networking very hard. Movements toward consolidation, niche markets, video networking, and increased mobility all seem viable, but only time will tell whether these or other features come to popular fruition.
So it is nobody but the users who will have to take care of the information they decide to display online.
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Posted On
Sep 14, 2007
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Facebook is booming in popularity; MySpace is ruling the headlines again; Bebo is growing incredibly; Orkut relaunched; LinkedIn is becoming 'People Search'; Friendster is now restocking itself to enter the market again.
Put simply, social networking is popular and hot and there are plenty of efforts being put in to overpower the competition. But my question is, ‘Is it getting in any profit?’
Social Networking hive
Even if you think you too old for signing up Facebook or Linkedin, its impossible to ignore the impact these networking sites have on the web.
We all have seen how social networking sites are getting hotter day by day. It has become a very useful way to find like-minded people online, either to pursue some interest or goal, or just to help to establish a sense of community among people who may never meet in the real world.
Its not just a teen thing anymore. Infact it has become collaborative style of communication that every age group and every business has understood and is further finding creative ways to incorporate into their communication plans. A number of businesses considered adding podcasts,
seminars and video presentations to their marketing plans and get their business development staff hooked into LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook.
Consumer-based businesses jumped on this trend to create their MySpace page, Facebook appls, Twitter account or YouTube promotional video.
A hive of social networking sites have already created a lot of noise, but what most of us have yet to realize is just how productive the hive really is and how powerful it can be when it is directed in the right direction.
In fact, I think it's hard to exaggerate the coming impact of these social networks on business: They start trends but fail to build immense waves of interest in specific products. They serve giant, targeted audiences to advertisers, but can anybody see any difference in returns.
This platform that forms an authentic, peer-to-peer channel of communication that is far more credible than any corporate flackery. And all this only after four years of development, Surprising!
By the time we realize the actual productivity of social networking sites, Im sure half a million more people will jump into Facebook and Myspace with their own particular purpose in mind.
Problems faced by companies while advertising on social networking sites
Despite generating a good amount hype in media there a number of social networking sites like Youtube and Myspace who are still trying to look out for a way to use this publicity to generate advertising revenues, or may be we can call it significant advertising revenues.
While some social networking sites are trying hard to work on the unfiltered user-generated content that keeps off most the companies from advertising with them, there are few other sites that would never be able to attract any companies.
Last week I came across this article where Youtube tried launching some advertisement, prompting numerous complaints from its users, some who threatened to stop using the site.
Youtube is just one the few examples by me that shows that reflects the issues that surrounds the social networking sites. Its members abuse the freedom to upload any video freely and mention stolen content that nobody had a copyright for, not even Google.
A lot of news sites included an article over why so many brands refuse to place adverts with Youtube just because they carry loads of illicit content and videos.
A lot of reports online also spoke about how Youtube can earn advertising revenue by including some premium content from distribution deals with companies like Viacom Inc., NBC and Walt Disney Co, but the same was declined by them, I think that was simply because they were asked to pay for it. Anyways, who knows?
One of the best social networking sites, MySpace is still struggling to offer advertisers an environment that doesn’t threaten the safety of a company's brand. On the other hand if they don’t restrict or filter user-generated content they might never be able to support brand advertising.
Another reason that I came across for this ruckus being created with advertising on social networking sites are the middlemen. I think its very important for companies to know where exactly their adverts are placed. There are a lot of big companies that are completely ignorant when their ads showed up through adware products, saying that they had no idea they were supporting the practice.
I would like to give you an example here:
Few days back a number of British companies were shocked with their ads on the Facebook social-networking site appeared on the profile pages of the British National Party, a far-right wing political party that's generally seen as racist and fascist. The companies pulled their ads from the site, and now the British government says it won't advertise on user-generated content sites for fear that its ads would run alongside contentious or undesirable content.
Nobody willl deny with me here, this is certainly a very serious concern for many companies that doesn’t want to see them being associated with certain groups or types of content.
Today, almost all the social networking sites are caught up in a vicious circle of quality advertisers being scared off by the site content. They are left with no choice but to face the challenge of figuring out how to monetize their heavy traffic.
What should social networking sites do to overcome this problem?
From last few years, its been more than just a challenge for social networks to get in more adverts. It includes a lot of thinking and effort to develop a big project that is a big sale. It is happening, but much of it is still experimental.
What I think that all that a social network can promise advertisers are the ready connections they carry among similar groups of users, giving advertisers an opportunity to take advantage of word of mouth and enable the rapid spread of viral campaigns.
Further marketers and social networks should try and focus a lot more on the techniques such as creating groups and profiles to sustain their growth in that area.
Contextual ads (like those from Google Adsense) carry a uselessly low click-through rate and have a correspondingly low CPM value. This is obvious even though MySpace is a kind of social recommendation search engine for the rest of the web: why should one listen to a advertiser who doesn't know you when your friend is recommending stuff already?
Social networking sites have found their audience, and in case of Facebook and Youtube they have made a sum of money inform of buyouts. But the question is how will they pull revenue and turn their profits into business, a test on their permanence.
In a general sense I think Facebook has introduced advertising successfully, but who would want to place adverts on kid’s MySpace or on personal pages?
Advertisers look for something more viable, more controlled text for their ads, and we all know what a hit and miss these social networks can be in terms of inappropriate content.
Looking at monetization of social networks, I would like to give them some suggestions as follows:
Branded advertising
This can be a very effective way to put through your message and confirms to the wallpaper style branding that MySpace users already have. The best way one can make branding work in this context is by giving users a choice of who their sponsors should be (will they get paid if they prove sufficient traffic?).
Emotional attachment with the brand and the personal website should be established over time to gain the maximum value for both parties.
More immersive advertising experiences are needed to cement brand awareness in reality.
More consumer involvement in the advertising process in the form of sponsored widgets
As brands aim more effectively to influence the power of social networking sites to maximize their exposure. Widgets or stickers involve a great interactive element that each visitor who visits the site can participate in or put on their own blog. The true potential of these viral widgets will soon be seen in the coming years. The most common inserted item will be videos, just as it's already common to have music players with favourite songs.
These widgets are rarely sponsored right now but the viral potential alert marketers to their value.
Advertisers who hold interest in this space and want to create their own should keep in mind the following values to the consumers: Direct value (such as Adsense which pays you), Indirect value (that drives traffic to your site or increases participation with your page and conversation etc.) and Emotional/Social (conversation point, gets you recognition and ideally praise etc.).
I would like to explain you this with an example of MySpace as their users already embed widgets in their page and add "friends" that are largely unknown bands or brands. Why not encourage them to embed larger adverts or "sticker-sized" ad-snacks. If the advert is cool or funny enough, there's no reason MySpace users wouldn't be tempted to show the world their interests. Rather than consumer-generated advertising, this will be consumer-chosen advertising.
Time for online marketers to mark a change
I can see a whole new industry rising in the coming few years only dedicated to social media optimization, that will focus advertisers approach on social networking environments.
Then, in turn, the social networks may have to develop new revenue models to reflect the changes.
As read by me in a lot of articles, I think when advertisers set up a presence for their brands on the networks, they have not been very sure of the process adopted by social networks to monetize it.
I believe that consumer-generated content, of the kind seen on YouTube will become more widespread and its impact on consumer purchasing behaviors will come to dominate the role played by advertising.
The most tempting response among advertisers and among their agencies is to believe that the most significant changes are in media choices and viewing behavior, which requires the smallest response — change the venue in which ads appear, and change their format as dictated by the new media. Doing the same will certainly make a lot of difference to determine a change in advertising venue and will be more or less sufficient to restore the power of advertising.
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Posted On
Aug 30, 2007
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Social Networking and Visibility
Just imagine being able to find a mutual contact you never knew existed who might be able to introduce you to a sales prospect, sounds like finding needle in a haystack, isn’t it.
With all that’s going on with social networking these days, we’re seeing a lot of figures leverage the popularity of social networks to gain visibility for them. We’ve seen it a lot with musicians, films, and especially politicians, who recognize the potential of reaching out to the people.
Sites like MySpace, Bebo, and Facebook are just a few of the popular social networks out there that are visited by millions of people daily. They are some of the most popular sites on the web, which is why people and companies use them to help brand themselves.
Advertising and Social Networking
As we all know that teens and young adults have always been popular targets for interactive marketers. In the past they looked to IM and email marketing to connect with the demographic, but it’s not an easy task with social networking sites, as their users require an entirely different understanding.
Social networks have been a new way to connect with friends and family. For marketers, these sites open up a whole new world of advertising opportunities. Completely based on and around communication SN are very effective at engaging consumers and offer them interactive initiatives as contests, quizzes, games, and branded content.
Today social networking websites appear to be a very promising place to advertise on. But are they aware of it?
Are Social Networking sites caving advertisements?
It is clear that users are not willing to pay for social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster. If any of these sites started charging they would be replaced with a free option. That leaves advertising as the only business model.
There are a number of social networking sites that are still ignorant to their full potential as advertising media, experts report.
They are only beginning to realize how to monetize their services, they know that if they include few offerings, it can help them generate a sum of money in proportion to the media attention they receive. They might eventually translate their popularity in revenues, but as of now, they are not.
However, if you ask me, I don’t think social networking sites will be or can be a hub for advertisers. One big issue with these sites is the business model. They have a completely different genre of users. Their users are people interacting with friends and family or their to find a date. It is less likely for them to check the adverts.
And this leaves the advertisers with less opportunity to come in contact with users.
My suggestion to Social networking sites?
As we all know that no social networking site can guarantee a brand safe environment. Advertisers do not want to see their ads displayed alongside illicit content. The dilemma for social networks is that, if they start to control what content users can post, they will lose the popularity that attracted advertisers in the first place. Realizing the fact that only advertising scales well enough to make social networks interesting for portals and major media companies. They should try and work on the same.
However, this takes nothing away from social networks and their amazing traffic. The fact is social networking can be bust for advertisers today. We've seen this before with chat rooms, message boards, and email clients. They are amazing for traffic, and they are not appropriate for advertising.
If social networks are going to work for marketers they are going to have to nuke the current model for advertising and do something much more creative.
I will be glad if the social networking sites don’t compromise on their basic models to attract more advertisers, as they can do best without them.
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