Social Networking

In a recent interview, the newly installed co-presidents of MySpace, Mike Jones and Jason Hirschorn, have claimed that they will be ‘innovating at an accelerated pace’ as they bid to win back users who have left the social networking site.

The pair believe that offering new products is vital and there will be a steady roll-out of a number of new features in the coming months. It is clear that action has to be taken as MySpace has been losing ground to rival Facebook for quite some time.

However, Hirschorn makes a distinction between the two sites, saying:

“MySpace is a not place for people to talk about what they are up to. It’s the place people talk about what they are into.”

Reflecting this, one of the first new MySpace features will be a ‘recommendation engine’ which will offer users games, music and videos based on what they are interested in. New users will see this already and it will appear for existing users at some point over the next couple of months.

Social games are another priority. Around a fifth of MySpace users are involved with some sort of social game at present and the two co-presidents would like to see this proportion closer to half.

Jones says that the product is currently the priority, but when that is in the right condition, they are planning a marketing campaign for later in the year.

One of the co-founders of Twitter, Evan Williams, has been telling the BBC how he believes that social networking sites such as Twitter are the future of communication.

Williams says that the open exchange of information as a means of combating censorship and will fundamentally alter the way we interact with our governments.

He also confirmed that Twitter still had no intention of charging users.

“Our goal at Twitter is to be a force for good,” he said. “We have a fundamental belief, having worked on this type of thing for 10 years, that the open exchange of information has a positive impact on the world.”

The challenge now is to extend Twitter’s reach into areas where technology is not so well advanced. Williams thinks that the site’s influence will be even greater in these areas as there is less access to information. Efforts are being made to improve SMS coverage in remote areas of India and in Haiti, as this would allow people to keep in touch with the world even via a relatively low-spec mobile phone.

“My hope is that eventually the open exchange of information will prevail in most regions, but we don’t have any specific plans in China or other areas where we’re blocked,” he added.

According to a new study by Burson-Marsteller, around 80 per cent of the largest 100 companies included in the Fortune Global 500 index regularly use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and various blogging sites.

Burson-Marsteller commented upon this trend for social media marketing amongst large, international corporations, explaining that as these businesses are realising that social media can be used for interacting with potential customers and clients rather than for the delivery of targeted corporate messages; they are becoming a lot more comfortable with using the technology.

Further details revealed in the study were as follows:

• Twitter emerged as the most popular platform for social media marketing, followed closely by Facebook and YouTube.
• Companies based in Europe are apparently more likely to use Twitter and Facebook than the blog format
• 20 per cent of all companies reviewed were using all four social media channels

A related study by Ecoconsultancy, in conjunction with the Online Marketing Study, supports the Burson-Marsteller report, claiming that 81 per cent of US firms were budgeting for more expenditure on social media marketing for 2010.

Following the introduction of Twitter updates, (otherwise known as Tweets), to their search results, from today, MySpace updates will also be shown.

Google will utilise MySpace’s real time API to take updates from users profiles. Google’s intention to feature MySpace updates was first announced back in December, giving both MySpace and Google users time to get their heads around the idea.

MySpace’s co-president, Mike Jones, explained:

“This partnership increases our users’ ability to share and showcase content across the open web and gives people outside the MySpace network even more ways to discover new content.”

MySpace continued:

“When you search for anything on Google, as part of your search results you will see live updates from MySpace users, including news, photos, and blog posts that they have chosen to publically publish”, explains MySpace.
“Further, all of these updates will be ranked to reflect the freshest, most relevant results, making it easier to find the latest information on anything you’re searching for on Google, including the music and artists you enjoy most”.

The move will see not only users status updates published, but also any other activity- such as posting new photos and adding new music.

Digg has come up with a new design which will focus on real-time information, as it is trying to reassert its position in the world of online content. Digg is currently facing tough competition from popular social networking sites, Twitter and Facebook.

According to the founder of Digg, Kevin Rose, the users will be shocked at some changes and directions which they are coming up with. He also said that people need to be comfortable with new ideas and thoughts.

The latest design will mainly concentrate on the recommendations of friends. In addition to this, the real-time information is also brought in from other sites. The new Digg site will also help in repositioning navigation and Digg bars will also feature more emphasis on photographs.

Digg has come up with this new design, because it seems that the importance of real-time information is growing to a great extent. With the changes being made to Digg, users will be able to get their news as soon as possible.

Digg was established in 2004 by Rose and it has become one of the leading sources of recommendations. At present, Digg has built up the user base of 35m, but Twitter and Facebook continue to remain on the top positions.