LiamKirk

A few weeks back I talked casually about whether or not Facebook could seriously challenge Google’s web dominance. In that instance I was talking about unique user hits for each website and it was Google that was streets ahead but admittedly Facebook was gaining ground. At the time I really didn’t believe Facebook would, or could, threaten Google as the number one website—at least not for a while yet.

I thought I should touch on that subject again this week and next week as there have been some significant stories coming out concerning Facebook’s growth over the past month.

It all started with a report earlier this month from Inside Facebook that estimated Facebook’s revenue for 2010 should surpass $1 billion in just it’s 5^th year of existence. Of course this figure is dwarfed by the fact that Google’s annual revenue is around 21 billion, but that’s not really the point. The point is, when you look back over reports of Facebook’s annual revenue you will see an impressive pattern emerging.

According to many reports in 2007, Facebook earned $150 million in revenue, in 2008 that number grew to an estimated $300 million and by 2009 it was between $600 million to $700 million. That is at least a 100 per cent increase each year.

The scary thing for people like Google is that Inside Facebook expects that trend to continue. It must be said that while all these figures are unsupported by Facebook and should be treated simply as estimations they certainly are mouthwatering and I guess you could say where there is smoke, there is fire.

Inside Facebook also categorised Facebook’s 2009 revenue into four key areas: brand advertising, Microsoft advertising, virtual goods and performance advertising. Of the four, performance advertising was Facebook’s number one cash cow accounting for approximately $350 million. Brand advertising was also valuable pulling in around $250 million.

For a while now people have questioned Facebook’s ability to convert their popularity into serious dollars. What cannot be questioned is their ability to innovate and if these figures are anything to go by, their innovation surely has been effective.

Mashable’s Ben Parr believes that, “As Facebook improves its performance advertising algorithms, hires more staff to deal with brands, and really pushes Facebook Credits as a platform (and takes a 30% cut). Those factors combined make it very possible that Facebook joins the $1 billion club in 2010.”

I personally didn’t think it was possible for Facebook to compete with the Google empire let alone surpass it, after reading these figures I’m not so sure.

Facebook is growing up quickly and I agree with Ben who says “It still has a long way to go before it reaches profitability levels that can rival those of tech giants like Google. If it can crack the social media revenue nut though, it could pave the way for monetization for thousands of other websites and apps.”

Once this happens the game will surely be on.

There have been some big names enter the world of twittering over the last few years. Names like Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong, Stephen Fry, The Governator, Liam Kirk, Barrack Obama etc. have all graced us with their presence and given us a little insight into their crazy world. A couple of weeks back we added another name to that list in Bill Gates. It was the Microsoft moguls entry that got me thinking, who’s missing? Who would we love to see tweeting us in on their personal life?

Well, I’ll get the ball rolling. Here’s my top 3 people I’d love to see on Twitter:

No.1 Tiger Woods

Quite obvious right. His recent affairs have got the world talking and quite simply we would all love to to know what’s going on with inside that baseball capped head of his. Yeah, we know he’s very, very, very sorry, but what else is there? Does he have a future in golf? Does he have a future with his wife? Besides, Tiger needs a bit of an image change at the moment so perhaps Twitter might actually do him a favour. Twitter would certainly help him reconnect with fans.

No 2 Mike Tyson

I would love to see Mike Tyson open up a twitter account. Put simply–and of course I mean this in the nicest possible way Mr. Tyson–he would add a little circus-factor to twittering. The things that come out of his mouth are both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. I don’t know anyone else who would generate more interest than Mr Tyson. There is a fake account floating around out there so have a look if you want to see a preview. Or, if you don’t mind a bit of swearing check out this YouTube clip of some of his finest moments.

No 3 Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais’ foray into the Twitter world late last year world was a short one. The Office and Extras star gave up on tweeting after less than a month claiming he “just didn’t get it” and that it was “pointless”. What a shame! During his brief time on Twitter Gervais ammassed 13,000 followers and would no doubt acquired many more if he stayed. Give it another chance Ricky?

Facebook has become the second most popular website in the US according to Web analytics research by Compete.

The social media giant moved up one spot in the rankings pipping Yahoo for monthly usage in the United States. Internet juggernaut Google managed to maintain its strangle-hold on the number one spot but some of the statistics coming out of the study will no doubt have them looking over their shoulder.

Compete reported that Facebook had 133 million unique visitors in January 2010, ahead of Yahoo who had 132 million. Google’s web dominance was evident as they recorded a staggering 147.8 million unique users. I also must mention that while Twitter only had 21.79 million it’s rapid growth will surely be causing some concern at the top.

The question now is whether or not Facebook can mount a serious challenge for the top spot? Don’t be ridiculous, right? Not possible? Well actually, if you look at Facebook’s growth trajectory, it may not be out of the question.

Interestingly, Facebook does trump Google in one of the findings and it does it by some margin. Compete revealed that when it comes to the amount of time people actually spend online, Facebook is king. The website held a whopping 11.6% of all time spent online compared to 4.25% for Yahoo and 4.1% for Google.

A Neilsen study conducted in December has returned some very interesting statistics on the world’s social media usage. Apparently, it is not the Americans or the British spending the most time on sites like Facebook and Twitter, believe it or not, that title belongs to the Australians.

The global comparison study revealed that despite all the sunny weather and beautiful beaches, Australians on average spend 6 hours and 52 minutes each month on social media websites—some distance in front of the United States and the United Kingdom who spend 6 hours and 9 minutes and 6 hours and 7 minutes respectively on these sites.

Here’s the full list (h:m:s):

1. Australia – 6:52:28
2. United States -6:09:13
3. United Kingdom – 6:07:54
4. Italy – 6:00:07
5. Spain – 5:30:55
6. Brazil – 4:33:10
7. Germany – 4:11:45
8. France – 4:04:39
9. Switzerland – 3:54:34
10. Japan – 2:50:21

Doesn’t make sense, right? How can Australian’s who have such a major outdoor culture be ahead of these other countries? Well, being Australian and a social media frequenter myself, I think I can come up with a few reasons why.

Firstly, I think the biggest reason for their heavy usage is due to the fact that Australians love to travel. It’s pretty much tradition to fly off somewhere as soon as you finish your education. Actually, Australians will take advantage of any chance to jump on a plane and an interesting little statistic is that around 5% of the Australian population is abroad right now as we speak. Anyway, in the words of Andrew Weiner, “social media is to world travelling as steamed lobster is to hot drawn butter”. It simply is the best way to stay connected and share photos while you are overseas and Australians are making the most of it.

Some other reasons are Australia’s geographical isolation, its mateship culture and, I hate to say it, its laziness. Some people have also mentioned that it’s too hot to go outside while others like andymurd believe Australia’s internet speed is to blame. He writes, “Maybe Australians spend so much time on social networking sites because our internet is so slow – we’re just waiting for the page to load”.

If you want some more reasons, Ross Dawson on his blog has come up with a rather comprehensive discussion on the subject and it is definitely worth a read.

Another equally compelling statistic that came out of the Neilsen study was that social media traffic worldwide had surged 82% over the past two years. The global average of time logged onto social media has jumped to 5 and a half hours—that’s two and a half hours longer compared to the same statistic two years ago. Nielsen also reported that there are now 300 million social media users worldwide and Twitter was the fastest growing social media network.

Very interesting indeed. No doubt these statistics will have digital marketers across the world drooling all over their keyboards.

When Steve Jobs revealed the name of his highly anticipated tablet computer I think the whole world let out a collective “what the…?”.

For months all sorts of rumours flew fast and furiously around the web about the possible naming of Apple’s new baby. Would it be iTablet, iPad, iNewton or iSlate? Of the four, we were all certain it would be iSlate. Makes sense right? It sounds cool, describes the shape, blah blah blah. Apparently, Apple even sneakily registered iSlate.com a few years ago.

“We want to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical and evolutionary product today,” said Chief Executive Steve Jobs at the launch event in San Francisco last Wednesday, “And we call it…iPad”.

Honestly, my first reaction was along the lines of “they called it what? Cue the feminine hygiene jokes”.

Ipad? I mean, sure the name works on a few levels, but…at the same time it is like calling your son Richard Head and then sending him of to school expecting him not to be picked-on. Of course people were going to make the link.

Minutes after the Jobs announcement the jokes began to run thick and fast (no pun intended) on social media pages and blogs. In fact, the term “iTampon” quickly became the top trending topic on Twitter.

“The mocking goes along the lines of: Yes, the iPad is small, lightweight and slim. But can you swim with it?” wrote the Los Angeles Times’ tech blog.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the many jokes flowing out there, but that’s not really the point of this blog. My question is- surely Apple was aware of the connotations associated with the name, so is this all just a big marketing ploy to get the world talking?

I got thinking and came up with this conclusion. I’m of the opinion that Apple knew exactly what they were doing and simply thought the name was better suited to the product and the Apple brand than the others. Plus, what’s the harm in a bit of free publicity, anyway?

Ultimately, the jokes will get old, and the name will eventually be accepted (to be honest, even as I write this I’m starting to get past my immaturity and appreciate the name). In the meantime though, the iPad will continue to ride this huge wave of publicity that has been inflated, particularly by social media websites, because the name is a little funny. In the end, if the iPad is a good product, it won’t matter what the thing is called.

Anyway, what do you think? Did Apple get it right or wrong with the name?

Facebook announced the top 15 status trends of 2009 at the end of last year and while there were quite a few obvious inclusions in the list, there were also some interesting ones. The study was based on the top trending words Facebook people used in their status updates. Facebook labelled it ‘memology’, the study of how “memes”, or new ideas and trends, are spreading on Facebook.

Facebook says:

Status updates on Facebook help people understand their friends and the people around them–how they’re feeling, what they’re doing and what they’re thinking. In the United States alone, people on Facebook are sharing hundreds of millions of words every day, thousands per second, in status updates. When taken as a whole, these words offer a unique barometer into the issues, world events and thoughts that are connecting people.

While you would have expected the usual suspects in ‘family’, ‘I’, ‘movies’, ’sport’ and ‘religion’ to be in there—stock-standard material for updates, right? It is also no surprise, after its boom year, that social media terms ranked right up there either. The one that sticks out for me is ‘yard’ at 13. I mean, where has this come from?

Facebook blogged, “Have all the hipsters turned to yard work as the latest fad? Probably not. A more likely explanation is that hipsters’ moms and dads are also on Facebook, and these folks have yards that require some tending”.

Mums and dads talking about their yards? Yeah right, I didn’t buy it for one second. So I did a bit of research and it seems I’m not alone in my scepticism. Howard Yeend at puremango.co.uk believes that it’s some kind of ploy by Facebook to lure “older people” to join up and buy apps.

“A cynic might suggest that facebook is trying to make themselves look more appealing to the more mature adult population who will be happy to spend their cash in a facebook appstore which I have no doubt is on the horizon for FB,” he says.

Hmmm? Interesting idea.

Another theory is that Farmville is to blame. Perhaps people are simply talking about their Farmville yard? Of the three theories, I’m going to go with this one. Though, if anyone has any other ideas, please share.

Anyway, it made for an interesting read and the by-month graphs are pretty sweet also. Notice the spike in FML (F**K MY LIFE) during exam period?

There have been a lot of faith-restoring stories coming out of the social media world of late. Last week I wrote about the Facebook campaign that has helped save the life of young British student Philip Pain who fell seven-stories in Mexico and was in desperate need of blood. This week I want to acknowledge the huge effort made by social networking pages to help the people of Haiti.

Only minutes after the devastating earthquake floored the tiny Caribbean nation last Tuesday, the online world was mobilised and ready to help in any way it could.

One of the organisations leading the way was The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) who have now raised over £25 million after their appeal was announced on Twitter on last Wednesday.

The DEC has utilised Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube over the past week and their Chief Executive, Brendan Gormley, has publicly praised the significant role these social media sites have had in their campaign.

Mr. Gormley said, “Social networking has proven itself as a valuable addition to the fundraising machine. I’m thrilled that we have been able to quickly communicate and engage the UK public, who have in turn responded with tremendous generosity to help the people of Haiti who so urgently need our help.

“Their donations mean our member agencies can continue to source and deliver the emergency supplies needed like safe water, shelter, medicine and food. We hope people will continue to give their support so that more emergency aid can be added to what will be a massive humanitarian effort.”

DEC reported on Facebook that Flickr has been used to host images from the DEC’s member agencies, with 34,000 views of the DEC account on Friday, while a video of the DEC broadcast appeal has attracted nearly 4,000 views on YouTube.

Not only has social media been an outstanding tool to stimulate aid and increase donations, it has also played a vital role in spreading news and remarkably, locating victims.

“This is the first example we’ve seen where that sense of global community has been expressed in action, for example using social media technology to get the story out faster, to locate victims, and to give instantaneous donations,” said James Norrie, a media professor at RTS’s School of IT Management. “That’s an amazing use of a social media tool.”

The events in Haiti, while both shocking and saddening, have reinforced social media’s undoubted ability for social good.

I think Tom Brown, writing for The Burlington Free Press, captured it well when he wrote, “I’ve heard critics of social media say that users of communication tools such as Twitter and Facebook only want to talk to, and about, themselves and their friends. The earthquake in Haiti might help change the minds of some of those critics”.

“When people can respond that quickly and in such numbers to help their fellow man, then there certainly is hope”.

To make a donation to the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk or call 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, send a cheque made payable to ‘DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal’ to ‘PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA’ or text GIVE to 70077 to donate £5. £5 goes to DEC. You pay £5 plus your standard network SMS rate.

The family of a young British student who fell from a seventh-floor balcony in Mexico have praised the Facebook campaign that has kept their son alive.

Philip Pain, 20, was rushed to hospital on New Years Day suffering from two broken legs, a broken lower back and crushed internal organs. With doctors fearing his rare O-negative blood type would leave them without enough blood to save him, Philip’s family and friends at home in Bexleyheath, Kent, launched a Facebook campaign to call on anyone who shared Philip’s blood-type to donate blood.

The Facebook campaign which now has over 13, 000 members has gathered enough blood to stabilise Philip and doctors believe without it he would not have survived. There is a chance a part of Philip’s foot may have to be amputated, but doctors have almost entirely ruled out any brain damage. While there is still some way to go, Philip’s condition is improving and his family have expressed their gratitude to everyone who has helped out.

Philip’s sister Stephanie Pain told KentOnline: “It’s been really overwhelming. People are tracking his progress who have never met him or any of the family. It’s very encouraging.”

“It has been fantastic that complete strangers are walking into hospital to give up their blood but we need it to continue,” she wrote on Facebook. “Without the blood that has reached Phil so far, he would not be alive as we speak. He is still in an induced coma but fingers crossed he can be weaned out of this next week. This is a dangerous time for him I have been warned so please keep praying.”

Philip’s father Neil Pain posted on Facebook: “I would like to thank all of you personally for the kind words and the proactive action that some of you have been able to offer.”

Join the Facebook campaign here.

If you know someone in the Mazatlan area in Mexico with type-O Negative blood ask them to contact the Sharp Hospital in Mazatlan on 66998656(78-84).