Social Networks Black Day…

Social networks are in the news today. First up, lawyers have been permitted to serve debtors with default judgments through Facebook. Article here. This is timely considering my plea yesterday for the online world to be viewed with more validity than it has been in the past (I’m on the phone to my web-estate agent as we speak.  “Buy up!”.  Sorry, did I say that out loud?)

Also some 1.3 million users will stage a ‘blackout’ protest tonight and turn off Facebook to draw attention to their dissatisfaction about recent changes to the site.

And to top it all off, LinkedIn is offline because it is upgrading the site.  I hope that LinkedIn users will like the changes the folks there have made.  I’d hate to see a candlelight vigil or hunger strike over its alterations.  Who knows, the 1.3million Facebook protesters could have another gig on their hands.

Social networking sites like Facebook are integrating into the fabric of our careers and personal lives.  No longer can they be viewed as a Gen Y distraction.  They are an essential tool for communication, both formal and informal.  Next time you get a Facebook invitation, do not toss it away with an OldManScrooge-like Hmmmph & Phooey…or else you may be all alone in Christmasses to come.

Death Of Paid Classified Listings

I have been having some interesting discussions recently regarding the potential of Google Maps in job listings. The jury is still out on that one…

However Google Maps is clearly trying to muscle in on the paid classified listings market for local business owner dollars. Compared to the current offerings out there (Yellow Pages/Sensis) it’s a free service (unless you use Adwords) but that will come at a cost. Don’t expect any great personal service or phone calls asking you to update your business details. Log in an error if you or your customers can’t find your location. Don’t expect it be a major priority of the search giant to fix straight away either.

Additionally, other online free options are available through networks like LinkedIn. (click on this link and join my network) They are pushing the fact that the first point of call if you are in need of some professional services should be your LinkedIn network of contacts asking for suggestions or introductions.

Time will tell if these free services will be the death of the traditional business listing including job listings…

SimplyHired - LinkedIn API Integration

Jobs aggregator, Simply Hired, have realised the power of using LinkedIn’s network to their advantage. Jobseekers who do their seeking at Simply Hired will now be able to see who from their network has a connection to the employer posting the job. You know the old adage about getting a job being more about who you know than what you know? Well, this has never really been truer.

Social Networking Is On Fire!

Social networking is king. I’ve discussed this before and the latest Hitwise Australia data, Asia Pacific Social Networking Report 2008, adds credence to my rants.

“The 40 leading social networking websites experienced strong growth in the past 12 months in Australia, New Zealand,Singapore and Hong Kong; Australia and New Zealand experienced the highest growth, increasing 62% and 88.6% respectively comparing market share of visits to the Social Networks custom category in February 2007 and January 2008.”

I’m not going to bore the heck out of you with a bunch of figures. But check out the graph below for the figure freaks:

I will draw your attention to a few salient points. Prime among these is that of the traffic moving downstream from the major palyers Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, 89% is sent to second tier players. This means that many folks are maintaining several profiles on different sites. Perhaps, for instance, they display a professional profile on one site, whereas on another they might choose to communicate with close friends and family. This makes me wonder at the feasibility of a site that morphs a professional site like LinkedIn with a Social Networking site such as Facebook. Users could maintain several different profiles in the one space.

It also seems that the major players are attracting different audiences. Well-educated and more affluent types are veering toward Facebook, while Bebo attracts multi-cultural and family groups. Important data, especially if you’re doing WHAT I’VE BEEN TELLING YOU TO DO and integrating your online presence with a social networking facility.

Finally, and this is the boon for me (Watch for that word in my future blog. It’s old; retro, if you like, but I’m big on it at the moment), users are increasingly choosing to communicate with one another via social networks. Imagine the world without email. Imagine the world where people’s social and professional and familial alliances are built around their online profiles. Now dump yourselves right in the heart of that space.

LinkedIn, Flicker, SixApart also Join Data Portability Workgroup

Days after adding key members from Google, Facebook and Plaxo, the Data Portability Workgroup has added more social media executives from LinkedIn, SixApart, Twitter and Yahoo’s Flickr. The additions underscore the new interest in the recently formulated group, which seeks to develop a set of open access standards for sharing social media data.The new members are Steve Ganz, Senior Web Developer at LinkedIn, Matthew Rothenberg, Product Strategy and Management at Flickr, David Recordon, an IT exec at SixApart, and Blain Cook, a developer at Twitter.Moreover, just because Facebook has signed up doesn’t mean the company plans to completely open up its platform. But the Data Portability Group is a sign that 2008 could bring substantial change regarding user data and privacy control. Read the full story