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.

Get a Job, Gen Y!

Way back in 1999, Business Week proffered some sage advice. It told its readers this:

“The marketers that capture Generation Y’s attention do so by bringing their messages to the places these kids congregate, whether it’s the internet, a snowboarding tournament or cable TV.”

It seems that finally, after all this time, some folks in recruitment are taking on board the advice.Speaking of Gen Y’s, remember when News Corporation purchased the in social networking site MySpace and made some Gen Y’s very rich? CareerOne, also part of News, has now officially integrated its job search into MySpace.I’m sure you’ll agree that the page looks great. And I’m a bigger supporter than anyone of the growing need for businesses of all descriptions to use the internet as their primary marketing tool. However, there is a glaring problem with the way the team at CareerOne has executed this innovative marketing plan.Consider for the moment that you’re a 20-something gen-yer, ipod eared and determined not to take a 9 to 5 job, but aware that your parents are getting narky about your not paying board…food…your own toiletries…I’ll stop now, before I sound like a moaning Babyboomer.Anyway, you’re on MySpace, checking out your own profile, and think that you might start your job search. You type in “jobs”and search myspace. I’m pretty certain that the crew at CareerOne would like it if that particular search produced their page. Instead, this is what our Gen-yer would get:Sure, there’s a link to MySpaceJobs on the homepage, but guys, let’s face it, the only people who enter MySpace through the homepage are the Boomers and Gen-xers who go in posing as 25-year-olds!Point is and this one extends across the board in internet marketing, when you’re sitting in your board rooms, guys, when you’re huddled over your copies of the latest McKinsey propaganda, have a think about how users approach their search and make yourself available within the spaces where you want to advertise. Marketing 101.