When Will Facebook Stop Growing?

I found an article on Facebook in NYTimes.com, and even though I told myself I wouldn't blog about facebook any longer, I just couldn't resist.

It seems as if though facebook is the outbreak of our time. College students were the primary target of this social networking site, gradually opening its doors to high school students and now open to anyone. But when will it reach it's peak? It is hard to say when each week, millions globally make an account.

The article is titled, When Everyone's a Friend, Is Anything Private? by Randall Stross. In it, Stross provides statistics, one of which is:

Many over-30 graybeards have yet to sign up, so Facebook has a chance for
astonishing growth. Each week, a million new members are added in the United
States and five million globally; the 30-and-older group is its fastest-growing
demographic.

There are three groups, according to Stross, that advertisers like to target, one of which is the "30-and-older" group which is the fastest growing.

I don't know what pulls users to facebook, but what ever it is, it is working quite well. And advertisers are greatly benefiting from the popularity of this social networking site. So, will facebook ever reach a peak? And, what is it about the site that pulls in millions of users?

A Journalists Nightmare?

For this weeks reaction to the reading, I decided to spark a conversation on Brian Solis' Ebook, The Art and Science of Blogger Relation. Although it is a rather long reading, I found that The New Rules for Breaking News is quite interesting because the section gave me a different perspective of the blogospher. Even though I have been blogging for about 8 weeks already, I still am learning on how this part of the cyber world functions. And now I, a new perspective is derived from a journalists point of view.

In this section of his Ebook, Solis provides his opinion regarding the transition of journalism to blogging. Solis writes:

For example, one of the primary reasons that we launch most tech companies and
products in “Beta” these days is because we want feedback directly from the
people who would jump in early and give honest feedback as well as sharing the
information with their friends and associates. And, if a product is in Beta,
most traditional media wouldn’t yet pay attention. However, those journalists
who do feel a greater sense of competition with bloggers in order to be one of
the first to share new, new information, will make it known through their
coverage.

Here, Solis provides an insight regarding a new rule for PR, how blogging functions and says why bloggers might be a competition for journalists.

I think journalists should be aware of bloggers, but I don't think they should live in fear, not yet anyway. We are transition into a the cyber world quite fast and journalists should take the transition into consideration. Journalists should also be able to process feedback, and should want to hear it from their readers, this is what might be hurting them. I don't think bloggers are deliberately in competition with journalists, but I do think that journalists should adopt the culture of bloggers if they respect their reputation.

The PR Plan

The chapter on A PR 2.0 Plan covers the vast strategies companies use to obtain the attention of various groups. Deirdre Breakenridge, the author, notes,

Today's companies are using PR 2.0 and social media to enhance communications... They understand that social media sites (for example, MySpace and Facebook) and social networking are no longer for younger audiences.

There is no age restrictions on entering the cyber world and start blogging, podcasting, joining online communities, etc. and companies have become aware of this, greatly enhancing the demographics.

A good way, I believe, to get involved is by starting to network and being exposed to the web. In addition, I think this new strategy is quite smart, on the companies behalf, because the companies will really reach out to a bigger population by using social networking sites as a medium.

Tweetering mini-Blogs

I found an article in NYTimes.com about bloggers and microbloggers. The article discusses the reality of microbloggers, and simply states that microbloggers are done by an older audience and may serve as an alternative to younger audiences who blog and use social networking sites such as facebook. In addition, the article mentions a survey done by Amanda Lenhart of Pew Internet and American Life Project stating:

"...microbloggers are more likely to live in cities than the average Internet user...9 percent live in rural areas, as compared to 17 percent of all Internet users" (Mindling).

I think that the survey appropriately states a microbloggers identity in that microbloggers may have a greater chance of living in the city simply because the norm of any city. A major city typically houses people that often have to be updated in technology and are constantly updating their status. These people are students, bankers, entrepreneurs, etc. In addition, it serves no surprise to me that I, as a younger audience, am put under the blogger umbrella because I do hold an account in a blogging engine site such as MySpace and not Twitter, a microblogging engine.

The "Acta Diurna" of Today

From carving stories on pieces of stone or wood, to posting entries on MySpace and You Tube, we have greatly revolutionized the way we communicate our news. Today, our Acta Diurna, or "daily acts" consists of picking up our cell phone or getting on a computer to view the latest news. The chapter in Citizen Marketers begins to explains how powerful a publisher or broadcaster may be, starting with the astounding tool created by Johann Gutenberg, the printing press. The authors appropriately state the importance of the discovery of the printing press when stating:

"...the printing press made the production of books--in fact, the production of knowledge--a catalyst for changing culture. A new cultural die had been cast. Truth had been democratized. Society had been wrecked and rebuilt in new and egalitarian ways" (74).

I agree with the authors, because before the printing press, much of the media was controlled by the church. The church had the upper hand because of the difficulty of mass production. And today, similar to what was going on with the church, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is put in place to monitor communication through the airways, but that is were podcast come into play. Podcast make it possible to distribute communication to a vast audience with the assistance of iTunes; this is done without the needed approval of the FCC.

Our Acta Diurna has undoubtedly changed since the time of the Romans, but are still done for the same reason, to gossip and be well informed in the latest news.

Are You Sure Your Not Addicted to Facebook?

I came across a post done by Tara Stiles titled: Help! I'm Addicted to FaceBook! and found her story on this social networking site quite interesting. She starts off stating positive feedback the site has to offer and soon realizes, and admits, that she has an addiction to FaceBook because she is constantly checking up on it. She quotes Pope Benedict XVI stating:

Benedict welcomes as a 'gift' new technologies such as
social networking sites, saying they respond to the'fundamental desire' of people to communicate. But he warns that 'obsessive' virtual socializing can isolate people from real interaction and deepen the digital divide by excluding those already on the sidelines.

I decided to do my original post on Stiles because I was not aware of the extent that some people might go through when it comes to social networking sites. I agree with Stiles that sites such as MySpace provide a healthy way for people to communicate and network, but there is a real world out there and we should all enjoy it. I also agree with what the Pope when he says that we need to be careful not to "deepen the digital divide." It may be 2009, but I do believe that there are still homes in the U. S. that do not have computers and thus "excluding those already on the sidelines."

If you think you might have an addiction to FB, then you should check out Stiles' post and read here "10 warning signs that you may be addicted to Facebook."

The Solid 1% of a Democratized Forum

Our assigned chapter for this discusses the 1 Percenters. The "1 Percenters" is a term postulated by the authors of Citizen Marketers who did a research on citizen marketers. The rule states:

About 1 percent of the total number of
visitors to a democratized forum will create content for it or contribute content to it.

The research indicates that the 1 Percenters are ones, among many, that originate content in online communities. An example proposed in the chapter mentions Yahoo and it's Groups that are available for the community as a free service. An estimated 9.2 million people visit the sight each month but only 1 percent of them create new discussion and content threads (McConnell/Huba 35). The 1 Percent term can be better understood with power law:

Power laws tell us the distribution of action is uneven
across a widespread field of play.

I believe that 1 Percenters are those that truly love to spend their time online, like the chapter says, the ones that enjoy doing so as a hobby. 1 Percenters represent the larger community; if it wasn't for them, then the word would not be spread as it is and not make websites as Digg.com a possibility.