Social Networking Juggernaut Strikes Again

Juggernaut                                Facebook

Facebook claims they have more than 500 million active users. There are now 2 billion people that use the internet. So this means that 25% of all internet users are on Facebook according to the International Telecommunications Union. Facebook seems to have a death grip on the social networking scene and even the internet as a whole. This digital monopoly is basically caused by everyone being on the social network and everyone wants to be networked with each other so they’re on Facebook. But even so, the lifespan of a social network can be tricky to determine. More than a few social networking sites have seen their prime come and go with the social networking juggernaut that is Facebook.

Dead MySpace

MySpace is one of those dying social networks that at one point had more members using it than Facebook. It was even sold to News Corp. in 2005 for $580 million. After losing traffic from sites like Facebook and Twitter, MySpace switched gears and tried to find a niche with their bands and filmmaker members. According to Mashable.com MySpace is now up for sale and yet the bidding is likely not to reach $100 million.

Many social networking sites that pop up today or even ones that have been around but lost users because of Facebook are turning their attention towards a specific niche. Another example of a Facebook defeated SNS is Friendster. Friendster was one of the first SNS around, forming in 2002. It was announced yesterday that they will be deleting all user data on May 31. On a Friendster help forum for exporting friends they say:

2. What will happen to the current version of Friendster and my Friendster account?

We are introducing a new and improved Friendster in the coming weeks that will be focused on entertainment and fun. There will be new features that will leverage on your online activities and will enable you to connect with friends or engage new friends with similar interests.

So with everyone joining Facebook and leaving the other sites in the dust is there any way a smaller social network can fight back? I say yes, there are things wrong with Facebook. One thing I find annoying about Facebook are the businesses and people that are trying to get you to their website to make money. It’s also not the best site for everything it just has the most people networked into it. Sites that have seen an increase in users recently have found niches in the SNS sphere. For example, Tumblr is a blogging site that has seen membership rise. LinkedIn takes a professional approach to social networking. Also growing is the website StumbleUpon, a site that chooses a random website based on one’s interests sort of like Pandora does with music. Ignite Social Media posted a very interesting infographic about declining and blossoming social network sites.

All of these “niche-type” SNS are competing against Facebook (and each other) for a piece of the new media pie. There are many alternative sites that Facebook has to deal with to remain as the sole, dominant social network site. But Facebook has had a head start and is already monopolizing the market. Some people may not like the idea of a monopoly in any market, but I believe this market (at least in the U.S.) is suited for this type of dominant website that is kept in check by its users.

 
Tweet of the day:

dfarkins Joe S.

MMM. mmmmm. MEAT GLUE. Enjoy! http://www.dump.com/2011/04/14/meat-glue-secret-video/

No Explanation for Hacking?

Playstation.blog

I was disappointed to turn on my Playstation 3 on Thursday and learn that Playstation Network was not available. As Easter weekend approached, Sony took down their worldwide internet gaming service Playstation Network. Playstation Network provides over 70 million gamers around the world with free online play and downloading of some particular games. There have been some issues with internet hackers (hacktivists) in the past and there are some people viewing this as another hack by a primary group called Anonymous.

At first, Sony only let out a statement on their blog saying that they were “aware certain functions of Playstation Network are down.” But there was speculation that the network had been hacked and this was partially confirmed by Sony in their next blog by saying that an “external intrusion” was to blame for the service being suspended.

pcmag.com

There has been some thoughts as to if the hacker group Anonymous is to blame for these latest hack attacks. This is because of the lawsuit filed by Sony upon Playstation 3 hacker, George Hotz, who is believed to have uncensored some of the PS3’s methods of how it works and running custom packages with the system. After Sony filed the lawsuit, Anonymous sent them a letter threatening them of hacking their websites and they did just that. Sony’s main web sites went down for a full day.

These so called hacktivists (a play on hackers and activists) are supporters of whistle blowing sites such as Wikileaks. They have even gone so far as to introduce a site called Tunisileaks when the country of Tunisia blocked Wikileaks.

Here is where people begin to disagree with the function of this “group”. On one side people will tend to say that, first off, companies should not make enemies with people that can hack their systems. Another side will say that Anonymous isn’t even a group and therefore cannot be recognized and or blamed for these acts. These people think that Anonymous stands for an anarchist idea of internet freedom and free speech. Even so, other people will believe that these hackers are sort of like terrorists in that they think they are always right and can go about with shutting down networks and disabling sites at their own will.

Personally, I agree that hacking groups like Anonymous are good for showing corruption among physical entities. But honestly, I just want Playstation Network back online as soon as possible. Then I’ll be able to play my Call of Duty: Black Ops and watch Cheers and Trailer Park Boys on Netflix again. Heck, I might even Skype with a friend just to get my use out of it in the four days I’ve lost so far.

Here is a video from earlier this month stating that Anonymous did not want to interrupt the PSN but wanted to target Sony, among stating other things.

Tweet of the day:

kevinlove Kevin Love

Happy Easter!