Social Networking Journal

Twitter Is Mainstream Mainstay

Twitter is being done by tons of sports personalities and entertainment celebrities. And so do politicians. The land of the 140 character micro-blog is growing each day with the same people we’re exposed to via every other medium.

Now the race is on to see who can attract the most “followers.” The offline version of popularity contests has officially been transferred online.

When a new medium like Twitter becomes so mainstream so fast, you have to wonder how long the tool will be useful. Twitter is already being used extensively by marketers, so we can probably expect more of the future message to be commericial in nature.

It’s hard to argue with the success of the service. Twitter has built a system that’s easy to use and free. People have adapted to their online infrastructure in droves.

As Twitter evolves, more and more people will find ways to monetize their use of the service, and undoubtedly the service will find ways to generate revenue commensurate with their explosive growth rate.

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Facebook Is Loved By Middle Aged

Middle aged users are getting into Facebook in a big way. The service, which used to be just for college students and alumni, is catching on with the masses. A new report from Nielsen looks at numbers on the social network giant and find they’re gaining ground.

Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” said John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds of the global online population already accesses member community sites, their vigorous adoption and the migration of time show no signs of slowing.”

Not only that, but people are spending more “time on site” on social networks, meaning they’re finding the tools to be an integral part of their daily lives.

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Koobface Variant Wreaks Havoc On Facebook

A new variant of the dangerous Koobface worm is wreaking havoc on Facebook. The current worm uses the same tactics of social engineering as the last one. Users are prompted to click on a link which takes them to a YouTube clone website where they’re told they need to download an Adobe Flash plug-in.

Of course the link to the “Plug-in” is fake. It will instead install malware on the user’s computer. Once it’s safely installed, the worm will merrily make its way through your contact list, doing the same thing to your friends. It’s easy to see why these worms spread so quickly using these tactics. It’s because they’re “social.”

What makes Koobface so pernicious, is that the code code can be easily modified, which could render the worm even more dangerous.

“It is able to download new instructions on the fly, so that if the author desires, they can sniff credit card or banking transactions, install keyloggers, send spam or any of a number of other malicious activities,” Argast explained.

“Not to mention the social faux pas of being the source of the infection to your friends — it’s the equivalent of being the source of mono that takes down everyone in your circle of friends. This particular piece of malware spreads via links which entice users to install a codec to view a video — this is always a bad idea. Fake codecs are a major threat vector today,” he continued.

The best way to avoid this worm is to not install it. Pay attention to the links you click on and make sure the site you’re at is the one you think it is. Beware fake YouTube pages at all costs.

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Twitter Picked By Broward County For Communications

Twitter has been a way for many people to be entertained, but now some organizations are choosing the service to facilitate communications. Broward County announced they’ll send “Tweets” that will keep parents and students up to date about the latest developments.

“Through Twitter, the popular social networking and messaging service, Broward County Public Schools posts updates, called “tweets.” Twitter users who choose to follow the District through the account called “browardschools” will get these updates or “tweets” on their Twitter home page. Users can also receive tweets through a variety of methods, including text messaging, RSS aggregators and third-party applications. This provides the District an additional method to deliver information expediently and directly to students, parents and the community,” the school district said in an annoucement.

The idea is simple. Interested students or teachers with Twitter accounts can sign up to “Follow” the updates from the school system.

Undoubtedly more and more organizations will follow suit because Twitter is an easy site to use, and many people already have accounts there.

You can easily check out Broward County’s Twitter implementation.

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MySpace Cheating

MySpace is such a part of people’s lives, that it’s not surprising the popular social networking service is being blamed for relationship woes. One such star-struck lover wondered if her man was cheating because of his behavior on MySpace. It seems the lout was engaged in such activity as adding primarily female friends, who then left suggestive comments on his profile.

Do I think he’s going out and sleeping with these women? Probably not. I’m pretty sure he’s just playing pretend. He’s hitting mid-life. He just upped his commitment level to a woman (you) by moving in with her. He wants to play “I’m still young, rich, and single.” Understandable.

That said, he is lying – to you and to these women. He’s not just “socializing.” He’s playing a computer game, a Sim City, of sorts, where he can be whoever he wants to be. The problem is, MySpace isn’t Sim City. It’s a network of real people, some of whom are local. MySpace is not a game.

Or maybe the poor guy just got spammed due to his profile security settings. All my friends on MySpace are hot chicks too!

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Facebook Removes Bernard Madoff Page

Facebook has taken down a web page devoted to fraudulent investor Bernard Madoff. The page had been very popular in recent days, and had comments from people both supporting Madoff’s actions and those offended by them.

One writer, identified as Samuel, applauded Madoff yesterday in French, for pulling off “the biggest hold-up of the century.” A writer called Pete thanked Madoff for “leading the end of Wall Street credibility.” The page, which described Madoff’s interests as “destroying wealth,” claimed 1,226 fans as of yesterday, up from 826 on Dec. 19.

Madoff detractors used profanities, and his admirers tended to superlatives.

Of course the case of Madoff is creating strong opinions, but mostly of the negative kind among sane, rational people.

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Bebo Used To Promote Alcohol

Popular social networking website Bebo is being criticized by the Independent Complaints department in Ireland. The complaints stemmed from an attempt at viral marketing that turned out to be a dud.

A complaint was made in both cases to the Independent Complaints Panel, which operates on behalf of the Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS), the registered charity set up by the drinks industry to promote responsible drinking.

In the case of the “Beer Tower”, the complaint was made by the Alcohol Beverage Foundation of Ireland, but the panel rejected the complaint because it said the promotion did not involve a quantity discount and it was satisfied with controls operated by the UCD Student Bar management.

Of course underage drinking is not news in most of the world.

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Mobile Social Networking Is Bright Spot

Mobile social networking is a bright spot in the current landscape of business. Since 2007, social mobile networking has grown a rather impressive 187%. And the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down any.

Other highlights of the Kelsey Group/ConStat report: In October 2008, 15.6 percent of subscribers searched the mobile web for local products or services (compared to 9.8 percent in September 2007), 14.3 percent searched the mobile web for products or services outside of their local area (compared to 6.4 percent), 13.7 percent accessed mobile for information on movies or other entertainment (compared to 8.2 percent), 11.7 percent accessed info on restaurants or bars (compared to 9.0 percent) and 8.4 percent watched or purchased a mobile video clip (compared to 4.4 percent).

As expected, mobile users are big users of social networks. Social networks are hitting critical mass, and heavy users of them want access, regardless of where they’re at.

The social networking space, especially for mobile users, remains healthy.

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Paramount Cans DeviantART Campaign

Paramount has apparently dropped a plan to launch a viral campaign on social network DeviantART. The company was following others who have had success using the community, which consists mainly of artists, in jump starting a viral campaign.

Many of the member artists have supported successful viral campaigns and contests for PepsiCo, Sony, Scion and gaming site Three Rings through their artwork. The works become viral by sharing the embed code through widgets on other social media sites and profiles. Some, sold as prints, as well as reproductions on t-shirts and apparel, would have included pieces by artists to promote the movie “The Uninvited.”

Of course viral loses a bit of its’ organic appeal when the media is reporting on your efforts.

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Scrabulous Facebook Dropped

The lawsuit against the Facebook application, Scrabulous, has been dropped by Hasbro, manufacturers of the famed Scrabble board game. Before its’ demise, the game, which was created by two Indian brothers, was the most popular application on Facebook.

The brothers version of Scrabulous was scrapped from Facebook when the lawsuit began. It was replaced by the real Scrabble, which was not greeted with as much enthusiasm.

Now some are wondering if the lawsuit being dropped will open the door for a return of Scrabulous.

It’s not quite smooth sailing for the game. Mattel owns the worldwide rights to the board game and could sue if the brothers tried to return to the social network.

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