Social networking websites are online communities of people who share interests and activities,
or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. They typically provide a
variety of ways for users to interact, through chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, fi le-sharing, blogging, and discussion groups. Facebook, Bebo and MySpace are currently the most popular and well-known social networks in the UK, and all three appeared amongst the top 10 most-visited websites in the UK during November 2007, while ‘bebo’, ‘facebook’ and ‘myspace’ were also in the top 5 search terms in the UK during the same time period.
The big three social networks accounted for 84% of UK Internet visits to a Hitwise custom category of the top 25 social networks in November 2007, but there are lots of other competitors competing for users. These range from generalist websites, such as Friends Reunited and Faceparty, to more specialist websites such as Club Penguin (a social network/virtual world for young children), Neopets (a virtual pet community) and LinkedIn (a professional networking website). The market is moving rapidly, and there is no certainty that today’s hot property will still be leading the market tomorrow. Facebook increased its market share forty-fold between October 2006 and 2007, and social networks users’ loyalties cannot be taken for granted. There is also a lot of traffi c between social networks themselves – for example, in October 2007 MySpace received 7.6% of its traffi c from Bebo, and returned the favour by sending 4.7% of its traffic back.
or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. They typically provide a
variety of ways for users to interact, through chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, fi le-sharing, blogging, and discussion groups. Facebook, Bebo and MySpace are currently the most popular and well-known social networks in the UK, and all three appeared amongst the top 10 most-visited websites in the UK during November 2007, while ‘bebo’, ‘facebook’ and ‘myspace’ were also in the top 5 search terms in the UK during the same time period.
The big three social networks accounted for 84% of UK Internet visits to a Hitwise custom category of the top 25 social networks in November 2007, but there are lots of other competitors competing for users. These range from generalist websites, such as Friends Reunited and Faceparty, to more specialist websites such as Club Penguin (a social network/virtual world for young children), Neopets (a virtual pet community) and LinkedIn (a professional networking website). The market is moving rapidly, and there is no certainty that today’s hot property will still be leading the market tomorrow. Facebook increased its market share forty-fold between October 2006 and 2007, and social networks users’ loyalties cannot be taken for granted. There is also a lot of traffi c between social networks themselves – for example, in October 2007 MySpace received 7.6% of its traffi c from Bebo, and returned the favour by sending 4.7% of its traffic back.
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