There is no doubt that social networking has been and is currently successful. The advantages of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Second Life are reasonably straightforward. For a business, they allow a company or product to gain exposure to an infinite number of consumers. Advertising on Facebook ensures that your product will be viewed by millions of consumers. Second Life enables a business to make money online, as the Second Life currency, the Linden Dollar, is an active currency, with an exchange rate of 270L$ to every 1 US$. Another social networking site, Entropia, had a turnover of £200million last year, and is about to become the first virtual world to be floated onto the stock market. The technology firm Gartner believes that by 2011, 80% of internet users will have virtual characters in a social networking site. This relates to sites such as Second Life, where your character, or avatar, is “real,” and is not like Facebook, where the consumer has only a profile of themselves. The Chinese Government believe so much in the usefulness of social networking, that they are building 10 Cyber Recreation Projects, each about 6miles squared in size. Each project will be able to support and create 150million avatars, the cost of which will be £15billion.
One problematic factor about social networking sites is the decision of who the target audience will be. Facebook is now used by people of all ages, but how many of those people can afford or are interested in the product that is being offered. Likewise, Second Life is used greatly by people to escape their own real lifestyles, as is explained later, and therefore “luxury products” need to be specifically targeted at certain audiences. A single mother living in a council flat will be reluctant to even pay £1.50 to buy a certain product. Instead, she could set up her own product and make some money for herself. This is a potential problem with Second Life. A company is not only in competition with other companies. It is in competition with every user who has set up a “business.”
There are other disadvantages of social networking websites that aren’t regularly publicised. As of December 2007, Facebook saw its first ever decline in users in the UK. The decrease was from 8.9 million users to 8.4 million. While this may be a relatively small figure, it must be noted that Facebook is not the only social networking site to see a decline in its users. MySpace saw a decline of 1.8 million users, from 6.8 million to 5 million, since April 2007. Bebo has seen a decrease of 500,000 users since April 2007 as well. Bear in mind these figures are in relation to Britain, not the rest of the world. There have also been slight declines in the number of social networking users in Spain and France as well. As far as Second Life is concerned, it is not popular in the UK. A BBC survey from the 21st February 2008 showing the top-10 most popular social networking sites in the UK did not include Second Life.
Apart from slight declines in usage, social networking sites have been facing other problems of late. On “Habbo,” a Dutch teenager was arrested, in real life not virtual, for stealing virtual furniture worth $2,800 from a virtual hotel room. The goods exist in a virtual universe, but carry a price in the real world. Second Life has also recently been investigated on the claim of child pornography. In Germany, police investigating a computer found that participants were buying sex with other players, by posing as children. There were also cases of child pornography being sold via Second Life. Virtual child pornography meetings were being held, with access to these “meetings” costing 500L$, or £1.50. There is hardly any way to control such practices. Second Life is run by the people who use it, and therefore they can run it however they wish.
To answer the question as to whether it is possible to really make friends online, it has to be said that it depends on the consumer. Many users see Second Life as a way to create a perfect world for themselves, in order to distract them from their normal lives, which are not so glamorous. Therefore, it is often the case that people present themselves virtually as the complete opposite to what they really are, in order to escape from the troubles of everyday life. Having said that, there was recently a couple who met through Second Life, and ended up getting married in real life. This does seem to be a rarity however. It is very difficult to make friends online without ever having known someone. On Second Life, it is more likely that you are making friends not with a real person, but with the image of what they wish to be. Facebook is able to prevent unknown people from looking at your profile through a number of security preventions, which allow only your friends to see you profile. An article from the Daily Telegraph in February 2008 has also announced that messages sent on Facebook can count as unreasonable behaviour, and therefore legitimate grounds for divorce. Even if a physical relationship is non-existent, flirtatious emails are now enough to justify “unreasonable behaviour,” perhaps showing that social networking sites can lead to divorce just as much as marriage.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Monday, 10 March 2008
Journalists need entrepreneurial skills
As a Mediashift article by Mark Glaser cleary demonstrates, digitalisation has had major effects on the business model of journalism. Journalists have to start engaging with the internet and develop entrepreneurial skills. A lot of journalists have blogs, online videos and their dedicated websites or online profiles.
Please see above a picture of the world famous interviewer Daphne Barak with Bianca Jagger. This picture is displayed on her website amongst other highlights and links to her best videos.
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Summary of my blogging experience
The purpose of this post is to reflect on the ups and downs I experienced during my blogging course and how the course affected me.
The course was running for 9 weeks and unfortunately due to a severe virus and an ear operation I was not able to attend the first weeks. Hence, I could not participate in the group projects. This is why I focussed all my energy on doing well with my personal blog.
In the beginning I saw this as quite a challenge since there was a lot for me to catch up on and I had no background knowledge about "blogging" what so ever.
Yes, being in the media industry, I had read a few blogs and I was aware of the impact they could have, but did I ever consider creating my own blog? No......
The concept of posting my thoughts online was quite intimidating to me and it took me a while to familiarise myself with Nigel's course outline and weekly tasks.
In the beginning most of my posts were giving general information on new websites such as l'exposure.net, etc. Once I got more used to the process of blogging and once I felt comfortable with the technological aspects of blogging (adding pictures and videos as well as creating links and formating) my blog posts started to become more related to Nigel's weekly tasks and articles.
Being asked to give an example for a good and a bad website I really went through a personal exploratory process of analysing which websites I like and which ones I don't and why I am feeling that way whilst before that I took most websites as a given and never really paid any attention to web design or structure.
The process of looking at and comparing various social networking sites was educating me about the variety of features of social networking sites. I was very impressed when reading about the practicality of Twitter and decided to register and use it in the future. This really changed my mind about social networks since I used to consider most of them as fairly distracting. I also still have a quite sceptic approach when it comes to how people present themselves online since often this online identity has nothing to do with the actual person at all and I am a great believer that a lot of people escape into the virtual world if they feel overwhelmed with the real life challenges.
The articles Nigel gave us to read and my personal research really got me drawn to the "blogging" experience and I felt more and more comfortable to post my thoughts online. Apart from merely addressing Nigel's tasks I tried to add value to my blog by posting videos or thoughts which inspired me personally. One website which I simply love is www.ted.com and you will find a few videos from that website in my blog.
When thinking how the course and the course topics added value to me, I would argue that I am now far more experienced and confident in the fields of social networking and blogging, but also far more aware of the negative aspects and dangers of new media technologies, such as online repression, identity theft and credit card frauds.
Going forward, after having gone through the entire research proces, I will be able to distinguish between useful and useless social networking applications and the useful ones will hopefully add value to my existing communication and help me to enjoy digitalisation to its fullest.
The course was running for 9 weeks and unfortunately due to a severe virus and an ear operation I was not able to attend the first weeks. Hence, I could not participate in the group projects. This is why I focussed all my energy on doing well with my personal blog.
In the beginning I saw this as quite a challenge since there was a lot for me to catch up on and I had no background knowledge about "blogging" what so ever.
Yes, being in the media industry, I had read a few blogs and I was aware of the impact they could have, but did I ever consider creating my own blog? No......
The concept of posting my thoughts online was quite intimidating to me and it took me a while to familiarise myself with Nigel's course outline and weekly tasks.
In the beginning most of my posts were giving general information on new websites such as l'exposure.net, etc. Once I got more used to the process of blogging and once I felt comfortable with the technological aspects of blogging (adding pictures and videos as well as creating links and formating) my blog posts started to become more related to Nigel's weekly tasks and articles.
Being asked to give an example for a good and a bad website I really went through a personal exploratory process of analysing which websites I like and which ones I don't and why I am feeling that way whilst before that I took most websites as a given and never really paid any attention to web design or structure.
The process of looking at and comparing various social networking sites was educating me about the variety of features of social networking sites. I was very impressed when reading about the practicality of Twitter and decided to register and use it in the future. This really changed my mind about social networks since I used to consider most of them as fairly distracting. I also still have a quite sceptic approach when it comes to how people present themselves online since often this online identity has nothing to do with the actual person at all and I am a great believer that a lot of people escape into the virtual world if they feel overwhelmed with the real life challenges.
The articles Nigel gave us to read and my personal research really got me drawn to the "blogging" experience and I felt more and more comfortable to post my thoughts online. Apart from merely addressing Nigel's tasks I tried to add value to my blog by posting videos or thoughts which inspired me personally. One website which I simply love is www.ted.com and you will find a few videos from that website in my blog.
When thinking how the course and the course topics added value to me, I would argue that I am now far more experienced and confident in the fields of social networking and blogging, but also far more aware of the negative aspects and dangers of new media technologies, such as online repression, identity theft and credit card frauds.
Going forward, after having gone through the entire research proces, I will be able to distinguish between useful and useless social networking applications and the useful ones will hopefully add value to my existing communication and help me to enjoy digitalisation to its fullest.
Saturday, 8 March 2008
New ways of disseminating ideas
This is a video by Mike Wesch and his students at Kansas State University. Is this a viable way of disseminating ideas? Might this type of media form part of how we form or change opinions?
I personally believe that young generations use new media technologies in order to express themselves and their ideas and beliefs differently. This can also be seen in the Larry Lessig video I posted on my blog. New media and digital technologies offer a perfect platform for young people to change traditional communication patterns. I am quite fond of this creative movement, since everyone can be a "creator" in today's digital age and it is quite extraordinary how enthusiastic and innovative young people are when it comes to expressing themselves online.
Internet repression in week 7
In week 7 Nigel gave us some articles about internet repression.
I was fairly surprised when I heard that governments actually manage to control and censor the vast amounts of information on the internet and that people can be persecuted for expressing their views online. I always saw the internet as a great tool for democratic expression and freedom of speech.
The fact that IT companies are supporting anti- democratic regimes and are developping systems which enable surveillance and censorship is quite frightening.
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/10/13/syria-more-victims-of-internet-repression/
I was fairly surprised when I heard that governments actually manage to control and censor the vast amounts of information on the internet and that people can be persecuted for expressing their views online. I always saw the internet as a great tool for democratic expression and freedom of speech.
The fact that IT companies are supporting anti- democratic regimes and are developping systems which enable surveillance and censorship is quite frightening.
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/10/13/syria-more-victims-of-internet-repression/
Googling myself: What is my online footprint?
In Week 6 Nigel asked us to find out more about our online identity and footprint.
When googling myself there is 5 search results (see below). All the five results are links to my various work involvements in film and as the commercial director of Fashion TV.
To answer Nigel's question "Who are you online" I am concluding, that I am myself online. (at least on google)
Suchergebnisse 1 - 5 von ca. 5 zu daniela karnuts powered by
F E I G E . T V - P R O J E K T E
Gast 1, Markus H. Eberhard. Gast 2, Jacob Jensen. Prinziger Jr. Jesse Lehmann.
Girl vom Prinziger, Daniela Karnuts. Bruder vom Prinziger, Maximilian Pfaff.
http://www.feige.tv/html_f/filme_6wbi_inf_darst.html - 13k - Im Cache
Rio Carnival Rio Carnival FASHIONTV PRESENTS THE LONGEST BIGGEST ...
FTV-live from Rio Carnival party“. (dates: 17th-20th february 2007) …please contact:.
Daniela Karnuts. Marketing/pr Fashion TV UK. At daniela@ftv.com ...
http://www.ftv.com/bilder/d13/Carnival_Parties.ppt - - Im Cache
f-diamond FINAL.ppt
Please contact:. -Michel Adam, president of FTV at. adam@ftv.com or. -Daniela
Karnuts, marketing/pr FTV uk. under daniela@ftv.com ….for further information.
http://www.ftv.com/bilder/FBoat/FLines.pdf - - Im Cache
Linzi Stoppard - The Electric Violinist Fan Club: What 'they' say ...
Daniela Karnuts, Marketing Director Fashion TV "Linzi's dazzling performance in
Monaco at Grand Prix Unites with Fashion TV as a great opening to such a ...
http://linzi-stoppard.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-they-say-about-linzi.html - 54k - Im Cache
A Christmas Beer Carol (Short)
August Schmölzer, Tankwart Helmut (lead). Markus H. Eberhard, Kollege. Winfried Hübner,
Weihnachtsmann. Jakob Jensen, Kollege. Daniela Karnuts, Girl ...
http://english.crew-united.com/projekte/displayProjectdata.asp?IDPD=14429 - 50k - Im Cache
When searching for myself on 192.com there is no results under my name
When googling myself there is 5 search results (see below). All the five results are links to my various work involvements in film and as the commercial director of Fashion TV.
To answer Nigel's question "Who are you online" I am concluding, that I am myself online. (at least on google)
Suchergebnisse 1 - 5 von ca. 5 zu daniela karnuts powered by
F E I G E . T V - P R O J E K T E
Gast 1, Markus H. Eberhard. Gast 2, Jacob Jensen. Prinziger Jr. Jesse Lehmann.
Girl vom Prinziger, Daniela Karnuts. Bruder vom Prinziger, Maximilian Pfaff.
http://www.feige.tv/html_f/filme_6wbi_inf_darst.html - 13k - Im Cache
Rio Carnival Rio Carnival FASHIONTV PRESENTS THE LONGEST BIGGEST ...
FTV-live from Rio Carnival party“. (dates: 17th-20th february 2007) …please contact:.
Daniela Karnuts. Marketing/pr Fashion TV UK. At daniela@ftv.com ...
http://www.ftv.com/bilder/d13/Carnival_Parties.ppt - - Im Cache
f-diamond FINAL.ppt
Please contact:. -Michel Adam, president of FTV at. adam@ftv.com or. -Daniela
Karnuts, marketing/pr FTV uk. under daniela@ftv.com ….for further information.
http://www.ftv.com/bilder/FBoat/FLines.pdf - - Im Cache
Linzi Stoppard - The Electric Violinist Fan Club: What 'they' say ...
Daniela Karnuts, Marketing Director Fashion TV "Linzi's dazzling performance in
Monaco at Grand Prix Unites with Fashion TV as a great opening to such a ...
http://linzi-stoppard.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-they-say-about-linzi.html - 54k - Im Cache
A Christmas Beer Carol (Short)
August Schmölzer, Tankwart Helmut (lead). Markus H. Eberhard, Kollege. Winfried Hübner,
Weihnachtsmann. Jakob Jensen, Kollege. Daniela Karnuts, Girl ...
http://english.crew-united.com/projekte/displayProjectdata.asp?IDPD=14429 - 50k - Im Cache
When searching for myself on 192.com there is no results under my name
Twitter- Week 5
In Week 5 Nigel asked us to look at articles which demonstrate how the social networking site Twitter can be used for educational purposes.
Since I had never used Twitter before I decided to register in order to get a personal approach to the articles Nigel gave us to read. The process of registering is easy but unfortunately I have no Twitter contacts yet, which makes it hard for me to analyse the network's communication tools. When clicking around the various section and reading through the "recent public updates" section I was quite surprised that the Twitter users are making their announcements in their own language.
In one of Nigel's articles, Doug Belshaw, a teacher, describes how Twitter can be used in order to improve practical communication. Teachers can use Twitter in order to remind their students about homework via their mobile phones. Twitter allows its users to enter their phone number and they will then be informed about their friends' updates via their phones. Doug Belshaw outlines the three different methods to use Twitter: (1) as a communications tool for collaborating researchers; (2)as a way to get students to focus in a concise (140 words) way on a topic; and (3) As a way for conference attendees to discuss topics, again in a concise manner.
Twitter is also ideal for library use and library reminders.
It was easy to sign up on Twitter, the website seems to be easy to use and it is perfect for sending short messages. Twitter offers the opportunity to keep your account private. It is partly blog, partly social network, partly sms tool and is ideal for its users to inform each other on "what they are doing".
"Users have 140 characters for each posting (or “tweet”) to say whatever they care to say. Many tweets do answer the question of what the user is doing, but plenty of others are responses to other tweets, pointers to online resources that the user found interesting, musings, or questions. Similar to social networking sites like Facebook—which has itself evolved to include mini-updates—Twitter lets users create formal friendships"
Even though I am not an expert of Twitter I consider it as far less distracting and more effective than Facebook. Twitter is very easy to handle and it seems to really add value to the traditional means of email, phone, and IM messenger communication. I will spend some more time on it and decide how it can add value to my existing communication patterns.
Thanks for the tip, Nigel!
How is data from social networking sites being used for research?
In week 5 Nigel showed us some articles which demonstrate how social networks are being used by data research institutes. In the BBC News article "Researchers plunder social networks" professor Nicholas Christakis from Harvard University points out that "There's just a phenomenal amount of work being done that takes advantage of what I would call this passive, massive, data collection effort".
Since most of the social network users display their profiles publicly, researchers can examine the dynamic of online friendships, interest groups, etc.
"Facebook is particularly useful to sociologists because of the way members accurately record relationships. Friends can add applications to compare tastes in everything from films to music to books. That can help researchers establish whether people tend to form relationships with others who are similar to themselves."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7187680.stm
Apart from sociologists, I would reckon that social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, etc. are also of major interest to brands, record labels, etc., since trends and interest groups can be monitored perfectly on these sites.
Since most of the social network users display their profiles publicly, researchers can examine the dynamic of online friendships, interest groups, etc.
"Facebook is particularly useful to sociologists because of the way members accurately record relationships. Friends can add applications to compare tastes in everything from films to music to books. That can help researchers establish whether people tend to form relationships with others who are similar to themselves."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7187680.stm
Apart from sociologists, I would reckon that social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, etc. are also of major interest to brands, record labels, etc., since trends and interest groups can be monitored perfectly on these sites.
Week 3: How secure are we online?
In week 3 Nigel provided us with various links discussing issues of online security. The articles discussed the RIP Act, which "allows the government to intercept online communications." The various articles examine the controversy surrounding the new act and its consequences on data protection, human rights and e-commerce. I was slightly shocked when reading those articles since it became clear to me how difficult it is to fight internet crime such as paedophilia and how the fight against it in itself is an invasion of privacy.
I started to search for related articles on the web and found an interesting one:
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/01/30/229181/social-networking-security-is-a-people-issue.htm
Social networking security is a people issue
Author: Danny Dresner
Social Networking Social networking sites are enticing and offer a glamorous opportunity for self-publicity, writes Daniel Dresner, head of standards at the National Computing Centre. They can add a new angle of interest to make the otherwise mundane seem entertaining.
But for the corporate body of knowledge they can be a leech - is your health and safety record with HR or YouTube is appraisal information best gleaned from FaceBook? They can take over from the correct repository of information and leave data in an untested, outsourced repository where the owner has no guaranteed control.
Then the content of the information must be measured, with millions of online Gerald Ratners making remarks that may seem witty at midnight but wipe confidence off the shares in daylight. Or is that a carefully planned marketing campaign collapses as someone mentions their work on their blog and announces the new product to the world before you have time to get that lead on your rivals?
It is an enticing technology but few of the associated risks are really technology problems. It is no different from that old managerial adage of "less gob, more job". And heavy handed bans are unlikely to mitigate the risks. You may curtail the workplace access, but you cannot control the cybercafe or home PC without instilling staff with a risk-literate attitude.
If it is not your job to update a social networking site, you are stealing from your employer if you do it during working hours. With quick checks and small updates, you will find yourself like Oscar Wilde - resisting everything but temptation. You may have intended it to be a five-minute break an hour ago
I was recently involved with the Getsafeonline roadshow. About half of those who tried to brush me off with "I never use the internet" were attracted to the leaflet when I pointed out that their friends and family may be posting information about them in blogs or social network sites.
What consideration do people give to the consequences of publishing holiday photographs or personal information on a Web 2.0 social network? What is posted is rarely deleted - even if you thought it had been removed.
I started to search for related articles on the web and found an interesting one:
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/01/30/229181/social-networking-security-is-a-people-issue.htm
Social networking security is a people issue
Author: Danny Dresner
Social Networking Social networking sites are enticing and offer a glamorous opportunity for self-publicity, writes Daniel Dresner, head of standards at the National Computing Centre. They can add a new angle of interest to make the otherwise mundane seem entertaining.
But for the corporate body of knowledge they can be a leech - is your health and safety record with HR or YouTube is appraisal information best gleaned from FaceBook? They can take over from the correct repository of information and leave data in an untested, outsourced repository where the owner has no guaranteed control.
Then the content of the information must be measured, with millions of online Gerald Ratners making remarks that may seem witty at midnight but wipe confidence off the shares in daylight. Or is that a carefully planned marketing campaign collapses as someone mentions their work on their blog and announces the new product to the world before you have time to get that lead on your rivals?
It is an enticing technology but few of the associated risks are really technology problems. It is no different from that old managerial adage of "less gob, more job". And heavy handed bans are unlikely to mitigate the risks. You may curtail the workplace access, but you cannot control the cybercafe or home PC without instilling staff with a risk-literate attitude.
If it is not your job to update a social networking site, you are stealing from your employer if you do it during working hours. With quick checks and small updates, you will find yourself like Oscar Wilde - resisting everything but temptation. You may have intended it to be a five-minute break an hour ago
I was recently involved with the Getsafeonline roadshow. About half of those who tried to brush me off with "I never use the internet" were attracted to the leaflet when I pointed out that their friends and family may be posting information about them in blogs or social network sites.
What consideration do people give to the consequences of publishing holiday photographs or personal information on a Web 2.0 social network? What is posted is rarely deleted - even if you thought it had been removed.
Online identity: How do people portray themselves online and why?
In Week 2 Nigel asked us to look at how people present themselves online. Why do they use certain pictures for their profiles and what might that mean about the online identity they intend to portray? Nigel gave us two pictures of himself. One which he uses whenever he needs to display a photo of himself (first below)and another one which he uses for his Facebook profile (second below).
Whilst Nigel's first photo is has a very "official" and "academic" feel to it, the Facebook photo seems to portray him in a more personal and casual environment that seems more accessible and intimate.
This is quite surprising given the fact that Facebook is not a particularly personal platform. However, it is easy for people to connect to Nigel on Facebook since the picture is not intimidating like the official photograph is.
When thinking about Nigel's use of photographs I began to wonder which photos I am using for my different social networks. Whilst you see my official "for-all-purposes" picture on my blogger profile, I realised that for some reason I decided to use another photo for my Facebook profile. (see below)
It was actually my friend Mohieb who is hugging me on the picture who emailed me this photo and asked me to use it as my Facebook profile. Since I am not using Facebook too often, I did not spent too much time thinking about how I would like to portray myself and just used this photo.
When looking at my friend Veronica's profile on Facebook (see below), she portrays herself as an easy going, beautiful beach girl enjoying life. The picture is very inviting for many to connect her on Facebook. Knowing her in person, this is quite funny, since Veronica has a longterm boyfriend and is not really looking for any men right now.
I think that many people use the online space in order to live sides of themselves which they might not succeed to live in their real life. If people are very conservative in their real life, they might present themselves as easy going and free spirited in their online identity.
However, there is a lot of people who merely utilise online tools in order to improve their communication with friends, etc, who might not give too much importance to how they present themselves online.
Whilst Nigel's first photo is has a very "official" and "academic" feel to it, the Facebook photo seems to portray him in a more personal and casual environment that seems more accessible and intimate.
This is quite surprising given the fact that Facebook is not a particularly personal platform. However, it is easy for people to connect to Nigel on Facebook since the picture is not intimidating like the official photograph is.
When thinking about Nigel's use of photographs I began to wonder which photos I am using for my different social networks. Whilst you see my official "for-all-purposes" picture on my blogger profile, I realised that for some reason I decided to use another photo for my Facebook profile. (see below)
It was actually my friend Mohieb who is hugging me on the picture who emailed me this photo and asked me to use it as my Facebook profile. Since I am not using Facebook too often, I did not spent too much time thinking about how I would like to portray myself and just used this photo.
When looking at my friend Veronica's profile on Facebook (see below), she portrays herself as an easy going, beautiful beach girl enjoying life. The picture is very inviting for many to connect her on Facebook. Knowing her in person, this is quite funny, since Veronica has a longterm boyfriend and is not really looking for any men right now.
I think that many people use the online space in order to live sides of themselves which they might not succeed to live in their real life. If people are very conservative in their real life, they might present themselves as easy going and free spirited in their online identity.
However, there is a lot of people who merely utilise online tools in order to improve their communication with friends, etc, who might not give too much importance to how they present themselves online.
Nigel's week 1 links
When clicking on all the links and reading the blogs which Nigel provided for us in week 1, I was slightly intimidated by the whole "blogging thing". People like John Naughton ("Harry's war"), Tony Hurst ("techy") and Tim Berners-Lee obviously made it their common practice to post their thoughts online. This was something fairly new to me since I am a rather private person and tend to keep my thoughts to myself.
However, when reading all their blogs, I got more and more used to the idea of "blogging".
One blog I particularly enjoyed was the one of Tim Berners- Lee "Giant Global Graph"
in which he states "The word Web we normally use as short for World Wide Web. The WWW increases the power we have as users again. The realization was "It isn't the computers, but the documents which are interesting". Now you could browse around a sea of documents without having to worry about which computer they were stored on. Simpler, more powerful. Obvious, really."
This thought feeds directly into the Larry Lessig video which I posted a few weeks ago which outlines the shift from "read-write" culture to "read only" culture and describes how internet and digitalisation give tools of creation to young people which they can use to re-create their culture.
Tim Lee Berners also addresses the unexpected re-use of the same documents for entirely different reasons. According to Tim Lee Berners "Two delights drove the Web: one of being told by a stranger your Web page has saved their day, and the other of discovering just the information you need and for which you couldn't imagine someone having actually had the motivation to provide it. So the Net and the Web may both be shaped as something mathematicians call a Graph, but they are at different levels. The Net links computers, the Web links documents.Now, people are making another mental move. There is realization now, "It's not the documents, it is the things they are about which are important". Obvious, really.""
I am not quite sure that the average user has come to the same realization as Tim Lee Berners yet but considering the impact the internet has on culture and thought systems right now, I really hope that people will come to that "realization" very soon so that they will focus on the "topics and content" of the documents which the web links together rather than on the documents themselves.
However, when reading all their blogs, I got more and more used to the idea of "blogging".
One blog I particularly enjoyed was the one of Tim Berners- Lee "Giant Global Graph"
in which he states "The word Web we normally use as short for World Wide Web. The WWW increases the power we have as users again. The realization was "It isn't the computers, but the documents which are interesting". Now you could browse around a sea of documents without having to worry about which computer they were stored on. Simpler, more powerful. Obvious, really."
This thought feeds directly into the Larry Lessig video which I posted a few weeks ago which outlines the shift from "read-write" culture to "read only" culture and describes how internet and digitalisation give tools of creation to young people which they can use to re-create their culture.
Tim Lee Berners also addresses the unexpected re-use of the same documents for entirely different reasons. According to Tim Lee Berners "Two delights drove the Web: one of being told by a stranger your Web page has saved their day, and the other of discovering just the information you need and for which you couldn't imagine someone having actually had the motivation to provide it. So the Net and the Web may both be shaped as something mathematicians call a Graph, but they are at different levels. The Net links computers, the Web links documents.Now, people are making another mental move. There is realization now, "It's not the documents, it is the things they are about which are important". Obvious, really.""
I am not quite sure that the average user has come to the same realization as Tim Lee Berners yet but considering the impact the internet has on culture and thought systems right now, I really hope that people will come to that "realization" very soon so that they will focus on the "topics and content" of the documents which the web links together rather than on the documents themselves.
Monday, 3 March 2008
Disaggregated communication
As part of the homework for week 4 Nigel asked us to look ar Martin Weller's article "disaggregated communication". In his article Martin Heller is referring to his and his partners' use of various networks at the same time for different purposes, e.g. facebook, skype, twitter, etc. I personally tend to use skype for instant messenger and phone conference calls. I am using emails in order to communicate work developments and I am using asmallworld.net and sometimes facebook.com in order to keep in touch with my friends. I find Martin Heller's "unorganised" system quite useful but in the end of the day I think everyone has to decide on his/her own what works best for them in order to optimize their communication.
Good website versus bad website
In week three we were asked to write about "good" websites and "bad" websites. Whilst I have already been mentioning a few websites I really like ( such as asmallworld, lexposure.net) I would now like to make a particular comparison between two e-commerce sites: couturelab.com versus ebay.com
Whilst couturelab is selling luxury products "beyond season and trend", ebay is selling pretty much everything. I will first analyse Couturelab and then ebay.
The couturelab website has a subtle and elegant design and is divided into clear categories: "new","woman", "man", "child", "home", "travel", "jewellery", "gifts", etc. The different sections are distinguished by different hd pictures showcasing the product ranges.
Parts of the pictures can only be accessed by couturelab members in order to avoid for the precious products to be copied. The couturelab website is strategically structured and it is easy for users to find what they are looking for.
The website's grey colouring and its elegant look perfectly support and underline the exclusivity of the couturelab products. Each product can be seen from various angles and in full screen which helps the potential client's to feel more confident with purchasing online. The subtleness of the site and the subtle display of products give the customer comfort that his/her details and credit card details are safe with couturelab. Unlike Ebay the couturelab website does not seem to try to be selling anything.
Ebay- Looking at www.ebay.com the user is instantly bombarded with fleshy colours and products without end. Not only is there endless categories in the first place, but there is also endless categories within categories. The design of the website and the colours and bid now banners are communicating a "buy now or you miss the bargain" message. The quality of the product pictures is often very bad and due to the fact that everyone who puts a product onto ebay can design an own product page, there is no overall conformity of design on ebay.
It is also very hard to know which products are "real" and which ones have been "copied". The sheer size of the website and its user and customer base makes it very vulnerable to scans, fakes, credit card detail theft, etc.
See below Dolce & Gabbana offered on ebay. It is very hard for customers to find out if they are buying original or fake products.
Whilst on www.couturelab.com the purchases are being delivery is taken care of by couturelab, on www.ebay.com, the buyer has to wait for the previous product owner to deliver the product.
Due to a growing number of very skillful "hackers" I am personally very careful not to open up my data and credit card details on vast websites such as www.ebay.com
Whilst couturelab is selling luxury products "beyond season and trend", ebay is selling pretty much everything. I will first analyse Couturelab and then ebay.
The couturelab website has a subtle and elegant design and is divided into clear categories: "new","woman", "man", "child", "home", "travel", "jewellery", "gifts", etc. The different sections are distinguished by different hd pictures showcasing the product ranges.
Parts of the pictures can only be accessed by couturelab members in order to avoid for the precious products to be copied. The couturelab website is strategically structured and it is easy for users to find what they are looking for.
The website's grey colouring and its elegant look perfectly support and underline the exclusivity of the couturelab products. Each product can be seen from various angles and in full screen which helps the potential client's to feel more confident with purchasing online. The subtleness of the site and the subtle display of products give the customer comfort that his/her details and credit card details are safe with couturelab. Unlike Ebay the couturelab website does not seem to try to be selling anything.
Ebay- Looking at www.ebay.com the user is instantly bombarded with fleshy colours and products without end. Not only is there endless categories in the first place, but there is also endless categories within categories. The design of the website and the colours and bid now banners are communicating a "buy now or you miss the bargain" message. The quality of the product pictures is often very bad and due to the fact that everyone who puts a product onto ebay can design an own product page, there is no overall conformity of design on ebay.
It is also very hard to know which products are "real" and which ones have been "copied". The sheer size of the website and its user and customer base makes it very vulnerable to scans, fakes, credit card detail theft, etc.
See below Dolce & Gabbana offered on ebay. It is very hard for customers to find out if they are buying original or fake products.
Whilst on www.couturelab.com the purchases are being delivery is taken care of by couturelab, on www.ebay.com, the buyer has to wait for the previous product owner to deliver the product.
Due to a growing number of very skillful "hackers" I am personally very careful not to open up my data and credit card details on vast websites such as www.ebay.com
Do social networking sites deepen friendship
According to James Randerson from www.guardian.co.uk social networks help to accumulate acquaintances rather than real friendships. I tend to agree with James Randerson's view even though I consider social networks as very helpful when your friends live abroad. Social networks such as Facebook and asmallworld offer a fantastic opportunity to keep in touch with your friends even if they might be living in other time zones and on the other side of the world. Even though the computer cannot replace a personal conversation, it can help deepen an existing acquaintance.
I have been using asmallworld to keep in touch with my friends in Los Angeles after I moved back to the UK.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Real world versus virtual world
Looking at websites such as 'immersive media' and 'a second life' I am amazed about the increasing blur between 'virtuality' and reality.
The internet and digital technologies are slowly turning the virtual experience into a live experience and there seems to be nothing that cannot be done.
I consider this development as a positive one on the one hand since more and more people around the world have internet access and can experience things via the internet which they would normally hardly have access to.
On the other hand this can be quite dangerous since people can live their "dark" sides without necessarily being made responsible for it.
It is very hard to censor the internet and issues like child pornography and various cults are given unbelievable tools to increase their impact.
New digital developments
mywaves
Winner of 3GSM's Best Mobile Video Service award (2008), mywaves is a carrier independent mobile video company delivering web videos to handsets. mywaves makes it easy for consumers to personalize their mobile video lineup to watch anytime, anywhere. They are an ideal mobile video syndication partner.
Immersive Media
Immersive Media is a unique digital production company that records and produces innovative video content in a true 360o user-controlled experience. Using eleven separate video streams from a single camera mount, Immersive video captures an almost complete spherical image; a high-resolution 360o view of surroundings that is seamlessly stitched together. The use of the Immersive technology allows their production team to create some very compelling broadband content without the need for any proprietary software or downloads. Please view the following demo (you must have Flash installed on your computer to see the demos):
All Access Today
All Access Today has patented the technology of putting an entire live event on a flash drive built into a fashionable rubber wristband for sale (or give away) within minutes of a show ending. They are currently working with the likes of Matchbox 20, Ringo Star and Willie Nelson. Multiverse/Rivers Run Red (http://www.multiverse.net/) - Multiverse was developed by a team of Netscape veterans and serves as one of the most compelling virtual world solutions on the market today. For the first time, virtual environments can house over 300 participants, while serving multiple, rich-media video feeds. Through their association with London-based creative agency, Rivers Run Red, Multiverse provides customized immersive environments for leading brands.
My personal 'blogging' journey
Due to my health problems I was missing parts of the course and had to study everything by myself. It was too late for me to join a group and so I have to do my very best to achieve a good result with my personal blog. It took me a while to get used to the system but I am slowly getting there. Because of my work I am fairly familiar with social networks, user generated content and blogs from a business angle which does not mean that I have too much personal experience with these digital developments. Hence the course is quite useful for me and I am learning as I go along.
So far most of my blog is giving more attention to market developments and case studies than with the issues around social networking. Going forward I am planning to include more academic research into my blog and I will further describe my personal "blogging" journey.
So far most of my blog is giving more attention to market developments and case studies than with the issues around social networking. Going forward I am planning to include more academic research into my blog and I will further describe my personal "blogging" journey.
The impact of social networking in the UK
The Impact of Social Networking in the UK
Lead Analyst: Heather Hopkins, Hitwise UK
Social networking cemented its status as a bona fide Internet phenomenon in 2007. The question for businesses taking a long, hard look at this trend is whether its growth is sustainable, and if so, how can it really support through-the-line marketing? This Experian-Hitwise report looks in detail at the key social networking learnings from 2007, the trends that are most likely to play out in 2008, and the critical areas that brands need to consider when developing their social media marketing strategies. Key insights and in-depth analysis of the social networking environment in the UK is provided by Robin Goad, Director of Research for Hitwise. Tony Mooney, Managing Partner at Experian ClarityBlue, the specialist consulting division at Experian Integrated Marketing, recommends the key areas to focus on in 2008 when looking to
capitalise on the opportunities social media marketing presents.
Section One: The Social Networking Landscape 1
What are social networks?
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 traffi c back.
Figure 1: The top 25 social networks in the UK by total Internet visits, November 2007
Section One: The Social Networking Landscape 2
The growth of social networks
The growth of social networks
Social networks have grown rapidly in the UK over the last few years and their share of total UK
Internet visits more than trebled between November 2005 and October 2007. As social networks expand their subscriber base, the network effect kicks in and the average time users spend on them increases as their number of friends and contacts increase. For example, Bebo tripled its market share of UK Internet visits between February 2005 and 2006, and at the same time its average session time increased from 6 minutes, 22 seconds to 21 minutes, 32 seconds. Consequently, social networks now receive one in every fi ve page impressions in the UK - more than any other industry, including Search Engines and Shopping & Classifi eds.
Social networks are also starting to eat into email’s dominance of the Internet messaging market. A growing proportion of the UK online population is choosing to communicate with friends via social networks rather than email. This is nicely illustrated in Figure 2, which shows that in October 2007, Internet visits to Social Networks overtook visits to web-based email services. A Hitwise custom category consisting of the top 25 social networks accounted for 5.21% of all UK Internet visits in November 2007, compared to 4.92% for Computers and Internet – Email Services, which includes Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and GoogleMail, amongst others.
Figure 2: UK Internet traffi c to Social Networks and Email Services
Section One: The Social Networking Landscape 3
Not just for young people and city dwellers Younger users are currently more likely than their parents’ generation to use social networks in place of web mail services for online messaging. For example, in October 2007, 62% of Facebook users were aged 34 and under, whereas 55% of visitors to Windows Live Hotmail, the most popular web mail service in the UK, were older than 34. However, when you look at overall usage of social networks, the age gap is closing rapidly. As Figure 3 illustrates, the proportion of visitors aged 55+to the Hitwise Social Networking and Forums industry (which is dominated by the social networks) increased from 9.3% to 15.3% between October 2006 and 2007. In addition to participating in the more established social networks, older users are also carving out their own niche online – so much that Saga Group recently launched SagaZone, a social network for the over 50s.
Figure 3: Social networks demographics
With 1.8 million members in November 2007, the London Facebook network was larger than both
Toronto (1.0m) and New York (0.6m). In fact, it was the largest Facebook group in the world.
While this illustrates the popularity of social networks in the UK, it also leads some people to
believe they are primarily used by the ‘metropolitan elite’. However, this perception is incorrect.
For example, the Manchester Facebook group had half a million members in November 2007
(a higher proportion of its population than London), while there were 0.2 million in Bristol.
In fact, Internet users in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are actually marginally more likely to visit a Social Networking and Forums website than someone from London or the South East. As Figure 4 illustrates, visitors to Social Networking and Forums websites closely represent the online population as a whole, with no one region particularly strongly over-represented. In much the same way that the emergence of eCommerce provided people in more remote communities with a wealth of new shopping opportunities, the growth of social networks has enabled people across the country to more effectively communicate and participate online.
Section One: The Social Networking Landscape 4
Figure 4: Social networks demographics
Social networks account for an increasing proportion of UK Internet visits, and they are also becoming an important source of traffi c for other websites. In October 2007, Social Networks accounted for 7.7% of upstream Internet traffi c to all other websites, making the category the second most important source of traffi c after Search Engines. As Figure 5 illustrates, the close link between social networking websites and the entertainment industry means that music, fi lm and TV websites were amongst the fi rst to realise this potential. More than one in ten visits to the Entertainment and Music industries in October 2007 came from Social Networks, with Bebo being the second highest source of traffi c to the latter after Google UK.
Figure 5: Upstream traffi c from Social Networks
Section One: The Social Networking Landscape 5
The growth in traffi c from social networks to other websites is a result of a number of factors, some of them ‘organic’, and some of them down to clever marketing. The earliest examples of successful social network marketing are typically more organic or grass roots, whether it is the Arctic Monkeys building a following via MySpace or 14,000 people successfully campaigning for the return of Cadbury’s Wispa on Facebook.
This fi rst wave was then followed by a second wave of more organised campaigns – some from a grass roots level, some with a certain amount of guidance from professionals. The success of Lily Allen via MySpace with some help from the record industry is a good example of the latter, while the Primark Appreciation Society on Facebook is a famous example of the former. The group, which in November 2007 had over 100,000 members, acts as an online space for fans of the discount fashion retailer to share recommendations with friends, discuss the latest shop openings and highlight current bargains.
The growth of social networks shows no sign of slowing, so it is not surprising that every website
wants to take advantage of the sector’s phenomenal growth. Unfortunately, the reason that people are attracted to social networks in the fi rst place is that reliance on user-generated content is seen as relatively free of traditional corporate content and advertising. If users perceive that a social network is becoming ‘polluted’ they will leave, and the evidence suggests that this can happen extremely quickly. Therefore, the onus is on the social networks themselves and the websites wishing to gain traffi c from them, to design marketing campaigns that fi t in with this philosophy. The following example demonstrates that a successful social network marketing campaign can work from a ‘top down’, rather than organic grass roots perspective.
Experian Group Limited is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 index. It has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and operational headquarters in
Costa Mesa, California and Nottingham, UK.
For more information on Experian Integrated Marketing, visit www.experianim.com or
call us on 0845 234 0391.
For more information on the Experian Group, visit
http://mel.hemstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/hitwise-social-networking-report-2008.pdf
Social networks
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.
Definition of 'virtual community' and definition of 'social networking'
Definition of virtual community
A group of individuals who share a common interest via e-mail, blogs, instant messages, chat rooms or newsgroups. Members of a virtual community are self-subs
Definition of social networking site
A Web site that provides a virtual community for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together. Members create their own online "profile" with biographical data, pictures, likes, dislikes and any other information they choose to post. They communicate with each other by voice, chat, instant message, videoconference and blogs, and the service typically provides a way for members to contact friends of other members.Sites may also serve as a vehicle for meeting in person. The "social networking site" is the 21st century "virtual community," a group of people who use the Internet to communicate with each other about anything and everything. One can find dating sites, friendship sites, sites with a business purpose and hybrids that offer a combination of these. Globally, hundreds of millions of people have joined one or more social networking sites.In the BeginningIntroduced in 2002, Friendster (www.friendster.com) was the first social site, followed by MySpace (www.myspace.com) a year later. Started by two friends, MySpace became extremely popular, and its parent company, Intermix, was acquired by News Corporation for $580 million two years after MySpace was launched. See MySpace.Facebook (www.facebook.com) came out in 2004 initially targeting college students, but later welcoming everyone (see Facebook). Following Facebook were TagWorld (www.tagworld.com) and Tagged (www.tagged.com). TagWorld introduced tools for creating more personalized Web pages, and Tagged introduced the concept of building tag teams for teens with like interests.Social networking sites compete for attention much like the first Web portals when the Internet exploded onto the scene in the mid-1990s. Variations are emerging all the time. For a list of major sites, see social networking Web sites.
Social Site Trends1. Prospective EmployeesEmployers can use information on social sites to learn about prospective employees. Reading profiles and perusing photos has become standard for human resources departments in some companies. One's job search could be affected accordingly.2. Cellphone ApplicationsThe cellphone potential for socializing remains huge, and mobile features allow social networking site users to continue their experience when away from the desktop. Uploading photos, sending videos and sharing tiny samples of voice are being perfected for friends in these online networks.3. The 21st Century PortalSocially-established sites are becoming content-conscious. Pundits believe that in the future, all content portals will have characteristics of social networking sites. Moreover, beyond the sense of belonging that might be sought, people will visit these sites to be entertained or to find useful information. cribing. Contrast with virtual workgroup. See social networking site.
Social Site Trends1. Prospective EmployeesEmployers can use information on social sites to learn about prospective employees. Reading profiles and perusing photos has become standard for human resources departments in some companies. One's job search could be affected accordingly.2. Cellphone ApplicationsThe cellphone potential for socializing remains huge, and mobile features allow social networking site users to continue their experience when away from the desktop. Uploading photos, sending videos and sharing tiny samples of voice are being perfected for friends in these online networks.3. The 21st Century PortalSocially-established sites are becoming content-conscious. Pundits believe that in the future, all content portals will have characteristics of social networking sites. Moreover, beyond the sense of belonging that might be sought, people will visit these sites to be entertained or to find useful information. cribing. Contrast with virtual workgroup. See social networking site.
Saturday, 1 March 2008
My experiences with Facebook
I have to say that my personal experience with social networking sites such as Facebook is not the greatest. I logged on a while ago which I regret since ever since then I have been receiving endless friendship requests, half of them from people I never met in my life. The process of logging on in order to check the messages, looking at all the posts and pictures takes too long and I find it very distracting. It just takes too much time.
Most of my friends do not agree with me and simply love Facebook. I would rather call it "addicted"-
I personally prefer to choose who I would like to communicate with and to maintain my privacy.
I prefer to communicate via cell (calls or sms), email, or msn/skype which I proved to be far more effective to me.
Advantages and disadvantages of social networking
Web networkers at "risk of fraud"
Actor and writer Stephen Fry has a Facebook entry.
People who use internet networking sites are being warned that they could be at risk of identity theft.
Credit information group Equifax said members of sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook may be putting too many details about themselves online.
It said fraudsters could use these details to steal someone's identity and apply for credit and benefits.
About 80,000 people in the UK were victims of identity theft last year, at a cost to the economy of £1.5bn.
Passwords
Neil Munroe, external affairs director for Equifax, said: "Fraudsters are taking advantage of the new craze for social networking.
"The problem is that people don't realise the significance of the kind of information they are putting out on the web and who may be accessing it.
"More and more consumers are signing up to these sites every day and chances are they'll put on their date of birth, location, e-mail, job and marital status.
"Fraudsters can use this information to steal an individual's identity and open accounts in their name."
The group advised people to limit the personal information they make available about themselves online.
It said people should avoid putting their full date of birth on one of the sites, as well as the names of children or pets as these are often used as passwords.
Mr Munroe said: "We don't want to stop people using these sites, but we do advise them to limit the amount of information they make available to stop people stealing their identity."
Credit information group Equifax said members of sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook may be putting too many details about themselves online.
It said fraudsters could use these details to steal someone's identity and apply for credit and benefits.
About 80,000 people in the UK were victims of identity theft last year, at a cost to the economy of £1.5bn.
Passwords
Neil Munroe, external affairs director for Equifax, said: "Fraudsters are taking advantage of the new craze for social networking.
"The problem is that people don't realise the significance of the kind of information they are putting out on the web and who may be accessing it.
"More and more consumers are signing up to these sites every day and chances are they'll put on their date of birth, location, e-mail, job and marital status.
"Fraudsters can use this information to steal an individual's identity and open accounts in their name."
The group advised people to limit the personal information they make available about themselves online.
It said people should avoid putting their full date of birth on one of the sites, as well as the names of children or pets as these are often used as passwords.
Mr Munroe said: "We don't want to stop people using these sites, but we do advise them to limit the amount of information they make available to stop people stealing their identity."
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