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Some interesting stats

People are going to tell me that I am obsessed with MySpace and Facebook! It’s just my basic idea to copy their success and to create social networks of ‘young adults’ in the library space. Hmmm.
From the Stanford Daily:
1. “Facebook.com now has over eight million registered users. That’s roughly equal to the combined populations of Los Angeles and Chicago.”
2. Facebook “has grown astronomically in its first two years and now sits as the seventh most-visited page on the Internet.”
3. “The networking site has expanded to every college and university in the United States, as well as into 14 other countries.”
USA Today reports that:
1. Facebook “is used by 65% of undergrads at four-year colleges and is now open to high-schoolers as well.”
2. “Traffic on Facebook has grown 272% in the past year, making it the 66th most popular website in February, according to ComScore Media Metrix, which tracks Internet use.”
3. “Traffic on MySpace has grown 318% in the last year to 37.3 million visitors in February, making it the top social networking site on the Web and the eighth most popular website overall, according to ComScore Media Metrix.”
4. “In July, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million.”
If I recall correctly, NCSU reported recently a poll that showed that over 90% of their students were on Facebook and my own random polling of my kids’ friends, and those I meet by happenstance, is interesting. I can’t find anyone who doesn’t have a Facebook page in this demographic.
The New York Times reported recently that:
1. “MySpace is adding as many as a million registered users each week who create or peruse Web pages of other members, sharing photos, blogs and such, it has so far attracted little advertising revenue relative to its audience size.”
NetFamily reports this eMarketer data:
“Research firm eMarketer recently looked at traffic from 12-to-17-year-olds and 18-to-24-year-olds to the top 6 social-networking sites: MySpace, Xanga, Facebook, MyYearBook, Hi5, and Friendster. Interestingly, teen traffic increased between November and December (the latest figures available) at MySpace (+9%), Xanga (+29%), and especially MyYearBook (+44%), while it decreased at Hi5, Friendster, and Facebook (whose 18-to-24-year-old traffic increased for that same period). Another firm, comScore Media Metrix, has numbers showing how integrated online activity has become in 12-to-17-year-olds’ lives. ComScore has a chart showing the top 10 Web sites for this age group from 2/05 to 2/06, MySpace being No. 2 and Facebook No. 5.”
CNet is reporting that teens are increasing their use of these sites:
1. “From April 2005 to April 2006, the overall number of teen visitors (between the ages of 12 and 17) to MySpace grew from roughly 3 million to 7.8 million. That was up 162 percent, according to ComScore Media Metrix. (That doesn’t account for MySpace’s 14-year-old age minimum.)”
2. “The number of teen visitors to Yahoo, still tops for the age group, dropped 1 percent over the year to 11.6 million, according to ComScore. AOL, whose Instant Messenger is the most popular among teens, lost 10 percent of its teen visitors, falling behind Yahoo this year for the first time, at 10.9 million visitors.”
3. “Of the major Web sites, only Google got a bump from teens in the last year; the number of teen visitors to Google jumped 24 percent to 10.7 million from April to April, according to ComScore.”
4. “CNET Networks, publisher of News.com, lost 19 percent of its teen audience year-over-year. It attracted just more than 3 million teens in April.”
5. “Wikipedia, the controversial and fast-growing open-source encyclopedia, drew 2.9 million teens in April 2006, up 221 percent from the same period a year earlier.” (April 2005 to April 2006)
6. “No other age group matches teens’ enthusiasm for the Web–nor their use of broadband connections. Roughly 87 percent of the 12 to 17 age group is online, many at least twice a day, according to a recent Pew Internet and American Life study. That bests the activity of 25 to 29 year olds, which have an 85 percent penetration. And 49 percent of teens have high-speed connections at home–more than any other age group. That means it’s easy for them to watch video, chat with friends and listen to MP3s while doing their homework.”
So there you have it. I’ve been saying that this generation is already here and are dominant by many measures; they have different expectations, and are changing their usage patterns very quickly. Let’s just not watch, let’s participate. The advertiser supported web folks are desperately trying to keep track of these changes. Libraries have a lot to offer. Are we?
This reminds me of a song lyric:
There’s something happening here.
What it is ain’t exactly clear.
There’s a man with a gun over there,
Telling me I got to beware.
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look what’s going down.
(Buffalo Pringfield and Stephen Sills)
What is going down here?
Stephen

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Posted on: May 30, 2006, 8:07 am Category: Uncategorized

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