Selling the data of social network users could be one way for sites to increase revenue according to a new report from In-Stat.
"Each social networking site collects a plethora of personal and demographic data on each member," said Jill Meyers of In-Stat "and while selling these data to target marketing groups may be unappealing to site members, it may be the best route to profitability for site operators."
The Real Influence of Social Networks
Last month, JupiterResearch reported that 48% of Internet marketers would venture into social media marketing this year. This month they were involved in the research behind iProspect’s Social Networking User Behavior Study (press release). The result? Some pretty good stuff.
Web 2.0 Expo: Human Needs Drive Social Web 2.0
I recently read a insightful piece from Ben Hunt about the future of the web2.0 social experience. It was particularly relevant as I am heading to the Web2.0 Expo here in San Francisco today and will have a chance to see many new technologies later this evening at the "Booth Crawl" event at the opening of the Expo.
Building Blocks Of The Social Web
In a brilliant post on nform.ca, information architect Gene Smith of the Atomiq.org blog outlined the 7 building blocks of social software. This pulls together the work of various people including Matt Webb and Stewart Butterfield and provides a framework that I think is valuable in thinking about social software.
Survey: Social Network Users Meet Offline
Jacobs Media has released the results of their Web survey, which found that social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are drivers for first time personal meetings.
Combating Social Engineering Effects
Social Engineering that gets someone in a company to give out information that they should not give out is something common, so why don’t more companies doing anything about it?
Social Networks Safer Than Perceived
Social networking sites are becoming a political lightning rod for politicians and law enforcement. As more children use the sites the belief is that they are at increased risk to be targeted by online predators.
Social Networking: Examining User Behavior
Results from a recent iProspect study outline the specific behaviors of users visiting the most popular social networking sites. Among other items, the study finds that marketers should spend more time and resources investing in sites that operate within a relevant niche to their product than they have in the past.
Social Media Marketing: Get it Straight!
It’s an interesting thing when concepts get defined according to the intentions and goals of a few influential voices.
Take social media optimization and marketing (SMO/SMM) for example. What started as a set of tactics unique to their channels (blogs, images, audio, video) became a more closely defined set of tactics ala Rohit’s Rules for Social Media Optimization.
Dell’s IdeaStorm: Social Media in Motion
When most companies decide to embrace social media, they usually use it as a vehicle to market new products and services, while at the same time seeking transparency. When Dell launched its IdeaStorm website, it departed from the normal “this is what we’re doing” message that most company blogs transmit.