SOCIAL NETWORKS & BLOGS NOW 4TH MOST POPULAR ONLINE ACTIVITY, AHEAD OF PERSONAL EMAIL,
Publ. by www.redviking.se
March 9, 2009
”Time Spent” on These Sites Growing Three Times Faster than Overall Internet Rate, Now
Accounting for Almost 10 Percent of all Internet Time. Now visited by over two-thirds (67 percent) of the global* online population, “Member Communities,” which includes both social networks and blogs, has become the fourth most popular online category – ahead of personal email. It is growing twice as fast as any of the other four largest sectors (search, portals, PC software and email),
Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience.
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.
Social networking will continue to alter not just the global online landscape, but the consumer experience at large. This study explains why.”
Facebook - the world’s most popular social network - is visited monthly by three in every 10 people online across the nine markets in which Nielsen tracks social networking use. Orkut in Brazil has the largest domestic online reach (70 percent) of any social network in these markets.
Other key findings include:
- One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites.
- The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35-49 year old age group (+11.3 million).
- Mobile is playing an increasingly important role in social networking. Nielsen found UK mobile Web users have the greatest propensity to visit a social network through their handset, with 23 percent (2 million people) doing so, compared to 19 percent in the US (10.6 million people). These numbers are a big increase over last year – up 249 percent in the UK and 156 percent in the US.
Social networking isn’t just growing rapidly, it’s evolving - both in terms of a broader audience and compelling new functionality, We felt compelled to analyze the state of the social networkingmarket globally and consider what implications this has for our publisher and advertiser clients.”
Among the markets penetration of visits to social networks and blogs was highest in Brazil, where 80 percent of the online audience visits such sites (see Chart 1). The share of overall Internet time for which social networks and blogs account is also highest in Brazil, where nearly one in four (23 percent) of minutes spent online is spent on these sites (see Chart 2).
Germany saw the greatest increase in penetration of social networks and blogs across 2008, from 39
percent of the online audience in December 2007 to 51 percent in December 2008 – a relative growth of 39 percent. Global Faces and Networked Places
Publ. by www.redviking.se
March 6, 2009 Expanding population creates new opportunities for advertising and connected TV
Social networking is moving to the television, driven by a young audience interested in video features such as multiplayer games, chat, and content discovery. This trend will help increase U.S. ad spending in social media to almost $3 billion by 2013, according to Parks Associates.
Over one-fourth of broadband users ages 18-24 are interested in social media features on the TV. Key applications include multiplayer gaming, in-program chat, and “most watched” lists. At the same time, 23% of U.S. broadband households want to view content from sites like YouTube and Flickr on their TVs.
See The Impact of Online Video in Europe,
For younger consumers in particular, their appetite for social experiences don’t end on the computer screen but are enhanced via their access on TVs and mobile phones,. “This expansion of social media has implications for service providers, advertisers, and CE manufacturers as well as the networking sites.”
Parks Associates forecasts 95 million social networking users by 2013. This diverse population will have a variety of different needs and wants. For example, threats like the Koobface worm, which targets Facebook users, underscore the need for integrated customer support solutions that can address social networking security issues. Service providers could combine these offerings with their network support services to sell a complete protection package.
Social media & user-generated content
Free content is main lure for Western Europeans watching video online
February 26, 2009
Adoption of online video has increased in Europe, but international research firm Parks Associates reports that the vast majority of usage is not generating any direct revenues. The firm, which recently released the white paper 31% of broadband households in Western Europe have downloaded a movie or TV show for free in the last six months while only 8% of households have paid for an Internet download.
See The Impact of Online Video in Europe,
“While you always expect free to outpace for-pay offerings, the real problem emerges for content and solution providers when analyzing consumers’ preferred means of watching video,” said John Barrett, director, research, Parks Associates. “Over 80% of broadband households prefer traditional options for viewing video, including going to the cinema or watching a DVD. Since so many users are watching online video only because it is free, they will likely step away from the computer if they have to start paying for it.”
Publ. by www.redviking.se
March 6, 2009
Worldwide IT spending on cloud services will grow almost threefold, reaching US$42 billion, by 2012. As the cloud computing model offers a much cheaper way for businesses to acquire and use IT, its adoption to be amplified by the cost-cutting mantra of most organizations today.
In a recent IDC survey conducted with 696 IT executives and CIOs across Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) to gather their views, understanding, current usage and planned usage of cloud computing, it was found that 11% of the respondents are already using cloud-based solutions. A further 41% of the respondents indicated that they are either evaluating cloud solutions for use in their businesses, or already piloting cloud solutions. When asked about their opinion of the current state of cloud computing, 17% of the respondents stated that although cloud computing is very promising, there are currently not enough services available to make it compelling. (See Figure 1) See http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prMY21726709
Figure 1
Figure 1: What is your opinion of the current state of clouding computing? (N=696 IT executives and CIOs in APEJ, January 2009)
Future uptake of cloud computing looks strong. Over the next three years, as the use of cloud services expand from the domain of early adopters to that of the early majority, it becomes critical for IT vendors to develop strong cloud offerings, and play a leadership role in aligning their new cloud products and services with their organization, their traditional offerings, partner ecosystem, and customer and market requirements. IT vendors who fail to seriously contend for a leadership role will be left with a minority share of the lucrative pie.”
For IT vendors to be successful in the cloud market, they will have to address users’ cost concerns. The survey also revealed that more than 50% of the respondents indicated cost cutting as the key driver behind the adoption of cloud computing. (See Figure 2)
Figure 2 http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prMY21726709
Figure 2: What drove your organization towards using or considering cloud services? (N=696 IT executives and CIOs in APEJ, January 2009)
However, it is also important to note that supplying low-cost services alone will not guarantee success, as users are also indicating that any cloud solution they buy must offer competitive pricing, offer Service Level Agreement (SLAs) and offer complete solutions.
Some IT vendors are well positioned to do this but others who are focused on a single solution will need to build strong partner ecosystems to bring broad solutions to their customers. The time to do that is now, as our survey respondents have indicated that in three years time, their use of cloud-based services will be very different as compared to what we see today. (See Figure 3)
Figure 3: How important is it to your organization that a cloud services supplier or vendor have the following characteristics? (N=696 IT executives and CIOs in APEJ, January 2009)
posted by Ingemar Lindmark at 11:12 AM
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