Google Is for Pandas, Facebook Is for Lobsters
In the spirit of such wonderfully polarizing opposites as "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus," a social software programmer has come up with a cute analogy of the different users Google and Facebook (or other social Websites such as Twitter) appeal to.
Adam Rifkin, co-founder of social app site Renkoo, said Google, with its search and other task specific, goal-oriented applications, fosters grazing of information. Rifkin wrote:
The kind of application that Google knows how to make well are the kind that embody a panda's "eats, shoots and leaves" model of Internet behavior. Pandas spend every waking hour foraging -- aka searching -- and consuming. The most successful Google applications serve such a utilitarian mandate, too: they encourage users to search for something, consume and move onto the next thing. Get in, do your business, get out. Do a Google search, slurp down information, move on. Pull up Google maps or Gmail or Google news, do something, leave. Where Google does not excel is in making applications that are by their nature for lingering and luxuriating -- the so-called social applications.
Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Quora are the lobster traps that catch millions of consumers and make them stay.
Facebook is a lobster trap and your friends are the bait. On social networks we are all lobsters, and lobsters just wanna have fun. Every time a friend shares a status, a link, a like, a comment, or a photo, Facebook has more bait to lure me back. Facebook is literally filled with master baiters: Whenever I return to Facebook I am barraged with information about many friends, to encourage me to stick around and click around. Every time I react with a like or comment, or put a piece of content in, I'm servi/> [...]
Wed Jul 14, 2010 14:08 pm
Nearly Half Of Americans Use Social Media
The percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a profile on one or more social networking sites has reached almost half (48%) of the population in 2010, double the amount from two years ago (24% in 2008), according to a new survey from Arbitron and Edison Research.
The study found the use of social networking sites is not just for the young. While 78 percent of teens and 77 percent of those 18 to 24 have profile pages, 65 percent of those 25 to 34 and half of those 35 to 44 (51%) also have profile pages. The study found 30 percent of Americans who have a profile on at least one social networking site, visit them "several times a day" compared to only 18 percent on year ago.
"The use of social networking sites has expanded beyond younger consumers, with substantial numbers of Americans over the age of 35 now using social media," said Bill Rose, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Arbitron Inc.
For the first time, more Americans say the Internet is "most essential" to their lives when given a choice along with television, radio, and newspapers. Forty-two percent said the Internet was the "most essential," while 37 percent chose television, 14 percent radio, and 5 percent newspapers. While television still leads among those over the age of 45, Internet dominates among those 12 to 24.
Sixty-two percent of homes with Internet access have wireless networks in their homes, allowing for more convenient consumption of digital media in any room.
Nearly half of mobile phone owners (45%) text multiple times a day. Three quarters of teens (75%) and those 18 to 24 (76%) text multiple times a day c/> [...]
Thu Apr 08, 2010 14:30 pm
Bonanzle Enables Facebook and Google Log-in
Bonanzle announced that it is now supporting Facebook and Google as methods of logging in to the site. This could go a long way in increasing usage of the site.
"If you're like me you have lots of accounts on the web," says Alex Berg on the Bonanzle blog. "And remembering all those usernames and passwords can get a bit tricky; unless you keep them on a post-it stuck to your monitor. So, we decided to let users use accounts they may have already to get more people into the Bonanzle family."
"If you already have a Bonanzle account and want to use Facebook or Google to log in from now on just make sure your Facebook or Google account shares the same email address as your existing Bonanzle account," adds Berg. "When you log in with Facebook or Google you'll be prompted to tie the two accounts together."
Last year, we saw Bonanzle standing out among eBay competitors, and while opinions of the service are certainly mixed (not unlike those about eBay itelf), many seem to find it a worthy alternative for selling. Earlier this year, Bonanzle attracted some new funding.
Bonanzle says it may add other third-party accounts (like Yahoo) for log-in in the future.
