Social Network Smackdown

Slide 1: Laura Halsch & Qui Diaz SOCIAL NETWORK SMACKDOWN June 22, 2007

Slide 2: An Online Community Is … • “A group of people that primarily or initially communicate or interact via the Internet, rather than face to face” • Listserv, bulletin boards, message boards, chat rooms, media-sharing sites, consumer review/sales, social bookmarking, social networks • eBay, Craigslist, Amazon.com, Epinions, Del.icio.us, Wikipedia, DIGG . . .

Slide 3: Some History • Where did online communities come from? – Shift from information gathering to relationship building online – Steps taken (the well, message boards, listserves, AOL) • Built on foundations of social interaction – Participation in a group – Membership in a community with common interests/goals/etc. – Trust

Slide 4: A Social Network Is . . . • Equitably facilitated (user-to-user contact, not just response) • Focused on identity & relationships, not just topic (profile) • An opportunity for image management

Slide 5: Why should you pay attention? • 61% of people trust other people like themselves when forming an opinion about a company. • Marketing is dependant on listening to those people and engaging them in promotion and development. • Online communities provide a place to do just that. – “focus groups” of consumers

Slide 6: Conversation Map (Laura Halsch) (Qui Diaz) VS

Slide 7: USERS • Launched in 2004 • Launched in 2004 • 20,284,357 members • 167 million registered • 15,000 new members a members day • 208,000 new members • Up 14.8% in the past a day month, 88.3% in the past year. • 57% of Social • Users in MA, NY, RI, and Networking Market CT, NJ are the heaviest Share users of the site • “86.5% of members are 18+” * compete.com

Slide 8: AUDIENCE Facebook – Mostly college students MySpace – No one really knows for sure, but . . .

Slide 9: The Smackdown …

Slide 10: FUNCTIONALITY Facebook MySpace Profiles  • Profiles Friends  • Friends Messaging  • Messaging Photo/videos  • Photo/video Comments  • “Wall” Events  • Events Blog  • Feeds Music  • Applications Bulletins  • Cuter Groups 

Slide 11: “STICKINESS” Conversation Map Facebook MySpace Over 71% of early Nearly 2/3rds of “power users” were early MySpace using Facebook in “power users” were May 2007, and using MySpace in visiting the site an May 2007, and average of 27 times visiting the site an a month. average of 30 times a month.

Slide 12: CONNECTIVITY Conversation Map Facebook MySpace • Feeds  Blogs/feeds • Online to offline  Online to offline activities activities • Group  Group membership/updates membership/updates • Invitations  Invitations • Marketplace • Toolbar thing

Slide 13: THE FUTURE • On May 27, Facebook announced their new platform which allows users to add third party applications (widgets) into their profiles. • There are currently 900 applications available for categories like business, food/drink, politics, travel, music, and videos. • This is an opportunity for brands to get involved. * compete.com

Slide 14: THE FUTURE • Entrenched users – are they reachable & actionable? • Niche networks on the rise • Innovation waning

Slide 15: Users: Facebook “Facebook Hammers MySpace on Almost All Key Features” Mashable, June 2007 With regards to • Design • Media • Community • Ease of Use . . . +1 for MySpace for “usefulness”

Slide 16: WHERE ARE WE NOW? • The arena is growing – Social networks are getting bigger (MySpace) – Gaining in numbers/popularity/membership – Mainstream within popular sites (USA Today) • The arena is increasingly segmented – Niche groups forming (Flubies) – Corporations and brands becoming involved (Mini Cooper)

Slide 17: Top 20 Social Networks (Ranked by Attention, April 2007, Compete.com)

Slide 18: Where we are now From: xkcd webncomics

Slide 19: THE WORKING PROFESSIONAL LinkedIn PartnerUp Visible Path Monster.com

Slide 20: LinkedIn.com Create your own network of direct & indirect professional connections • “Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended • Be found for business opportunities • Search for great jobs • Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals Traffic: 1.2 million unique • Post and distribute job listings visitors/month Links: 322,000 • Find high-quality passive Members: Over 11million members in candidates 150 industries • Get introduced to other Free professionals through the people (Paid accounts = more tools to reach you know” people outside your network) OPR LinkedIn for Good

Slide 21: THE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS / ADVOCACY- ORIENTED • Omidyar.net • Idealist.org • Care2 • Treehugger

Slide 22: Care2.com “the largest online community for people who want to make a difference” • Groups • Petitions • Donation portal • News network • e-cards • Photos • Personal email and web page Traffic: 745,854 unique visitors/month Links: 276,000 Members: 7,300,000 +

Slide 23: THE DATING SCENE Match.com eHarmony J Date Chemistry.com, PerfectMatch.com, True.com . . . Friendster, Orkut, Bebo, FaceParty, Facebook, MySpace . . .

Slide 24: MOMS Club Mom iVillage Connect Parents Connect Mothers Click BlogHer Parent Center/ Bab Center Cafe Mom

Slide 25: Cafe Mom Launched in November 2006, this is an online community created specifically for moms. • Profiles • Public Message boards • Private Messaging • Journals • Photo sharing • Groups Traffic: 421,108 unique visitors/month • Status Messaging Links: 2,532 links in Members: Thousands of Moms

Slide 26: THE FAITHFUL • SmartChristian • IslamicTube • Buddhist Gateway • Zaadz • Beliefnet • ldsplanet

Slide 27: Beliefnet.com “The largest spiritual web site helping you find your spiritual path.” • Discussion & Dialogue groups • Prayer circles • Memorials (online tributes/commemorations) • Birth announcements • Wedding albums & vows • Religious events & misc. celebrations • Comfort & support Traffic: 2 million unique visitors/month • Blogs, news, videos, resources Links: 97,700 Members: Majority of faiths represented Boards and groups

Slide 28: MULTI-CULTI Quepasa.com MyGrito Black Planet Asiantown.net

Slide 29: Black Planet “A groundbreaking online community for African Americans. We enable members to cultivate meaningful personal and professional relationships …” • Profiles • Public Message boards • Private Messaging • Groups/Events • Photos/Videos Traffic: 1 million unique visitors/month • Professional Groups Links: 2,532 links in Members: Black Community (18- 44) • Dating • Polls • News aggregator

Slide 30: THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY • The Student Doctor Network • Sermo • Medscape • WebMD • iVillage • Revolution Health

Slide 31: Sermo “The fastest Growing community created for physicians, by physicians.” • Posts and Comments • Rating • Groups by Field • Conversations • Anonymous Membership Traffic: less than 2,000 visitors per month Links: 2,532 links in Members: Medical Professionals

Slide 32: POLITICS Examples • Party Builder • YouTube • TownHall.com • Meet Up/Upcoming • Facebook/Myspace • TuGrito 2008 • John Edwards 08

Slide 33: Party Builder Launched in November 2006, this is an online community created specifically for moms. • Profiles • Groups • Events • Campaigns • Fundraising • Blogs • Letters Traffic: 115,418 unique visitors/month Links: 21,792 links in Members: Democrats

Slide 34: It’s really about RELATIONSHIPS How do you want to engage with others and where? Boxing = poor metaphor for the purpose of social networks

Slide 35: That is Conversation Map . . . until you realize the competitive advantage of engaging in conversational marketing. • Facebook (Laura) v.s. • MySpace (Qui)

Slide 36: R U READY TO RUMBLE?

Slide 37: GET IN THE GAME • Join 2 social networks TODAY • Make your profile compelling • Connect with others

Slide 38: be your best true self

Slide 39: How can you get more involved? • Listen – Know your audience: what matters to them – Determine influencers (volume, discussion, affiliation …)

Slide 40: FLUBLOGIA & FLUBIES Tracking the online pandemic flu community Weekly monitoring of: • 20 blogs • 6 message boards • 1 wiki

Slide 41: How can you get more involved? • Engage (online or offline) – Invite influencers to participate offline – Respond to comments/questions online – Revise products/initiatives based on feedback – Aggregate to amplify

Slide 42: The Humane Society of the United States www.myspace.com/thehumanesociety

Slide 43: How can you get more involved? • Advertise/Sponsor – Look for opportunities – Brand existing conversations – Host conversations/forums

Slide 44: NHLBI and Blog Her Blogher is a network of highly connected women bloggers who cover a variety of topics. •77% of the Network's readers visit the blogs at least weekly, and two thirds of those visit daily. • 93% of the Network's readers are "certain to return" to the sites

Slide 45: How can you get more involved? • Create your own – Clear call to action – Focused incentive – Clear timeline – Amex, Omidyar, Trader Joe’s … – Don’t get in their way

Slide 46: American Express: The Members Project Timeline: 5.15 – 8.7 Incentive: American Express donates $1 for every card member that registers Community Building: Card members submit project ideas – proposals for spending the $5 million to “help the world” Card members read, discuss and rate proposals within the community site and eventually vote on the winner. Brand: Card members are “passionate, creative people,” and American Express is able to create a community around the card and the “Our Money. Your Ideas. Your Decision.” people who use them.

Slide 47: Toyota Hybrid Incentive: Hybrid owners are prou of their cars and want to talk about it. d Community Building: Toyota gave them a place to do it. Toyota Hybrid owners log in to connect with other owners from across the country. Each owner’s reasons for buying the hybird are posted to and scroll through the site. Brand: Hybrid owners already feel a strong affinity for their cars. Toyota created a place for them to express it. The site tracks numbers of owners and which cars they own.

Slide 48: MORE EXAMPLES OF BIG BRANDS • Dell • RedBull • Wendy’s • Aquafina • Honda Element • Verizon

Slide 49: CRITERIA FOR INFLUENCE • Traffic • Number of inbound links • Number of Members • Breadth (groups/forums) • Number & quality of comments • Street cred – what are external sources saying?

Slide 50: Additional Resources • Wikipedia (“List of Social Networks”) • Mashable • danah boyd (danah.org) • Compete.com • 360°Digital Influence

Slide 51: Questions? Concerns?

Slide 52: And Remember . . . "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” (Muhammad Ali) "It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I just beat people up.” (Muhammad Ali) "There's more to boxing than hitting. There's not getting hit, for instance.“ (George Foreman)