A recent Nielsen report on Social Networking’s “New Global Footprint” Global Faces and Networked Places (March 2009) begins with the statement “Social Networking has been the global consumer phenomenon of 2008″.
In one sense that statement isn’t telling us anything new, and in many ways the report confirms that the juggernaut that began rolling across the cyber landscape in late 2006 continued with renewed vigor. And I think we would have predicted that some tools, like email which had already been categorised as old-fashioned by the young ones, would become less popular while others would rise.
However the report’s statistics doesn’t actually show a decline in any sector. In 2008 there was a marginal increase in use of Search, General Interest Portals, Software Manufacturers, and Email. A larger increase in Member Communities has seen it move above Email.
Nielsen says the story “is consistent across the world” with Member Communities like Facebook and blogs overtaking personal email as the world’s fourth most popular online sector.
I find the lumping of blogs and tools like Facebook together interesting because to me they seem very different in their appeal and serve different purposes. While I have a Facebook account and belong to a variety of Facebook communities, I communicate very rarely through there. However I do blog quite seriously in a couple of places.
Many people I know through Facebook don’t have either a work or a personal blog, but do seem to spend quite a bit of time on Facebook, doing what I would call mini-blogging.
It seems to me also that what this Nielsen report is really all about is the new consumer marketing advertising worlds that the phenomenon of Member Community websites are opening up.
In Australia in 2008 there has been a relatively large increase in the share of time spent in Member Communities. (see figure 4 in the article). This may be a reflection of the spread of better bandwidth capability, the growth of access to broadband or ADSL.
The important thing about this report from an educational point of view is how we react to what it is telling us. Are educational institutions part of the growth in Member Communities or will we fight it all the way, blocking access for students and teachers while they are at school?
What Member Communities are you part of?
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These member communities sites fulfill a very basic criterion of humans: COMMUNICATION. People living in extreme corners of the world are seen to be getting married, friends from far-off places are able to keep in touch with each other and lovers from two parts of the world stay connected with each other’s emotional needs. These help us make new friends, stay in touch with the old ones and let us know more about the persons we care… their likes, dislikes, interests and emotions. That’s why it topped the charts.
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