Fox Interactive Media (FIM) released a series of research findings from a study examining the growth and marketing power of online social networks conducted with Isobar and Carat USA by research firms TRU, TNS and Marketing Evolution, incorporating quantitative and qualitative feedback from ~3,000 U.S. Internet users, as well as MySpace clients for in-depth case studies. The results were released this morning in Los Angeles at "Never Ending Friending," a conference for FIM marketing clients.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070423/20070423005453.html?.v=1

With the rise of social media – now accounting for over 5% of internet visits and growing – we’ve seen investors continue to pour money into new spins on social networks. Vertical social networks and uniquely branded social sites have sprung up from both startups and from established media companies. The primary goal of these to date been about acquiring audience, and leveraging the network effects which result from an increasingly growing user base. But I think we’ll see a shift of attention in the coming months (which has already begun) towards startups focused on and about generated revenue out of these media assets.

http://www.genuinevc.com/archives/2007/02/social_media_mo.htm

Social networking was big in 2006. Really big. Really, really big. MySpace has more than 50 million members. Google bought YouTube, a video-sharing site with a heavy social component, for $1.65 billion. Facebook, a social networking site for college students, is rumored to be courting buyers with a price tag in the billions as well. However, most of the social networking action in 2006 was in the consumer space. I predict 2007 will be the year when social network becomes a critical part of the business landscape. Customer-facing executives—and CSOs and CMOs in particular—need to be aware of this fundamental shift that is on the horizon if they want their companies to succeed in the wake of this transition.

Deceptively simple, online social networks contain great power. They change the online space from one of static web pages and stale marketing messages to a live, vibrant network of connected individuals who share their abilities, expertise and interests.

http://www.socialcustomer.com/2007/01/why_you_shouldn.html

A social networking site is an online place where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users. In the past five years, such sites have rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of internet users. More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites, according to a new national survey of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/198/report_display.asp

Online communities and social networking sites can help companies connect with customers and build loyalty, but only when the community is designed to help customers connect with other customers. If companies expect their communities to simply become vessels of company messages, forget it.

http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/2007/01/toyota_has_6000.html

In their quest for new readers more magazines and newspapers are turning to social networking standbys. Blogs, RSS feed and more are popping up on magazine and newspaper websites, and some publishers are buying entire social networks in the hopes of boosting readership and revenue.

http://www.bizreport.com/2007/01/social_networks_the_cure_for_magazines.html

A new ABI Research Brief has found that "mobile social communities" currently count nearly 50 million members worldwide, a number that is expected to reach 174 million in 2011.

"The rapid rise of online social communities — gathering places such as MySpace and Facebook — has done more than bring the ‘pen pal' concept into the 21st century," says vice president of research Clint Wheelock. "It has created a new paradigm for personal networking. In a logical progression, many social communities are now based on the mobile phone and other portable wireless devices instead of (or as well as) the PC. Such mobile social communities extend the reach of electronic social interaction to millions of people who don't have regular or easy access to computers."

http://www.abiresearch.com/abiprdisplay.jsp?pressid=780

Mobile Community Services will be the killer app for 3G. Call it Mobile Social Networks (some like our friend Steven Jones who lectures with me at Oxford's 3G business/services courses abbreviate that as MoSoSo). Call it Digital Communities on 3G. Call it mobile blogging, moblogging. Call it user generated content on mobile. But trust me, Communities Dominate. We now have found our first true killer application for the 3G space. And it is the digital community services.

http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2006/10/like_sms_before.html

Unless non-profits start using Web 2.0 tools from the bottom-up, and by first exposing themselves to what it takes to work with social media, their attempts to upgrade and optimize their communication efforts will only appear a utopian dream that finds little match within their organizational culture.

http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/10/12/web_20_ten_ways_nonprofits.htm

"Over time, I believe, people will get tired of the vast and generic theme of mainstream social networks - and move towards niche or vertical social networks that will serve their passions and interests."

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_networking_silver_bullet.php

As media gets weird in the new media era, music is among the most valuable content around.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8209-2337600,00.html

Numerous magazines were working the community angle before the MySpace target audience was born - readers' panels, get togethers, encouraging readers to share, even paying readers for contributions. But the current wave of social networking and the commensurate tools is taking those magazines to a new level while encouraging others to try. The result: a blend of interactivity with social networking concepts and goals.

http://www.paidcontent.org/magazines-look-for-ways-to-mesh-social-networking-with-built-in-community

We are at the beginning of a Golden Age of journalism - but it is not journalism as we have known it. Media futurists have predicted that by 2021, "citizens will produce 50 percent of the news peer-to-peer." However, mainstream news media have yet to meaningfully adopt or experiment with these new forms.

http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php

The Internet, far more than any other medium, has given consumers a voice, a publishing platform and a forum where their collective voices can be heard, shared and researched.

"Consumer-Generated Media" (CGM) encompasses the millions of consumer-generated comments, opinions and personal experiences posted in publicly available online sources on a wide range of issues, topics, products and brands. CGM is also referred to as Online Consumer Word-of-Mouth or Online Consumer Buzz.

http://www.nielsenbuzzmetrics.com/cgm.asp

About 36 million Americans-or 27% of internet users-say they download either music or video files and about half of them have found ways outside of traditional peer-to-peer networks or paid online services to swap their files, according to the most recent survey of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/153/report_display.asp

Easy connections brought about by cheap devices, modular content, and shared computing resources are having a profound impact on our global economy and social structure. Individuals increasingly take cues from one another rather than from institutional sources like corporations, media outlets, religions, and political bodies. To thrive in an era of Social Computing, companies must abandon top-down management and communication tactics, weave communities into their products and services, use employees and partners as marketers, and become part of a living fabric of brand loyalists.

http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,38772,00.html

Find out how companies can tap into new technologies such as blogs, RSS, viral marketing, and podcasting to develop deeper relationships with consumers - including five rules that companies should follow to successfully grow these new relationships.

http://www.cramereventmedia.com/videoviews/videoView.aspx?videoViewID=88

Podcasting, blogs and 'wiki' will continue to gain momentum and attract an increasing number of consumers - both content creators and content users. All indicators point to consumer generated media becoming a promising 'ad spend' opportunity, particularly for advertisers looking to reach specific micro-communities. Interactive advertising service providers seeking to capitalize on these opportunities will need to provide scale in both global advertiser acquisition and service delivery, and in data complexity - handling hundreds of thousands of sites with millions of transient visitors. New technologies will make ad delivery easier for publishers and advertisers, including filtering unsuitable content to protect advertisers from unwanted impressions. Better blog and audio/video search tools will increase traffic and dramatically improve relevance metrics.

http://www.247realmedia.com/about/press_2005/2005-11-08.html