Social Network Websites

Social network websites have been a rapidly growing phenomenon over the past decade and now currently boast some of the highest unique visitation statistics on the web. A social network website is defined as a site where users can create a public online profile with a list of ‘friends’ with similar interests also using the application and then interact in various different ways within the system. The origins of social network websites come from an amalgamation of various online applications.

There is a common misconception of SNSs being used for actual social networking, as the primary usage of SNSs is to maintain an existing social network within a pre-existing specific social group as opposed to using the applications to meet strangers which is the definition of networking. Here lies the power of social network marketing, as by nature the social groups create consumer specific demographics allowing companies to contact customers of a certain age, race, region or sex.

There were many online applications that offered fragmented features of contemporary SNSs such as classmates.com, who allowed users to affiliate with certain schools or colleges whilst searching for other affiliates, however could not host profiles. Profiles existed on major dating sites and lists of friends could be accumulated on certain sites however they could not be viewed by others or interact within the profiles in the multitude of ways enabled by contemporary social networking applications.

The first website to combine these features was SixDegrees.com however once accepted as a friend into another user profile there was little that could be done in the way of interacting. The failure of SixDegrees.com was attributed to the contextual usage of the internet being more practical as opposed to social. The design was utilized by other social network demographics and a trend towards ethnicity was illustrated by ventures such as BlackPlanet.com which focussed on specific ethnic groups.

From the ethnic specific websites came the evolution into business network applications such as Ryze.com and LinkedIn.com who were focussed on creating virtual communities within businesses. The first attempt at a recognisable version of the leading contemporary SNSs was an effort from the same community as the two former business network sites. The members of the community believed that they could all operate together without competing and Friendsters.com was designed as competition for the leading dating site Match.com.

Friendsters.com was based on the philosophy that friends of friends would make the best matches as potential partners so the interactive nature of the profiles reflected this. It was designed to only allow access to profiles of people who were linked to a maximum of four friends of friends. This combined with the notorious ‘most popular’ feature meant that many users began indiscriminately adding friends and in some cases creating ghost profiles under celebrity names or fictional profiles for entertainment purposes.

The administrators came down on this hard and began removing suspected ghost profiles which surmounted to any profile with a seemingly abstract profile. This alienated many users, especially those who were using their profile within a community to promote creative pursuits such as festivals, events or bands. One of the core ideals behind the formation of Friendsters.com was that of the Burning Man arts festival, causing the sentiment that the administrators were betraying the underlying ethos of the sites conception.

As a reaction to this and other problems caused by the technically unmanageable surge in popularity, many users began moving to MySpace.com. They responded to the symbiotic relationship between bands and fans and the html ready pages allowed users to incorporate style sheets to custom design their profiles. With the defectors from Friendster.com and the music orientated users, MySpace.com began growing in popularity which lead to its acquisition by News Corporation in 2005 for USD580 million.

After the subsequent media campaign it became the most popular US social network site whilst other applications did not experience a similar homeland response. Google’s own Orkut.com became the unofficial SNS of Brazil where Friendsters.com surged in users from the Pacific Islands. Around the same time there was a restricted access social network operational at Harvard University in the United States. It was originally known as TheFacebook.com and was restricted to users with a Harvard email address.

From Harvard only to ivy league only and eventually to all colleges and high schools, Facebook.com as it was known after the 2005 USD200,000 acquisition of the domain name, had a secular and somewhat fragmented rise in usage. Some believe that this has been the secret of its success as the projected technical hardware needed for the expansion could be properly planned, a pitfall of previous SNSs. In September 2006 Facebook.com opened its virtual doors to anyone with a valid email address over the age of 13 and it has been rapidly growing in popularity since with a remarkable estimated 60% of its user base from outside of the US.

The different SNSs share fundamental features which define them as social network sites however have individually defining features which attracts certain users. As previously stated the customisable nature of MySpace.com profiles attracts more creative pursuits whilst the privacy features of Facebook.com attract increasing levels in users wishing to maintain social networks. Facebook.com has experienced an unprecedented surge in unique visits over the last 12 months, experiencing a 69.5% rise in November 2008 from the previous year, whilst MySpace.com experienced a 14.4% drop in unique visits over the same period.

High Position have a dedicated team of experts working on social network marketing to ensure our clients utilize the fastest growing resource within the fastest growing marketing medium on the planet. As with paid search and search engine optimisation it is essential that social network marketing practices are compliant and ethical whilst maintaining cost efficiency. This only comes from continually updating strategies in tune with the rapid technical and legislative changes, a service High Position deliver. For more information visit our social network marketing page or contact us.