One Year Enough for Facebook to Triple its US Market Share

They say change is the only thing that is constant. While year 2009 has been fabulous for Facebook as it became the leading social network worldwide, MySpace has struggled to sustain its strong position that it enjoyed last year. The US market has embraced Facebook and distanced from MySpace ever since the former gained acceptance and adulation from the global social networking audience.

The Mark Zuckerberg-owned company grabbed a 59% market share in US according to online research firm Hitwise. On the contrary, MySpace managed to grab only 30% of the visits in September this year. If you still think that 30% is not bad, you are bound to get shocked after comparing MySpace’s performance during the same period last year.

Barely 3 Months, and 50 Million Users Added

Facebook has become a synonym for social networking, which is not suprising at all especially due to its phenomenal influence on the global audience. After reaching a landmark of 200 million worldwide users just 3 months ago, the social networking mogul has crossed yet another milestone by reaching a whopping 250 million subscriber-base.

Facebook mastermind Mark Zuckerberg expressed delight on the official blog, stating 250 million users not just an impressive number, but also a mark of how many personal connections all the members have made.

What’s In a Name? Now Facebook Has The Answer

It was not long back when Facebook announced its latest feature of allowing users to have their personalized URLs with a username of their choice. The move has been an influencing one for the users so far, as the social networking giant nearly recoded 6 million usernames in the first two days itself.

The counting has exceeded 5.75 million already and is continuing to grow, as Facebook members are busy claiming their personalized Internet address. A spokesman for the company said that over 500,000 and 3 million users registered in the first 15 minutes and 12 hours respectively.

Social Networking Sites – Virtual Real Estates

The global recession has created problems for a number of people to acquire a land- property or a home.  In fact land properties across the world are experiencing inflated rates, adding to the buyers’ woes. However, social networking sites are inviting worldwide users to invest in their site and find a virtual property to live in. Here, the investment is not in terms of money, but time. No wonder there is such an explosion in the usage of social networking sites since the last couple of years or so.

Finding a virtual property (i.e. becoming a member of a social networking site) is not a difficult task. There are plenty of options available for the users such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, Friendster, Twitter, LinkedIn, amongst host of others. Quite amazingly, most of these online properties are competing amongst themselves to attract more number of users, and eventually more number of advertisers.

Social Networking Up 83% in a Year, Facebook Leads the Race

Nielsen Online released latest figures of the social networking industry, stating that the time spent on these sites jumped 83% from previous year in the U.S. While this may seem to be exciting news, the report also warns that the behavior of social networking users is erratic and can turn the tables for any popular social networking site.

Not surprisingly, Facebook led the race with about 700% increase in total time spent on the site by users. The mammoth year-on-year increase from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009 made it the top performing social networking site in the category. Long term competitor MySpace slipped back 31%, while Twitter recorded a growth of over 3700%, as it can be seen from the table below.

Microsoft Integrates Twitter and Facebook with Xbox Live

Software giant Microsoft Inc. announced recently that social networking superstars Twitter and Facebook, together with Internet radio Last.fm are coming to the Xbox 360 gaming console. The announcements were made on the eve of a major Electronic Entertainment Expo trade gathering in Los Angeles, U.S.

Social networking and Xbox Live enthusiasts have a reason to celebrate as they will be able to access their Facebook and Twitter accounts through consoles. This means, users would have another medium to stay connected with their friends; besides desktops, notebooks, and smart phones.

Russian Firm Contemplates Facebook Investment

The value of an Internet firm depends hugely on how popular it is with the online audience. Considering this fact, it is no doubt that several companies all over the world must be thinking of gaining at least some share of Facebook, which has a record 200-million-plus-users and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Digital Sky Technologies is one such company that has lately shown interest in investing $200 million in the social networking giant.

The Russian Internet player has offered to invest in a deal that would value Facebook at a mammoth $10 billion as per the latest reports by the Wall Street Journal.

Vatican Gets Digital as Pope Rolls Out Facebook Site

Celebrities joining social networking sites has become a common sight, but Clergymen doing the same is something that has surprised most of the people around the world. Just recently, Pope Benedict – who calls himself as a servant of the church – entered the world of technology and social networking by launching the Pope2You website that comprises of Facebook and iPhone applications.

The Vatican portal allows Facebook members to send virtual postcards featuring Benedict and his messages. Also, iPhone and iPod users can surf video and audio news regarding the Pope’s travels and speeches through an application, which would also allow them to view Catholic events globally.

Facebook Adapts to the Indian Culture

Look out Orkut, you have a tough competitor out there – Facebook! The social networking giant, which is hugely popular in the US and Europe, is now spreading rapidly across the emerging economies. India – a hot market for social networking – is proving to be a great potential for Facebook to expand its over 200 million subscriber base even further.

To make its position strong in the Indian social networking market, Facebook has announced an Indian interface which will help local users to connect with their friends in 6 different languages – Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Bengali.

Facebook: 200 Million and Growing…

Finally, it has happened! Facebook achieved yet another milestone – this time one of its biggest – by having over 200 million registered users on its site. The wait hasn’t been too long for the social networking leader, considering that it is far ahead of its competitors and has seen an extremely rapid growth since the past year or so.

Online users keep looking for a place on the Web that provides them connectivity, entertainment and knowledge resources, and there is no doubt that Facebook is the one that satisfies their need. The site has not only been able to cross all the borders in the world, but has also managed to double its user-base in a span of only eight months.