HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer1 Social networking site for the general public Cathy Dwyer Pace University

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer2 Outline  Definition and description of key features  How do people use these sites? What value do they obtain from using them?  What is the business model for these sites?

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer3 How popular are these sites?  MySpace – 130 million members (#2 US)  Facebook – 12 million members (#10 US)  Hi5 – 50 million members (#33 global)  Xanga– 40 million members (#50 global)  CyWorld – 15 million members (25% of South Koreans are members) WikiPedia List of Social Networking Sites Alexa Global Top 500

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer4 Definition of a social networking site  A social networking site is a web based application that supports social interaction and the development of new relationships  Usually free subscription  Members create profiles to introduce themselves to others and describe their interests  Members can “friend” others, creating visual signal of relationship  Features synchronous and a-synchronous communication  Facilitates sharing of content (music, videos, pictures)

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer5 Profiles - MySpace Profile identifies you to other members Profiles enable, communication, provide a way for you to update friends on your activities Private profiles can only be viewed by “friends”

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer6 Facebook profile

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer7 CyWorld profile

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer8 Facebook Friends “friending” Send invitation If other person accepts, you are added to their social network and they are added to yours friends have access to their profile

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer9 Communication – private messages

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer10 Communication public comments (also called testimonials) Posting to “the wall” (Facebook) Visible to anyone viewing a profile

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer11 Online survey: comparison of Facebook and MySpace members  Research method: Online survey  Period: 8/1 – 9/15/06  Universe: MySpace and Facebook members (survey customized for both sites)  Sample type: Ad-hoc sample  Recruitment: post notices in both sites, iTunes download for completing survey  Analyzable responses: 117 (69 Facebook, 48 MySpace)

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer12 Basic demographics  69 Facebook members completed the survey 29 male and 40 female average age  48 MySpace members completed the survey 29 males and 19 females average age 22.93

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer13 Ethnicity Facebook (%) MySpace Asian Black or African American Hispanic Mixed race Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander White Other, please specify No response

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer14 Frequency of Use FacebookMySpace How often do you visit [SNS]? (%) Every day Several times a week Once a week Once in a while Other, please specify Are you an active user of other social networking sites?(%) Yes No

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer15 Q 49: How often do you update your profile on [SNS]?(%) Every day Several times a week Once a week Once in a while Never Other, please specify Question 51: How often do you post comments to a friend’s profile?(%) Every day Several times a week Once a week Once in a while Never Other, please specify

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer16 Size of Social networks (median = 200)

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer17 ~ 50 % prefer SNS over

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer18 Prefer SNS over Instant Messenger

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer19 Have you ever contacted friends after meeting them by using [social networking site] through the following (check all that apply): Facebook Y N MySpace Y N P value Telephone0.0%100.0%0.0%100.0% Met face to face27.5%72.5%54.2%45.8%.004** Instant messenger 34.8%65.2%60.4%39.6%.006** 18.8%81.2%33.3%66.7%0.074 Did not communicate outside of [social networking site] 40.6%59.4%20.8%79.2%.025* Do members develop relationships that extend beyond SNS?

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer20 Trust in profiles (.005**) Facebook mean = 4.29, MySpace = 5.13

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer21 Privacy (.033*) Facebook mean = 3.88, MySpace = 3.29

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer22 Count I would not like other people on Facebook to know how often I view their profile. Mean = =SD 7=SA Total = SD I would like to know who has viewed my profile on Facebook. Mean = = SA Total /116 = ~36% More than a third would like to know who has looked at their profile, but not allow others to know what profiles they have viewed

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer23 What do you like the most?  “Its like having an online address book that automatically updates itself”  “Having access to contact information for friends, as well as having a glimpse of what is happening with other people's lives”  “Ease, automation, centralization”  “It is an evolving way of organizing and keeping in touch with friends and other acquaintances whom may be out of reach otherwise”  “No stigma of going out single, meet people who don’t like bars/clubs”  “The opportunity to network and communicate with millions of people almost anywhere in the world”

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer24 What is your greatest concern?  “Unfortunately, I was stalked once through the facebook. He was a younger man who attended one of my classes. Though I never met him face to face, he used the information such as my AIM screenname and my blog on the facebook to constantly contact me”  “Employers gaining access to information/pictures that are irrelevant to someone's job performance but still used against them”  “That I won't be paying attention and do something stupid”  “Parents and teachers checking on my profile”  “Someone who becomes obsessed with you to the point where they follow your every move”

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer25 Business model  Highly desired demographic audience for marketers  Advertising – Google Ad Sense  Membership upgrades (CyWorld)  Promotion of entertainers (musicians, Borat on MySpace)  Unknown – social data mining?

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer26 Web traffic (past 12 months) MySpace vs. Facebook vs. CNN

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer27 Facebook vs. MySpace vs. CNN

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer28 How are social networking sites using data?  Architecture allows real time capture of all interactions within a digital space  Preferences on books, music, movies is posted on profiles  Huge data set creates closed universe for data analysis

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer29 Marketers want data  Product interest by region  Product interest by gender  From Facebook privacy policy: “We may provide information to service providers to help us bring you the services we offer.”  From Facebook privacy policy: “Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (e.g., photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.”

HICSS Socialware - Cathy Dwyer30 Summary  Overview of basic features of social networking site  Popular activity combining multimedia with easy communication channels  Evidence of conflicted attitudes  Business model based on social data mining may undercut trust