Back to the February 2009 issue.

The Rise of Facebook

(by Craig Cooke, CEO)

I’ve had a Facebook account for a couple of years, but never really used it that much. Then an old friend of mine sent me a friend invite and asked me to update my profile. So, I did what he asked, and within a few days, I was swarmed with new friend invites. In a matter of a few months, my number of “friends” has grown 1000%. Since I have been enjoying reconnecting with old friends via Facebook, I noticed many others experiencing the same situation. This sparked some curiosity as to how Facebook is performing. After a quick investigation, 2009 will be seen as the year of the rise of Facebook.

The latest data indicates Facebook is attracting 222 million unique visitors. Their growth rate of users is 10 percent each month! This growth has allowed them to attract twice the number of users as MySpace. However, despite all these users, MySpace brings in more than three times the advertising revenue than Facebook.

With the growth Facebook is experiencing, marketers are taking advantage of this platform. One advantage, other than the amount of engaged users, is the fact that marketers can use the platform for free. However, as more marketers jump on board, it will become more challenging to stand out from the clutter.

In the near future, Facebook will continue to grow and most likely will be offering a variety of paid advertising opportunities. They are currently building up their ad sales force worldwide. It will be interesting to see where it goes, as Facebook is really known best as a communications tool and application platform. Facebook may be a worthwhile pursuit for your business. I suggest investigating it by at least creating a profile and searching for a few of your friends. Since I’m thinking about it, I’m going to update my status (Facebook users will know what I’m talking about) and let all my friends know that I’m really not doing anything important.;)





Statistics Corner

75 percent of online adults 18 to 24 have a profile on a social networking site, according to a recent study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Generation Y is the most social demographic segment online, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. They are most likely to play games, watch videos, send instant messages, read and post blogs, and participate in social networking sites.

Google recently reported an 18 percent increase in fourth quarter earnings over the same period last year.

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