ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

FACEBOOK HAS REPLACED FOX INTERACTIVE, owners of increasingly untrendy MySpace, at position 5 in ComScore’s MediaMatrix Top 50 U.S. Web Properties list. The top 4 is still the same as last year (see 2008 chart below) : Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, said ReadWriteWeb.

Top 10 U.S. Sites, July 2009; source: comScore

Top 10 U.S. Sites, July 2008; source: comScore

“The more valuable your comments, the more it reflects on your ability and your character.” — Chris Brogan

THE WORD “SOCIAL” in social media says it all. When one participates in SOCIAL media, you’re supposed to be “social” — be sociable or at the very least, ”human”. Being human means having a face, a proper name (or nickname), and not a generic product/service name.

I’m continually amazed by the number of comments posted here that have silly inhuman usernames such as “car dvds”, “security”, “printing”, “jokes”, “teacher”, “attorney”, “liability law”, etc. Many of these commenters also write very inane stuff such as, “nice article thank you for sharing” – which can be posted on any blog and basically says nothing. Haha, very smart and very stupid at the same time. Because this means that you are making zero or even negative impact here, on the blog owner as well as on the other blog visitors. Your so-called “social interaction” or “social presence” neither appeals to the mind nor the heart.

So, HELLO! Please get real and be human here. Otherwise, SHHHHOOOOOO! Go away and good riddance! Inhuman interactions are not welcome here.

See Also: Common Social Media Mistakes

THE BRANDS MOST ENGAGED IN SOCIAL MEDIA are also experiencing higher financial success rates than those of their non-engaged peers, according to a new study released by enterprise wiki provider Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group. ReadWriteWeb reports:

To determine this relationship, the study focused on 100 companies from the 2008 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands survey and the various social media platforms they used like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis, and forums… After examining the companies and their social media activity levels, the brands were ranked on an “engagement scale” where scores ranged from a high of 127 to a low of 1. Those brands that were the most engaged saw their revenue grow over the past year by 18% while the least engaged brands saw losses of negative 6%.

The study grouped the brands into one of four engagement profiles that related to the number of channels they’re involved in and how deep that involvement is. At the top of the list are “mavens,” the brands heavily engaged in seven or more social media channels – like Starbucks and Dell, for instance. “Butterflies” are like wannabe “mavens,” and are also engaged in seven or more channels but are spread too thin, investing in some channels more so than others. “Selectives” focus on six or fewer channels but engage customers deeply in the ones they’ve chosen. Finally, there are “wallflowers,” or brands engaged in six or fewer channels with below-average engagement; these include companies like McDonalds and BP.

TWITTER IS NOT POPULAR AMONG TEENAGERS according to a report from analyst firm Morgan Stanley AND a survey by research group Participatory Marketing Network (PMN). The retention rate of Twitter is also much lower than that of social networks like Facebook and MySpace during their explosive growth phases, says a Nielsen Online report.

In the Morgan Stanley report (summarized on ReadWriteWeb and available here courtesy of the Financial Times), 15-year-old intern Matthew Robson says today’s teens aren’t into traditional media (think TV, radio, newspapers).  For example, they don’t bother reading “pages and pages of text” (newspapers) when they could instead “watch the news summarized on the internet or TV”.  They watch less TV than ever before, thanks to online streaming services like BBC’s iPlayer. When commercials come on, teens simply change the channel. While they occasionally tune into radio stations, they prefer online sites like Last.fm where they can stream music ad-free and, more importantly, pick the playlist – not some unknown DJ.

Most teens are into the Internet. They use Facebook for social networking, search and research topics with Google, watch videos on YouTube, and download music for their iPods from file-sharing sites. Teens do like viral campaigns but see banner ads and pop-ups as annoying and pointless. They tend to ignore ads entirely and never click through. Teens also tend to use phones simply for talking and texting. They also share music files with friends using Bluetooth, since the service is free and most phones now support it. They do not own smartphones or engage in video messaging or calling, due to cost. They don’t bother with mobile email either.

However, despite interest in new media, most teens see no point in using Twitter. “Most have signed up for the service,” notes Robson, “but then just leave it as they realize that they are not going to update it” apparently because “no one is viewing their profile”. Besides, to update Twitter via text message takes credit (cell phone text plans) and they’d rather use that credit to text their friends. Robson’s report wasn’t based on any sort of statistical analysis, “just good ol’ fashioned teenage honesty”.

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