There are constantly new Social Networking sites being created all over the world. Many of them have grown at a rate much higher than originally anticipated. We are always hearing about the latest craze, weather it be facebook, twitter, or some other up and coming social network. In our surrounding countries, the same thing is happening, we just don’t hear about it due to the little coverage we receive here in the US.
Boyd and Ellison discuss many of the successful social networks that have gained popularity worldwide. When I set up my facebook account (3 years ago?) there were many users, but nowhere near comparable to the number now. I remember reading somewhere that facebook has surpassed 175 million users, and in 2009, the site was growing and adding about 600,000 new users daily. The number of people on Facebook grew by over 10% monthly in 52 countries in January. It grew by over 20% monthly in January in 13 other countries (2009). After reading up a bit on the growth of facebook, it dawned on me that part of it’s success is due to its continuous improvement. Weather it be changing the layout of the site or making things more user friendly. Nowadays, there are “groups” in facebook which bring people together with common interests, living conditions, hobbies, etc. I find this to be extremely useful and relevant to the ultimate “goal” of facebook.
One example of a social network expansion is in China, where blogging has swept across the country and increased both in scale and frequency. The blogging industry there may be on a steep rise, but how long will it be before a new Social Network creeps in and makes the now dominant blogging obsolete? This blogging activity in China has definitely created competition on social networks and among service providers that support blogging. I would not be surprised to hear about new up and coming sites that eventually make facebook, twitter, myspace, etc a thing of the past.
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