Global warming?

I'm sure I'm not alone in being inconsistant in my adoption of new technology. While I've thrown myself whole-heartedly at YouTube I've dragged my feet with Facebook. But everything is subject to change. In the aftermath of last night's Champion's League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool I had a 'wall-to-wall' converstaion with Tom (tlg847 of YouTube Community Council fame!). This sudden, spontaneous, piece of real-time global interaction changed something.

This morning 'Matt is gradually warming to Facebook!' I've never posted a Facebook status before; funny, because I regularly change mine on MSN. With the growing interest in Twitter, and rival services, I see 'status' as being a great way to counter the curse of 'out of sight - out of mind.' It was Tom's 'status' that prompted me to start the conversation. Perhaps mine will provoke responses for those who've heard my anti-Facebook rants. So in the interests of transparency I felt I should share my belated conversion experience!

Bebo SOLD - news just OUT!

Yeah, and good luck to it's new owners!

Perhaps you should hear my take on Bebo before continuing to read what will undoubtedly become a rant. I guess I'm just growing tired of seeing young people prostitute themselves with a digital camera. I'm all for posing but there is a difference between having a laugh and being provocative. Especially when I think half the profile images I see are from people who are either naive or wouldn't like the reality of living up to the image they portray.

But what about business. AOL gets Bebo for $850 million. It's a big player here in the UK - well among the kids it is. In my world Myspace is waning - and I mourn its passing - and Facebook is in the assendency. I have little love for Zukerberg's creation but it seems to be what my peers have chosen. And you can't socially network if you've got no one to connect with!

Perhaps the tweens and teens of Bebo have the purchasing power to propel profits, perhaps this is a good case of long-termism in an industry with increasing short product cycles. My observation, however, would be that the Bebo users are not here to buy, but rather to sell themselves. If Bebo are gonna generate those all-important click-thoughs they best be contacting the like of L'Oreal, Tigi or GHD for advertising!

Saving Face[book]

I was on the train back from London tonight. I'd just witnessed Spurs depressing defeat in the UEFA Cup. However I'll spare you my thoughts on that. Instead I'll talk about something that caught my eye in the metro. Or, more precisely, someone. The ever be-sandled Mr Zuckerberg.

It seems that lucky young chap has climbed into Forbes Rich List - qualifying as Americas youngest billionaire. While he's still a long way off the top guns at $1.45bn he's just a few bucks off being able to afford YouTube. Imagine the scandel!

Bill Gates' plan to give away his fortune must be working because he's slipped a couple of places. With Zuckerberg on the up perhaps he'll also be able to replace Gates as the most reviled man in computers! Beacon was a great start and I'm sure it can't be too long until Facebook unveils public-relations-disaster-part-two.

You should never judge a book by its cover nor a man by his sandles but sometimes that's easier said than done!

No love for Bebo!

I hereby declare Bebo 'home of the shallow'!

Let me explain. All social networking sites have their quirks and idiosyncrasies. For every person desperate to write on a Facebook wall there's another who simply wants to leave a comment on MySpace. These both share the same function: communication. But what of the more banal, or arguably exploitive elements? Facebook has its gifts - a dollar for a clutch of pixels in a gaudy arrangement - but Bebo has 'love'.

In the realms of cyber communication what is less lovely than reducing 'show love' to a tiny red heart icon? Ok, so I know there is genuine abuse that happens online but this discussion is about how the majority engage. I'm seeing a generation grow up thinking they can bitch about each other in conversation but then get online and type 'ly' on the same person's profile and 'show love'. (They'll probably compliment the semi-pornographic photos too!)

There's nothing to be praised about people who rejoice in being vain or shallow. Perhaps the only consolation to those desperate to look cool amongst Bebo's scene kids and emos is that you can download free photo-editing software! But do you really want to be just another air-brushed androgyne flaunting your shallow existence to a leering world? I hope not!

So am I down on social networking? No. It's changed my life - but that's another story! My point is let's be careful where we look for love. Because I've got to say that so much of what I've seen on Bebo smacks way more of showing off than of showing love.

How Tom stopped peeping!

Tom is everybody's friend. Well in the world of MySpace he is unless, like me, you deleted him! It seems that him and Mark, who doesn't add himself as your friend when you sign up to Facebook, are causing something of a surprising change online.

This week TIME put out an article called Facebook: More Popular Than Porn. It states that, in the US, more 18-25s are spending time on social networks than on adult sites. It offers a few suggestions as to why. I'll add one it didn't

When I logged into MySpace tonight I girl whose name I can't remember wanted to be my friend. Like so many others she was new to myspace, didn't understand it but had a webcam - oh, and she thought I was cute. Why do all these friend requests have exactly the same body text? (rhetorical question!) The porn industry hasn't overlooked the success of social networking. But perhaps it hadn't banked on how much people would prefer to be titillated by the provocative posing of their online freinds!

Get networking...socially!

I recently saw a video from a Facebook developers conference where someone described Facebook as THE tech event of 2007 - funny that! That said, with a unique audience increase of 541% in the UK between December 06 and August 07 it is seeing impressive growth. In the same time frame MySpace has grown 20%! If you think I'm making this up visit Nielsen NetRatings.

This page looked like it was worth exploring...