I just thought that this would be an interesting discussion / debate!

 

Social media seems to be a big part of peoples lives now, being more used than Google, a new way to communicate using the internet ect.

 

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thesocialnetwork/itrailer/media/snmain.swf"></param><param scale="exactfit" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thesocialnetwork/itrailer/media/snmain.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" showheader="true" scale="exactfit" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>

 

The Social Network trailer

 

Things Like Twitters redesign after 4 years of a simple success. What does everyone think and feel about all this. Especially as Web Designers, Developers and Graphic Artists

 

Some Infographs:

 

 

My personal opinions on the matter(s):

 

Facebook

I get horribly bored very quickly. The homepage is usually enough to push me away, depending on the number of useless application feed entries (or adverts as I call them) there are. I rarely respond to anything happening on Facebook, I do not pay attention to messages, events, you name it. If something's happening, I have real-world friends to find out from/talk to in a real-world situation.

 

I do, however, like Facebook as an application. It's clever, intuitive - and the best. It's obvious. For nearly every 4 people you ever come across (assuming you're not in Africa or other third world countries) 1 person will use Facebook - 1 in every 4 Internet users. That's outstanding and is, alone, an obvious success story.

 

Why do I have an account? Photos. I use it to allow people to tag photos of me - so I can drag them into iPhoto. That's it - besides contacting someone if I don't have their mobile number. Facebook via mobile really confuses me. Besides perhaps photos, you can do the same thing via text, or even quicker via phone call. I have an iPhone, and yes I have the Facebook app, but again - it's primarily for photos; and to avoid the 'Whattt?! You don't have Facebook on your iPhone?!' conversation.

 

Twitter

What more can you say than, 'I wish I was Facebook'. With these new 'TwitPics' it really does scream 'Facebook' to me. My ignorance is bliss as I've never given Twitter the time of day, I understand the basic @, # and RT concepts but cannot see entertainment in it. Reading about my friends opinions on the cup of tea they've made isn't something which keeps me on the edge of my seat.

 

Again, it's a good idea but it's never going to *seriously* take-off. More people play Farmville on Facebook than there are total Twitter accounts (fact). End of.

 

Social Networks

I love the concept, I love the available ones (including WDF), but I resent the fact that so many people using them are new to these abilities of the Internet and are thus so ignorant about which ones they will use. I don't know if anyone is following the Diaspora project, but I have huge doubts about its upcoming success. Facebook is a monster, its users are hooked in an ignorant way and for a lot, their Facebook account has a greater personal value to them than their computer they use to view it.

 

We could no longer live without them. For the majority of us, we're connected 24/7 with increasing numbers of computers and tablets/mobiles using push and fetch.

Personally I avoid social networks, mainly because I have better ways to spend my free time

 

The whole concept is good though and it's certainly changed the way a lot of people think, behave and interact. The big problem of course is that social networks always seem to go downhill as soon as the marketing/seo/spam crowd start to get involved and flood them with crap

Thanks guys, It's interesting to read what you have both written. I didnt think of it in some of the ways you mentioned. Hmm....I really do waste my time lol

I didnt think of it in some of the ways you mentioned. Hmm....I really do waste my time lol

Well it is your time after all, I bet you're not as bad as one of my girlfriends sister, she plays farmville 12 hours a day - eeek!

she plays farmville 12 hours a day

I need a rough age range before finalising my opinion of that

I get distracted by it during work.

Well it is your time after all

 

Hit the nail on the head there.

 

If facebook did not exist then phone (and texting) bills would be much higher without a doubt.

 

I'm pretty sure that without 'social media' we would be watching more telly or something along those lines... Surely it's healthy to have discussions and interact with friends?

 

I'm against befriending people you do not know, but I am completely for using it as a communication tool to the friends you already have.

If facebook did not exist then phone (and texting) bills would be much higher without a doubt.

Depends how old your contract is. The contracts are becoming 'Unlimited' everything for the same old prices.

Even on P&G you can get unlimited texts for free now. Ironically it depends if you need a mobile which runs Facebook...

texts cost them nothing, there is more money to be made on internet access and, with contract, to extend the signup period.

 

Tesco are doing a SIM only deal for £6.00 a month. So I asked Vodafone about it using their online chat.

 

 

You: can you match Tesco with a SIM only. they do one for £6, 100 minutes and unlimited texts

 

Josh: Well let me check..

 

Josh: We have Sim only for £10 on 365 days contract. Every month you'll get 300 any time any network minutes free + Unlimited texts.

 

You: and you have 100 mins/500 texts for £10 on 30 days

 

You: = £4.00 more than Tesco

 

Josh: Well i will offer you free BT

 

Josh: with this deal

 

You: free BT?

 

Josh: Yes bluetooth...

 

You: and what will that do for me?

 

Josh: Well it is wireles and you can use it to talk on the phone without any wire..

 

You: but what does that have to do with the SIM ?

 

Josh: Well we are just offer it to our customer or you can go for hanset Vodafone 533 red

 

You: but I have a handset, that was why I was looking at SIM only

 

Josh: Well this is a free gift you are getting its on you you want to take it or not..

 

You: but it's not free if I'm paying more for it than Tesco?

 

Josh: I would love to do that for you……

 

Josh: However, restricted and no authority to amend the deals online as already at discounted rates…….

 

You: Okay

 

Josh: So what have you decided?

 

You: to think about the Tesco deal.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

At that point I left the chat, resisting the urge to carry on with the nonsense lol Still can’t work out what and how a SIM will give me Bluetooth.

I need a rough age range before finalising my opinion of that

She's about 50!!!!

She's about 50!!!!

Umm, that's what I feared

A lot or reasonably aged people are starting to get online using facebook

I use Facebook all the time. It's a great central hub, and I think it's the same for most people in my age range. Most people my age who I know, use Facebook at least once a day. I know it's sad, but I find it a great way to quickly see what people are up to, and to catch up with people who otherwise, I may never speak to.

 

And also, I met my girlfriend who I've been with nearly a year, through Facebook (so cool haha), so it can't be that bad!

I use Facebook all the time. It's a great central hub, and I think it's the same for most people in my age range. Most people my age who I know, use Facebook at least once a day. I know it's sad, but I find it a great way to quickly see what people are up to, and to catch up with people who otherwise, I may never speak to.

 

And also, I met my girlfriend who I've been with nearly a year, through Facebook (so cool haha), so it can't be that bad!

 

Thats really cool dude, Met a girl through Facebook too a while ago! Now shes a friend for life

Depends how old your contract is. The contracts are becoming 'Unlimited' everything for the same old prices.

Even on P&G you can get unlimited texts for free now. Ironically it depends if you need a mobile which runs Facebook...

 

About to be discussed on Watchdog. If it's like unlimited web hosting.......

Hmm....I really do waste my time lol

I did wonder how you have managed so many post in such a short period of time.

 

I use facebook to laugh at how fat my ex's have got...

 

Each time I check it, my cursor hovers over the deactivate button for about 5 minutes...

 

It was cool at first seeing old friends and seeing how many hundreds of kids they have at 25... But now I think it's Sh!t....

About to be discussed on Watchdog. If it's like unlimited web hosting.......

I have 'unlimited' web space - not bandwidth, the only T&C is no archives - so no Imageshack duplicates basically. Fair enough, it costs me £2 per month.

 

The unlimited 'fair use policy' for UK phone carriers is (or at least used to be) between 5,000 and 10,000 texts. I would call that fair. Putting '10,000 texts' on a contract advert would put people off. The majority of customers would just say to the under-qualified phone salesman, 'Oh, I don't need that many, so I'll have 500 for a tenth of the price.'.

 

Unlimited mobile data on the other hand ... well that's another matter - although a lot of UK carriers are now being more honest. O2 was the only one to ever offer truly unlimited, they've scrapped it now (I believe). My iPhone contract got cut from unlimited to 500mb/month, but 500mb per month is still unlimited to me personally, in that I will never come close to that usage using cellular/3G data alone. When I'm out and about I'm usually connected to O2/BT hotspots, and I get unlimited data on those.

 

The data is what I was getting at when I said 'Ironically it depends if you need a mobile which runs Facebook'. I'm saying that you pay more for your contract if you want to use data. If you didn't use data, you could get more texts etc. for cheaper - so in fact phone bills would be considerably cheaper if you didn't use Facebook and used one of your unlimited texts instead.

Facebook is the best social networking site. Facebook is used for marketing promotions. Where you can promote your business information in facebook.

I have a lot to say about this, although I'm not going to post it all here now.

 

I would say - platform doesn't matter, its typical product life cycle stuff. It changes as to why you use it... On a personal level I am very much about using these channels to network for business - which is where I can add value to a lot of businesses.

 

This is a quick example based on some research I did in the music industry - and it (kind of) applies more generally with the probable exception of YouTube.

 

(please excuse my terrible image manipulation)

• Myspace (in decline)
  
• Facebook (at its peak) - Also very useful to marketers because of the vast info it collects
  
• Youtube (actually in maturity) - except in music industry record labels remove vids etc
  
• Twitter (rapidly growing)
  

 

As I say - the platforms for me aren't important (Although I personally prefer Twitter if you are interested: I like it as the more open and interest based searchable platform). What is important is understanding behaviour and the communication patterns that appear with each and every social media platform.

 

Social Media is here to stay, and it could very well look different in the future - in essence the communication and behaviours will be very similar.

That Maslow's pyramid is great!) yeah, I think social networks are good for those ppl who doesn't become kinda addicted. If you cannot eat or go to sleep until you check your twitter or fb - it might be something wrong with you

That Maslow's pyramid is great!) yeah, I think social networks are good for those ppl who doesn't become kinda addicted. If you cannot eat or go to sleep until you check your twitter or fb - it might be something wrong with you

 

Thanks for the info, Watched the film - The Social Network yesterday and it is very interesting about the story of Facebook

 

Very addictive to some