Interesting Facts

Allegedly, image recognition software that detects brand logos on pictures uploaded to blogs and sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr is being used to glean marketing information for targeted advertising. (For example, Twitter is using image-based ad targeting through image analytics firm, Ditto Labs.  They are able to pick out photos posted to Twitter -- either directly or through Instagram -- that contain a brand's logo, collect the Twitter handles of the people posting those photos to create a list that an advertiser can then submit to Twitter as the audience it would like to show particular ads to. Maybe it's time to stop wearing branded items when we have our photo taken.)

According to a study carried out by lastminute.com around 2.5 million Brits waste their weekends then lie about what they did. (People will regularly lie about their weekends to make them sound more interesting, and the main culprit for all these porky pies is social networking. So, the next time you read someone's update on Facebook or Twitter, take it with a pinch of salt.)

Michael and Xochi Birch are a British couple who set up social networking site Bebo, (What makes them really interesting is that they sold the site for $850 million (655 million euros) just six years ago, and now they have bought back the company for just $1 million and say they will relaunch it. Bebo was the destination of choice for teenagers to chat and share pictures, they had 40 million users by 2008, but it was all down hill from there and Bebo filed for bankruptcy in May 2013. It all seems to point to one thing, don't invest capital you can't afford to lose in social networking sites. Basically you are gambling.)

According to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 60 to 80% of job seekers used personal connections to get their current job. (Now these connections could be friends and family, or online connections and acquaintances. So, if you're looking for a job, get networking. John Bennett, from the McColl School of Business said, "So much of the social networking today is more about people within a smaller network, so you’re talking with the same people over and over,” Bennett says. “Good networking skills involve reaching into new networks, not just the ones that we know." And you know what we say in the UK, don't you?  "It's not what you know, it's who you know.")

Facebook is seemingly planning to charge UK users to send instant messages to people outside their circle of friends. (The social networking giant says it is introducing the charges in an attempt to ‘prevent spam’ with users being charged for contacting celebrities or anyone who isn’t a friend or a friend of a friend. It's cheaper to send messages to less well-known figures, such as Robert Peston who costs 71p, to around £11.00 for celebrities, such as Tom Daley at £10.68. I wonder if the fee will be split with the celebrity?  It looks to me like Facebook is really trying to monetise spam.  If they wanted to prevent spam, they would simply block messages.)

According to research from mobile network O2, smartphones are hardly ever used to make a phone call. (Most people use their smartphone for surfing the web, checking social networks or playing games. The research found that the average smartphone owner spends more than two hours each day using the device. Here's a breakdown of what they use it for. Browsing the internet - 25 minutes  Social networking - 17 minutes Playing games - 13 minutes  Listening to music - 16 minutes Making phone calls - 11 minutes Text messaging - 10 minutes Taking photographs - 3 minutes Even though people only spend three minutes a day taking photographs, photography was the most popular thing to use a smartphone for, 74 per cent said that they had taken photos with their handset. For me all the above is true apart from playing games and texting. I have never played a game on my Motorola Droid, and I send about 10 texts a year. In fact my smartphone gets about 30 minutes use a day, I prefer...

According to research by Sweet & Maxwell, t he number of defamation cases related to social media in the UK almost doubled in the year to June 2011. (When you see the actual numbers of libel cases involving social media it's actually not that scary; rising from seven cases to 16,  One court case involved New Zealand cricket team member Chris Cairns who sued over a comment on Twitter.  So, be careful what you say about each other.) Source:  The Guardian  

According to a study by DLA Piper , one third of employers have disciplined employees for something posted on a social media site. (In addition, 21% of employers had to give their employees a warning for posting something derogatory about a colleague or about the business itself on their Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus account. Of course if I posted something derogatory about myself, I would have to discipline myself. No gummy bears for a week maybe?) Source: Britopian

Libel cases in the UK involving social sites, have doubled. (According to legal information company Sweet and Maxwell, between 2008-2009 there were three cases, but from 2009-10, there were 7. Celebrities are even using monitoring services to keep tabs on what is being said about them on social sites. Whatever happened to "the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about?)

According to a report by Ofcom, nearly half of UK adults said they used social networking sites in the first three months of 2011. (So, if you want to catch yourself one of those elusive "native speakers", you need to start networking. Of course once you start doing so, you might realise that native speakers aren't all their cracked up to be.)

MySpace which was bought in 2005 for $580 million has been sold for a measly $35 million. (In 2007, at the height of its popularity, it had 300m registered users and was valued at $12bn.    Of course this isn't the worst social network disaster; back in 2008 AOL bought Bebo for $850 million, then sold it a couple of years later for less than $10 million.  That's social networking for you, you're only as big as your user base (take note Google).  Best of all, it's been bought by that famous Internet entrepreneur Justin Timberlake!  As for me, I was a member of MySpace and then I stopped using it, but now that Mr Murdoch no longer owns it I will revamp my profile, that should put 2p on the value.)

That ephemeral thing, the Social Networking phenomena, is still in full swing.  Zynga, the online games developer behind hits including CityVille and FarmVille, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) that could value it at $20bn.  (And they're not the only ones, LinkedIn, the business-focused social network, has already gone public and is valued at $8.6bn. Next year Facebook is expected to go public – analysts have estimated it could be worth $80bn or more.  But given the nature of the market, I would think twice before investing in any of these issues - unless you have some spare money, in which case I would go for it.  Personally, I'm saving my pennies for when Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds, goes public.)