The Ups and Downs of Social Networks

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What goes up must come down eventually. At least for now, that doesn’t seem to be the case for Facebook, which has recently announced its 500 million active users milestone.

According to Nielsen (through BBC), the social-networking behemoth is the largest and also fastest growing site. Twitter, Orkut and LinkedIn are also part of the “up” category, while the “down” category consists of MySpace, Flickr, Bebo and Friends United.

Many social-network sites were formed over the last century. However, it seems clear, to me, that the world has made up its mind.

Facebook is certainly the number one networking site among friends. Twitter offers us a new way to receive breaking news and quick one-to-one conversations. LinkedIn, on the other hand, allows us to connect with professionals and build our online resume for greater visibility.

It’s good news for advertisers though. As the world congregates on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it makes targeting a much simpler task. However, specific markets, like Brazil (Orkut) and China (QQ) still require alternative social platforms to engage its population.