FACEBOOK'S NEW DAWN

 To anyone who ever entertained the possibility that social networking might be a flash in the pan, it's time for some serious humble pie-eating. In its latest social networking report, comScore estimates that 80% of the UK's online population visited a social network this May. Read more here: http://tinyurl.com/mpp5vd

In terms of content-sharing, Facebook now dominates, being responsible for nearly a quarter (24%), over double the amount of content shared via email (11.1) as well as Twitter (10.8%) according to widget-makers addtoany. Read more on Mashable: http://tinyurl.com/lv79xl
 
Facebook's rise and rise has been well documented in Wave 4 of Universal McCann's global Power to the People study. UM questioned 22,729 active internet users (out of an estimated 625m active internet users where 'active' is defined as going online at least every other day) in 38 countries between November 2008 and March 2009 and found increasing numbers of internet users feeling much more comfortable within the social media and micro-blogging environment.

The survey also flags up the growth of mobile internet access: 17% of active internet users now go online on the move as well as at home, work or college, as well as the growth of online video which is now watched by 83%.

It also offers a ten-point plan for brands wanting to use social media to engage with their audiences. There are some excellent tips: make the experience better when shared, give users something to join and refresh the content are three nuggets of common sense that just can't be drilled home too many times.

We're happy to report that more brands seem to be using Facebook successfully: just last week, we reported on Y&R in Tel Aviv launching a campaign for Yellow Pages in Israel where Facebook played a starring role, and Starbuck's ice-cream giveaway was well-timed for the summer.

Facebook is certainly upping the ante for advertisers. In the last few weeks, it's launched Fanbox, which enables any profile with a fan page to embed their Facebook presence into their website, as well as unveiling a Twitter-like stream of status updates that can run on home-pages. The social network is also preparing to improve its search function. It looks like Facebook has taken a long hard look at what works on Twitter and repackaged it for its audience.

eMarketer projects that Facebook's ad revenue will grow 9.5% this year to $230m, while MySpace's will fall by 15% to $495m. The research company expects Facebook's revenue to eclipse MySpace's in 2011. Having had a few false dawns when it comes to advertising, could Facebook finally be getting its act together?

http://universalmccann.bitecp.com/wave4/Wave4.pdf

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