Pew Internet and American Life Project released their report Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview today. This report is based on an US national telephone survey of 935 youths ages 12 to 17.
Among the Key findings:
55% of online teens have created a personal profile online, and 55% have used social networking sites like MySpace [...]
Danah Boyd has started a wiki on Social Network Site History inviting people to contribute.
Here is a copy of the current history in case the page get unaccessible in the future:
yasns-blogs is a separate timeline for social network sites that are primarily blogging services like LiveJournal, Xanga, and Vox. Likewise yasns-dating is for [...]
Definition by Pew Internet & American Life Project:
A social networking site is an online place where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users. In the past five years, such sites have rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of [...]
One of the predictions for 2007 is Social Netwotk Fatigue claiming that users will get tired of social networks, especially actively participating in multiple of them.
Danah Boyd thinks the problem is the large-scale, portal-style social network sites, and the way they implement interaction with friends:
“…the concept of “social network fatigue” boggles my mind. I realize [...]
In his social networking in 2007 predictions Fred Stutzman claims that people will only be able to actively keep up profiles on one or two social network sites.
“We may log on to lots of sites, but we can really only actively keep personas on one or two sites. We’re not entering a future where everyone [...]
Rachel Rosmarin at Forbes asks whether online social networking is basically a Popularity Contest for teenagers.
xuqa.com relaunched in August as a social-networking-site-cum-contest, where users compete for popularity points by accumulating virtual kisses and hugs, winning poker games, spending.
Overall, the number of social networks evolving into games is on the rise. “Any site with a digital [...]
According to Mashable The Top Social Networks of 2006 are…
1. Mainstream and Large Scale Networks
Our Choice: MySpace
People’s Choice: Multiply
Hot for 2007: Bebo, Vox, Facebook, Facebox
Nominees: MySpace, Friendster, Multiply, hi5, Piczo, Tagworld, Bebo, Tagged, Orkut, Xanga, Facebook, Facebox, LinkedIn, Vox