twopointouch

Nothing new from me on this subject: I have a cold and the internet makes it worse. But Mark Glaser has compiled an excellent overview of all aspects of the subject:

So what’s new and why is this such a hot topic? There have been widespread adoption of broadband connections at home, school and work. The technology is easier to use. Usage started with academics, business, then moved to hobbyists and then the general public and now teens.

One important recognition of the explosion of social media use among teens and children is that the MacArthur Foundation just made a huge announcement that it would commit $50 million over five years to “fund research and innovative projects focused on understanding the impact of digital media on our youth and how they learn.”

An interview in the Sunday Times yesterday said that Bebo head Michael Birch seemed prepared to wait before earning much money from the service:

Birch, 36, is almost dismissive of the need for Bebo to generate revenues at this stage. For the next two or three years, his priority is to establish the firm as one of the global leaders in social networking. The big challenge is in America, where Bebo is currently a distant third behind MySpace and Facebook, a college-based site.

“At the moment there’s a race for traffic,” says Birch. “Implementing a successful business model does not necessarily help in that goal. There are so many avenues that social networking can go down.”

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