Social Networking Goes Big Business 68
PreacherTom writes, "It is no secret that sites like Facebook and MySpace are big hits among students. Big business is catching on to their possibilities too. Even in the wake of online stalking scandals, companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Apple, and Burger King are building whole marketing campaigns around social networking sites, to the tune of an estimated $280 million in 2006. It appears to be working: take the King, for example, who has amassed more than 120,000 'friends' that opt (for rewards) to associate themselves with his profile." These marketing drives are aimed at younger consumers, but (from the article): "About 36% of MySpace users are people aged 35-54, as are 30% of Facebook users."
huh? (Score:5, Informative)
What do you mean "is catching on"? News Corp (FOX) bought Myspace for 500 million a year ago.
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Not "Burger King", The Burger KING (Score:3, Informative)
They're not making friends with "Burger King", they're making friends with The Burger "King", a character designed such as to appeal to tweens and teens who have grown too old for Ronald McDonald, yet still are likely to frequent fast food restaurants. Brilliant campaign by Crispin Porter. Check out pictures of their revived king-- the guy would be right at home in any Snoop Dogg video.
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Even taking into account the entity being not Burger King but "The King", that 120,000 people have fallen for it is just...incredible.
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Who should I hate more: brilliant marketing execs or the consumer whores who empower them?
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36% (Score:4, Funny)
Re:36% (Score:5, Funny)
Re:36% (Score:4, Funny)
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And here comes the bubble... (Score:2, Insightful)
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It isn't completely useless.
A preponderance of knowledge (Score:3, Interesting)
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I honestly can't think of any fads at all. Maybe that's because 18-24 was college and college was a pretty good time on it's own
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Oh, they care. You are correct that advertisers will move on, however, Myspace can't. If they lose their user base because they were a fad it's just as bad as losing their user base to competition. Without eyeballs on the ads no one is going to pay them very much to advertise on their site. Without money there is no business.
Like I said, Myspace isn't Google. Maybe it's just me but they look like a 1-trick pony with nothing to
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Britney Spears? A fad. Teenybopper music? NOT a fad. Music as status symbol? A paradigm.
Pimp My Ride? A fad. Shows aimed at embracing youth lifestyles? NOT a fad. Shows for people about people? A paradigm.
iPod? Yes, a fad. Portable conten
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population (Score:2, Troll)
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A marketing wet dream (Score:4, Insightful)
Contrary to most geek's ideas, marketing is bloody difficult. It's actually very expensive, very hard work. You're essentially trying to model human society. That's why they'll pay you to answer questions.
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that was: 1 easy, 2 free, 3 not hard work.
perhaps you mean 'advertise well'....
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From Wikipedia: Next time you buy cheese instead of making your own, think of me.
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I was not aware that (m)any people think marketing is easy.
What is widely thought (amoung the minority of people in the world who are literate) is that marketing is evil, at least in the forms it is commonly practiced.
GeoCities 2.0 (Score:1)
Kind of a no-brainer (Score:2)
Advertisers have a hard time trying to advertise to the right demographics. Anyone who's worked in any business that has an advertising budget (pretty much any business) knows that setting up advertising campaigns is like throwing a dart in the dark at a dartboard a mile away.
With social networking sites, everybody will give you their information – with that kind of information disclosure, there's almost no need for research teams!
Of course, there's the whole pedophile stalking issue, but without th
Yep, it sure is hard to find those pedophiles! (Score:2)
;)
Or, as Matthew McConnahguguadgwrhwrhwrhweugh's character (wooderson) said in Dazed and Confused "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age."
All these sites are the walking dead. (Score:2)
What kind of a social network has to buy it's friends?
I really kind of marvel at the way social networking has evolved on the web. Corporations have sunk their teeth into it, but the fit hasn't been very good, has it?
Part of that is that social networking needs to stop being centered around isolated websites that function as islands, seperated from each other. Instead, social networks need to funct
Facebook ages (Score:1)
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Pretty much so... but the criteria used to determine college affiliation was possession of a
a) People "going back to school" - my wife "mommy-tracked" for 8 years, then picked up a se
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The #s are based on comScore Media Metrix's demographics, which I discovered are quite faulty (and thanks to businessweek, not reality checked!). I did lots of research in this area and ran many comScore reports to verify the accuracy of these #s. comScore demographics are based
Quality vs. quantity (Score:1)
Ask Slashdot: Monitization of Social Web? (Score:2)
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There's a reason that Myspace is considered the cesspool of the internet; it has a reputation as being full of either naive teenage girls or sex predators. And quite rightfully so, as its current setup caters to the first and so by extension, the second, by making the process of posting a personal profile as simple as a few clicks.
Personally I do not have an account on there even though most of my friends do, for several reason
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How about going the opposite direction? Since corporations are having so much trouble capitalizing off this growing phenomenon, we should take advantage of their unpreparedness and interject a non-monetary goal before it's too late and a potentially Good Thing becomes commodified trash like almost everything else the machine grinds up and spits out.
What social networks represent to me is people reaching out and sharing values without a middleman. On the popular social networks, they're sharing their value
10 years ago (Score:1)
Some people are forgetting about the age group... (Score:1)
well guess what? There will ALWAYS be people in that age group!!
what does it matter that the current crop will get bored of it? NULL
I missed out again. (Score:1)
Too Much! (Score:4, Interesting)
Advertising on social networking sites looks like a good idea, but I wonder when people will say no more and avoid these advertisement websites. I think people will eventually look for web communities where advertising is a minimum. And many people will pay for advertising-free websites.
That's interesting. (Score:3, Funny)
Burger King, an international chain of restaurants which has been in business for over 50 years, designs a new mascot and gets 127,220 [myspace.com] MySpace friends.
Christine Dolce, an unemployed twenty-something cosmetologist who may well have been conceived in the parking lot of a Burger King, bleached her hair and took off her shirt to get 1,022,716 [myspace.com] friends.
I think the jury is in on just what the Internet is used for.
Socnet sites are honey pots for morons two ways (Score:1)
USAF (Score:1)
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Summary is too long. (Score:2)