Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network's Plan to Dominate the Internet — and Keep Google Out
A great article on Facebook vs. Google:
Today, the Google-Facebook rivalry isn’t just going strong, it has evolved into a full-blown battle over the future of the Internet—its structure, design, and utility. For the last decade or so, the Web has been defined by Google’s algorithms—rigorous and efficient equations that parse practically every byte of online activity to build a dispassionate atlas of the online world. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a more personalized, humanized Web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source of information, just as it is offline. In Zuckerberg’s vision, users will query this “social graph” to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire—rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center. In other words, right where Google is now.
All this brave talk might seem easy to dismiss as the swagger of an arrogant upstart. After all, being Google is a little like being heavyweight champion of the world—everyone wants a shot at your title. But over the past year, Facebook has gone from glass-jawed flyweight to legitimate contender. It has become one of the most popular online destinations. More than 200 million people—about one-fifth of all Internet users—have Facebook accounts. They spend an average of 20 minutes on the site every day. Facebook has stolen several well-known Google employees, from COO Sheryl Sandburg to chef Josef Desimone; at least 9 percent of its staff used to work for the search giant. And since last December, Facebook has launched a series of ambitious initiatives, designed to make the social graph an even more integral part of a user’s online experience. Even some Googlers concede that Facebook represents a growing threat. “Eventually, we are going to collide,” one executive says.
Click the headline to read the rest.
Facebook Usernames
At 12:01 AM EST Saturday morning (11:01 PM CST Friday Night), you can choose your Facebook Username. Instead of the random url it is now, you can choose something like:
http://www.facebook.com/jonisawesome
Set your alarm clocks, as the options are likely to disappear fast. And you can only choose once, so choose wisely. May the force be with you.
60% of Twitter Users Quit Within the First Month
Maybe they don’t get it…like me.
We’re hearing some pretty amazing statistics about Twitter these days: growth from February 2008 to February 2009 was reportedly 1382%, with the incline increasing yet further in recent months.
But like many social networks, it seems many people lose steam with the service. Stat tracking firm Nielsen reports today that a full 60% of users who sign up fail to return the following month. And in the 12 months “pre-Oprah”, retention rates were even lower: only 30% returned the next month.
Click the headline to read the rest.
Why Google Wants You To Google Yourself
The act of Googling oneself has become the digital age’s premiere guilty pleasure — an activity enjoyed by all and admitted by few.
To give people a bit more control over search results, Google introduced a new feature this week it calls a “Google profile” that users can create so that a thumbnail of personal information appears at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages. Once users create a Google profile, their name, occupation, location (and photo if they choose), appears in a box on the first page of the search results for their name.
Click the headline to read the rest. My Google Profile is here.
Wash. police chief checks Blackberry, hits car
I once lived in Federal Way, and the BlackBerry did not yet exist.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The police chief of the south Seattle suburb of Federal Way has issued a public apology for a minor traffic accident that happened while he was checking his BlackBerry in his unmarked police car.
The city summed it up Thursday in a news release that began “Federal Way Police Chief Brian Wilson is mortified.” Apparently Wilson stopped for a red light on March 18 and glanced down at his BlackBerry to view newspaper headlines and e-mails. He then took his foot off the brake and collided with the car in front of him.
The Seattle Times reports no one was injured and the cars weren’t damaged.
Still, City Manager Neal Beets gave Wilson a verbal reprimand.
The police chief says he takes full responsibility.
Really cool art made on an iPhone. Click the photo to see the rest.
Politically correct.
Our breakdown of the 500 million apps populating the App Store was correcto: A study by Pinch Media shows only 20 percent of people use free apps again after the first day they download it.
After a month, the rate falls off to about less than 5 percent. Paid apps fare a little better, but not a whole lot, as you can see. It’s pretty remarkable that the average app is so crappy or disposable you only use it for a single day, and within a month, you’re almost definitely not using it. The presentation says that long-term users are “generally 1 percent” of total downloads. These stats—and a wealth of others in the presentation—are based on over 30 million downloads tracked by Pinch.
Shape Collage is a Seriously Fun Photo Collage Application
This looks like something fun to play with; make your own collages from photos on your computer.
