Image via CrunchBaseLooks like Facebook has some real competition on its hands. The numbers are looking really good for Google+ right now and they keep getting better. Finally after Wave and Buzz and Orkut and a few other attempts Google seems to have nailed social.
But I think Google+ is different from Facebook. In terms of the social graph it resides somewhere between Twitter and Facebook, although Facebook's new subscribe feature brings it more into the Google+ realm. Image via CrunchBase
If Google+ ends up with something like 400 million users by the end of 2012, that will be remarkable. The news will not be that it has become half the size of Facebook. The news will be that it has become bigger than Gmail. Image via CrunchBase
Google+ might many people's solution to the inbox problem. Don't clutter people's inboxes, instead send out a Google+ post. That is the message. Whats' the difference between an email that never got read a Google+ post that never got seen? Not much.
Image via CrunchBaseAbout Orkut you could argue perhaps Facebook was late coming, you could look for cultural reasons. But Twitter is the same Twitter in every country. Why is Brazil so much more into Twitter than every other country? How do you explain this?
ReadWriteWeb: Facebook Growing Fast in Brazil, but Orkut Still far Ahead: Google's social network Orkut never quite caught on in most countries, but it remains the most popular social network in Brazil. .... Facebook is only the third most popular social networking site in Brazil .... The second largest social networking site in Brazil is Windows Live ...... Google's site remains far ahead of all of its competitors in Brazil. The site's visitors also spend far more minutes on the site than the users of any of the other popular social networks in Brazil. ..... average Orkut user spent 275.8 minutes on the site in August, while the average Facebook user only spent 29.3 minutes on Facebook. ..... the highest Twitter penetration in the world. Twitter is especially popular among younger users (15 to 24) ..... also interesting to note how popular the relatively new Q&A site formspring.me has become in Brazil. .... the fifth most popular social network in the country.
Time: Why Is Twitter So Popular in Brazil?: the regular appearance of Portuguese phrases on Twitter's popularity charts. ...... 23% of Internet users in Brazil — compared with 11.9% in the U.S. — visited Twitter this past August, the highest rate of participation by any country in the world .... In a country known for its vast gulf between the rich and poor, Twitter has managed to cut across the class divide. "It's not something that's just for rich Brazilians" ..... "The main reason Twitter is so huge in Brazil is because it gives access to normal people to contact their idols." ...... the country's soccer stars were among the earliest proponents of Twitter. ..... Twitter's success in Brazil .... is tied intimately to the history of the country's rise from the shadow of authoritarianism to its newfound status as a budding global power. ..... the fact that Brazil is away from the rest of the world motivates Brazilians ..... "There's a tremendous thirst to find out what the latest trend is." ..... Much of Brazil's transformation can be seen through the spread of telecommunications and the growth of social media...... Twitter, which entered the Brazilian market first as an SMS service. ..... the country's "Popular PC Project" of installing cheap computers in poorer areas has become a model the world over..... The civic participation of a once nonexistent middle class has also fueled Twitter's rise in Brazil. .... "There's a big bias in mass media against Lula" ..... the champion of Brazil's poor who himself only has a fourth-grade education. "The Internet's a way to fight back." Image via CrunchBase .... Brazilians have taken to social-media websites other than Twitter. Google's social-media venture, Orkut, has found little success in the U.S., but in Brazil, the website was the beneficiary of 36 million unique visits in August, according to comScore. Facebook, too, is taking off in Brazil. In just one year's time, Facebook saw a growth of 479% in membership, leaping from 1 million to 9.5 million Brazilian members. It's a phenomenon that's planting deep roots. "My sister is 10 years old. My grandmother is 82," says Simas of MTV Brasil. "And they both have Twitter."
Let’s Not Put Tagged In The DeadPool Just Yet TechCrunch On the spam issue: Tagged has always been aggressive about “encouraging” users to add their address book and invite new users. It’s sadly a proven way to get lots of new users ..... Tagged has less than 40 employees and has been profitable for more than two years. They’ve raised just $13.5 million in capital and have revenue in the $10 million - $20 million range. ...... nearly 32 million people visited Tagged in April 2009, up from 14 million a year ago. ....... Those visitors racked up over 5 billion page views in April 2009, up from less than a billion/month a year ago
I don't know how exactly I ended up there, but I am on Tagged.com. It has mystified me as to why some social networking sites do well in some cultures rather than others. Why did Orkut take off in Brazil and India more than other places? I used to get a lot of friend requests from brown people - my kind - on Hi5. I still get a few. What gives?
In social networking there are going to be a few big players, and numerous niche players. Just earlier today I signed up for a site called Jhyaap, that has all of 16 members besides me. These are 16 Nepalis in Minnesota. I met the founder on Twitter and went ahead and signed up. I figured, what the heck? I started a discussion and the founder immediately responded.
What I would like as a user is many niche social networking sites that I can all sign into with Facebook Connect. Having to create a username and password for each separately is a hassle. What gives?
What differentiates? Is Tagged a big player or a niche player? Where is it trying to go? What is it trying to be? What can you do on Tagged that you can not do on Facebook? One difference I see is on Tagged many of your photos are right there on your profile page, and your wall is not another click away. Is that enough differentiation?
And if they can do spam marketing, I wonder if the girl/woman who has been poking me at Tagged is a real person or a Tagged marketing technique, you have to wonder.
Image via CrunchBaseLooks like Facebook has some real competition on its hands. The numbers are looking really good for Google+ right now and they keep getting better. Finally after Wave and Buzz and Orkut and a few other attempts Google seems to have nailed social. 
Image via CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
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