Remember when MySpace announced it has 100 million users, exactly two years ago? It was a big deal, but critics pointed out that many of those user accounts are inactive, and active users are what really counts.
Facebook, on the other hand, has always claimed they don’t sugarcoat their user numbers; they only count active accounts. If you choose to believe them, then today’s unofficial announcement - taken from Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook status update - that Facebook has 100 million users is perhaps even more significant than MySpace’s two years old milestone.
Yes, MySpace got there first, but they had no platform and they had no clear vision - not when it comes to monetization, and not when it comes to organizing the chaos that is MySpace into something meaningful. Facebook hasn’t been the first or even the second social network back then but they’ve managed to build this huge user base despite fierce competition; furthermore, their platform (although not without flaws) shows that they know where they want to take it from here.
So, which one would you rather have: a user base that has grown spontaneously, virally and largely because of sheer novelty, or a user base which you’ve carefully groomed, which is active and which is using your service because they find it better than the competition? Sure, MySpace has its advantages, like its enormous music community, but I’d say that Facebook’s got the upper hand when it comes to what’s really important: vision. Their 100 million users may not yet justify the $15 billion valuation they’ve been blessed (or cursed) with at one point, but it’s definitely more than just another meaningless number
Multilingual SocNet XIHA Life Launches Publicly
Multilingual social network XIHA Life publicly launches today, debuting its international approach to connecting users across the world. With neighborhoods in its online network, XIHA offers a unique way in which users can communicate with each other, selecting the languages in which they’d like to connect online. Initially designed as a way in which travelers and immigrants can experience a multilingual network while in other countries, XIHA has since grown to be more encompassing as a new way in which a social network can take on global expansion, with a focus on multicultural media-sharing.
This is exemplified with one of XIHA’s new features–its Music section. In this Music section, you’ll find all sorts of music from around the world, vastly expanding your access to the longtail of international music. It’s likely to eventually provide more variety than what you’ll find on more mainstream longtail music sites like Last.fm. So while XIHA music isn’t quite yet a streaming music recommendation service, it is building out a platform of sorts that enables users to share their disparate musical tastes in a global online environment.
hi5 Mobile Launches Internationally with 26 Languages
hi5 mobile has arrived. For all of those that have been waiting patiently for this social network to have a dedicated and optimized version of its service on your mobile device, here it is. And for a bit of boasting on hi5’s end, the social network’s mobile presence spans 26 different languages upon launch, setting out to create a new precedent for a global reach on the mobile front.
This makes a great deal of sense for a network like hi5, that has a large international user base, which translates into a need for ready mobile access, as many other countries use their mobile phones more often than a PC.
So what can you do on hi5’s new mobile network? Send messages, update your status, share photos, and add new friends, to name a few features. As far as media-sharing goes, users are pretty well covered, though I’m interested in seeing how networks will continue to push the boundaries in regards to third-party applications and advertising therein. As hi5 already supports OpenSocial, and has just announced its added support for Widgetbox’s OpenSocial applications, it’s clear that hi5 is ready to offer more options to both its developer community and user base at large.
From other ends of the spectrum we’re seeing development from services like Frengo that are setting out to make third-party applications more adept and integrated into mobile devices for broadened support, and such efforts could fit in well with hi5’s focus and desire to really promote its mobile offering as a full-on alternative to PC users on a global scale. Supported mobile devices include the iPhone, Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, LG, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.
Shelfari, The Social Network For Book Lovers, Acquired By Amazon
I’ve looked at Shelfari several times over the course of its existence, and it always seemed like a cute project that’ll never make it big. Sometimes, however, it’s not only about the size of your community; the big players in your corner of the market can make a big difference.
Thus, Shelfari has been acquired by Amazon; probably not because it has a huge community, but because Amazon needed a book-oriented social network and acquiring Shelfari was the easiest, fastest, or least cash intensive way to do it.
I’m not usually thrilled about acquisitions like these, but in this case I think that Amazon will actually help Shelfari to grow. It’ll be much easier to build a community for book-lovers if you’ve got Amazon’s huge user numbers and book inventory to help you.
As far as Shelfari’s many competitors are concerned; some of which you can see at the top of one of our lists, this acquisition is a tough pill to swallow. It’s tough enough to build a niche community as it is; if you have to compete against a giant like Amazon, it’s 100 times tougher.
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