MyFace vs. MySpace

In the world of the new Internet, social networking is key. There's much more at stake when various social networking sites are pitted against one another than a growing fan base. Social networking sites receive hefty dividends based on the amount of traffic their users generate, therefore it is in each sites best interest to have more active users. Apparently Facebook is gaining on the popularity of MySpace and in the battle for social media supremacy, there may soon be a new champion. Facebook has changed so much in the three years that I have been on the site to appeal to a broader audience as well as to become a more effective source of revenue. Facebook in just a few short years has been opened up to non-college students, business, advertisers, etc. and it has changed the ideology of the site tremendously. At times people have become upset with the way things have been handled since Google acquired Facebook. The Web 2.0 economy is changing the landscape of so many things that people once looked at as personal online communities and when the doors are opened to shareholders eager to get their hands on peoples' pocketbooks, it's usually not taken lightly. Facebook has become much more intrusive and the fact that underhanded information harvesting is done by using user submitted information, it's personally taken away some of the allure of the site for me.

H-A-B-B-O Spells Success for Finnish Company

In 2000 the Helsinki based Sulake Corporation launched Habbo Hotel (think Second Life for young adults). Eight short years later, Habbo has become "the world's largest online community for teens." I'm not sure how many competitors there are in the market for virtual teen communities, but this past June Sulake issued a press release announcing their 100 millionth registered user. Obviously gaining such a large a public of impressionable teens has elevated Sulake to the status of a lucrative gateway for companies such as Disney, Viacom, and World Wrestling Entertainment to reach out to potential customers (or at least the parents of potential customers). Suluke has become rather skilled at pushing advertising partners during special contests and events such at the current High School Musical 2 Dance Competition. For the current contest, teens can enter to win Disney's High School Musical 2 on DVD, and even if they don't win (or enter the contest at all for that matter) they can still get free promotional materials and generate buzz for the upcoming release. In addition Sulake often has celebrities come "visit" the hotel to promote their projects and appeal to the cool factor which Habbo would otherwise lack (and arguably still does even with a special guest visit from Dylan and Cole Sprouse).



The concept of Habbo Hotel is very simple. Simply put, it a web client that gives users access to a series of chat rooms navigated by using customizable avatars. You can explore various "public rooms," many of which have large billboards directly linking to partner sites. In addition, you can purchase credits (which equate to twenty cents each but can only be bought in bulk) to further customize your avatar or furnish your own personal room with pixelated furniture ranging in price from one credit to twenty five credits. The "rooms" are just an artifice for the numerous advertisements and promotions that teens are bombarded with whenever they enter Habbo Hotel and I'm quite sure that most of them are oblivious to the fact that Habbo is structured in such a way that Sulake either makes money from advertising or by selling proprietary credits. There are free mini-games that you can play on the site, but at the end of the day, Habbo seems a lot less about games and more about making money.

Sulake has started to capitalize on its immensely popular marketing tool by incorporating Web 2.0 elements such as tags, server-side interest groups, and even fully-customizable profiles (MySpace for your avatar). The marketing team at Sulake is definitely adapting their image to appeal to the Web 2.0 generation. In February, Sulake inked a deal with the William Morris Agency in order to increase brand awareness in the United States by creating more cross-marketing promotional opportunities. I'm not going get into whether or not it is ethical for Sulake to market their products or partner products so aggressively towards children, however, I found it interesting how advertising and marketing potential have changed Habbo over the years. The main page once featured no advertising at all, but by heading over to the Internet Archive you can see how Habbo's increased popularity has lead to a significant increase in the amount of advertising. This trend of increased advertising is a commonplace when websites become popular, however, I doubt the increased number of ads has much to do with Sulake's server fees.

Wikawhat?

Today in class we discussed the significance (or lack thereof), of "the free encyclopedia," Wikipedia. I've been in college for three years now and I haven't been allowed to cite Wikipedia for any writing assignments since I was in high school. I have grown accustomed to using Wikis just to get a general idea of the multitude of random topics that pervade my mind during 4 A.M. procrastination binges while writing essays on autopilot. Seriously, have you ever found yourself awake at some absurd hour wondering what Floccinaucinihilipilification means? Maybe it's just me, but I would never even think to entrust my grade in Rhetorical Criticism to the common man's Encyclopedia Britannica (No offense to the aforesaid man). I mean, are there still people out there who don't realize Wikipedia IS NOT a reviewed by scholars, but rather geeks, nerds, web junkies, PR firms, and Vice Presidential nominees. It is interesting, however, to live in a world where you realize how many people think like you do and you can see it just by surfing the Internet. Wikis are part of the digital thread that is bringing us all much closer together.