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22 August 2011 at 12:22 - Comments

REPORT: Social Ads Cost Less On Facebook

Facebook advertisements priced on clicks cost 29 percent less if you purchase social ads.

Facebook advertisements priced on clicks end up costing less if you purchase social ads.

TBG Digital found that cost-per-click results in a 29 percent lower price when applied to social ads, based on an analysis of 2.8 billion impressions among U.S. viewers.

This finding jibes with recent statistics indicating that Facebook’s most recently introduced type of ad, the sponsored story, can offer a better bang for the buck than other types of ads.

Sponsored stories essentially refrain friends’ likes and shares in the news feed, for endorsement-style promotions.

Readers, what do you think about the data from TBG Digital?



11 June 2011 at 03:41 - Comments

How To Choose A Facebook-Approved Ad Provider

If you can't work with Google AdWords on Facebook, how do you choose from almost 90 different advertising developers approved by the social network?

As long as Google AdWords remains off the list of advertising providers officially approved by Facebook, developers face a pretty challenging decision: How do you choose from the nearly 90 ad networks that are approved?

In addition to the nearly 90 companies to choose from, there are other questions to answer:

  • Should a developer give up control over all of its traffic inventory, or try to sell some directly?
  • Does geography matter?
  • What about the different monetization options: Is paying per engagement inherently better than cost per impression pricing per deal?

We reached out to all of the providers currently on Facebook’s “preferred” list – almost 90 of them — with a survey and roughly a third responded. They answered questions about average CPM pricing in apps, the strictness of the Facebook ad compliance process, as well as how “hands-on” Facebook is in terms of the product roadmaps.

Full results are in my new report, Facebook Ad Networks: A Guide to Monetizing Facebook Games and Apps, but I wanted to share what I think will be one of the most game-changing trends over the next 12 to 24 months: A decision by Facebook to hit up ad providers with a revenue-sharing agreement, much in the way it charges fees to game developers that use Credits.

Facebook declined to participate in this month’s report, so there’s no official word from them on whether the a so-called “app tax” is coming down the pike, but many of the ad providers we interviewed think that it will ultimately happen. Two other trends we discuss include:

  • Facebook ad marketplace consolidation (mergers and acquisitions)
  • Increased regulation from Facebook

Subscribe to SocialTimes Pro for the full scoop!



11 June 2011 at 03:41 - Comments

Do Facebook Users Dislike The Tony Awards?

Theater lovers will most likely tune into the Tony Awards ceremony this Sunday -- but how much of that will overlap with Facebook?

Theater lovers will most likely tune into the Tony Awards ceremony this Sunday — but how much of that will overlap with Facebook?

The official page for the Tonys has 125,789 likes — while that kind of number might not seem small for pages in other industries, for entertainment and television in particular, that tally comes in on the small side.

The highest like count we found for an entertainment award ceremony on Facebook: The BET Awards has 611,789 likes, and the next ceremony is June 26.

There just so happens to be a contest on the page that promises one grand prize winner a deluxe trip to the actual BET Awards ceremony — it’s very possible that this promotion jacked up the like count, based on the tallies among award ceremonies that don’t have contests.

  • The Oscar Awards page has 278,999 likes on Facebook.
  • The Grammy Awards has 274,541.
  • The Golden Globes has 155,144.
  • The Daytime Emmy Awards has 5,193.

The latter number makes us wonder the extent to which award ceremonies’ like counts are influenced by:

  • The audience demographics for the show
  • When the events are scheduled.
  • Whether the event’s website includes a prominent Facebook link.

We can safely assume that pages that have been on Facebook the longest would have the most likes.

Of course, likes only tell a small part of the story, because most of the interest in awards ceremonies registers on social media in the form of status updates and wall posts, especially during and immediately after the events in question.

Readers, do you think certain entertainment award ceremonies are more germane to Facebook shares and likes than other such events? What influences how social these awards are, in your opinion?



11 June 2011 at 03:41 - Comments

Australian Schools Deal With Facemash-Type Pages

High school students in Australia have become the latest to try to embrace the roots of Facebook, only to run afoul of authorities.

High school students in Australia have become the latest to attempt to embrace the roots of Facebook, only to run afoul of authorities.

The Brisbane Times reported that Browns Plains State High School in Brisbane became the latest school where students created “root rater” Facebook pages, which publicly rate other students’ sexual prowess.

For those who haven’t seen The Social Network, Facebook founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s predecessor to Facebook was Facemash, which complied pictures of Harvard University students and encouraged users to choose which of the two displayed simultaneously was more attractive.

The root rater sites allow students to post a score of one through ten for the sexual performance of other students, as well as enabling explicit comments and links to the subjects’ Facebook pages. The Times added that similar sites have been reported by other papers in the country, in Warwick, Mackay, Toowoomba, and the Fraser Coast.

Education Queensland assistant information and technologies director-general David O’Hagan told the Brisbane newspaper:

(The department) has taken immediate action to contact Web administrators and request that various forms of these sites, including those on Facebook, be removed. In certain cases, the department has also contacted police.

Schools do work closely with their communities to educate students and parents about appropriate use of social networking sites and cyber-safety.

And the Queensland Police Service issued a statement saying:

Once a complaint is made, the QPS will work to identify if any offense has been committed, and if it has, will work to identify offenders and take appropriate action.

This phenomenon echoes similar incidents that have occurred among U.S. high school students on Facebook — younger than Zuckerberg was when he created Facemash his sophomore year in college.

Readers, why do you suppose that Facemash-wannabes keep cropping up among high schoolers’ Facebook pages?



11 June 2011 at 03:41 - Comments

Mark Zuckerberg Addresses 8th Grade Graduation

While you'd typically expect a billionaire to speak to Ivy League college graduates, Mark Zuckerberg decided to speak at an 8th grade graduation at a school next to Facebook's new campus.

While you’d typically expect a billionaire to speak to Ivy League college graduates, Mark Zuckerberg decided to speak at an 8th grade graduation at a school next to Facebook’s new campus.

The Chief Executive Officer was short and sweet with his words, deciding to impart some knowledge on the young class. The main point of the talk was that “there’s no shortcuts” to success (aside from the grammar shortcut).

As Techcrunch first summarized, Zuckerberg had three primary points to get across:

  • There are no shortcuts to success.
  • Great friendships are the most important thing.
  • Do what you love.

In addition to sharing his lessons learned, he also shared a brief story about one of his middle-school teachers who wore an eye patch:

The teacher who was most memorable was Mr. Walsh… Every day on the way to class the Montessori students would walk by and say “Hey, look, a pirate.” He’d look back at them and say, “Yes, a pirate, arrrgh!”

It’s not the most humorous speech, but definitely interesting to note. You can see the complete talk in the video below.



11 June 2011 at 03:41 - Comments

Facebook Acquires Sofa Design Team, Not Its Products

Facebook has acquired the Dutch software company Sofa, but the deal doesn't include the startup's four products, Kaleidoscope, Checkout, Enstore and Versions.

Facebook has acquired the five-year-old Dutch software design company Sofa; the financial terms of the deal remain unknown.

The design company’s clients include Nike, Mozilla, 280 North, Aristo, TomTom and Disco. The work has ranged from icons to entire interfaces. Additionally, Sofa makes applications that run on Macintosh platforms and the web.

But Sofa’s four products, Kaleidoscope, Checkout, Enstore and Versions aren’t part of the acquisition — that moves the company’s 11 employees from Amsterdam to Facebook’s design department in Palo Alto, California.

Checkout and Enstore now belong to Sofa’s joint venture partner Acclivity. Said company has already been providing support and sales for the application, and now owns the product — plus has the ability to upgrade it.

Kaleidoscope and Versions remain available for sale on websites dedicated to them, and they are returning to the Mac App Store. They had been pulled for what Sofa calls “administrative reasons,” but are coming back soon.

Here’s what Sofa’s own blog says about the deal:

We’re excited to announce today that Facebook has acquired the Sofa team.

When we started Sofa in 2006, we set out to make friendly, useful and enjoyable products that matter to people.

Over the years, we built an awesome team of designers and developers around this mission. Together, we created great software that many people use and enjoy every day. That’s something we’ll always be proud of.

We expected to keep working at Sofa forever. But after Facebook first made contact, we were quickly convinced to join forces.

Facebook is full of talent and has a great culture. We feel challenged and at home at the same time, and can really get things done there. But equally important, we believe that at Facebook, we will be making a real difference to a lot of people’s lives.

The Sofa team will be moving from Amsterdam to Palo Alto in the coming weeks – and we’ll make sure to infuse some of our particular flavor of Dutch culture at Facebook.

Sofa’s products, Kaleidoscope and Versions, are not a part of this acquisition. Both apps will remain available and we’re committed to securing a great future for them outside Sofa. We’re also working with our joint venture partner to provide the smoothest transition and best possible future forCheckout, Enstore and their collective customers. For more details see this page.

Finally, we want to express our deepest appreciation to our customers, partners, advisors and everyone else who helped us these past five years. Working with you all is the reason this adventure was so incredibly fun.



11 June 2011 at 03:41 - Comments

INFOGRAPHIC: Facebook Winning War For Best Talent

Facebook has had the strongest pull in recruitment of top technology talent for some time now, and now we've got an infographic quantifying the extent to which the social network is out-recruiting the competition.

Facebook has had the strongest pull in recruitment of top technology talent for some time now, and now we’ve got an infographic quantifying the extent to which the social network is out-recruiting the competition.

Top Prospect Data Labs compiled this visual representation showing how Facebook is outhiring Google, Microsoft, Apple, LinkedIn and Yahoo. Let us know what you think of the infographic by commenting beneath this post.



11 June 2011 at 03:40 - Comments

Facebook Tests ‘Happening Now’ Feature

Facebook is currently testing a new version of the news feed that displays liking and commenting activity by a user's friends in real time.

Facebook is currently testing a new version of the news feed that displays liking and commenting activity by a user’s friends in real time.

The functionality that was first discovered by Amit Misra is pretty slick. While it’s odd that it would show up directly next to the “most recent” feed (pictured below), it’s an interesting way of discovering what your friends are up to. Probably most interesting is the inline display of content once you click on an item.

Whether or not Facebook will decide to implement this feature is unknown, but the company told The Next Web that it is indeed testing this feature, and provided more details about what it is:

“We are currently testing a feature within the news feed that gives people the ability to see what their friends are commenting on and liking, as these actions are being taken on Facebook.

This test includes a small percentage of Facebook users, just a fraction of a percent. In the coming weeks, as we learn more from this test, we’ll keep making improvements and may expand it to more people.”

You can see screenshots of the new feature embedded below. Readers, have you seen anything similar in your own news feeds yet?



11 June 2011 at 03:40 - Comments

REPORT: 22% Of Small Businesses Buy Facebook Ads

While 66 percent of 94 percent small businesses are aware of Facebook's targeted ad offerings, only 22 percent have used them.

More and more small businesses and local merchants are turning to Facebook ads and deals, pushing the social network closer to making a dent in similar offerings by Google, Groupon, and LivingSocial.

This comes from from the latest MerchantCircle quarterly survey of nearly 5,000 local business owners across the U.S. Sp,e 66 percent of respondents use Facebook for marketing, but while 94 percent are aware of targeted ad offerings, only 22 percent have used them.

Of those 22 percent, 65 percent said they would buy Facebook ads again, with 67 percent of potential returnees praising their ease of use and 65 percent happy with the ability to stop and start campaigns.
(more..)

9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

Beware Of Friend Requests In Iran

According to some Iranian activists, authorities have taken to sending rights campaigners and intellectuals they suspect of engaging in anti-state activities a friend request to find out what information is being posted.

In Iran, logging onto Facebook isn’t just a fun way to pass the time and catch up with friends. It’s a crime—punishable by jail time.

Houshang Fanaian found that out the hard way. The 47-year-old Baha’I man was awarded one more year in prison for his session on the social networking site.

He had previously been sentenced for acting against national security and “insulting the country’s supreme leader” because of his religious activism, according to Radio Free Europe.

Fanaian’s sentencing may be a rarity, but his case and others indicate that Iranian authorities are keeping a closer eye on Iranians’ Facebook activities.

According to some activists, authorities have taken to sending rights campaigners and intellectuals they suspect of engaging in anti-state activities a friend request to determine what information is being posted.

The country banned its citizens from using the social networking site, but despite that (or maybe, in part, because of it) the social media site has become even more popular within the country.

Users log on using pseudonyms and some use the open forum to discuss political developments with people both in and out of the country.

Facebook has also been used in Iran, as it has many other countries, to advertise in-person protests. One such protest occurred in February, “where a protest to support the Arab uprising attracted tens of thousands of Iranians to the streets,” Radio Free Europe said. Since then, the organizers of the event have been held under house arrest.

Even university students in Iran report being questioned and even facing discipline for their Facebook pages. In one case, a student who had posted photos of a private party was questioned because of the display of what some considered “immoral” behavior.

Although the Iranian government is trying to rule by fear, Facebook users are finding a work-around: Many have created two Faceboook pages, one under their real name and a secret one where they post about state politics, the poor condition of the economy, lack of freedom and other grievances.

But we wonder if this work-around is a good long-term solution. After all, Facebook’s rules state users can’t have duplicate accounts. If authorities shut down Iranian citizens’ duplicate pages, will government be, in essence, destroying the free speech and networking they’ve tried to foster in the first place?

Readers, do you think Facebook should allow users to have more than one account?



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

Hey, Gamers, The Sims Are Coming To Facebook

Electronic Arts' popular game The Sims is coming to Facebook.

The Sims are coming, the Sims are coming. To Facebook, that is.

Electronic Arts announced Sims Social at E3 this week, without saying when the game will go live.

Nor does the official Facebook page for the application — apparently in order to find out when the game becomes available on the social network, you’ve got to click on the like button.

So far, 85,872 people have done exactly that, as you can see in the screenshot at the bottom of this post.

It’s possible that EA may launch its mobile version of the Sims when the Facebook application goes live.

Sims for other platforms have sold more than 140 million units globally since EA first made the game available in 2000.

If that kind of popularity extends to the Facebook version of the Sims, it would help EA catch up with the reining champion among social game developers, Zynga, which has almost 220 million active players across its games, on a monthly basis.

Right now, EA’s games on Facebook have less than 31 million active players on a monthly basis.

Readers, are you looking forward to the Sims becoming available on Facebook?



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

WATCH: How Do You Like This Facebook-Related Ad?

The latest Head Tennis commercial makes some kind of statement about the ubiquity of the Facebook like button.

An odd testimony to the ubiquity of Facebook’s like button is the latetst Head Tennis commercial.

Oversized thumbs-ups follow professional tennis player Andy Murray everywhere he goes in the 1:25 minute commercial promoting the tennis racket.

If the ad agency behind this commercial intended to create a message about how to incorporate Facebook likes with offline marketing, it might not get through to the average viewer (in my opinion, anyway).

I could see how repeat exposure to this ad might eventually lead a viewer to call it annoying, like the folks over at The Next Web do, but if you don’t like it, that’s what TiVo is for.

We’ve embedded a copy of the footage below. Please let us know what you think in the comments section.



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

6 More P.R. Tips For Spreading Messages On Facebook

Here are some additional tips that public relations pros can use to spread their messages more effectively.

Our post “8 Essential Tricks for Publicists Using Facebook” drew several comments and even more recommendations from readers. We listened and thought we’d list these additional tips that public relations pros can use to spread their messages more effectively.

1. Post a note and tag it. This will put your message directly on each of your friends’ walls. You can only tag 30 people at a time, however. So limit your tagging to only those people who have a mutual interest in your announcement and those who are really friends, otherwise it will look like spam.

2. If you post multiple notes, make sure to delete all the posts but one from the news feed or you will look like a spammer when people sign in and see 15 identical notes from you on their wall.

3.  Share a link on your wall and ask your friends to share and like it. It’s simple but effective. Reserve this tip for important news and announcements, otherwise you’ll be the publicist who cried wolf! It can produce powerful results.

4. Encouraging interaction with your posts — likes and comments — will make them more visible in other people’s news feeds. That’s how Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm works.

5. Facebook marketers suggest this idea: Keep AIDA in mind when posting to Facebook. That stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.  Your job is to stimulate desire and arouse action. The formula for increasing interaction is to engage your audience using tactics such as contests, questions, interesting content and formulas.

6.  For more ideas that small businesses and marketers can use to maximize their Facebook use, check out this post and this one.  Each suggests ways to directly engage followers in one-on-one conversation, tips for creating a Facebook page over a profile, creating compelling contests and encouraging check-ins and posting cool status updates. All of this adds up to a formula for boosting your Facebook interactions.

Speaking of contests, the U.K. firm Punch Communications is asking the next generation of publicists to share their ideas on the future of P.R.  If you’re a student studying the field, and are interested in becoming an intern with Punch, then share your ideas on how the P.R. field is evolving through Punch’s Facebook page or on Twitter using the hashtag #futurepr. Readers might also glean some new tips for using the social media platform.

P.R. pros, which tools do you use to boost Facebook engagement?



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

REPORT: Facebook Wall Posts Are Full Of @#$%

People don't limit the content of their profiles to material approved for general audiences. And Socioclean has statistics suggesting that Facebook posters have bigger potty mouths than what Reppler found a couple of weeks ago.

People don’t limit the content of their profiles to material approved for general audiences. And Socioclean has statistics suggesting that Facebook posters have bigger potty mouths than what Reppler found a couple of weeks ago.

Socioclean scanned 35,000 accounts and also sought feedback from over 4,000 people to suss out the material on people’s profiles.

It appears that the vendor cast its net more broadly than Reppler did, including content about drugs and alcohol in addition to profanity.

Here’s what Socioclean found:

  • More than 60 percent of users have at least 10 pieces of what Socioclean calls inappropriate content, including profanity, drugs or alcohol.
  • Most of the inappropriate content was found on walls followed by photo tags, and then on status messages.
  • More than 76 percent of the inappropriate content found in a user’s profile was posted by friends.
  • More than 70 percent of users think that they should use services like Socioclean at least four or more times a year to keep their profile clean and be aware of their social network content.

Of course, the latter point epitomizes Socioclean’s rationale for tallying inappropriate posts on Facebook. We’re honestly not so sure you need to spend money on a third-party service to keep a profile clean. Instead, be sure to click on all notifications about posts on your profile and make sure they’re to your liking.

Also, if you choose to include prurient or otherwise off-color content in your profile, make darn sure that your privacy settings limit visibility to those who can handle seeing that kind of material. In other words, hide even borderline naughtiness from coworkers, bosses, legal types, relatives and so on — consider only allowing friends outside of work to see your wall and status updates.

What do you think about Socioclean’s findings?



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

Facebook Partly Drives Up Online Display Ad Revenues

Facebook emerges as a key player in the latest 2011 online ad revenue projections that eMarketer released today.

Facebook emerges as a key player in the latest 2011 online ad revenue projections that eMarketer released today.

The consultancy pegs total online advertising for 2011 at $31.3 billion, up 20 percent versus 2010, and exceeding eMarketer’s forecast from December of $28.5 billion.

The research firm cited a stronger-than-expected performance from display advertising, saying that sector will surge past search in the next five years.

The company added that U.S. advertisers will spend $14.38 billion on search ads in 2011 and $12.33 billion on online display, up 19.8 percent and 24.5 percent, respectively, compared with the previous year.

And eMarketer sees Internet ads accounting for nearly 20 percent of all major U.S. media ad dollars in 2011, up from 17 percent in 2010, with that figure growing to nearly 28 percent by 2015.

As for Facebook, eMarketer Marketing Communications Director Clark Fredricksen said high usage of the social network has helped to drive inventory up and prices down for display ads, aiding in the uptick in that sector. He added that Facebook has helped brand marketers state their cases for creating or expanding online ad budgets.

And in terms of the overall online advertising sector, eMarketer Principal Analyst David Hallerman said:

The Internet has become as fundamental as television to advertisers. As consumers continue to increase their time spent online, and as the resurgent economy continues to bolster ad budgets, we’re going to continue to see an influx of dollars toward the Internet. More ad formats, such as video, and more channels, especially social media and mobile, are also key contributors to the spending gains.

Readers, what do you make of the latest data from eMarketer?



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

EU May Examine Facebook’s Face Recognition Feature

European Union data-protection regulators have reportedly said that they are launching a probe of Facebook's facial recognition feature, a day after Sophos pointed out that the social network might have reset users' default settings for the feature.

Privacy IconEuropean Union data-protection regulators have reportedly said that they are launching a probe of Facebook‘s facial recognition feature, a day after Sophos pointed out that the social network might have reset users’ default settings for the feature.

Gerard Lommel, a Luxembourg member of the so-called Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, told Bloomberg Businessweek that “a group of privacy watchdogs drawn from the EU’s 27 nations” will examine the feature for possible privacy violations.

While Facebook provided us with no comment on the matter, a company spokesperson told us yesterday that “We should have been more clear with people during the roll-out process when this became available to them.”

Apparentlym the EU Data Protection party agrees, as Lommel told BusinessWeek, “Tags of people on pictures should only happen based on people’s prior consent and it can’t be activated by default.”

The product, which was first rolled out last year, has been a subject of much criticism among users and this is the first time that it’s coming under any official regulator scrutiny. How Facebook could be punished is unknown, however it’s clear that the EU is taking the matter seriously.

Granted, Facebook is no stranger to scrutiny from regulators. Most recently, the company’s Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylortestified before a Senate subcommittee about the social network’s privacy practices (which are among the best in the industry).

For a while, Facebook appeared to be under continuous scrutiny from Canada’s Privacy Commissioner for issues related to the Facebook Platform. Some of the investigations eventually led to an agreement.

It’s too early to determine whether or not the EU inquiry will result in anything, but it’s interesting to see the organization move so swiftly following yesterday’s backlash.

Readers, what outcome do you expect to see from the EU’s probe of Facebook’s facial recognition feature?



9 June 2011 at 15:17 - Comments

Facebook Connection Leads To Wife’s Murder-For-Hire

An angry wife sought to get revenge on her ex spouse, so she called upon a Facebook friend to put a hit on him.

An angry wife sought to get revenge on her ex spouse, so she called upon a Facebook friend to put a hit on him. Sounds simple, right? Wrong!

Facebook is not a murder-for-hire social networking site as Christine Metter, the spurned wife found out.

Patrick Sabo told a Willoughby, Ohio judge that former high school friend Metter, whom he had reconnected with on Facebook, saw red whenever she mentioned her ex’s name.

She claimed that her husband had physically abused her throughout their marriage. When Sabo made a wisecrack how Metter should put a hit on her ex, she took him quite literally.

Metter thought that Sabo could execute her plan to kill her hubby, who lived near Atlanta, because he is an ex member of the elite U.S. Army Rangers. Metter brought in her dad, Al Zombory, 76, who lives in Beachwood, Ohio to assist with the details of the plot. Metter, her father and Sabo all agreed to meet for dinner to iron out the specifics for the hit.

Sabo testified at a preliminary hearing that he simply “played along” with the intent of notifying police, after his meeting with Metter and Zombory.

Sabo stated that it was Zombory who actually offered him the payment to kill Metter’s ex, $50,000 from life insurance money to perform the deed.

Upon sealing the deal, Sabo contacted Eastlake police and informed them of Metter’s arrangements with him to kill her husband and they in turn put a detective in place to seal the deal.

When the decoy detective showed Metter, that he had in fact killed her husband by doctoring up a photo to make him appear dead, the 40-year-old woman, devoid of any emotion, responded, “Good.”

The detective also testified, that Metter had asked, if he had made the death look like a mugging or accident and he then informed her, that he had shot the ex in the head as she requested. According to the detective, it was Zombory who gave him a $100,000 life insurance policy as payment for the staged hit.

Metter and her accomplice father were cuffed last Friday as soon as the detective got paid for the fake murder. The daughter-dad duo are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, a first-degree felony, and are being held in a Lake County jail on $500,000 cash bonds.

Facebook might not be all good but all should be in good fun — if you do something malicious on the site, anything you put in writing could be used against you.

Readers, what do you think of this particular case?



9 June 2011 at 15:16 - Comments

4 Reasons Why Latinos Love Facebook

Latinos are enjoying a sizzling connection with Facebook.

Latinos are enjoying a sizzling connection with Facebook.

The Latino population is no longer underrepresented in the U.S. Companies, over the last few years, have sat up and taken huge notice of the largest minority in the U.S. and who will have a major influence on the country as a whole in the coming years.

In the Latino community, Facebook has acted as a unifier of sorts between people of Spanish descent, who typically tend to have family members more geographically dispersed.

Latinos tend to highly value ties that bind — familial or social –and Facebook is a great facilitator of banter, and also allows for the sharing of precious photos and video that are near and dear.

According to ComScore, Facebook user growth amongst Latinos is stupefying: From April 2010 to April 2011, usage grew 167 percent (versus 21 percent for non-Hispanics). Facebook has a 70 percent penetration rate among Latinos online versus 72 percent for the general population.

Why are Latinos flocking to the ever-popular friends connection site?

They Are Passionate About Their Feelings

Latinos love status updating and commenting with a no-holds barred ‘tude. They call it as they see it, with a hands-on-hips way of letting you know, exactly what they think.  Since they are very gregarious, Facebook tends to bring out their social butterfly side to the fullest extent. They also don’t mind getting personal and even sharing nitty-gritty intimate details, moreso than other users.

Latin Americans Have Found Their Online Niche

The bridge from the U.S. to Latin America is now Facebook.  Four Latin American countries  – Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Peru — are among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of Facebook user growth. For those who have recently arrived in this country, they aren’t really far from home because Facebook keeps them in constant touch with their homeland’s goings-on.

Spanglish

Surprisingly, English speaking Latinos rule on Facebook.  As a matter of fact, 50.6 percent of Latinos on Facebook are English-preferred, although when researchers checked the conversations on walls, Spanish was also peppered greatly into the mix.

The Weaker Sex

English preferred males are growing by leaps and bounds on Facebook, true dat.  But the website’s penetration and use amongst both sexes and segments is ever-increasing.

Readers, what percentage of your Facebook friends are Latino?



8 June 2011 at 03:18 - Comments

Facebook Shares Fall, Valuing Company At $82.52 Billion

Facebook shares have cooled off, valuing the company at $82.52 billion, down from the record high of $87.5 billion.

An auction of Facebook shares ended yesterday with a closing price of $33.01 on SharesPost. That makes the social network worth $82.52 billion, assuming the total outstanding shares still equal 2.5 billion.

Usually auctions of the stock on private marketplaces occur on a monthly basis, but the last Facebook share sale was less than two weeks ago, on May 27, when the shares closed at $35 apiece, for a $87.5 billion value.

This is not the first time the shares have fallen in value, and like the last time they dropped, this appears to be a cooling off after a rally. Shares had surged in the last auction, which reflected rumors about an initial public offering — talk that has since been disproven — and the successful initial public offering of LinkedIn.

It’s possible that the drop in price has more to do with the change in timing of the auctions than anything else. Nonetheless, here’s a copy of the email that SharesPost sent out about the auction:

Hello Jackie,

We are writing SharesPost members like you who indicated they would like to occasionally receive news from SharesPost.

We would like to inform you that SharesPost’s affiliated broker-dealer completed its auction of 280,000 shares of the Class B Common Stock of Facebook, Inc. yesterday, June 6th. A clearing price of $33.01 was established at the auction. Members submitting Qualifying Bids at or above the clearing price will be contacted shortly with instructions on next steps for completing this transaction.

SharesPost members who wish to be informed of and be eligible to participate in future auctions of private company securities must first be qualified by our affiliated broker-dealer as an accredited investor under the securities laws. To get qualified, please click on the green button below. We look forward to serving you at SharesPost in the future.



8 June 2011 at 03:17 - Comments