Popular Social Networking Sites: Myspace, Facebook, and Yuwie

Click! Click! Ka-Ching! Someone is ringing up big change for everyone's online chatting and other socialization, cyber-shopping, and web surfing! What household does not have a working computer, an internet hookup, and skilled users?

Page-views are a prime commodity, a veritable goldmine, in this fast-paced cyber-marketplace! Everybody wants them! Bloggers and marketers alike pay top dollar daily for hits. Google Adsense and similar outfits have made this a true science.

With more than 100 million registered accounts, just imagine the number of page views a marketer might gain from Myspace, the largest social networking platform. Facebook membership includes some 85 percent of U.S. college students, according to TechCrunch.

The newest community, YUWIE, boasts less than 200,000 users (as of fall 2007), but adds thousands daily.

Online Social Networks Are Big Business.

Forbes Magazine estimates (in July 2007) indicate 75 percent of American teens, for example, have constructed and posted personal profiles on social networking sites, such as Myspace or Facebook.

"Estimated ad revenue for 2007 calendar year for Facebook is $125 million, $525 million for MySpace, according to research firm eMarketer. Together, the two account for 72% of all online advertising on social networks," reports Reuters.

Who's Making All That Money?

Tom Anderson, the Myspace figurehead, is everyone's friend. If you have a Myspace account, Tom is your friend. He's the go-to guy for questions and comments. Is Tom a real guy? Is he making money from all those user page-views?

Nope! Actually, Murdoch News Corporation owns Myspace.

Myspace has become the cyber-land of pinups and popups, as users (primarily adolescents) post provocative photos of themselves and each other, and advertisers toss promotional banners and ads everywhere.

In fact, in the spring of 2007, the parent company recently purchased Photobucket, the popular photo-loading and coding site so many Myspace users favor for storing and preparing images for posting. Murdoch reportedly paid about $250 million for Photobucket, according to C-Net News.

Facebook, based in Palo Alto, California, began in 2004 as a social platform for college students. Initially, it served Harvard University students, although the site expanded quickly.

In the past year or so, Myspace and Facebook have been losing users. At the same time, other sites, such as YUWIE, have spring up to fill the gap.

Why Not Pay Users for Participating?

Seizing this opportunity, YUWIE, actually pays users for page views. Blogging, posting and updating a profile, attracting page visits from others, and uploading photos or videos all count. The company calculates earnings monthly and deposits funds directly into users' PayPal accounts.

Users who refer others to join can earn from their page views too. This concept is gaining in popularity, as thousands worldwide sign up for the online community.

Even YUWIE pays only a small percentage to users. However, it can be fairly simple to build a referral tree and start racking up thousands, even tens and hundreds of thousands, of page views. Savvy members claim to earn four to five figures in a given month!

What About All Those Racy Pictures and Comments?

Myspace and Facebook boast lurid graphics and photos, posted by users. YUWIE employs a profanity and obscenity filter. Such content simply is not allowed.

What About Spamming?

Myspace and Facebook claim to be anti-spam. Users certainly can be locked out or banned. This happens daily and readily at YUWIE too.

Sources:

C-Net News:

http://www.news.com/Report-MySpace-acquires-Photobucket/2100-1030_3-6181869.html

Forbes, 7-23-07:

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/07/20/facebook-myspace-internet-tech-cz_ccm_0723class.html

Reuters, 5-30-07:

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN3046022620070531

TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/09/07/85-of-college-students-use-facebook