A mania das redes de amigos

Os social on-line environments ou social networking sites encontram-se em fase de expansão. São um fenómeno a estudar e levantam questões pertinentes. Apenas no dia de ontem recebi no meu e-mail três convites distintos para juntar-me a este tipo de redes de amigos.

O artigo
Teen craze over networking sites
By Mark Ward
Technology correspondent, BBC News website

Bebo has racked up 22 million members since launchWhile almost everyone who uses the net has heard of Friends Reunited, relatively few will be familiar with Bebo, unless they happen to be a teenager.
In the 13 months since it launched, Bebo has racked up more than 22 million members. It is aimed at those aged 13-30 but has proved particularly popular with school and college students.
Bebo is a social networking site that lets members share pictures and messages with friends that are also on the service. As such, it stands alongside sites such as MySpace, Friendster and many others.

in BBC News - Technology

Os sites
http://www.bebo.com/
http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/
http://www.hi5.com/
http://bingbox.com/

Consumo e Internet

As pesquisas nos motores de busca on-line influenciam de forma importante as compras off-line, segundo o estudo revelado hoje pela comScore Networks.

O artigo
New Study from comScore Networks Sponsored by Google Reveals 63 Percent of Search-Related Purchases Occur in Offline Retail Stores

RESTON, VA, March 21, 2006 – comScore Networks today released results from a new research study that confirms the importance of search in influencing offline buying. The results show that 25 percent of searchers purchased an item directly related to their query, and that of those buyers, 37 percent completed their purchase online. An even greater 63 percent completed a purchase offline following their search activity.

in comScore.com

Diz-me porque blogas

O que é que levas as pessoas a blogar? O número de blogues aumenta diariamente e o colunista Frank Ahrens, do Washington Post, quis saber o motivo por detrás de tantos posts.

O artigo
Bloggers on the Reasons Behind Their Daily Words

By Frank Ahrens
Sunday, March 5, 2006; Page F07

Last week, I asked: "Why do you blog?"
Blogs, short for "Web logs," have boomed in popularity over the past decade as folks have become more comfortable living online. They are created by individuals, companies, advocacy groups and so forth, and take the form of personal journals, journalism, jokes, jeremiads and just plain crazy talk.
As this column focuses on the intersection of Web content and culture, and what that says about us, I am less interested in how many people blog or who they are, demographically. Instead, I want to know why they blog. What drives them to live out loud on the Web? I had heard the standard blah-de-blah about "community" and "self-expression," but I was hoping that bloggers, who spend a lot of time and bytes thinking and writing about themselves, could lay some real introspection on me.

in Washington Post - Columns

A citação

"Everyone in America thinks that they can write an interesting book, open a great restaurant, or that their life would make an intriguing reality TV show. A personal blog is just the hot new thing along that line of thinking. It gives people the opportunity to live out the fantasy that they are special, without actually having to put in too much effort."

- uma das mais de 70 respostas que o colunista do Washington Post recebeu por e-mail

Os britânicos e a Internet

Um relatório da AFP que cita um inquérito comissionado pelo Google apresenta algumas das características da relação entre os britânicos e a Internet.

O artigo
Brits prefer the Internet to TV
Mar 10, 2006

The British are spending more time on the Internet than on watching television, an AFP report, citing a Google-commissioned survey, said.
According to AFP, the report revealed that British Internet users spent an average of 164 minutes online daily, the equivalent of 41 days a year, as compared to 148 minutes watching television.
Men spent on average 172 minutes on the Web daily, and women 156 minutes, the report said.
Londoners and Scots were the most dedicated Internet users among the 1,030 adults aged 16-64 that the TNS Institute surveyed last month, the report further said.
The report said a major online activity was shopping, which accounted for an average annual spend of 446 pounds ($780) per user.
The increasing use of computers at the workplace coupled with improved technology allowing broadband connections in private homes were the main reasons for the Internet's domination, the report said.
British telecom regulator Ofcom last month noted a slight drop in television audiences since late 2003, the report said.

in America's Network