{"id":1893,"date":"2012-10-29T15:17:29","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T15:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/?p=1893"},"modified":"2021-01-15T22:28:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T22:28:32","slug":"a-social-media-taxonomy-update-2012-66-sites-12-months-of-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/a-social-media-taxonomy-update-2012-66-sites-12-months-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"A social media taxonomy – update 2012: Surveying 66 sites and 12 months of change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Social<\/p>\n

Literal blog post\u00a0introduction:<\/strong>\u00a0I released my 2011\u00a0incomplete social media taxonomy<\/a>\u00a0last year. I updated it this year. \u00a0Start-ups,\u00a0acquisitions, closures, and growth. Read. Be social. Give feedback. Smile.<\/p>\n

2011 conditions still apply<\/h2>\n

First,<\/strong> taxonomies have been done before. Many are prettier<\/a>, and I do not address tools used with social media<\/a>.\u00a0 However, as I have mentioned before<\/a>: if I have not done it, then it has not been done.<\/p>\n

Second,<\/strong> I acknowledge those who say ranking by Alexa is a waste of time<\/a> and those who use the information are morons<\/a>. Some say there is some relevancy when comparing similar high-traffic sites. I say more about this in the disclaimer at the bottom of this post.<\/p>\n

Third,<\/strong> the time spent formatting my research for public consumption could have been spent on something more meaningful. As it is, I struggle with an internal paradox of supporting the propagation of a medium I hold in critical view. Social media channels have the potential to drive community, but can be perverted by two factors: 1) inappropriate expression of the commercial mandate that can manipulate intent; and 2) the expression of personal character deficiencies allowed through anonymity.<\/p>\n

However, one should be knowledgeable about fields in which they both promote and of which they are critical and hope to improve. My post allows me to capture my thoughts for future reference and may be of interest to those not immersed in the field.<\/p>\n

2012 Update – deciding what to include and exclude<\/h2>\n

This year saw some high tech IPOs such as\u00a0Facebook<\/a> and Yelp<\/a>, with\u00a0most dropping value<\/a>\u00a0soon after launch. There is debate as to whether the social bubble has burst<\/a> and whether Facebook is holding the pin<\/a>. \u00a0Part of the desire of doing this post year on year is to assess the accuracy of pundits and hold myself accountable for my own opinions and observations.<\/p>\n

I do not include in my analysis hosted solutions<\/strong> such as\u00a0Jive Software<\/a>, which purports to be a social media platform for business although there are criticisms<\/a>\u00a0and they posted<\/a> a US$55.8 million loss on US$77.3 million revenue. The business social space will be interesting to watch, with Microsoft coming to the table with a purchase of Yammer<\/a>, which Jive argues is a criticism<\/a> of Microsoft’s positioning of SharePoint’s social capabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paid or install-only<\/strong> solutions such as Typepad<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Movable Type<\/a>\u00a0that can act as social platforms are also not included, although I did include social CMS platform Ning from back in 2011 and I\u00a0acknowledge\u00a0Wordpress can be used as a stand-alone CMS solution.<\/p>\n

I also do not include sites that have a primary engagement through distributed channels<\/strong> like Facebook. These include\u00a0troubled<\/a> social gaming provider Zynga<\/a> or music subscription services<\/a>\u00a0like Spotify<\/a>\u00a0or rdio<\/a> for music.<\/p>\n

With the continued growth of mobile, I will start to include solutions that have an app-only expression<\/strong> such as Path and Kilroy even though they will throw off my alexa rankings model. Smartphone growth rate is decreasing<\/a>, tablet growth is increasing<\/a>, and laptop and desktop sales decrease<\/a>. That said, I question whether the time is right yet for an app-only interface to compete with solutions that are across all devices.<\/p>\n

I am adding non-English sites<\/strong> on a case by case basis based on my limited exposure and understanding. \u00a0China’s social media landscape<\/a> and in particular their Facebook counterparts<\/a> is a whole other world.<\/p>\n

Finally, this does not acknowledge the contingent of open-source distributed social networks<\/a><\/strong> such as Diaspora<\/a> and buddycloud<\/a>. These alternatives<\/a> are healthy in a competitive market and can produce innovation. For the short term, it is a movement that is likely to be noted only by the more technically-minded<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The sites<\/h2>\n

With these substantial caveats in mind, the sites are below. If you are a member of any of these, please feel free to find, friend, fan, follow, or whatever other fun \u201cf\u201d word applies to the respected site. If there is some glaring omission or correction needed, let me know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Blogging \/ Journal<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

The focus is on the user\u2019s posts, where the intention is that the posts are done on a regular basis (excluding website static content) and typically of a greater length (excluding micro-posts).2011:<\/strong>Blogger is a Google social media success, rare for the organisation. The WordPress figures do not account for sites that host their own, like this one you are reading. Tumblr touts being easy to use. LiveJournal and Xanga, I am still coming up to speed with.2012:<\/strong> I gave Tumblr a try, for reasons I talk about here<\/a>. I then stopped, as I discuss here<\/a>. I also started a new Blogger blog\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0called the FIN Review review, but I find the search engine\u00a0optimisation\u00a0very poor compared to WordPress and I am unsure if my time\u00a0commitments\u00a0will let me keep the site going. I added Skyrock (strong in France), Blogetery (WordPress substitute that uses WordPress, bordering on\u00a0irrelevant), Posterous Spaces (Twitter-owned version of Tumbler with features like Google Plus Circles) and Jux (quite cool space that is all about the imagery). Jux may have potential, signing up was a cool experience and makes me want to go back… or it may be just like a WordPress theme.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Blogger<\/td>\nBlogger<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 6
\n Alexa rank 2012: 47<\/a>
\n My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Tumblr<\/td>\nTumblr<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 46
\n Alexa rank 2012: 36<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"WordPress<\/td>\nWordPress<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 77
\n Alexa rank 2012: 97<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"LiveJournal<\/td>\nLivejournal<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 89
\nAlexa rank 2012: 118<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Xanga<\/td>\nXanga<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 2794
\nAlexa rank 2012: 4159<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Skyrock<\/td>\nSkyrock<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 815<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Blogetry<\/td>\nBlogetery<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 10,381<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Posterous<\/td>\nPosterous Spaces<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 906<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Jux<\/td>\nJux<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 68,417<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Connections<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

The focus is on making a connection between two or more people, as distinct from a site where the focus is on the individual expressing themselves and having the connection be a secondary function. I exclude sites where the connection is specific to romantic relationships, aka “dating sites”. Yes, the line is blurry.2011:<\/strong>LinkedIn is like professional dating, with job offers in lieu of marriage proposals.\u00a0 Meetup captures event management with an underlying premise of meeting for a purpose.\u00a0 IMVU is a quirky 3D chat world, but I would not trust sending my kid in there until she is 30. Being able to purchase intimate positions was kind of odd.\u00a0 I have not spent a great of time on the other sites, although my inbox gets regular love from people wanting to meet me despite my status of “taken” and “not interested”.2012:<\/strong> LinkedIn is the only site I have visited in the past 12 months. Twitter recently pulled their feed to LinkedIn, which cleaned up LinkedIn’s news feed and only strengthened LinkedIn’s position in the market.\u00a0I took down my profile from a few sites because they would not let me have a profile without saying I was looking to meet someone else, placing me in an awkward\u00a0position\u00a0with my wife. Many sites are increasingly reliant on advertising dollars, as evident by WAYN which makes my profile look like it is on ebookers.com. I added Hungarian meeting site OpenMeetup which is invite-only and poorly executed OpenCirclez, both of which I question as to whether we will see next year.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"LinkedIn\"<\/td>\nLinkedIn<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 12
\nAlexa rank 2012: 12<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Badoo\"<\/td>\nBadoo<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 104
\nAlexa rank 2012: 133<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Netlog\"<\/td>\nNetlog<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 285
\nAlexa rank 2012: 627<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Meetup\"<\/td>\nMeetup<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 461
\nAlexa rank 2012: 463<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Open<\/td>\nOpenMeetup<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 4,710,067 <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\"Open<\/td>\nOpenCirclez<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: No data <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"MyLife\"<\/td>\nMyLife<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 1138
\nAlexa rank 2012: 2047
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"WAYN\"<\/td>\nWAYN<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 1401
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1645<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Sonico\"<\/td>\nSonico<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 1700
\nAlexa rank 2012: 2675
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"IMVU\"<\/td>\nIMVU<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 2319
\nAlexa rank 2012: 3224<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Bebo\"<\/td>\nBebo<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 2662
\nAlexa rank 2012: 4463<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Content-specific<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

A site where a type of content is provided for the purpose of soliciting interaction, as compared to a site where the content is the focus and the interaction is secondary.2011:<\/strong> A few non-English sites in here to challenge those that think social media is a western culture phenomenon.\u00a0 Interesting Ted talk on the scale of China’s youth engagement here<\/a>. Other sites revolve around games, movies, shopping, and news.\u00a0 If you have a common interest, you can have community.2012:<\/strong> Sites that deliver content with a social expression are at risk if larger entities like Facebook or Google deliver that same content. \u00a0Shopping site Multiply shut down its social networking service<\/a> based on sites like Facebook better serving those needs. Yelp stocks remain strong<\/a>, but will always look over its\u00a0shoulder at the likes of Google+ Local<\/a> or Foursquare<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Given Yelp’s popularity, expect to see similar review sites. Yelp was not offered in Australia this time last year, and it seems to have issue with letting me change my location from Seattle. Additions in 2012 are openMarkers, Urbanspoon and Foodspotting. \u00a0Social and gaming has moved to almost exclusively gaming, with this year’s Friendster redesign<\/a>, placing it in the same crowded market as game delivery channels occupied by the likes of Kongregate<\/a> and Newgrounds<\/a>. \u00a0The next year will be\u00a0interesting\u00a0to see what remains in this list.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Douban\"<\/td>\nDouban<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 113
\nAlexa rank 2012: 126<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Yelp\"<\/td>\nYelp<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 171
\nAlexa rank 2012: 229<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"openMarkers<\/td>\nopenMarkers<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 4,949,499<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Urbanspoon<\/td>\nUrbanspoon<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1917<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Foodspotting<\/td>\nFoodspotting<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 19,436<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Multiply\"<\/td>\nMultiply<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 383
\nAlexa rank 2012: 477
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Hi5\"<\/td>\nHi5<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 567
\nAlexa rank 2012: 622<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"LastFM\"<\/td>\nLast.fm<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 589
\nAlexa rank 2012: 929<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Hyves\"<\/td>\nHyves.nl<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 765
\nAlexa rank 2012: 3653<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Gather\"<\/td>\nGather<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 2176
\nAlexa rank 2012: 3233<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"NewsVine\"<\/td>\nNewsvine<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 2392
\nAlexa rank 2012: 3700<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Friendster\"<\/td>\nFriendster<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 3934
\nAlexa rank 2012: 15,368
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Flixter\"<\/td>\nFlixter<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 628
\nAlexa rank 2012: 8259<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

General<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

A catch-all for sites that allow personal expression without a stated focus on meeting others or a type of content or functionality, although these are provided.2011:<\/strong>Facebook is thirty-six times the population of Australia.\u00a0 If it ever falls, it will make a noise. Google Plus, I am not seeing the value. The hype around circles was just noise, as I do not see enough people posting to warrant filtering.\u00a0 At least MySpace seems to be about the music, giving it some sort of distinction. Plurk has an interesting timeline, although interesting does not translate into useful.\u00a0 Orkut is another Google platform, which makes me think that along with Google Wave and Google Buzz they just keep trying until something sticks.\u00a0 Ning is an odd man out as a type of Content Management System for social media.2012:<\/strong> There are now over a billion people on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0(Earth’s population is 6.9 billion<\/a> if you need a point of reference). Words like “monopoly” are being used as Facebook starts have people pay to “promote” posts that used to be seen for free<\/a>. \u00a0Google Plus is being called a ghost town<\/a> due to a lack of demand<\/a>. Myspace is attempting to reinvent itself<\/a> under new owner Justin Timberlake and I expect to move it to the content area next year if the new design is launched. Google’s Orkut is now linked to Google Plus, to where it asked me to link the accounts (e.g., “upgrade”) when I checked out my profile this year. Spain-based Tuenti appears to be opening up to the wider market, although I could not get passed their SMS-based registration system. Russian-based VK also had SMS confirmation, which\u00a0interrupts\u00a0the\u00a0log in\u00a0process. I still think Plurk is interesting. Interesting does not equal useful. Friendio launched out of alpha\u00a0in February<\/a>. It’s like Facebook, except without your friends. \u00a0I also added Russian social site VK<\/a> and Chinese sites QZone and Renren.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Facebook\"<\/td>\nFacebook<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 2
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"MySpace\"<\/td>\nMySpace<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 103
\nAlexa rank 2012: 192<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Orjut\"<\/td>\nOrkut<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 126
\nAlexa rank 2012: 578
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Mixi\"<\/td>\nMixi<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 155
\nAlexa rank 2012: 376<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Kaixin001\"<\/td>\nKaixen001<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 201
\nAlexa rank 2012: 265
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Tagged\"<\/td>\nTagged<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 276
\nAlexa rank 2012: 241<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Ning\"<\/td>\nNing<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 299
\nAlexa rank 2012: 464<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Tuenti\"<\/td>\nTuenti<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia
\n<\/a>Alexa rank 2011: 767
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1206<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"FriendFeed\"<\/td>\nFriendfeed<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 1116
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1558
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Plurk\"<\/td>\nPlurk<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 1485
\nAlexa rank 2012: 2016<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Tribe\"<\/td>\nTribe<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 7120
\nAlexa rank 2012: 6591
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"GooglePlus\"<\/td>\nGoogle Plus<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank: unknown – sub domains not counted
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Path<\/td>\nPath<\/strong><\/a>
\nApp only<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Friendio<\/td>\nFriendio<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1,076,983
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"vk<\/td>\nVK<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 29
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"qzone<\/td>\nQZone<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 9?<\/a> (qzone appears to be a subdomain of parent news site qq.com<\/a>, much like Google plus is to Google)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Renren<\/td>\nRenren<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 130
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Link Aggregators<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Sites that promote interaction around a user\u2019s collection of links. Places you can save and share links.2011:<\/strong>I don’t have the time myself to surf someone else’s distractions, but I hear others find these of value.2012:<\/strong> I tend to rely on Twitter and my studio word of mouth to keep up on Internet happenings. That said, link aggregators have come a long way in the past 12 months. Stumbleupon has gone through a couple of redesigns here<\/a> and here<\/a>\u00a0as have Delicious<\/a>\u00a0and the Digg<\/a>. Reddit by comparison has\u00a0maintained\u00a0a simplistic design. The Digg relaunch now forces Twitter or Facebook log in<\/a>, blowing away my previous profile and any notion of a profile page. Pinboard<\/a> has been around a few years, but the one-time entrance fee<\/a> is a barrier to me. There are sites like Zootool<\/a> that I leave off the list due to a\u00a0perceived\u00a0focus on bookmarking over social. Grazely<\/a> is invite only, and may get to the list next year. Pistashio<\/a> is Twitter-only log in, so will need to wait to next year to see if it is around to make the list. \u00a0Link shorteners like bit.ly<\/a> are adding social elements, but also not on the list.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"stumbleupon<\/td>\nStumbleupon<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 105
\nAlexa rank 2012: 151
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Reddit\"<\/td>\nReddit<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 115
\nAlexa rank 2012: 136
\n<\/a> My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Digg\"<\/td>\nDigg<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 169
\nAlexa rank 2012: 493
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Delicious\"<\/td>\nDelicious<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 305
\nAlexa rank 2012: 539
\n<\/a>My profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Metafilter\"<\/td>\nMetafilter<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 1540
\nAlexa rank 2012: 2214<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Pinboard<\/td>\nPinboard<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 16,483
\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Location-based<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Sites that focus on checking into locations, as compared to sites that have check-ins only as a function.2011:<\/strong> Foursquare stands out as a system focused on check-ins. There may be others. You can read my full thoughts here<\/a>.2012:<\/strong> Foursquare still owns the space. Gowalla shut down this year<\/a> after being acquired by Facebook before I realised I forgot to add them. Whrrl<\/a> was acquired by Groupon and shut down. Brightkite which is said to have started checkins also closed down<\/a>. Buzzd<\/a> closed in 2011 and became marketing tool local-response<\/a>. Pure location-based without a revenue model is a bit of a challenge.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Foursquare\"<\/td>\nFoursquare<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 602
\nAlexa rank 2012: 867<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Kilroy<\/td>\nKilroy<\/strong><\/a>
\nMobile-only<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Gypsii<\/td>\nGypsii<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1,281,818<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Media-sharing<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Sites where the interaction is around user-generated non-text media, such as movies or images.Two words: Free content hosting.2011:<\/strong>YouTube needed a big player like Google behind it. I know I am missing some sites here.2012:<\/strong> Pinterest was the big news since the last update, although it was already big by last October. \u00a0Instagram was also big news, in particularly Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of the product. \u00a0A full comparison of video hosting services is better done elsewhere<\/a>. A few other image sharing sites have also been added to the list.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"YouTube\"<\/td>\nYouTube<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 3
\nAlexa rank 2012: 3<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Flickr\"<\/td>\nFlickr<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 33
\nAlexa rank 2012: 58<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Dailybooth\"<\/td>\nDailybooth<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 4377
\nAlexa rank 2012: 6612<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"vimeol<\/td>\nVimeo<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 128<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"picasa<\/td>\nPicasa<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"minus<\/td>\nMinus<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 1527<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"imgur<\/td>\nimgur<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 96<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"photobucket<\/td>\nphotobucket<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 171<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"pinterist<\/td>\nPinterest<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 38<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"instagram<\/td>\nInstagram<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2012: 58<\/a>
\nMy profile (via followgram)<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Micro-blogging<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Sites that focus on short posts, usually limited in character count. An example of a conversation turning into a one-way information push (guilty as charged).2011:<\/strong>Seems only room for one big player, although others try to corner markets, such as Yammer for secure conversations.2012:<\/strong> Twitter and LinkedIn parted ways this year<\/a>, resulting in a more valuable LinkedIn new feed<\/a>. Microsoft bought Yammer for\u00a0alignment\u00a0with its SharePoint service as it prepares for competition in the business social space with the likes of unprofitable Jive Software<\/a> and new startup Zepplin<\/a>. Qaiku called it quits this year<\/a> even thought the service remains up at this time. Jaiku also closed it doors<\/a> after acquisition by Google. There are questions as to whether\u00a0identi.ca will be around next year<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Twitter\"<\/td>\nTwitter<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 9
\nAlexa rank 2012: 8<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Yammer\"<\/td>\nYammer<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 3608
\nAlexa rank 2012: 3597<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Identi.ca\"<\/td>\nIdenti.ca<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 4401
\nAlexa rank 2012: 7876<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Qaiku\"<\/td>\nQaiku<\/strong><\/a>
\nWikipedia<\/a>
\nAlexa rank 2011: 42,170
\nAlexa rank 2012: 16,534<\/a>
\nMy profile<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

See you next year!<\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. This is not every social media site. It is a random sample limited by my inclination and degree of\u00a0obsessiveness. It may not include your favourite.<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Categories are subjective. Some sites can be in more than one category. This statement is categorically true.<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. I used Alexa for relative ranking. Alexa gets stats from people who install Alexa\u2019s toolbar. People say Alexa stats should not be used. I used Alexa for relative ranking of similar high-volume sites sites. Year on year comparisons can be influenced by changes in Alexa reporting population and methodology. Alexa was easier than using the site\u2019s self-reported information. It might be better than guessing. Maybe.<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. Alexa does not do sub-domains. Google Plus is a guess. See disclaimer 3.<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. I looked at \u201csocial media\u201d sites. I described these as \u201cthe product of the site is the sharing of personal details or content between two or more people who are not employed by the site\u201d. Others use different descriptions. Some of those description use bad words.<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. This information is based on a snapshot a week in October. Someone could build an application to dynamically rank and automatically categorise the sites at points in time. I am not that someone. If you are, send me a link.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Literal blog post\u00a0introduction:\u00a0I released my 2011\u00a0incomplete social media taxonomy\u00a0last year. I updated it this year. \u00a0Start-ups,\u00a0acquisitions, closures, and growth. Read. Be social. Give feedback. Smile…. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[193,186],"tags":[24,39,48,120,169],"ecosystem_role":[],"class_list":["post-1893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-innovation-ecosystems","category-about-society","tag-blogging","tag-digital-marketing","tag-facebook","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-taxonomy","bwp-masonry-item","bwp-col-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1893"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7662,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions\/7662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1893"},{"taxonomy":"ecosystem_role","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ecosystem_role?post=1893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}