Give a billion in the five-year plan!

RBC quotes Strategy Analytics:

The network revolution
(http://www.rbcdaily.ru/2007/12/21/world/310399)

Five years later, the number of users of online communities will exceed one billion.

Actively developing social networks on the Internet are in first place in terms of popularity among users who already 373 million people. According to Strategy Analytics, the annual audience growth of such communities is about 22%. Industry experts believe that soon the exchange of information within social networks can leave professional media without a significant number of consumers.

Strategy Analytics estimates that in five years, users of networks such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr will exceed one billion. Facebook now has more than 58 million users, MySpace - 110 million, Flickr - 24 million, YouTube - 57 million. “Niche, small communities, clubs with closed memberships, professional associations are appearing,” said RBC Daily Director of Digital Media Strategy Strategy Analytics Martin Ulausson. “Professional media are trying to take advantage of this trend and are creating similar communities.”

Researchers at social Internet communities are still struggling to answer the question of how to make money from this phenomenon. Users run away from resources whose owners go too far with advertising, but such networks are also difficult to exist without advertising content. “The big problem is how to turn networks into money,” says Martin Ulausson. - It all comes down to advertising, but the consumer does not like it. On the other hand, advertising is successfully promoted in all other media. If people ask if they want to see ads on TV, most will say no, but they’ll continue to watch videos. ” It is important to find a delicate balance between the number of attracted users and the volume of advertising. So far, there is no clear business model that can be successfully applied to social online communities.

Many experts see in social networks, if not an alternative, then an effective and almost mandatory addition to modern media. “Users and consumers are spending more and more time on networks, which means less attention to professional media,” says Martin Ulausson. - People read fewer newspapers and watch TV less often. Moreover, there is still 24 hours in the day ... ”Reaching the consumer through social networking sites is becoming easier than through the media. A person becomes more interested in the information that his friend spreads, and not the media.

It is estimated that today every active Internet user is a member of at least one virtual community. The most popular in Russia are Odnoklassniki.ru (7 million users), Vkontakte.ru (4 to 6 million), MoiKrug.ru (more than 1 million), Western experts are also surprised at the popularity of the Russian-language segment of online diaries Livejournal. RBC Holding recently acquired two social projects - Memori.ru and Aeterna.ru, and also launched the new network Vspomni.ru. According to preliminary estimates, the total daily audience of these projects is more than 2 million people. “Social networks are growing continuously, this is one of the most rapidly growing markets. Moreover, in Russia its rapid growth is observed, ”said Yevgeniya Gaiduchenko, head of the department of sociological networks at Media World.

To see the growth in the number of users of social networks for 2007-2012 according to Strategy Analytics, click here .

via RBC daily