Artesia Spotlight: March 23rd, 2009

Artesia Spotlight is a bi-weekly review of key news in the fields of social media, user communities and virtual worlds. If you want to be the first to read the news, you can subscribe to receive Artesia Spotlight by e-mail on this page.

Report Spotlight

According to Nielsen Online, social networking is the fastest growing internet activity and is now more popular than personal email. The Nielsen report "Global Faces and Networked Places" also states that over two thirds (67%) of global online population visit social networks and blogs. Demographic data also indicates that social networks are becoming mainstream; users aged 35-49 now have the fastest growth rate. The report also notes that the use of social networks on mobile devices is growing rapidly. For more information, see the full report.

Post Spotlight

Nielsen Online has also noted that Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site, has seen an impressive growth rate in the past month, so it's no wonder that brands are increasingly interested in developing a Twitter presence. The Mashable blog post "Finding the Right “Brand Voice” on Twitter" provides a number of tips about how brands should use Twitter, and several examples of companies that are successfully using this medium. Most of the tips can also be applied to other micro-blogging sites and even to Facebook's status updates on the new Public Profiles for companies.

Other news

• A new Forrester Research survey shows that despite the recession, more than 50% of marketers plan to increase spending on social media marketing in the coming months.
• Business networking site LinkedIn has added some new features for group managers. The most notable features are the ability for group managers to send email announcements to all group members and also to import RSS feeds into the group News area.
• Google is trying to make their AdSense online advertising even more relevant by using additional information about the type of websites people usually visit.
• MindArk, operators and developers of the Entropia Universe virtual worlds, announced that the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has granted MinArk's subsidiary a license to conduct legal banking activities within the Entropia Universe. Mind Bank AB will therefore function as a central bank for all virtual worlds within the Entropia Universe and will be the first bank that fully incorporates real money transactions with activities in a virtual world.