Earlier this year, we reported that social networking behemoth Facebook had become the largest driver of traffic for news, surpassing Google Reader. Now, it looks like the company is gaining ground on Google in another big category - video.
According to a study by Brightcove and video ad network TubeMogul, Google is still dominant in video referral traffic, but both Facebook and Twitter are growing fast.
Music videos became famous in the early 80's on MTV. Nowadays, music videos are more likely to be viewed on the Web. Seven of the top ten YouTube videos of all time are music videos - from the likes of Lady Gaga, Shakira and Justin Bieber. The increasing popularity of music videos online led the AP to proclaim that "watching music videos has become [a] central aspect of Internet usage."
AP points to an experimental Web video by Arcade Fire, created using advanced browser technology HTML5, as evidence that the music industry is adapting to videos on the Web. In related news, according to online analytics firm comScore, MTV is now the number 1 music destination on the Web. So it too is evolving fast.
Chances are, if you use the Internet, you are going to get hacked - it's that simple. The New York Times told us yesterday that even a strong password may not protect us and now, today, a study by security software maker Norton tells us that cybercrime is prevalent, with a majority of Internet users both worldwide and in the U.S. falling victim.
Of course, Norton says that the obvious solution to this epidemic of crime is to use up-to-date security software (such as its own anti-virus and security suite), but the study also goes beyond self-promotion to look at our emotional reactions to hacking, getting hacked and who's at fault in the end.
Social news and bookmark site Reddit has been working lately to battle against its stereotyping as the less-significant, red-headed stepchild to Digg.
After Digg-founder Kevin Rose revealed Digg's July traffic numbers on his blog, Reddit administrator and programmer KeyserSosa publicly requested that the "entire mainstream media" quit with the diminutive adjectives already, as Reddit looks to have more traffic, not less, than Digg.
These days, even Microsoft is awaiting the demise of its nearly decade-old Internet Explorer 6. Today, the company looked at August's browser usage numbers according to Net Applications and announced that "Internet Explorer 6 is at or below 5% in many developed markets", calling the drop "overall goodness".
At the same time, the company is celebrating its continued dominance in the browser market, calling IE8 "the fastest growing browser worldwide."
While young adults are the heaviest users of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, older users over 50 are starting to catch up. According to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 47% of Internet users between the ages of 50 and 64 and 25% of online adults over 65 now use social networking sites. Compared to just a year ago, the number of Internet users over 50 in the U.S. who use social networking services has nearly doubled.
Last month Hans Rosling, the Swedish global health professor, statician and sword swallower released a desktop version of Gapminder World, his mesmerizing data visualization tool. Named one of Foreign Policy's top 100 global thinkers in 2009, the information design visionary co-founded Gapminder.org with his son and daughter-in-law aiming to make the world's most important trends accessible and digestible to global leaders, policy makers and the general public.
The software they developed, Trendalyzer, (acquired by Google in 2007) translates static numbers into dynamic, interactive bubbles moving through time. The desktop version of Gapminder, which is still in beta, allows you to create and present graphs without an Internet connection.
Ever since the release of Apple's iPad, the only device making a significant impact in the tablet market, many have speculated about the possibilities for the the future of the publishing industry. Back in June we mentioned the early success seen by magazines and newspapers like Wired and the Financial Times, and more recently, the Flipboard app has iPad users drooling. With these trends in mind, a new study released today by Next Issue Media predicts that $3 billion will be spent on electronic publication subscriptions by 2014.
Advertising network Chitika has released some surprising search engine statistics today, putting Microsoft Bing ahead of long-time runner-up Yahoo in the number two spot behind (still dominant) Google.
While other services, like StatCounter have the two engines neck in neck, Chitika's latest stats put Bing ahead of Yahoo by 4.5%.
If the general trend toward crowdsourcing is any clue, then we are all well aware of the value of the Internet masses. Having access to a loyal fan base can be like a fount of free ideas and labor. From translating Wikipedia and Facebook to beta testing Google Chrome, crowdsourcing is used all across the Web for a number of purposes, and analyst firm Forrester is suggesting one more - co-creation.
According to a report released this week, U.S. consumers are willing "co-creators", a fact that many companies have yet to take advantage of.
