29.7.2008 von admin.

This video has nothing to do with social network apps or with my PhD but I got a good laugh out of it and I thought to share with whoever is interested.

Geschrieben in Internet, Web 2.0 | Keine Kommentare »

27.7.2008 von admin.

Getting actual usage numbers on social network applications isn’t easy. While most surveys and studies only represent the U.S. market, the actual numbers of social network profiles on the Internet can only be estimated by statistics reported by social network application providers such as Facebook, MySpace, Xing, and others.

An interesting insight can be gained, though, when periodically studying the Global Top 500 Internet sites reported by the web information company Alexa. The following pure social network sites are listed as of today amongst the 100 most popular online sites visited globally:

• MySpace ( Rank 6 )
• Facebook ( Rank 8 )
• Orkut ( Rank 11 )
• QQ ( Rank 17 )
• Hi5 ( Rank 19 )
• V Kontakte ( Rank 30 )
• Friendster ( Rank 40 )
• Skyrock ( Rank 41 )
• Oduoklassniki ( Rank 44 )
• Mixi ( Rank 62 )
• PerfSpot ( Rank 76 )

Interesting to see that the Chinese social network “QQ” is now ranked 17th amongst the most popular Internet sites and is expected to outgrow Facebook and MySpace pretty soon. The Russian social network sites “Oduoklassniki” and “V Kontakte” have also made it amongst the Top 100.

I would be interested in seeing some numbers for the social network profiles existing on the Internet and possibly also the maturity, depth, and authenticity of those profiles. Maybe someone has some hints on information sources providing such information.

Geschrieben in Internet, Social Networks | Keine Kommentare »

11.6.2008 von admin.

The upcoming OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet from June 17-18, 2008 in Seoul/Korea will discuss how policies for the Internet economy can shape creativity, confidence and convergence in the digital world. The OECD Secretary General, Mr. Angel Gurría, put out a call for ideas and contributions via YouTube that I find quite interesting.

Watch for yourself:

My contribution would be the following:

1) Creativity: Invest in the Internet for Education, Education, Education. Innovation, economic growth, and social development can all only occur with higher levels of education - whereever you are in the world. As such, there should be more keynote speakers that represent educational initiatives. I am glad to see APC being represented but other than that the so-called stakeholders all have a technology background (more to that on the convergence topic).

2) Confidence: Trust in the Internet technology is key for its continued ability to shape our future. One of the challenges I am trying to help with is the enhancement of information privacy for Internet users. In my role as project editor of the new privacy standards at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and with my dissertation work on “Information Privacy in Social Network Applications” I am trying to contribute my fair share. Yet, application providers and technology firms need to absorb the idea that Internet users should get control over their own information - please!

3) Convergence: Technologies and platforms that converge on the Internet represent exciting new forms of communication. Creativity is key to develop these ideas and technologies further but we do need a broader participation for international technology standardization in this space - and that not by just a few. All stakeholders need to act together to effectively adapt this new environment of converging platforms.

Geschrieben in Internet, Law & Technology, Web 2.0, Privacy | Keine Kommentare »