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The Facebook vs MySpace debate is long running.  While many users have profiles on both, some people only utilize one or the other.  For a business, questioning which platform is worth your time and marketing budget is a valid question.

What are Your Customer Demographics?

The MySpace audience is a slightly younger group.  While the average age is 31, a full third of their users are under the age of 17.  Facebook’s average customer age is 36.  Facebook’s male to female ratio is almost even at 57% female, where MySpace is 64% female.

As MySpace has evolved, they have lured more high school users through their customizable pages and heavy focus on music and bands.  Facebook has gone out of their way to appeal to an older generation by being user friendly and looking professional.

Do More People Use Facebook or MySpace?

In early 2010, Facebook boasted more than twice the number of users than MySpace.  While Facebook has grown rapidly over the last few years, MySpace growth has stayed steady or declined.

How Much Time is Spent on Facebook and MySpace by the Average Users?

By January 2010, the amount of time an average user spent on Facebook had grown to over seven hours a month.  While MySpace doesn’t offer as many analytics to the public,vusers spend about a fourth of the amount of time that site as they do Facebook.

The Bottom Line, Which is Better for My Business?

It depends.  If your business targets teenage music lovers, you might be better off focusing your attention on MySpace.  If your business targets any other demographic, Facebook is the better choice.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Gone are the days when people wrote long letters to each other and waited for weeks on end till they got a reply back. Today, all it takes is a click to open a social networking site and a few strokes of the keyboard to convey any message that you want to your family or friends. Take Facebook for example. The popularity of the site is increasing every day ( going by its membership figures of 300 million) and its youngest members are still in school. But is there really too much of a good thing? People often argue that while such sites have made staying in touch so much easier, we also pay a price in terms of privacy. Are we aware that a lot of information we thought was private is actually in the open for the entire world to see?

To Like or Not to Like
Think of Facebook as community where people in your friend list know what you’re up to, what you are doing and even what you think. If that wasn’t enough, your friends are free to comment on anything that appears in your Facebook page as well. That is because Facebook offers both a Live Feed and a News Feed. The Live Feed shows you everything that’s happening within your friends circle. For instance you will be notified when a friend comments on a photo or another updates her status. On the other hand the News Feed is filtered by Facebook and consists of stories or links that the website thinks a user would enjoy based on factors like your friends commenting on the story. Needless to say, many Facebook users are outraged at the idea of the website itself making certain decisions for them. And exactly why would people be keen to know every little thing their friends do?

This week, Facebook laid out the next phase in its plan to rule the Web when it introduced a “Like” button that will be embedded on sites accross the Internet. The little “thumbs up” icon that many Facebook users have used to show approval for their friends activities is already featured on sites like CNN, and expected to show up on shopping sites, entertainment sites and beyond. In the words of Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerburg, at the launch of this new feature, “We’re going to serve one billion ‘like’ buttons on the Web” in the first 24 hours.

Over-sharers Beware
Many users are also waking up to the fact that every time they click the ‘like’ feature on an application or news item, their ‘like’ and profile photo will appear on the page that has been flagged. In other words, this is akin to a Digg like function, where content can be flagged with the only difference being that the content immediately appears in the status feed. This is just the beginning because very soon Facebook will also give you the option to ‘ like’ content that appears on entertainment and news websites; the only hitch being that all will be revealed in your status feeds. In other words, your friends will know which sites you visited, what you read and so on. How many of us really want the world watching what we do?

The Facebook team justify that any new update made is always tested extensively keeping the user in mind, and that real close knit interaction has only just begun. Facebook users on the other hand are anything but happy. Many feel that every time Facebook makes changes to the site, they are only for the worse. Increasingly, the invasion of one’s privacy is a scary reality.

One can’t deny that technology has indeed made the world a much smaller place in many ways. It has become so much easier to reach out to people sitting on the other side of the world, or who you may never have met. No wonder then that websites which support a particular cause like, or which are a meeting place for people who share similar passions often comprise of a mixed bunch of people from different countries. Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter help people interact closely and stay in touch more often. However, these sites have also proven to be a great meeting ground for brands which want to get closer to their customers and also a huge marketing forum for newly launched products as well.

So why is Ning any different?

Just like its counterparts, Ning is a social platform too. The driving force behind this website is to connect with other people who truly share your passions and other interests. Once you create your own off-site social network, you are free to reach out to other members and find people who are passionate about a cause you care about, talk to others about your brand or make new friends. Once you register on the website, members can then choose to personalize their pages by choosing from over 50 themes, selecting from various privacy options, share photos and videos, chat in real time with other members, create groups, add a forum for discussion or organize events- in short everything that other popular social networking sites offer.

How can Ning help your business?

Many organizations and reputed brands are discovering the power of Ning for themselves.

1. It’s important for a brand to keep in constant touch with its audience and Ning offers a great opportunity to receive a constant flow of feedback from customers. It’s a wonderful way to get new ideas, work on improving existing ones and understand what the customer REALLY wants.
2. Ning also lets members come together and interact among themselves as well. The best way to start a dialog between your customers is to create an exclusive forum for discussion where relevant topics can be discussed and views exchanged.
3. If your organization is launching a new product, then harness the reach that Ning offers! You can upload photos, videos, events and blog posts which will reach your intended audience as well.
4. If you are truly passionate about a cause, Ning offers a great opportunity to find other like minded people. Starting a new event, planning a charity drive or simply supporting your community- Ning lets you do it all.
5. It’s easy to find existing communities which are in the same industry as yours and become a part of them. It’s a great way to keep abreast of the latest developments and share ideas.
6. Make your customers feel special and connected to your brand by giving them a forum to discuss and share views about your brand .That helps to increase brand loyalty on their part and gives you resources to promote your brand even further.