“A do-everything site with the potential to devour the whole Internet,” according to Christopher Beam of Slate magazine (see How Facebook could crush MySpace, Yahoo!, and Google).

Facebook started as a college alternative to MySpace, but has exploded in popularity and will soon overtake MySpace as the most visited social networking site. According the ubiquitously accepted Alexa.com website rankings, Facebook is now the 10th most visited site on the Internet – up 6 places since the rankings were last updated (MySpace is unchanged in the 6th spot).

“MySpace, if you ask me, is a spam-infested state of nature,” writes Beam. “The average user page comes with a crapload of embedded music and video players, some seizure-inducing wallpaper, and a bunch of friend requests from "models" who want to "get to know you." Facebook, on the other hand, is much less customizable but also a lot more reassuring. The interface is comfy, sturdy, and attractive without being showy—the kind of social network you'd bring home to Mom.”

Here’s the wow factor: Facebook was only opened to the public one year ago. Previously, the Face was only available to party-hardy, horny and fun-seeking college teens. Last year, the owners of Facebook reportedly rejected a $900-million offer from Yahoo!

Further to my posting yesterday on the ‘Facebook Revolution’ I came across this article with some interesting statistics regarding employee productivity and use of Facebook on the Aussie version of MSN, “Facebook is a 'vital tool for productivity': expert.”

Ross Dawson says claims that websites such as Facebook are timewasters is irresponsible and contradicts actual business practice.

This flies in the face of findings by internet security firm SurfControl Technology that suggests an average of one hour is being lost to the "underground intranet", costing an employer more than $6200 annually.

Projected across the 800,000 businesses in Australia that operate with one or more employees, the nationwide figure totals productivity losses of more than $5 billion.
Dawson says many major companies such as Deloitte, IBM and Procter & Gamble actively encourage their employees to use social networks.

Research from Harvard and M.I.T. also shows an employee's personal network is a one of their most valuable assets and can make a big contribution to a company.

But businesses are also facing legal liabilities and cyber attacks with the increasing use of Facebook, said Richard Cullen of SurfControl.

"Hackers will no doubt be targeting Facebook as an attack mechanism because of (its) popularity and power as a platform," Dr Cullen said.

"It's only a matter of time before a security loophole is discovered and exploited."
There are more than 230,000 users of Facebook across the country, and there are reportedly close to 100 Australians joining each hour.

I want to share an interesting takeaway from a recent STAMATS webinar I sat in on with our admission office.

The importance of the university course catalog was much higher than we anticipated in terms of reaching prospective students. In several instances high school students ranked the catalog just below visiting campus in terms of helpful items used in choosing a college.

I had the opportunity to speak recently with two longtime network news executives and, boy, what a bummer. If there was any doubt about what is in store for mainstream TV news outlets, it was erased by these two gentlemen.

An article in today's USA Today focused on Arianna Huffington's blog, The Huffington Post. It is the fifth most linked to blog on the web. The others, from top to bottom, are:

This is not a scam… the Internet is not just for big business. Small businesses are beginning to reap the rewards and are planting their banners in the great leveled ground that is the Internet.

While many businesses have a rudimentary website, it’s no longer excusable to have a ‘rudimentary’ website. For a few bucks a month you can set-up a pretty skookum site with e-mail, e-commerce, hosting and search engine marketing in minutes with services such as 1&1 Web Hosting, WebStore by Amazon, and Yahoo! Small business. Talking avatars, pulsating flash, and spinning wheels are not included.

“I imagine that this Internet thing is just one big fantasy world,” said one nameless CEO of a medium-size enterprise to me in a conversation on technology. “I mean, c’mon, what work is really getting done?!”

As I quickly clenched my jaw to block the impending spit-take (I believe it was Diet Coke that was insisting to be ejected on his shirt) I rushed to prop-up my sagging chin and share some of the latest numbers with this doubting Thomas: