Tag Archive for 'social media'

What is Facebook was a country? Social Networking Map Shows Rise of Online Communities

Published by Paul Escandon on October 6, 2010 in social media. View Comments Tags: , , , .
Social World Map
via Mashable

People love to cite that all-interesting factoid: If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Well, now — thanks to geeky-yet-popular web comic XKCD — you can unlock a whole lot more geographical goodness with the “Updated Map of Online Communities.”

The first map hit the scene back in 2007 and was basically a whimsical view of social media at the time. We’re embedding it below. Note the relative size of communities like MySpace (much bigger than Facebook) and notable lack of Twitter. Oh, how times have changed — Twitter’s now getting more traffic than MySpace.

Back in August, marketing firm Flowtown created its own update to XKCD’s iconic map, sizing online communities based on info collected or published by USA Today, Alexa, Compete and other sources (embedded below). As you can see, Facebook is out in full force, as is Twitter.

XKCD’s newest iteration takes into account social activity rather than membership numbers — according to the map’s legend. And although the method doesn’t seem all that scientific — the legend states that the map was made using a lot of guesswork — the results are pretty interesting.

Note, for instance, the size of FarmVille, which highlights the rise in social gaming, and the ballooning size of 4chan. However, my personal favorite is the “Duckface Mountains.” That particular facial expression, sadly, has indeed grown in prominence over the years. Perhaps it’s time to immigrate…

Map of Online Communities: 2007

Flowtown’s Map of Online Communities: 2010

Updated Map of Online Communities: 2010

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Geolocating twitter posts + yelp/facebook/foursquare/gowalla checking in = recipe for a robbery?

Published by Paul Escandon on October 3, 2010 in Facebook, Twitter and social media. View Comments Tags: , , , , , , .
Bing Maps - Bird's Eye View

With the rise in popularity of Twitter and other location-based social services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and Facebook Places – I can’t help but wonder: Are some people settings themselves up for the ultimate easy robbery?

The other day I was viewing recent tweets from my Twitter friends and noticed that some users had tweeted some random things with their geolocation attached to the tweet. A simple google map search showed me exactly which house they were tweeting from (presumably their house – although it could have been a friends house). Then, plugging that information into Zillow.com I was able to see some exact specifications of that house along with pictures. I could see how many bedrooms, the square-footage, the lot size, even the property value. Then, plugging that same address into bing.com maps I could get a clear picture of what the property looked like – possible points of entry, where to park, etc.

All of this information started to scare me a bit. I wondered if A.) They realized they were exposing their home location in their random tweets and B.) If they realized just how much public information was available on their home location. This same friend checked in with Facebook Places a few hours later about being out on a fun adventure with the whole family. Or to put it another way, “Hey everyone in the Twitterverse, I’m not home right now!”

So, for those keeping score: we now know the person’s house, the specifics of the property and when that person is clearly not in their house. Does anyone else see a serious recipe for a robbery here? I realize these social location based tools can be fun and useful – but at what cost and at what danger? I wonder if people on Twitter even realize they are exposing the most crucial piece of information – their actual home location. This can be turned off or never activated in the first place, but it is very likely that someone could have a good reason for turning on that feature at some point and then forgetting to turn it off the next time they tweet – from their house!

Something to think about next time you’re tweeting.

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