But the Facebook train rolls on, graphs curve upward and the comparisons to MySpace continue. And while on the surface the stats are stacked well in the favour

I'd like to think this is a nice tip of the hat to Mr Jakob Nielsen, a classic case of usability and design, a satisfying user experience bringing users back each day. I also think Facebooks ability to classify and categorise friends gives it a lot more solid foundation as a linked-inesque networking tool, although I think this can still be improved. "The stronger the social tie, the more likely it is to be supportive and able to excerpt influence on the participants... Ties which are maintained across different social settings tend to be stronger than 'uniplex' ties, which are limited to a specific type of relationship" (John Cotterall). If a social networking service can start to measure and categorise the true strength of these relationships, then I can see this painting a far finer profile picture, and adding true value to the current tick-the-box-add friend network model.
It will be an interesting landscape to watch over the coming months. With Friendster experiencing a 40% growth in page views in May, it seems like social networking pie is growing bigger. Networks are expanding into different parts of the world as are people's ability to manage multiple logins.
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