Orkut, MySpace, Facebookthese mass social networking sites are pass! Look at these statistics: According to a report released by Hitwise, a web measurement firm, social networking traffic in the US is down 16% y-o-y. While MySpace saw a decline of 5%, Facebook was worse off with a 32% decline. This doesnt mean the online social networks are becoming any less popular. On the contrary it seems people are becoming more stable in their choices and instead of jumping from one social network to another, they are spending more time in their favourite online communities. For instance, MySpace saw an increase of 73% y-o-y on average time spent, says Hitwise. Another reason why traffic to the mass sites is on the decline is the emerging popularity of the online micro social networks. These are special interest online communities that are growing in popularity and becoming promising centers of personal interaction, trade, and commerce.

The good news is that the market predicts ad spending on the online social media will increase manifold. According to an eMarketers report, the ad spending on UK social networks will rise by 77% from $130 mn in 2007 to $225 mn in 2008. And 2012 is expected to see a growth of 148% over 2008. In the US, eMarketer projects the social network ad spending to go up to about $2.4 bn in 2011 from $1.4 bn in 2008.

And it appears that micro social networks would take a significant part of this spend. The market segmentation cycle is arriving to the net also as a medium. Marketers have the option to either advertise on micro social networks set up by others, or they can have their own like Sunsilks gangofgirls.com and Yahoos 360.yahoo.comcamouflaged as a mass networking site though its primary aim is to promote other Yahoo products and services, and Nikes joga.com, a football oriented social network service created with Google.

Shyam Malhotra

India has a different concern. With an abysmal Internet penetration rate of less than 15% as on March 31, 2008 (according to an Internet World Stats report), the number of users accessing the social networks will be very low. And according to a Nielsen report of a survey of 300 people in India who accessed social networking sites at least once a month, about 66% felt that social networking sites were no substitute for actual face-to-face meetings with friends. These data indicate that online social networking may not have yet fully arrived in India.

The answer may not lie in targeting mass social networks. Advertising on micro social networks for a very specific audience is more likely to work. Special interest smaller communities are more easier to identify, faster to grow and easier to hold on to. There creation would require a few catalysts.

First would be the identification of potential micro communities where a product or service works and fostering social sites dedicated to these. Second would be the need for designing clearly directed messages which blend into the online medium. The Indian advertising community is focused on print and television. It is yet to become familiar with the nuances of online. One of these is the multiple functions that are needed to coordinate marketing efforts on social sites. The effort typically should involve the sales, advertising, customer service, and public relations departments. Because on the Web all these get closely linked. Who should take the lead?

These are early times, and hence, the initial hiccups. knowledge gaps will get filled and the streamlining will happen. What is important is that for the diversified, hetrogenous Indian market there is a powerful tool getting developed. It would be great if it got used quickly and effectively.

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