The Rise and Fall of Friendster and the expansion of Social Media

After the central characteristics for Social Media were developed, it was only a matter of time until large masses of people began to flock these sites. The first major site to breakthrough to the mainstream was Friendster in 2003. Here are the facts:

1. Friendster started in 2002
2. Gained popularity through 3 main groups (Bloggers, the Burning Man arts festival attendees and gay men)
3. By May 2003 it had 300 000 users all from WOM (Word-of-Mouth)
4. Media coverage began and number grew exponentially

Downfall of Friendster

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In our article, Ideas vs. Information, we mentioned that providing context in your post is vital to fleshing out discussions on any topic. To elaborate on this point, we decided to go through some of the defining features that give any piece of writing context, giving the reader the necessary reference points to get through and understand your material.

Without context, your work may just be a string of text that fails to resonate with its intended readers. Not everything you write will be self-explanatory, so give your readers the proper footing they need to get to your message.
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Having trouble with your blog? Not getting the visitors you want or getting them to stay on your site for a decent amount of time? Perhaps you are missing a crucial element to your blog, like an essential page, widget or design feature that would make the experience of your site more accessible and user-friendly.

The following is a checklist you can take when evaluating your own blog to see if you have the right tools needed to communicate with your audience and vice versa. Don’t let your content go unnoticed just because there are some flaws in your presentation. Use this list as your guide! Now some of these features may be more vital than others, but including all of them is a sure way of meeting the needs and expectations of wide readership.

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Earlier on this blog, we discussed strategies for encouraging comments on your blog. By asking open-ended questions and leaving room for discussion in your posts, you will open your blog to greater feedback. While these strategies are simple in concept, integrating them in your blog often takes time and practice as certain tactics might work better and generating discussion than others.

It really is trial and error in some cases. With all the work that goes into optimizing your blog posts for comments, one might wonder what all the fuss is about. Your blog is about you and your content/products/services, so why should you worry about getting others to write on it? Here are 5 simple reasons why comments are important to get you into a more conversational mood.

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The following is a list of 50 blogging goals you can set for yourself to energize your efforts online and give you a sense of direction when you write. Some are short term and can be attained everyday; others will take longer to achieve. No matter how challenging they seem, they are all possible as many of the Internet’s most recognizable bloggers have demonstrated.

These goals, both big and small, are sure to inspire your blogging efforts. So print this off, scratch some off with a pen, and fulfill your blogging dreams!
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There are many forms and functions in the expanding realm of social media and Web 2.0. While we have spent some time describing, defining and analyzing social media on this blog, we have yet to really delineate the different applications SMM can have and what it means for users and businesses alike.

Here is a simple yet comprehensive breakdown of various social media types, and their application, so you can better understand what services, features and networks will work best for your online enterprise, satisfying its purpose and goals.

While some social media applications may overlap each other in terms of their overall use and value, we found social media services and sites could be lumped together into several specific categories:

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We’ve noticed an interesting occurrence in content creation among blogging blogs. It’s what we call, the compilation post. A compilation post is similar to a list or ‘best of’ post but it consists primarily of links to software or blog previews to showcase the best (or worst) of a certain trend taking shape in the blogosphere.

The benefits of creating compilation posts are fairly clear. They are easy to read and scan through, they are excellent reference guides, they beg to be bookmarked and they spread link love to talented people across the blogosphere. We thought we’d weigh in, and better explain the trend by creating a compilation of compilation posts.

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The Guardian UK published a comprehensive list of the world’s 50 most powerful blogs about a month ago, websites that have excelled at carving their niche, establishing their authority on their subject matter and continually offering their readers consistent and unique content.

These blogs are more than just popular, they are incredibly influential multiple social arenas, shifting political attitudes, exposing scandals, revealing exciting new technologies or just showing strange and funny pictures. All of these examples are demonstrations of effective branding and remarkable content development. They have each earned substantial followings.

We are also thrilled to see our personal favorite copyblogger.com get mention. We do have a guest post there after all!

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Writing
Posting
Reaching Out

Connecting
Directing
Killing Doubt

I’ll Brainstorm
To Inform
To Great Amounts

So Link Me
It’s All Free
I’m Building Clout

In the world of blogging, there is great debate concerning which software applications are best suited for publishing on the web. While each of the major blogging platforms offer different benefits, we here at Apollo Media thought we would jump into the discussion with our own two cents.

Here are 10 reasons why we use WordPress as our weapon of choice:

1. Read the rest of this entry »