Thousands of applications and millions of downloads are driving Facebook’s economy. Who’s behind it? Hackers.

Unlike MySpace, Facebook has opened up its network to developers, making it easy for them to make money from applications. A full list of third-party applications, designed to allow Facebook users interact with friends and networks, can be found in the official site’s application directory. They range from tools to compare people to applications that allow you to adopt virtual pets. 

To witness this economy’s escalation, one only needs to stop by Adonomics (formerly Appaholics). The website, conceived by San Francisco-based programmer Jesse Farmer, provides stock-market-style analyses of Facebook features. Programmers can analyze the value of their applications in advertising dollars, and how it correlates to their applications’ growth.

Once a social networking site exclusively for college students, Facebook opened registration to the general public last year and attracted vast groups of visitors from outside the 18-24 year old age segment.  In fact, comScore reported last month the website grew to 26.6 million unique visitors in the U.S. in May 2007, marking an 89 per cent increase versus the same month last year.

Editor’s note: see Facebook security post

Internet users are consuming more web content but communicating less, reveals a four-year study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA).

The report, released Aug. 13, states Internet users are spending 47 per cent of their time online reading and watching content, compared with 34 per cent in 2003, representing a 37 per cent increase over four years.

The increase in the time spent on content has been steady; growing 10 per cent from 2003 to 2004, remaining even between 2004 and 2005, growing 13 per cent from 2005 to 2006, and growing 13 per cent from 2006 to 2007.

The organization also found Internet users are spending 33 per cent of their time online communicating, compared with 46 per cent in 2003, marking a 28 per cent decline over four years.

On the e-commerce side, Web users on average spend 16 per cent of their time shopping online versus 15 per cent in 2003.

Meanwhile, the total time being spent on search remains relatively low, accounting for just five per cent, compared to three per cent in 2003.

The OPA attributes the major shift from communications to content as a result of several factors:

• The online transition of traditionally offline activities, such as getting news, finding entertainment information or checking the weather.

• The popularity of online communities.

• A faster and more accessible Internet.

• The popularity of online videos.

• The improvements in search tools, which are helping online users find relevant content more easily.

• The significant increase of content available on the Web.

• The rise of instant messaging, which is more efficient than e-mail and has subsequently led to a reduction in time spent communicating.

Whether you agree with or dispute the notion “content is king,” the results from this study fortify the importance of content on the Web.

It also serves as a reminder that web types can collectively advance the state of the Web and by creating and fostering quality content.

Businesses of all sizes get taken by a bad breed of online marketing firms that shamelessly over promise and under deliver.

These fly-by-night SEO ‘experts’ lurk in the darkest corners of the Web, many under the cloak of anonymity, preying on businesses that seek a competitive edge on the ever-expanding Internet.

Unfortunately, many fall victim because they don’t do adequate research, and buy into hyped-up sales pitches packed with unachievable promises. When all’s said and done, they are left with sub-standard services, products and results — if anything at all.

Read entire SEO article…

Webcopyplus recently completed an interesting project for B.C. Lions legend Jamie Taras, who’s taken his winning ways from the field to the boardroom with Team Taras.

Taras offers an incredibly unique team building event at B.C. Place Stadium. You and your colleagues get to partake in an inspiring session, which includes on-field team training amongst the football players and cheerleaders. To top it off, you get to cheer the team on to victory.

A spectacular way to take a break from the office and motivate your team!

As Web 2.0 pulls the rug out from under news distribution monopolies, its interactive element will likely tune in millions more online users.

Not only are more people using the Internet each year (currently 1.17 billion globally, up 225 per cent from 2000), people are naturally drawn by its increasingly interactive nature. The opportunity to participate, even if not acted on, is engaging in itself.

Indeed, Web 2.0 allows users to discuss and influence precisely what’s near and dear to their hearts.

Media giants and corporations have to respect this. All those minuscule voices abruptly gain volume on the Web, creating forces to be reckoned with. In fact, these ‘Web 2.0 packs’ produce so much weight, they can virtually sink a product or business in a matter of hours. They can also make them astoundingly successful.

CNET’s George Colony discusses in his blog how CEOs need to acknowledge Web 2.0’s transparency and recognize the new reality: “you don’t own your customer; your customer owns you.”

No doubt, in the new age of collaboration, consumers are no longer disengaged and forced to sit on the sidelines. Online communities are revolutionizing how media, business, management and government deal with the outside world. There’s more communication on a peer-to-peer level versus the traditional talk-down-to manner.

The most clever and alert organizations are catching on to the fact that Web 2.0 allows masses to pool resources and create value. Take Coca-Cola for instance. As highlighted by Richard MacManus, Coca-Cola’s Polish website fosters community involvement. It asks visitors, “What do you desire?” and encourages people to share goals and achievements.

Even IBM has warmed up to social networking, building tools to bring Web 2.0 and online communities into corporations.

As for news giants, they aren’t just telling people what to think anymore. They too have to partake in Web 2.0 to stay relevant. While increasing opportunities for feedback and viewpoints, they are establishing deeper roots with existing readers and expanding their reach.

YouTube and MySpace are currently leading the movement, but others will follow, and then take the lead. And, as more organizations get bitten by the Web 2.0 bug, more people will get infected and become engaged, curious and keen to charter unexplored territory.

There’s no denying, Web 2.0 is contagious.

The LA Times recently published an article, in which it compares Google to Osama bin Laden. It seems Google’s plans to let users comment on aggregated news has some editors and journalists edgy. But as long as they do their jobs and publish objective and complete articles, they have nothing to fear.

I wrote the following letter to the LA Times editor in response to the article:

Welcome to Web 2.0, LA Times, where consumers and the public at large get a say.

Surely, providing Google users forums to comment on news stories will result in some biased and uninformed viewpoints, but it’ll also keep editors and journalists on their toes.

For if you don’t do your job, and produce biased or incomplete articles, there will be a newly empowered body ready to call you on it.

Just minutes ago, I received an exciting note in my inbox from Rob Gabriel, Founder and Developer of MyLiveSearch, declaring he’s launching the Web’s first true real-time search engine on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

“I would have hoped to release the beta release earlier,” he stated, “but strongly believe that continued development has now made Mylivesearch even more advanced [than] ever before.”

“Once you try MyLiveSearch,” added Gabriel, “you will be able to explore the Internet like never before and see for yourself how this technology will have a profound impact on how you search the Internet.”

The Melbourne start-up originally planned to unleash the search engine that promises to give users power to scope the entire Web “live to the second” at the end of June.

Gabriel, 35, claims MyLiveSearch will provide users better results than existing search engines, including Google.

Despite Google’s vast resources, its spiders cannot track updates to the Web in real time. Moreover, it’s estimated that Google indexes less than a fifth of the Internet.

MyLiveSearch’s technology, which has been in development for the past eight years, works through a browser plug-in. The search terms are put through indexed search databases, including those of Google, Yahoo and MSN, as well as users’ bookmarks and other popular web hubs.

But those results are just starting points. The “live search” then kicks in, actively seeking out all connected web pages, apparently in just seconds.

Google, which has a history of acquiring technology that could aid its competitors, has reportedly met with the MyLiveSearch team on at least a couple of occasions.

Site after site, poor web copywriting continues to obstruct user experience. The problem is most businesses and organizations tend to treat copywriting as an afterthought.

While reading a newsletter posted by Icograda, I was directed to a poll with the following copy:

Current Opinion

State your opinion. Share your views. Vote on the weekly Opinion poll. Then view the collective results. Just click the check box beside your selection, then click on the “Vote” button.

The role of the designer is evolving and with that come changes in the designer/client relationship. We want to understand mo about how you feel about your relationship with you best clients.

What does your best client expect from you?

This convoluted message actually makes the simple task of picking one of three options confusing. The poor readability tarnishes the website’s usability.

Using some of the same text, a clear message can be conveyed:

State your opinion

The role of the designer is evolving and with that come changes in the designer/client relationship.

What does your best client expect from you?

That brings the original word count of 73 down to 27 – a 73 per cent reduction. The edits provide a concise message that’s easy to read, comprehend and retain.

It’s unfortunate poor web copywriting like this comes from a long-established, world-class graphic design association such as Icograda, with professional members around the globe.

In fact, distinguished organizations like Icograda need to take a leading role to help advance the Web on all fronts. Good web writing and good web design must go hand in hand to promote positive online experiences.

Editor’s note: Who writes your web copy? Please tell us on our online poll.

Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Before you quit your job’ takes you up several hundred feet to get an unobstructed perspective on what separates employees (who seek security) and entrepreneurs (who seek freedom). Moreover, the Rich Dad book reveals everything from how to deal with mental roadblocks to how to position yourself in your chosen industry.

Regardless where you’re at with your entrepreneurial endeavors, this book is worth picking up. While it sometimes overlaps Kiyosaki’s original ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ book, it contains several valuable gems.

StrawberryFrog, a global agency with offices in Amsterdam and New York, recently blogged about the impact and future of consumer-generated content.

Tori Winn, Digital Executive Creative Director at StrawberryFrog, gave her take on the future of consumer-generated content, concluding the future is bright.

Indeed, the emergence of consumer-generated content is rapidly empowering consumers. That’s a good thing, and it’s here to stay.

But it comes with a cost. The flood of ideas, views and expressions is adding to the Web’s already murky sea of disconnected, mostly mediocre content. Some community forums, like Digg, generally help users get the good stuff to the surface and sink the rubbish. Still, despite their popularity, they just can’t filter the vast bodies of information fast enough.

As a result, business owners and marketers must work harder to be seen and get their messages across. To thrive – or even survive – in the Web 2.0 environment, businesses must increase focus and relevance of their web content and messages in general to truly connect with customers and meet ever-increasing expectations.

But carefully defined, customer-centric words require stronger platforms. They need the support of good design, which focuses less on aesthetics and more on function.

Like never before, we need to write and design for our clients, not for ourselves.