You know that I enjoy writing about the big guys of the web-world such as Facebook and Google. Well, today is no different. I just finished reading an interesting article about Facebook and how they deal with their biggest hurdle, their database. Facebook is a site that is built entirely on open source software such as PHP and MySQL. Depending on who you ask, you will receive mixed opinions about the use of free and / or open source software. I personally think that Facebook is a pedestal for proving the capabilities of open source software. However, it still comes with a price.
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This is something I read today that I thought I would pass along. Although it’s not internet marketing or SEO related, I still thought it would be good to share.
“Zuckerberg sometimes amused himself by conducting experiments. For instance, he concluded that by examining friend relationships and communications patterns he could determine with about 33 percent accuracy who a user was going to be in a relationship with a week from now. To deduce this he studied who was looking which profiles, who your friends were friends with, and who was newly single, among other indicators.”
– David Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect
“Dan Loewenherz was sitting up one night with fiance and his mom, trying to conjure up a guy to set up with his fiance’s sister. They finally came up with the perfect guy, enthusiastically checked the guy’s Facebook profile and to much disappointment, saw that he was in a relationship. I know this has happened to you: You meet a great guy or girl, immediately run to Facebook or Google to Internet stalk them and find out that they’re spoken for. Boo.
Well, Lowenherz put his programming skills to good use, and spent four hours that night creating the Breakup Notifier, which, similar to Break Up Alert, eliminates the Carpal Tunnel involved with constantly refreshing the object of your affection’s Facebook page for news about their sexual availability.
Breakup Notifier sends you the below email whenever your selected targets change their relationship status. All you have to do is go to BreakupNotifier.com and choose the friends you want to digitally declare that you regularly stalk. (There is no exit page, so simply select the friends and the app does the rest. Also, it obviously does not share this information with the person in question, but provide this data at your own risk.)
Breakup Notifier is great for when you don’t actually talk to the person you want to hook up with because you’re a big nerd. The app now crawls Facebook every ten minutes, so you get up to the minute coverage of other people’s relationship misfortunes and can jump in while they’re still vulnerable. It’s called a rebound for a reason.
In the same vein, Lowenhertz has purchased unfriendnotifier.com and areweenemiesyet.com to set up un-friending notifications as well, which are a bit more challenging. He’s thinking of charging something like 99 cents for early adopters and then bumping the price up to $4.99 sometime afterwards. So get in while it’s cheap/free!
And if this planned subscription model doesn’t pan out, Lowenherz should totally set up a freemium deal and have hot guys or girls “Poking” and “Liking” stuff on the target’s profile, you know, to help speed up the breakup.”
Source: TechCrunch
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Alrighty guys. Here’s another cool way to make money with Facebook. This method is “tuned” more for those that have bands and are looking for a good / easy way to promote their bands & music, build their fan base, and make a few bucks along the way. It’s called “Impulse” and it’s brought to you by a little company called “Moontoast“. With Impulse, your fans can listen to your music directly from your Facebook page, share your music with others on Facebook & Twitter, and even buy albums or single tracks without leaving Facebook. It’s extremely easy to use and provides a ton of cool features. For instance, you can track what your fans are listening to with an easy to use interface. And of course, you can track what your fans are buying too! So, what are you waiting for? Give it a try. Get your music heard. Promote your band and make some money!!!
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The reviews are in and it looks like the movie about Facebook called “The Social Network” is a big hit. Rotten Tomatoes has “The Social Network” listed at 97%. The movie just released today. So, we should probably wait until Monday to have the opening weekend reviews to get a more accurate reading. But, from what I’ve read on the web, “The Social Network” is already a slamming success.
If you are unfamiliar with “The Social Network”, it is the story about the founders of the hugely popular social networking website, Facebook. Starring Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, “The Social Network” runs through the beginning & rise of what is today’s largest media venue. The movie also includes Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and friend of Mark Zuckerberg. Sean Parker was also president of Facebook in 2004 when the company incorporated, but was forced to leave Facebook after being arrested for cocaine possession.
Anyways, “The Social Network” never really appealed to me as a movie I’d enjoy watching. But, with all of the rave I’ve been hearing about the movie, I think I might just take the time to check it out. In fact, you might want to do the same. If you do watch it, come back here and post your opinion in the comments below.
Update: The Social Network is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. You can pick up your copy now from Amazon.com here:
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Do you know who Mark Zuckerberg is? I’m sure you probably use his creation on a daily basis and just haven’t linked his name to the tool. I’m talking about the co-founder of Facebook.com. Ah! Now you know who I’m talking about, don’t you? Well, this is one of those fairy tale stories that I thought I’d pass along as I find it very inspirational for those of us that are trying to make a living on the internet. In 2004 while attending Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg and fellow classmates Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin, created a simple social networking website that has brought both fame and fortune to Zuckerberg. Currently at the age of 26, Zuckerberg’s 24% share of Facebook has moved him into the number 35 spot on the Forbes 400 of the world’s richest people. At a worth of $6.9 billion, Zuckerberg has now passed Appple co-founder Steve Jobs who comes in at number 42 with a worth of only $6.1 billion. That’s a pretty big difference considering Apple was established in 1976, more than 28 years before Facebook was born.
But, how did he make so much money off of one website? The answer is easy, traffic! Facebook boasts more than 500 million members with an average of over 250 million active users visiting the site every day. That’s a lot of eyes to be viewing advertisements and the advertisers know this. So, they’re willing to pay top dollar to get their ads in front of all of those viewers. Think of it like the Super Bowl. In 2010, more than 106 million viewers tuned in for the Super Bowl. A simple 30 second commercial cost around $2.6 million. Imagine how much money you would be charged for twice as many viewers seeing your commercials / ads every single day?
Anyways, I think it’s awesome that Mark Zuckerberg has done so well for himself in the short amount of time Facebook has been around. I don’t know about you, but I’d definitely like to be worth $6.9 billion after only 6 years of work. Next time you’re checking your wall or replying to messages, think about this article and imagine yourself in his shoes. Besides, every person that reads this article has the exact same change and opportunity to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.
