There is a good profile on Facebook, the second largest social network here. Of interest:
- It is entirely advertising/sponsorship focused
- Unlike all its competitors it is only available to a closed group – College Students
- Their usage stats are amazing – 85% of college students have an account and 60% log in daily
- It has had $40m in VC
- Photos (a key driver of stickiness on many sites) are an important feature
- As are real world event (read parties) organisation tools
- They have sponsorship deals with Apple (10 million iTunes sample players to give away) and JP Morgan Chase for credit cards
They have done a deal with Microsoft that rivals Google’s Myspace deal, although the amount is undisclosed.
There is a deep penetration of a demographic here that gives a feeling of sustainability, particularly as it becomes a tool by which College friendships are maintained after school.
