Madison Who’s Who Blog

For the longest time, search engine giant Google has had their fingers in almost every arena, except that of peer to peer networking.  However, now Google has now entered the peer to peer networking via the mobile arena with the acquisition of mobile social network Zingku.

Zingku is a mobile social network that started in 2005 as a private beta in the US. This service gives users the ability to send and receive text and picture messages between friends. Users can send invitations using the standard text messaging service that is available on all mobile devices as well as on the internet.

Zingku’s features include sending and receiving mobile photos and text reminders with alarms, text messaging, instant messenger and the internet. In addition, you can obtain news feeds to mobile phones via SMS. This SMS peer to peer networking seems to be the future of social networking, and most of the major social networks have either already implemented mobile networking, or are in the process of doing so. 

The popularity of peer to peer networking (social networking) sites appears to be dependent on the audience’s geographic region. Here is the breakdown of how social networking site rate based on geographic regions.

North America.  Both MySpace and Facebook attract predominately North American audiences, around two-thirds according to comScore.

Europe.  Bebo is the choice of European social networkers with 63 percent of its users coming from that region.

Asia-Pacific Islands.  Friendster attracts 89 percent of its audience from Asia-Pacific.

Latin America.  Orkut is the darling of users in the Latin American countries.

Peer to peer networks are growing in popularity on a global scale. So, it would appear that social networking is not the fad it was once thought to be but rather an activity that is being woven into the very fabric of the global internet.

A new social networking Web site is joining the ranks of Facebook and MySpace to bring students the next generation of peer to peer networking.

Qlique.com, which launched on Sept. 10, is the freshest way to procrastinate on the Web. This web site stands apart from the first-generation features of Facebook and MySpace because of its live elements. It’s not just about viewing a profile or sending a message, but about peer to peer networking with various types of entertainment features. Everything is live and it’s about what’s happening around you just like your real-world social life.

One thing this new peer to peer networking site has done is built the site around college students, including setting up rivals with other colleges, fraternities and sororities and really built it to their liking.

The cool new features of this peer to peer networking site could catch on if more people use it. It’s a lot  more interactive than the standard social networking sites, and has games that you can set up with friends like poker and college trivia.

New user profile features are set to be added to Digg.com Wednesday, marking the first in a series of new peer to peer networking capabilities that will be added to the site. Officials said the new capabilities will let Digg.com users better interact and share content similar to other peer to peer network sites. The user profile will allow users to personalize their Digg identity and to interact with people they designate as “friends” on the site, said Jay Adelson, Digg’s CEO. With these changes, Digg.com is giving users the ability to say a little bit more about themselves [and] to establish for the first time ever private messaging between themselves and other users on the site.Users can also use the feature to select stories by topic, and to access stories their friends have submitted on commented on. Before the end of the year, Digg plans to launch a an alerting feature to allow users to get email alerts like weekly or daily digests about stories on a particular topic or stories suggested by friends. The site will also add a dedicated images section that will let users submit images to Digg, as well as an engine that will be used to recommend stories to individual users based on what that person’s particular interests. Currently, Digg.com has so much more information coming in from all of these different peer to peer networking communities that they need to respond to that by giving these communities a place to thrive and allowing them to discuss things with each other or the public in general.

While peer to peer networking is a term that is usually employed in the IT world, it is also now being applied to a type of social networking.  Thus the geek interpretation of a peer to peer network parallels nicely with how businesses and individuals alike are using social networking sites to network with their peers.

Social networking and business networking is essential to succeeding in today’s business world. A productive peer to peer network in business is, like a computer network, dependent on the power and energy that the participants in that network bring provide collectively.  A peer to peer network of lethargic and complacent people will never empower a career or promote a business. On the other hand, a peer network of motivated and business minded individuals can accomplish more than they ever could individually. 

Be it news about opportunities, business innovations or the best techniques to achieve specific goals, a people peer to peer network can become the vital circuitry that wires a career and keeps it energized.

A professional peer to peer network committed to the growth of it’s individual members and the expansion of their shared vision will re-invent itself many times as it expands and modifies it’s configuration in service to that vision. When we speak of peer to peer networking on this website we are describing the social networking and business networking so essential to succeeding in today’s business world.  Having a vital and productive peer to peer network in business is, like a computer network, dependent on the power and energy that the participants in that network bring to the table.  A peer to peer network of lethargic and complacent people will never empower a career or promote a business.

The key to successful peer to peer networks and online networks in particular is that they require an object to connect them. For example people are linked in Flickr by photos, in del.icio.us by bookmarks and in the real world by the school they went to, their job or their hobbies. This is why, in “pure” social networking sites like Orkut and Friendster, Myspace and Facebook communities form. Business are now learning to tap into the power of these communities to market their products, and drive traffic to their websites.  This is only one example of the power of peer to peer networks

I was thinking back to a few months ago when I finally signed up for Facebook.  I started inviting many of the people I knew to join me and check out my profile.  I remember being amazed at the reach and how quickly my friend’s network grew.  My friends had friends, those friends wanted to be in my friends list.  My friend list continued to grow exponentially.  This is the power of peer to peer networks.  So, as a business, why should you care about these social networking sites?  It’s about meeting people, expanding your reach, and growing your customer base.   Even though the substance of posts on peer to peer networking sites will be focused on marketing, never forget that social networks are about meeting people – some of which are tremendously talented and can lead to solid personal or professional relationships, let alone great friendships.

I truly believe social networks are going to be the platform of the future for getting word out about a product or service. At currently, many businesses use search engine marketing to find those people who seek their products or services.  However in the near future we will be turning to the Facebooks, MySpaces, and the Twitters of the world to make those business connections.

The aim of peer to peer networking is to put people in touch with others who have faced similar situations and life experiences.   This enables people to share experiences, along with anecdotes and solutions to life’s problems. Most of the social networking sites out there today use modern web technology to allow secure, private peer to peer chatting.

Sharing experiences and building friends aren’t the only reason the “we” generation is turning to peer to peer networking.  Networking is also a valuable way to get career advice, and even locate a job.  Chances are that someone in your peer network knows someone who is looking to hire someone with your skills.  Members of the “we” generation are capitalizing on the powers of peer marketing to make friends as well as secure their futures.

Peer Networking Tip:  Peer to peer networking is great for building a network of people who have similar interests as you.  Imagine this:  If you are networked with 100 people, who are also networked with 100 people, all of the sudden you have 10,000 people in your extended peer network.  What a great way to market your ideas, gain exposure, or get career advice and opportunities.

Today’s world anymore is basically a mobile, social experience, at least to most people. However, for those of us who are digitally dependent riding a crowded bus can be more isolating than sitting in a room alone with a computer. However, this is about to change with new advances in mobile phone technology.

Now the mobile phone screen threatens to fill the loneliness that devotees of peer to peer networking sites experience when they are away from their PC.

Online peer to peer networking heavyweights such as MySpace and Facebook have added mobile features, and start-ups are scrambling to allow people to share every moment with their network of online friends through voice, text, pictures, and video – all done via mobile phone.

Peer to peer networking has been a popular thing with teens and young adults, and is now being utilized by business as well. With MySpace and Facebook hitting at a time when mobile phone usage is soaring, networking with peers and businesses alike is always at your fingertips.

Although only 3.5 percent of US mobile subscribers report logging onto a mobile social network site or blog even once a month from a mobile device, according to M:Metrics Inc., a mobile media research firm, investors and entrepreneurs see the cellphone world, with more than 200 million subscribers in the United States alone, as a market with massive potential.

The University  of Ohio reported that before this academic year they had about 45 requests which have been directly attributed to information that somebody saw on the Facebook site.  This is a the largest of roommate change requests they have ever seen before school even starts. Thanks Facebook, oh, and who ever said parents aren’t internet savvy?
Social and peer to peer network sites such as Facebook and MySpace are causing headaches for some college administrators. The University of Ohio has been flooded with calls from parents requesting room mate, or dorm room changes for their children.  Apparently, parents are using social networking sites to check up on their children’s room mates, as well as their living quarters