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This week in Social Media

We bring you the latest hot Social Media news hitting the headlines this week. Major stories in the news include the latest Twitter statics of 2009/2010, the new and improved Facebook photo tagging system and the new Bing image search feature.

Twitter Statistics 2010: Comparisons with 2009

Twitter usage is growing every day, and a comparison between user behaviour in 2009 and in 2010 provides an interesting insight into the changes that are taking place. Overall, more people are using Twitter, and users are becoming more comfortable with disclosing personal information (web information, bio, and location) via their public profile. For example, in 2009, only 31% of users provided a bio on their Twitter profile, while in 2010, 69% of users did. Similarly, 44% of users provided their location, while in 2010, 82% of users did.

There have also been changes in the patterns of the numbers of friends each user follows. In 2009, only 7% of users had more than 100 friends, but in 2010, 21% of users did. At the same time, the percentage of users with 0-5 friends decreased from 37% in 2009 to 21% in 2010. The middle group ‘users with 5-100 friends’ remained relatively stable, sitting at 56% in 2009 and 58% in 2010.

There were also changes, though less dramatic, in the number of followers each user has. In 2009, only 7% of users had more than 100 followers; this more than doubled in 2010, with 16% of users falling into this category. Users with five or fewer followers decreased from 46% in 2009 to 32% in 2010, and those with 5-100 followers increased from 47% in 2009 to 52% in 2010.

These statistics (and others, relating to most active tweeters, bio keywords, etc) were produced by Sysomos, who analysed more than a billion tweets (produced by over 20 million users) in 2010, and compared them to a similar study done in 2009. You can read the full complete article An in-depth report at Twitter´s Growth 2010, compared with 2009 here on Sysomos.

New & Improved Photo Tagging on Facebook

Photo tagging ‘identifying Facebook friends who are in photos you post’“ is a fun part of the Facebook experience, but many users complain that the current system is tedious. Groups of related photos (eg, a set of wedding pictures) can mean inputting the same tags over and over again and, as a result, users may procrastinate before tagging a new set of photos. As tagging is an easy way to share memories with the people involved in an event (as each person who is tagged in a photograph is notified of the tag, and given the option of removing it), Facebook has been working on an upgrade to its tagging system.

When a user uploads new photos, facial recognition software will scan each one, and do two things. First, it will group photos together based on who is in them (eg, all the photos which include the bride). The user will then be able to tag the whole group at once, rather than needing to go through and do each one individually. Second, the facial recognition software will suggest (where possible) the names of the people in each photograph, based on comparisons with the user’s existing albums. A new setting in the Privacy Settings menu will allow users to opt out of having their name suggested in this way.

New Bing Image Search Feature Makes Finding the Right Picture Simpler

Bing has long aspired to providing what they call ‘a more intuitive and visual image search experience’, and the newest feature they have introduced provides a more organised presentation of image search results. Instead of needing to qualify an image search with additional terms (such as searching for ‘Brad Pitt Troy’ or ‘young Brad Pitt’), users can simply enter the main search term (eg, ‘Brad Pitt’), and Bing will sort the results into tabs based on common search queries associated with that term. Users can then easily click through to the tab that suits their needs.

Look out for more of our selection of the best articles hitting the headlines bought to you each week by the TUHEL.COM team. Let us know what you think, all comments welcome.