Content Analysis Of Homepage Of Social Networking Sites

Content Analysis of Home Pages of Social Networking Websites.

Social Network Websites

Purpose:

1.Finding people (discovering, rediscovering, or locating them) 2. Building directories, network maps and social networks 3. Inviting people to join your networks 4. Managing access to your networks ("permissioning") 5. Connecting with people in your networks (using various media) 6. Managing relationships across media (e.g. making the jarring transition from e-mail or weblog-based relationships to voice-to-voice or face-to-face) 7. Collaborating with people in your networks, and 8. Content sharing with people in your networks

Methodology

Feature Analysis

Content Structure - Text

Major text content comes from updates friends, groups and visitors

Only MingleBox shows �MingleBox Times’ which has user generated editorials. news from all colleges and campuses.

Orkut mostly linked Names and feature discriptors and no user generated content.

Facebook’s API content. Facebook has newsfeed related to friends and their friends.

Images

Orkut:15 + variable

BigAdda: 7 + variable

Facebook:1 profile photo + a big variable component due to API. Pic of sender.

Minglebox:3 photos (emphasis on graphics)

LinkedIn: No photos

Layout

Use of blue colour is seen across all these sites and the colour combination is generally blue black (text) with one site having brown colour

The name of the user that has logged in is also at the extreme left of the page

The logout tab is generally at the extreme top right hand corner

Help tab found generally at the right hand bottom of the page

Home tab is placed at the extremes of the tabs as it is the most used tab and it can be plotted easily

Link

Except for Bigadda, and Facebook, no outgoing link.

LinkedIn –

Minority of links to other person, but most prominent

Network links equal prominence

Least directed towards self

Bigadda –

Many navigating away or to external ads.

Orkut –

Exploratory and person based

Clearest synthesis of Layout and Links among all

FaceBook

Mostly for applications and hence involving in intent.

MingleBox –

Mostly navigating to its own content and features

Some Observations

Import of contacts from email accounts enabled in Linkedin, Facebook, Minglebox, Bigadda (yahoo, gmail, aol, hotmail); allowed for only gmail in orkut

FaceBook and Orkut allows messenger status visibility

All show the people who have visited profile recently

Linkden provides additional features on payment. Others are completely free.

Search and invite

Orkut

Search: Simple. Top right. No variables.

Invite: Simple. Left pane. Single click.

Facebook

Search: simple. Left pane. Variables available.

Invite: right pane. Navigating away.

LinkedIn

Search: Not clean. Varaibles available. Separate �Go’ Button.

Invite: prominent quick invite function. More fields.

MingleBox

Search: similar to orkut

Invite: not on home page.

BigAdda

Search: multivariate. Top right. Separate �Go’ button.

Invite: most prominent more fields. Able to know who accepted or declined the offer.

Advertisements

Only on Bigadda and Facebook

Facebook

Rectangular Advertisement on the left and bottom pane. Flash animation. Graphical Ad of Bigadda.com! Containing graphics and minimal text.

Bigadda

Bottom half of screen. Mostly text. Navigating away. Google Ads.

Conclusions

Thank You!