News Cellar - Biz Models

Japan's online social scene isn't so social

By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:22 AM ET

Like a lot of 20-year-olds, Kae Takahashi has a page on U.S.-based MySpace, and there is no mistaking it for anyone else's.

It's got pictures of the funky Tokyoite modeling the clothes she designs in her spare time, along with her name, plus personal details and ramblings in slightly awkward English about her love life.

Switch to her site on mixi, Japan's dominant online hangout, and her identity vanishes.

There, Takahashi uses a fake name and says she is an 88-year-old from the town of "Christmas." Her profile is locked to outsiders.

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Personal Growth - Life

Study: 25% of Americans have no one to confide in

Updated 6/22/2006 10:42 PM ET
By Janet Kornblum, USA TODAY

Americans have a third fewer close friends and confidants than just two decades ago — a sign that people may be living lonelier, more isolated lives than in the past.

In 1985, the average American had three people in whom to confide matters that were important to them, says a study in today's American Sociological Review. In 2004, that number dropped to two, and one in four had no close confidants at all.

"You usually don't see that kind of big social change in a couple of decades," says study co-author Lynn Smith-Lovin, professor of sociology at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

Close relationships are a safety net, she says. "Whether it's picking up a child or finding someone to help you out of the city in a hurricane, these are people we depend on."

Also, research has linked social isolation and loneliness to mental and physical illness.
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Personal Growth - Life

The "Do Nots" of Networking

Informal recruiting events are becoming more popular at B-schools. Here are 10 ways to avoid making a bad impression
Now that recruiters are back on B-school campuses, and more companies are competing for top talent, everyone's looking for an edge (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/27/05, "Recruiters Are Slugging It Out"). In addition to the cattle-call information sessions that have long been mainstays of the recruitment process, smaller, more informal networking events are proving increasingly popular. At top schools, first-year MBAs interested in banking or consulting can expect to attend upwards of 20 dinners, cocktail parties, and coffee chats over the course of the fall semester.

Rob Sivitilli, a managing director at JPMorgan (JPM ) who recruits on campus at the University of Chicago, says the company has started downplaying the larger "speaker plus cocktail hour" presentations in favor of networking events with a much higher banker-to-student ratio. This year, JPMorgan will bring about 30 bankers to campus—each stationed at a table, in order to avoid the "crop circles" that typically form around recruiters.
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News Cellar - Startup / Entrepreneurship

Teen Social Networking Spawns Online Ecosystem

By Antone Gonsalves
TechWeb Thu Oct 12, 10:14 PM ET

Social networking, the hottest online trend among teenagers, has spawned an ecosystem of popular sites that offer tools to make communicating with friends more fun, a market research firm says.

Three years ago, the most popular sites among people 12 years old to 17 years old offered a selection of instant messaging buddy icons, as those sites rode the IM wave among teens, Nielsen/NetRatings said. The top teen sites of yesteryear included Originalicons.com, Buddy4u.com and Badass Buddy.

The popular sites today are those that offer tools to improve social-networking profiles with song lyrics, pictures, quotes and layout designs, Nielsen/NetRatings said. The most popular of those sites include PLyrics.com, Snapvine, which offers a voice player; and WhateverLife.com, which provides design layouts for the most popular social network MySpace.com.

"It is not a surprise that teens are actively engaged in social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube," Ken Cassar, chief analyst for Nielsen/NetRatings, said in a statement released this week. "What is surprising, however, is the extent to which a wide array of supporting Web sites has developed in conjunction with these bigger, more well-known Web destinations. MySpace and YouTube have spawned a vibrant online ecosystem."

In addition, the firm found that kids are spending an increasing amount of time online. In September, children 2 years old to 11 years old spent an average of 9 hours and 24 minutes online, an increase of 41 percent over the same month a year ago.

Among teens, the time spent online was much higher, averaging 26 hours and 48 minutes in September, compared with 21 hours and 4 minutes three years ago.
 
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Newsflash

Social Networking Websites and Teens 1/7/2007 | Amanda Lenhart Mary Madden  More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites. Learn more
 

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