Just a couple of months ago Facebook redesigned its home page and changed its tagline to simplify new user signups.
Now they’re testing an even simpler interface – instead of getting things started by asking for your name, email, password, sex and birthday, all you have to manage is your actual name. If conversions go up, expect this to be rolled out to everyone.
Facebook is also quickly closing the gap in U.S. usage v. MySpace. Facebook became the largest worldwide social network last April, when they overtook MySpace.
MySpace continues to dominate in the U.S., with 75 million monthly visitors (Comscore). A year ago Facebook had just 35 million monthly U.S. visitors, compared to MySpace’s 69 million, meaning MySpace was about twice the size of Facebook in the U.S. Two months ago Facebook had risen to just 40 million users, and MySpace had grown to 75 million, so the ratio was still hovering around 50% (53% to be exact).
But in the last two months Facebook has added nearly 10 million monthly U.S. users, surging to 50 million U.S. visitors in November. MySpace has stayed steady, but the Facebook is now 2/3 the size of MySpace in the U.S.
If Facebook’s growth rate v. MySpace in the U.S. continues, they’ll overtake them sometime next year.
Does anybody know when the Facebook Connect demo/example will be available for WordPress? (the plugin which is used for the comments on this site)
I’m hoping that a Blogger plugin is made available as I would also like to integrate Facebook Connect with my blog!
Facebook is 2/3rd of MySpace in US, but their American online ad revenues is less than half of MySpace..Would call that poor!
http://techcrun...ocial-networks/
hey your a dork!!!!!!!!!
You can find a facebook connect example for wordpress here: http://www.sociable.es/
JS-Kit.com has a wordpress and blogger plugin for your comments that is FB Connect enabled. Soon Google Friend Connect, MySpaceID and more!
whoo is this
cool, I have had several friends that had trouble figuring out Facebook’s sign in process (they aren’t as bright as me maybe =)
Wow…so what is Myspace.com going to do to top this? Make users draw an X? Come on…this just seems to be a spammers dream…
Agreed. After this, how can facebook point to any visitor statistics with a straight face? Is it me?
The surge works.
Facebook is a fad. People are using tagged.com now. I already closed out my 17 accounts on facebook.com. If facebook has 110M users, you need to divide that by 17. Facebook actually has 6.5M users. It’s like a guy raving about the number of girls he slept with. You take that number and divide by 5.
Too many idiots on facebook.
What ???? !!!!
if you had 17 accounts on Facebook….you are a spammer.
First you say: “I already closed out my 17 accounts on facebook.com”
Then you state: “Too many idiots on facebook.”
Well, looks like Facebook has one less idiot to deal with. I’m happy you left.
Whaa. You hurt my Facebook’s feelings.
Apologize!
idiots oon facebook?it takes one idiot to know the other im on facebook andits user friendly…..long live facebook
facebook is a brilliant social tool that greatly facilitates the organisation of my social life. Parties, friends, I can keep track of more data, better, with facebook.
And I can comment with connect. Enough said.
“Enough said.” Wow, that’s pretty smart of you to articulate “Enough said.” bawahahaha
sounds like they gave you some free stock to say that
seriously, who says stuff like “fb is a brilliant social tool that greatly facilitates the org of my social life”?
How the hell is signing up with JUST a name really supposed to work? Starting with just an e-mail address I could see, because at least that’s a (usually) unique identifier, an Facebook could send a confirmation message to it.
I assume entering a name on the sign-up page just take the user to a real sign-up page that asks for an e-mail and password. In which case, the new “sign-up screen” just a way to make things *look* easier. Seems like a silly waste of time to me.
RTFA.
Regardless of the simpler sign up re-design, different from MySpace, Facebook is actually USEFUL.
Actually, I think the new sign up process is great. I had a change to experience it about 3days ago. I must have gotten lucky because when i logged back out, it wasn’t there anymore.
Mike, you kinda late with this posting aren’t you? I could have let you know this 3days ago. Glad you posted it tho.
When you signed up did you really just have to give your name? Or were you immediately asked for your e-mail address (as fb2250783 suggested above)?
I would say that this isn’t to close the gap on MySpace but to simplify for the older generation. I signed my father up recently he would have been able to do it himself if it were this easy then!!
Myspace is a effing mess. There is no continuity and its a collage of different technologies.
I puke in MySpace’s general direction.
Facebook is copying MySpace. Going backward?!? The clutterness of facebook and the spams on facebook. Kinda remember me of … MySpace. History repeats.
FB goes from strength to strength, brilliant work
Completely agree with you Khan.
agreed this is lowering the bar in a good way….
Adam actually has a point, i’ve looked up models and famous people on facebook just to see how many fake accounts there is, and for some there is 15 to 20 fake accounts……its like, who is doin this?!!? are they just tryin to boost there comscore/alexa rankings?!!?
Myspace > Facebook…….by a long shot
The success of these sites is measured in monthly unique visitors, not user signups. So, multiple accounts are irrelevant.
I agree with you ben. Looks to me a lot of the numbers that are spewing are tainted. I asked people around me, none of them has a facebook account. That’s kinda odd to see the kind of traffic and accounts they have on it. Most of them are fake and people login to see their facebook accounts.
I am leaving a comment with Connect. Nice.
This also continues to encourage new users to sign up with their real full name. Thats a big part of how Facebook stays ahead of MySpace. Maturity is using your real name on a social network. Also makes it much easier to connect with people.
Spammers wont have any better luck getting into Facebook with this change. I imagine it will just take users to another screen where they will then have to do all the other signup stuff they have done before.
its just a way to lead potential new users into the process and encourage them to take the next step.
Smart move.
This is such a gimmick move. Facebook has a multi-step sign in process, its not like they’re removing those 4 fields from their sign up process altogether, they will just be asked after you click “sign up” as opposed to before. I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks they will only have to input their name to sign up for facebook.
Duh, this is to improve signup conversions. If a form is small, people are more likely to fill it in. Once they start, they are also more likely to complete the task.
People forget how strong network effects are.
The fact that MySpace maintains a lead over Facebook with a vastly inferior product is a testament to the strength of the network.
But when Facebook takes the lead, this thing will tip, and the superior product and network will be on the same side. Expect a VERY rapid deterioration of MySpace at that point.
you forget
1) people like customization. FB has none. So unless they go the way of pimping their skins people may get bored
2) once the cool kids start to leave (which they already are) and your mom & dad are all on FB you’ll use it about as much as you use email- useful, but just another tool in the arsenal
It’ll tip, and then something else will come along.
facebook is merking it
whats myspace now, who uses it???????
its all about facebook
Oday, nice to see you on the same website!
i got u on that one…..
YE FACEBOOK BABY
While these sites allow a user to have multiple accounts, at http://www.idntiti.com, the system detects fictitious ids and delete them periodically. As we are in identity and reputation space, we encourage users to have valid, unique account with their real name and then rate whatever they wish to. This way, the rating data is clean and the network is able to understand the reputation easily.
So tell me how this works.
You register with your name, but login with a username and password.
Am I the only person who see a problem with this equation.
1) Unless you randomly generate both after registration, this process is ridiculous.
2) If you randomly generate both, you have technical and practical problems.
-Unvalidated users
Practical problem: System flooded with users who may or may not exist.
Technical problem: Good luck with data mining when accurate data is mixed with crap.
-Random
Practical problem: Users required to remember random characters. If there is no email to send your login credentials to, good luck remembering it.
I closed my 17 facebook accounts, Facebook closed 14 of them for me. Since I have 54 Facebook accounts, I now have 37 Facebook accounts.
Most of my friends have asked to use a few of them. Thank god, this help bypass the Facebook Gestapo.
Techcrunch said it will share my ip address to facebook. No wonder why a few of my facebook accounts were disabled.
Shame on you techcrunch!
I am just testing the Facebook Connect tool!
I am just testing the Facebook Connect tool,too!
Facebook Connect
I work with Matt Bacak.
It is a simplified first step to get users in the front door faster. The downside will be validity of data that people are entering as well as the amount of personal information that one would be willing to enter without being required to do so.
If you do not enter an email, gender or bday though, I am interested to hear what their pitch to marketers will be and whether or not the advertising community will view this as a walking dead man.
I would think their ability to connect marketing data to individuals as well as people within their network would be a huge part of them moving forward.
i like the idea of streamlining into a single entry field.
there have been a few times when i’ve mistakenly added my username & password into the “Full name” and “Email” fields on the homepage.
it’s all about progressive disclosure.
is there a way to retrieve data from user through facebook connect in the sign up phase to my web site?
No. You have to send *your* database to facebook in order for it to work.
I don’t see it. I get the regular signup form. Does this mean FB rolled it back or maybe it’s a select group that sees it?
Anyway, instead of FB connect on techcrunch I’d like to see openid support.
It should be a button to the right of the signin
yall gay bitches
face book is really a boon that i’ve heard.but still i’ve not signed up
chaqueta
whats u p shiah
FACEBOOKis great stop hatin sumoetalked about tagged.com wats tagged.com compared to FACEBOOK?
i have been trying to sign in on facebook several times, but i just kept failing to get on ti i dont know why.
u alllare fool
face book is really a boon that i’ve heard.but still i’ve not signed up
hi
i dont know whats the fuss.
just looking fun
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