Hi5 growing faster and thriving thanks to engagement
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July 24th 2008 |
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According to hi5 numbers they have grown 79% in the course of 2008 and have also gained 25 million visits in that period of time.
This put them ahead of all of the other social networks in terms of the usa market. some think that is is nowhere enough because hi5 has not been clear enough of the registered users number and because that number is of course less than half from what the leading Social Network got.
In my case i don`t think it is needed to compare hi5 to MySpace or Facebook. not anymore. i think that hi5 is in a very specific breed of social network only comparable to Orkut and its cousin Friendster because the focus the users have given to the social network. friendster and orkut have triumphed in very specific markets. Friendster is now the #1 Social Network in Asia not based in Asia. Orkut is the #1 Social Network for India and Brazil and Hi5 from what i have now checked is the #1 Social Network in Mexico having finally surpassed Myspace and it is already a close second in Latin America. so you got that these Social Networks are getting supreme in key markets of the world while still growing Globally and in the US. but i think that the way they should be seen is from the market they happen to dominate and then look to how they are doing in the usa and so on. not the other way around. simply because even the Top 2 usa social networks (myspace and Facebook) already got more users outside of usa and this trend is accelerating.
Hi5 even when compared to Orkut ad Friendster is even more outgoing in its theme of letting friends meet and to a level it is used as a springboard to going out in dates and friend meeting in real terms. this has let hi5 to develop its best differentiation when comparing it to the rest: Engagement
hi5 users show a unprecedented engagement with apps and its profile keeping it open in a tab all day long while doing everything else. this engagement is what is behind the recent acquisition of pixverse and its social graphed hi5 chat app that hi5 sees as a opportunity to engage even more with its users so they don`t have to jump into Live Messenger (#1 IM in Mexico and Latino America) and get to communicate with their friends.
I wish hi5 focuses in accelerating the evolution of its App Platform and gets to do a better categorization of its apps in order to separate profile bling from widget-apps to not fall in the mistake bebo has got into. otherwise i think they are doing mighty fine and enhancing instant communication for its users is half the ticket to a continuous growth that could take them to a 150% of growth for the whole year if played right.
That is why hi5 should be seen and one of the greener pastures for Widgets and Widget-app developers. another reason is that hi5 is a OpenSocial partned social network. something that makes it the perfect target for MySpace Widget-App porting.
via Mashable
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[...] last report about its 2008 outlook was quite positive since it showed a surge in growth and user engagement. widgetbox on his own regard launched its [...]
Pingback by hi5 integrates widgetbox custom widget galleries, partner for OpenSocial widget distribution | Widgets Lab — 08-27-08 @ 3:46 am
hola
Comment by victor — 10-21-08 @ 3:51 am