Indexing about 400,000 posts and over 650,000 comments from about 70,000 users on FriendFeed gives some interesting data. There are about 45 different services that FriendFeed connects to at this point of time. First, I wanted to see what were the absolute volume of posts were from each of these services:
Next, I pulled up the number of comments that every service draws during the time period of my index (which was built by fetching the most recent posts and comments from the API).
Note that this is not normalized for multiple updates by the same user. A few interesting points:
- Large volumes of updates are from URL sharing and bookmarking tools like del.icio.us, Google Reader and StumbleUpon
- Most Comments are attracted by posts that were made directly via FriendFeed.
- del.icio.us does attract an equally large volume of comments.
- While Twitter is not far behind and receives a significant share.
Finally, for the services that attract the most comments, I have calculated the average number of comments per post:
The above chart says something important. On an average, original content like what one would find on blogs, still attracts the most comments. Followed by conversation focussed services like FriendFeed and Twitter. Finally, images posted on Flickr get a lot of attention too. Bookmark sharing sites are now lower in the ladder. See some trend here?
The attention and appeal one receives in social networks is a function of the original content you produce and the value, insights you bring to the table when you share new stuff.
Thanks for the info Akshay, very useful :)
Posted by: Sergio Veiga | July 31, 2008 at 04:42 AM
Here’s a free photo site featuring Flickr photos.
It can help you because it’s got some great search tools.
Please check out http://rotavacx.com
Posted by: Adam | August 05, 2008 at 07:25 AM
Wow, nice analysis ...thanks!
Susan Beebe
@smbeebe
Posted by: Susan Beebe | August 05, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Thanks Susan!
Posted by: Akshay Java | August 05, 2008 at 12:02 PM