2009 – The Year Social Media Took Over The Internet?

The year of 2009 will be seen by many as the first year in which the Internet became home to Social Media and Networking, with sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter seeing a massive increase in traffic, with all three sites having their best year ever in terms of new and returning visitor rates, something all three will be hoping to see again in the year of 2010.

The Internet has gone through many phases of why and how it is used. Of course, online shopping was one of the first big pushes for the Internet, with year on year seeing increased sales, with 2009 reportedly becoming the first year in which online advertising over took offline advertising, in terms of revenue earned. We then saw the online dating market rapidly rise in popularity, with online dating becoming the new way to meet a potential love interest, something which now seems acceptable and not as “freaky” as some used to think.

We also saw the Internet become the new way to book holidays and find cheap flights and hotels, one of the reasons that the need for Travel Agents seems to have sharply declined, if the lack of them on the high street is anything to go for. And who would of thought that you could view a potential house to buy online, thanks to the rise in the popularity of property portals a few years ago.

So, why have social media and networking sites gone from strength to strength this year?

Arguably, Friends Reunited was one of the first networking sites to really hit the big time, with ITV paying millions for it, and then of course losing millions when it later had to sell the website at a big loss.

YouTube has had another amazing year, with videos uploaded rapidly rising on an hourly basis, and the fact you can now watch TV programs from some of the leading channels on there as well. Once they got over the music copyright problems, you can now watch and listen to some of the leading music online as well. Since Google acquired YouTube for a reported $1.65 billion in 2006, the strength of this streaming social media website has just grown to measures most of us could never believe. Lets not forget, YouTube was not launched until 2005, which means in the space of around two years, it went from being worth nothing to billions, something all of us web entrepreneurs will hold onto !

Facebook launched in 2004, initially limited to just members of the founders University. 5 years later it is now the largest social networking and connection website for friends on the Internet and in 2008 estimated to have turn over a revenue of $300 million and is said to employ just short of 1,000 people, which is pretty impressive growth. 2009 was its busiest year, if not its most controversial, but more and more people are now signing up to Facebook, with its age range increasing beyond that of any other year. It was also the year that saw reports that it had now overtaken Myspace in terms of traffic, with more applications and mobile users than ever before.

And what a year it has been for Twitter! More celebrities than ever announced they Tweet, some even threatened to stop Tweeting then changed their minds about quitting. Amazing, founded in just 2006, three years on it now reportedly employs 70+ people and is now ranked one of the top 50 most popular websites according the Alexa with reports of around 6 million monthly users. Undoubtedly it has been the rise of celebrities and well known people now becoming public about using the site, but the unique way that Twitter allows you to communicate with like minded people or friends has really taken social networking to a new, and somewhat strange level.

The story of these three successful social media websites will surprise many but just shows the way that 2009 has changed the way we network and communicate with each other. More of us are now in touch online, more of us now watch our TV online, thanks to the BBC I Players and as for 2010, will we even be leaving the house?

Staying Safe Online – Top Tips To Making Sure You Avoid The Pitfalls Of Online Dangers

The internet is a remarkable place, full of wonderful things and provides easy access to a wealth of information that we could dream about years ago. Sadly, with any community or place of interest, there are also the down and bad sides that we must try to avoid and protect ourselves against, and below we offer some useful ideas and tips to make sure you are safe online.

Anti Virus Protection Software – A good virus protection software will always put you one step ahead of the game, and we recommend Mcafee. There are other alternatives, including Norton, AVG and Avast, all of which will give you some level of protection against viruses, hackers and phishing scams, with Mcafee Total Internet Security offering a wealth of protection, including one of the best Firewalls we have seen.

Check The Padlock! – If you are ordering online, always check for the padlock on your browser to make sure the site is secure, exactly the same when logging into your online banking or similar. On most of the major browsers you will find the padlock on the bottom of the browser, and this indicates if the site has a valid security certificate and therefore if it is safe to login.

Windows Updates – Many people turn off the Windows updates because they are worried about the updates going wrong or the time they take to download or install. This might have used to have been the case, but these days the updates are much more efficient and are vital to make sure your PC is protected against any loop wholes or security issues that might let the bad boys in. Microsoft normally release at least one big update a month, or if they find a security issue it can be the next day, so always make sure windows updates are turned on and that you apply any updates straight away.

Browser Patches – The leading browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox release period updates that should be installed automatically. You can always check you are running the latest version by visiting the home page of your browsers developer and run an update test to make sure. Also, make sure any add-ons, especially Firefox are up to date, things like the Google Toolbar and various other useful tools.

Unusual Passwords – As obvious as it sounds, most of us use the same old password time and time again, and sometimes ones that even the most basic of intruders could probably guess. Mix your passwords up with unusual characters and numbers, and if you can not remember them, trying using one of the secure password keepers that you can find online.

Downloads – If you do not download from possibly dodgy sites and you only download things from official sources, you are already keeping your security at a high level. A lot of the viruses come from people downloading things that are questionable, like illegal music or screensavers. If you are going to download files, make sure you run them through a virus checker before you open them

And finally, the best thing you can do is use common sense. If you do not know what the file is, don’t open it, if you have doubts; make sure you find the answer before continuing. There loads of forums with people waiting to help you, so if you have even the slightest feeling that things might not be right, get it checked out before you continue.