The top 10 social networking sites, 2006 - 2007

Although there was explosive growth in social networking over the past year, a few sites actually lost a significant amount of users over the year: AOL Hometown is down 32%. Ouch. I hadn't ever heard of this site (have you?); when I checked it out just now it had a banner ad for another user-losing site: Classmates Online.

MySpace is still on top, but its user base grew only 9% from 2006 to 2007 -- compared with Facebook's 72% growth during the same period.

It's only a matter of time before Facebook seizes the #1 spot. I mean, my mom is on Facebook, as are two of my aunts. They never hopped on the MySpace bandwagon. Indeed, many people I know have deleted their MySpace profiles.

But MySpace remains popular with the young'uns. T-Mobile's Sidekick, which targets the 14 to 22-year-old set, boasts of one-touch MySpace access. I find that humorous. Then again, I programmed in one-touch Facebook access in my phone..

Tags: MySpace Facebook AOL Hometown Sidekick social networking

Even my mom is on Facebook

Tags: Facebook mom

Habanero and lime delight

Trader Joe's Habanero & Lime salsa is insanely good. I don't know why I never tried it before. I bought a jar on a whim the other day and spread it on Trader Joe's non-dairy veggie burritos (of which I've consumed a multitude over the years). Good lord! It's got this delicious, unique tanginess going on. I woke up today thinking about it. I'm going to have some on a burrito. For breakfast. Right now.

One thing: it's not spicy enough. (Nothing is every spicy enough for me.) But that's easily remedied by stirring in a little hot sauce.

Trader Joe's is like Apple -- it's one of those brands that inspires rabid customer loyalty. I've always been curious about why this is, and maybe I'll get some answers soon. One of the teams in my brand management class will be studying the Trader Joe's brand this quarter.

Tags: Habanero and lime salsa Trader Joe's brand

Snow! Or rain?

It sounds like it's raining hard outside my window. There's a hypnotic sound of raindrops echoing up from my apartment building's mini-courtyard area.

But out my window, I see big, fluffy snowflakes drifting towards the ground.

Odd.

Tags: Seattle snow rain