Facebook Now More Connected Than Ever

Social network makes interesting comparison, sees marketplace grow

As social media giant Facebook grows larger by the day, so does their competition. Earlier this month Facebook officially reached inevitable milestone of one BILLION users. In other words, 1 out of every 7 people on the planet can be found on Facebook.

To celebrate the achievement, Facebook rolled out their first “brand video” comparing the billion-user network to …chairs. In an expression of creativity, the video, titled “The Things That Connects Us,” compares the connectivity of Facebook to that of bridges, airplanes, and doorbells as the things that bring us together. While the analogies might seem to be an interesting choice, the poignant video has a great concept and brings some light to the way we connect as humans.

And if we’ve learned anything from the last eight years of Facebook’s growth, it’s that people are finding and creating new ways of connecting with one another. Myspace, one of the larger pre-Zuckerberg social networks, eventually got lost in the onslaught of new media and has since rebuilt and refocused itself. With celebrity involvement (like new co-owner Justin Timberlake), Myspace is set to be a social network for musicians and their fans.

So as Myspace reboots to take a swing at music lovers, other social media companies are finding their own niche in the fight for the consumer’s attention. Pheed is just two months old and is looking for their place in the market. The new social outlet lets users share with text, photo, video, audio clips, and live broadcasting. Another newbie, CyPop, is more of a digital café and connects others through common interests.

So what does Facebook do with the new competition? It probably shouldn’t worry too much. While many social networks are offering enhanced features from Facebook, none seem big enough to take down the giant. Besides, nearly every network lets you sign in using your Facebook account. So rather than see it as competition, perhaps they are just enhancing the Facebook experience.

Maybe the world just needed a few more chairs…

Are you using additional social networks to stay in touch?

For more on Facebook’s 1 billion users, read this from CNN.
Want more on the contenders? USA Today has a summary of the upstarts.