MyYearbook helps teens give to 'Causes'

The US's No. 3 social-network site, MyYearbook.com (see this), just launched a new feature called "Causes," YPulse.com reports. "MyYearbook users can choose from a number of causes like ending world hunger, fighting climate change, saving the rainforests or curing cancer. They donate with virtual money, i.e. $40 buys one grain of rice (expensive grain!), and then get a badge on their profile (status)." They also get to choose what advertiser gets to display its ad on their profile, YPulse adds. A percentage of the ad money goes to the cause to which the advertiser's linked. This is kind of interesting - the teen profile owner ups his/her coolness factor through both the causes and the products advertised. As in many sites for young people, virtual money (called "Lunch Money" in myYearbook), is earned by playing games in the site. ClubPenguin, too, has causes to which member penguins can give (but no advertising). MyYearbook is apparently close to reaching $20,000 a month in donations to organizations such as the World Food Programme, CarbonFund.org, Conservation International, Save Darfur, and Child Help.

Social sites: Teen 'confessionals'?

The focus of Forbes's profile of MyYearbook.com is how it can monetize this "freewheeling chatfest," I guess after it burns through the $13 million round of venture capital it recently received. But it's the lead of the article that I found arresting: Forbes writer Emily Schmall tells of a 14-year-old MyYearbook user's story of self-mutilation in the site: "Her 1,240-word piece is illustrated by a photo of an arm lined with scars. More than 400 people commented on the piece 24 hours after it was posted July 10." Very rarely do the most popular bloggers on the Web get 400 responses to a post, much less a 1,240-word one. Among other things, then, MyYearbook is a safe and anonymous place for teens to talk about huge, life-affecting secrets. "Confessional" seems too dismissive. [See also "Fictionalizing their profiles."]

US's top 5 social network sites

The US's top 5 social network sites in terms of visitors in April (the latest figures available) are MySpace, Facebook, myYearbook, Bebo, and BlackPlanet, in that order, according to Web traffic research firm Hitwise. Interestingly, this was also the ranking order for the sites in terms of returning visitors and time spent on the sites. MySpace's April market share was 73.82%, Hitwise said, followed by Facebook (14.8%), myYearbook (1.33%), Bebo (1.09%), and BlackPlanet (0.98%).

MyYearbook: US's fastest-growing social site

It seems to fly mostly under the radar where adults and conventional news media are concerned but, according to Web traffic measurer Hitwise, myYearbook.com is now the third-ranking social network site in the US. That's according to Hitwise's figures for share of visitors this past April. My guess is, the site's smart to stay focused on high school-aged users. Founded in 2005 by siblings Dave and Catherine Cook when they were high school students, myYearbook is also the fastest growing social site, PhillyBurbs.com cites HitWise figures as showing, with market share growth of "426% in the past year alone. Visitors to myYearbook.com spent more time on the site than they did on the two leading social networking sites, MySpace and Facebook. The average visit was 32 minutes and 54 seconds for myYearbook, compared to 29:54 for MySpace and almost 21 minutes for Facebook." Favorite features among its users, according to myYearbook, are "'Match,' which enables them to make new connections online; 'Battles,' where members battle for 'Best Looking' or 'Cutest Couple'; 'Pimp,' an all-out profile customization tool with all the glitters and animations anyone could ever want; and 'myMag,' where young people sound off on issues like anorexia, cliques, relationships, and the fashions and foibles of their favorite celebrities." The site added "Video Battles" and "myMag" last July.