Social Media Daily News – May 10, 2011

Good morning. Facebook has a bit of an underage user problem. A recent survey shows that they have an estimated 7.5 million users who are under the age of 13, and 5 million of those people are under the age of 11. This violates Facebook’s policy, but it will be interesting to see what they can and will do about the issue. This will continue to be a long-term problem as Facebook scales and grows in popularity with the tween crowd. I suppose Facebook can always say it’s the parents responsibility. Just as reports of a failed Skype acquisition come out from Facebook, we learn that Microsoft just bought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars. I expect Microsoft to incorporate the technology into their Xbox live platform, as well as the Microsoft Live accounts. Facebook is influencing the way the world gets news. Facebook was responsible for 3% of the traffic to over 20 news sites that allow for their traffic to be tracked. While 3% may sound like a paltry number considering that Google provides roughly 30% of news site traffic. Put this into perspective, as Facebook is not a search engine, nor was it ever intended to be an actual news hub. Expect this number to grow as more people turn to Facebook for relevant updates and information. Enjoy.

I. Facebook Had 7.5 Million Users Under 13 Years Old in Past Year, bloomberg.com, May 10, 2011
II. Yes, Microsoft is buying Skype, cnnmoney.com, May 10, 2011
III. Facebook sharing sends readers to big news sites, usatoday.com, May 10, 2011
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I. Facebook Had 7.5 Million Users Under 13 Years Old in Past Year, bloomberg.com, May 10, 2011
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-10/facebook-had-7-5-million-users-under-13-years-old-in-past-year.html
Facebook Inc., the world’s most popular social-networking service, had 7.5 million U.S. users who were younger than 13 in the past year, a violation of the site’s policies, according to a survey by Consumer Reports. More than 5 million of the users were under age 11, according to the Consumer Reports “State of the Net” survey. In addition, Facebook exposed more than 5 million U.S. households to some type of “abuse,” including virus infections and identity theft, the survey showed. About 1 million children experienced bullying on the site, Consumer Reports said.

II. Yes, Microsoft is buying Skype, cnnmoney.com, May 10, 2011
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/10/yes-microsoft-is-buying-skype/?hpt=T2
Fortune has confirmed that Microsoft (MSFT) has agreed to buy the voice-over-Internet company for $8.5 billion, including the assumption of debt. Expect a formal announcement within the next hour. There had been reports last week that Skype was in acquisition or partnership talks with both Microsoft and Facebook. Skype will become a new business unit within Microsoft, to be run by current Skype CEO Tony Bates. He will report directly to Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer.

III. Facebook sharing sends readers to big news sites, usatoday.com, May 10, 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-05-09-facebook-news-sharing_n.htm
Facebook is influencing what news gets read online as people use the Internet’s most popular hangout to share and recommend content. That’s one of the key findings from a study on the flow of traffic to the Web’s 25 largest news destinations. The study was released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Facebook was responsible for 3 percent of traffic to the 21 news sites that allowed data to be tracked, according to the study’s co-author, Amy Mitchell. Five of the sites studied got 6 percent to 8 percent of their readers from Facebook.