From Friendster to Facebook, Social Networking Services Have Evolved From Social Experiences to Commercial News Feed

The dawn of the Internet gave rise to social networks that have changed the landscape of digital interaction. From Myspace, to Facebook and Twitter, these social networking services have provided its users with access to massive online communities where ideas, pictures, posts and activities can be shared all over the world. Although most of the world is accustom to the largely popular Facebook and Twitter, the history of social networking websit­­­­es begins with CompuServe. CompuServe's members were allowed to share files, access important news and, more importantly, interact with each other. E-mail and discussion forums offered thousands of CompuServe's members a digital environment to virtually discuss any topic they pleased. Tremendously popular during its time, CompuServe's virtual discussions laid the foundation for future social networking sites such as Friendster.com that would come to flourish during the Internet Boom.

Friendster's Lack of Innovating Virtual Social Experiences Caused a Serious Decline In User Activity 

Friendster, now geared towards online gaming, has redefined
its website after losing ground to social networking competitors.

Born a little over a decade ago, Friendster allowed its users to create personal profiles and share online content with members all over the world. Considered the "granddaddy" of social networks, Friendster's innovative virtual environment made it the first social networking site to attain over 1 million users and at the time was poised for success. With large capital financing and millions of users, Friendster had the tools to evolve into the modern day version of Facebook, but unfortunately faltered through poor management and an unwillingness to embrace product flexibility. With competitive sites such as Facebook and Myspace innovating their social networking features, Friendster focused more on themedia and less on the social. Based heavily around polishing one's profile, Friendster users were unable to experience the interaction of real time information provided by Facebook's news feed or entertainment filled environment of MySpace. Remaining stagnant upon the social network's original model, Friendster's lack of innovative features and scattered goals of becoming the next Google or Yahoo caused a steep decline in users. Friendster was simply unable to evolve during a boom of online users desperate for the Internet's next innovative creation.

Heavy Focus on Building Social Value Allows Facebook to Dominate Social Networking Services

The news feed feature offered a stream of information allowing users to
 comment and 'like" various activities of their connections

Although Facebook began 2 years after Friendster, it's growth rate has shown an immense increase in active membership. Expanding from a million users in 2004 to 1.11 billion on March 2013 stems from the innovative features geared towards its constantly interacting users. Facebook's focus on building social value crowned it king of social networking services, as it took notice to how its users were utilizing the online environment. Under a "hacker way"  method, which is described by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as continuous improvement and iteration, Facebook was able to implement many features heavily utilized by Facebook users today. For example, Facebook noticed the accounts users set up for their pets and celebrities, and explored the idea leading to the creation of Facebook Pages. Event functionality was also implemented after observing the increased use of groups for meeting up at specific times and locations. In stark contrast to Friendster, who severely undervalued the personalized misuse of their social networking services, Facebook's motivation to innovate upon these interactions among users and expand its platform led to continued growth in membership and activity. Coupling its constantly implemented features with an open source application programming interface (API), Facebook is able to provide its users with an environment heavily based upon how you would like to interact with your friends, family and connections.

Present day social networking services seek heavy potential in commercial advertising

 The growth of popularized social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have led to a large growth in commercial advertising and potential for profit. With billions of users, boasting an even bigger number of total connections, the lure of social media advertising has increased dramatically as companies attempt to reach out to these extensive networks. As websites innovative their features more so around commercial advertising, it is easy to question the future of social networks as an environment based solely around virtual interaction. Just recently, Twitter released a direct messaging feature that would allow businesses to target potential customers, raising concerns of spam filled inboxes. Further instances of commercialization include Facebook'splan to utilize video advertisements on their mobile applications and Instagram's inclusion of ad space on its once strictly picture and video filled news feed. As social networks continue to find ways to immerse its millions (or even billions) of users with brands and products, it is important to consider how this may affect the social media experience that made these online platforms so popular. If our news feeds become cluttered with commercials and advertisements that provide us with no increased user interaction, social networking sites like Facebook may become the next Friendster as innovation is reconfigured for profits over enhanced social experience.

Satellite Radio's Superior Radio Quality, Premium Content & Lack Of Geographical Boundaries Has Led To A Growing User Base

Satellite radio is an intriguing form of technology providing its subscribers with a different radio experience. Unlike older radio broadcasting stations on AM/FM channels, satellite radio offers a much larger stream of channels that vary from music, news, sports and entertainment and are uninterrupted by regional geographical boundaries. Sirius XM Radio, the biggest satellite radio company, is slowly improving their technology and reach as to where they can broadcast their audio channels.

Satellite radio transmits strong signals from through geostationary satellites offering superior sound quality in comparison to older radio broadcasting.
XM radio, before its merger with Sirius, was the largest satellite radio company that used two Boeing HS 702 satellites placed in geostationary orbit. These satellites receive audio content aggregated from the incredibly large digital library that comprised of XM's created content as well as feeds from other media companies. The satellite would then emit the aggregated data to radio receivers on the ground that decode the signal, presenting subscribers with the song title, artist and genre of music being displayed. Because geostationary satellites transmit the digital signals, there is no regional disruption in radio service. AM & FM radio stations transmit their channels through various frequencies and require modulating (or interpretation) of said frequencies into useful signals. AM & FM radio frequencies are subject to noise interference, and can span as less as a 100 miles. This explains the change in radio stations that many listeners experience during travel. 92.3 FM in Baltimore, Maryland is a very different radio station than the 92.3 FM station in Detroit, Michigan. Satellite radio offers travelers access to sports and show commentary without location, or even being grounded (satellite radio works just as well on airplanes).

Channel variety and impressive sound quality have led to increased growth in satellite radio subscribers despite subscription expense.

The limitations of AM & FM radio in comparison to satellite radio services are seen in its bounded number of stations, subjection to environmental interference and geographical boundaries. However, because AM & FM stations are funded primarily through commercial advertising, each station is free of charge. Satellite radio on the other hand requires a monthly subscription  that can run into over 100 dollars annually depending on the package chosen. Funded by subscriptions, satellite radio companies such as Sirius XM are able to provide commercial free stations as well as a large selection of music and premium content (Oprah Radio, Howard Stern, ESPN etc) unavailable to the limited number of AM & FM radios. The primary difference between AM & FM radios with satellite is thus quality and selection, and yearly growth in subscribers shows consumers are willing to pay.

Increased growth in subscribers signals strong performance for satellite radio.

Through growing profits and subscriptions, Sirius XM might be signaling the overtake of satellite radio. With many cars coming equipped with XM radio receivers and through free trial subscriptions, many users are realizing that greater selection of what they listen to without any boundaries in regards to location is worth the cost of some dollars. When analyzing this in comparison to the Internet's effect on information and news, we are living in a society where what we hear and listen to can be selectively chosen by the information's consumer. Through the Internet, users can select news articles without having to wait through a commercial on television to hear about the particular event. Satellite radio provides the same convenience with a greater selection of music, news and events and may signal why there is a large growth in subscribers.