Yeah, that is 1 BILLION ( say in your best Dr. Evil voice ).  By 2012, Social Media sites and applications such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, will garner over one billion users.  This reported by Strategy Analytics in a report entitled “The People’s Revolution: Implications of Web 2.0 and Social Applications.”  The report notes that media companies must view social media as both an enormous opportunity and a competitive threat.  The report concludes that “the ability to develop successful targeted advertising techniques will be the key to long term financial viability for social media sites.”

User generated media will continue to compete with professional media when it comes to the attention and free time of users commented Martin Olausson of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics.  “If professional media companies choose to embrace social media applications it will enable a more direct and positive relationship with consumers, which will in turn drive increased engagement and loyalty.”

Read the Executive Summary:

Clipped: As a direct consequence of continued consumer take-up of broadband Internet access all over the world, the Internet and the World Wide Web are rapidly transforming into the key platform for mass communication and social interactions. For some pioneering segments, social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook have already replaced email as the primary way to communicate with peers. People all over the world are also continuing to upload pictures and video clips and are expressing themselves via blogs and in chat rooms. It is becoming increasingly clear that the established media companies will have to compete for eyeballs not only with traditional competitors but also with an ever-increasing amount of user generated content (UGC). But in spite of an estimated 373 million users worldwide in 2007, the long-term financial viability of even the largest social network sites depends heavily on the ability to develop targeted advertising techniques that as yet are largely unproven, or may ultimately be thwarted by privacy regulations. This report examines the current state of play in Social Media and assesses its future impact.

Research from credit card company Mastercard indicates more customers than ever are embracing online shopping this holiday season.  Consumers are spending more time and money than ever before online and now the popular items are expanding beyond electronics to speciality products.

MasterCard’s Online Shopping report shows that 1/3 plan to do their shopping online.  Clothing and accessories, food and liquor, and toys, games and sporting goods top the list of planned in-store purchases while books, CDs and DVDs have emerged top on the list of online spending. 

Of those who shopped last year on the Internet, 1/4 are looking to spend more online this holiday season.  The survey found most shoppers plan to have their gift-buying complete by mid December. 

Personalized Gifts and Home Decor Retailer, VisionBedding.com, offers unique gifts that are often difficult to locate online.  This new specialized market helps bridge the gap between gifts typically only found through custom, localized, brick and mortar storefronts.  VisionBedding, offers such items as photographic girls bedding, Sports Bedding, photographic blankets, and even photographic dog beds.  It’s truely a customized yet localized experience. “All our girl bedding products are top quality and made one at a time here in the USA.” notes the website.  “Each individual item can be personalized or customized by YOU! We use new technology that allows us to specially dye any photo, image, or design into all our bedding products.”