orkut Super Users visit Google Office

On Apr 18, the Google office in Belo Horizonte hosted a special event for some VIP guests: the orkut super users from the Portuguese Help Group. By bringing together these orkut experts and enthusiasts, we got some critical feedback about orkut and learned more about how they sustain our help community. Here's what they thought about it:

"The invite was a surprise, a dream come true, which just shows how Google cares for its users and how it's always exceeding our expectations. The atmosphere in the office is so exciting that you don't want to find your way out. As if we were orkut ambassadors, we felt our voice was heard when brainstorming about suggestions and usability issues. We hope we have done a good job at representing millions of users who have orkut as their favorite website." Alexandre Luis Vignado

"This day became a historical landmark for me. I enjoyed every single moment, from printing my badge at the front desk to toasting with Googlers during TGIF. I had to pinch myself to believe that I was visiting the company responsible for the most successful social networking website in Brazil: orkut! The environment is so relaxing that you can easily forget there's hard work being done in each of those cubes. But Google doesn't forget it and does the best to reward its employees with massage, hammocks, and game rooms. And the treats in the micro kitchen, of course! Visiting a Google office is like visiting a Google product: fun and quality everywhere! As you can see from my impressions, I don't feel I myself worked hard on that day, event though I participated in brainstorming sessions for 7 hours. Those were magic hours when we felt part of the orkut team and did our best to speak for all those users we interact with in the Help Group. orkut just became more admirable and promising for me." Cesar JB

"The invite was a surprise that only the visit itself could beat. While taking a tour at the office, we met some engineers who were having a meeting around a team member's birthday cake, which they kindly shared cake with us. Nice start... Even after working hard at focus sessions for hours, we didn't want to leave, which was perfectly fine for those Googlers who stayed with us celebrating TGIF and playing foosball. Cool, sociable, and smart people work there – and we attest, they're NORMAL people. :-) It was also great to meet in person my partners in the Help Group, Cesar and Alexandre. This bonding time will just improve our teamwork spirit." Luiz Fernando

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News: Children flock to social networks

Almost half of children online use social network sites

More than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds in the UK have a profile on a social network, research shows.

Most sites, such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook, set a minimum age of between 13 and 14 to create a profile but none actively enforce the age limit.

Ofcom's survey of 5,000 adults and 3,000 children found 49% of those aged between eight and 17 have a profile.

Ofcom says parents could put their children at risk if they do not keep an eye on what they do online.

Wide usage

The Ofcom report looks into the impact of social networks on people's lives in the UK as part of a wider media literacy campaign and surveyed 5,000 adults and more than 3,000 children.

"Social networks are clearly a very important part of people's lives and are having an impact on how people live their lives," said James Thickett, director of market research at Ofcom.

SOCIAL NETWORKING SURVEY 49% of children 8-17 have an online profile 22% of 16+ have an online profile On average adults have profiles on 1.6 sites 63% of 8 to 17-year-olds with a profile use Bebo 37% of 8 to 17-year-olds with profile use MySpace 18% of 8 to 17-year-olds with a profile use Facebook 59% of 8 to 17-year-olds use social networks to make new friends 16% of parents do not know if their child's profile is visible to all 33% of parents say they set no rules for their children's use of social networks 43% of children say their parents set no rules for use of social networks Source: Ofcom

He added: "Children's lives are very different from what they were 20 years ago. Social networks are a way of creating a social bond."

The Home Office has been working with social networking firms and is expected to publish a set of guidelines for the sites around best practice, security and privacy on Friday.

The report is expected to recommend that profiles created by children are set to private by default, or are only viewable by friends nominated by the user.

It also suggests that social sites maintain a distinct contact page listing contact numbers, such as 999, children can use to get help.

The three leading social networks, MySpace, Bebo and Facebook, all say they remove profiles of users that are found to be too young on their sites.

But at present no technology is used to actively verify the age of users.

The Home Office guidelines are set to encourage social networking sites to investigate age verification technologies and to give better signposting to users about privacy settings, and warnings about the implications of posting personal details.

A spokesman for MySpace said the firm "proactively ensures that profiles of 14 and 15-year-olds are automatically made private so that users are protected from adults they don't already know in the offline world".

The company said in the future all of its users under 18 would have profiles set automatically to private.

Risk perception

More than a fifth of people in the UK aged 16 and over have an online profile, the Ofcom survey showed.

But the report revealed a "significant difference" between the perception of the risks and use of social networks between parents and children.

Parents who are allowing their children to go online without supervision and support... need to recognise that their children are potentially at risk Robin Blake, Ofcom

"While people are aware of the status of their profile there is a general lack of awareness of the issues attached to them around privacy and safety," said Mr Thickett.

He added: "People put aside concerns about privacy and safety believing they have been taken care of by someone else."

Forty-one per cent of children had set their profile so that it was visible to anyone, according to the report.

But 16% of parents admitted they did not know if their child's profile could be seen or not by strangers.

"There is an issue about parenting," said Robin Blake, head of media literacy at Ofcom.

New friends

He added: "Parents who are allowing their children to go online without supervision and support... need to recognise that their children are potentially at risk."

According to the Ofcom report, almost 60% of children use social networking sites to make new friends, compared to 17% of adults who use the sites for the same purpose.

READ THE REPORT Social Networking [260KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here

While two-thirds of parents said they set rules for their children when using social networking sites, only 53% of children said that their parents had set such rules.

"Children are using these sites with a far lower awareness of some of the issues and rules that these sites entail," said Mr Thickett.

Ofcom called on social networks to improve the visibility of privacy settings.

Monitor guidelines

"The settings are not obvious to some people when using these sites," said Mr Blake.

He said Ofcom would be "monitoring and reviewing" the guidelines that social networks had drawn up in conjunction with the Home Office.

ADVICE FOR PARENTS If your child is 14 or under, check whether you feel the site is appropriate Set rules Check your child's profile Source: Ofcom

However, Ofcom admitted it had no legal authority over social networks and was not "regulating them".

Mr Blake said: "Ofcom's approach is very much to encourage industry to do the right thing."

Dr Rachel O'Connell, chief safety officer at Bebo, told BBC News: "We're working with the regulatory bodies. It's critical to our business that we adhere to these guidelines."

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News: UK 'keener on online networking'

The UK benefits from cheap broadband deals

More adults in the UK use social networking sites such as Facebook than in other European countries, a report by communications watchdog Ofcom says.

Four out of 10 UK adults with internet access use social networking sites compared to 17% in France, 12% in Germany and 22% in Italy.

The UK is eclipsed only by Canada where 53% of internet users go on social networking sites.

In Japan and the US the percentage is 32% and 34% respectively.

International comparisons

The Ofcom report into the £873bn telecoms, radio and television sectors compared the UK with 11 other countries, including Canada and the US.

It also looked at emerging giants Brazil, Russia, India and China, where mobile phone growth is particularly strong.

The report found that the US and UK are the only places where men do not use the internet more than women.

In the UK, the split is equal, while in the US 52% of internet users are women.

Cheap deals

The watchdog also said that the UK enjoys some of the cheapest deals for telephone, pay-TV and broadband.

In the UK, about 40% of households already take a bundled service, where they pay a monthly fee for a telephone landline, pay-TV and the internet.

This can be as low as £25 in the UK for a typical family household including two parents and two children.

This compares with £27.22 in France, £39.77 in Germany and £69.54 in the US.

COST OF PHONE, INTERNET & TV UK: £25 France: £27.22 Germany: £39.77 US: £69.54 Price for triple play deals Source: Ofcom

Price may be one of the reasons the UK has the highest take-up of digital television in the 12 countries surveyed.

At the end of 2006, about 76% of UK households were digital.

But it is still Japanese and US consumers who spend the most time watching television, averaging 4.5 hours a day.

This is one hour more than people spend in front of television in the UK.

Revenue boost

Internet advertising revenues are also on the rise, particularly in the UK.

At £33, advertisers in the UK spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country, twice as much as that spent in France, Germany and Italy combined.

Overall, the money to be made from telecom services is increasing, reflecting the growing importance of the sector.

Telecom services revenue per head increased by 20% - from £288m in 2001 to £345m in 2006 - across the countries surveyed, the report found.

Global take up

Globally, mobiles are driving growth in the communications sector, now accounting for 53% of total telecoms revenues.

By the end of 2006, there were 402 million landlines and 634 million mobile connections in the 12 countries surveyed.

Brazil, Russia, China and India are driving much of this growth.

Since 2001, more than 660 million subscriptions were added in these four countries, accounting for 40% of total new mobile subscriptions globally.

Last year, mobile phone users in China sent 429 billion text messages, or 967 text messages per user, compared with 621 per mobile user in the UK.

New subscriptions in India doubled to 150 million, more than twice the number of UK subscribers.

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