Photo
Business Update

Reuters business newsletter, your daily business coverage.

Subscribe

Media CEOs are Facebook and BlackBerry users

Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:17am EST

Reporter's Notebook

[-] Text [+]

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook is good for keeping up with high-flying buddies, MySpace is for teenage offspring and the BlackBerry is a full-time addiction, according to top media executives who were quizzed on their personal media habits at this week's Reuters Media Summit.

"I may be the only human being on earth who's on MySpace under his own name and I am on Facebook," said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two Interactive Software, the video game company behind Grand Theft Auto.

Peter Levinsohn, head of News Corp's Fox Interactive Media, described such behavior as that of an "uber user" who is on both popular social network sites but uses them toward different ends.

Fox has found that 65 percent of Facebook users are also on its MySpace site, the world's largest social network, Levinsohn said. Microsoft Corp announced last month it was paying $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook.

Zelnick said he enjoyed Facebook applications like My Questions that lets a member poll friends on subjects close to the heart. He used it to ask his closest CEO pals whether they thought the U.S. economy was headed to a recession.

But he may not truly be an "uber user" of both, saying he finds Facebook more useful as he likes its applications.

Levinsohn, as you might expect, is also on both sites. So does he think Facebook is any good?

"Frankly I've found MySpace substantially more entertaining," he said, adding that he used Facebook "more to communicate with people at work or people I've met through the course of my career."  Continued...

 
Japan Investment Jul 01 - 2, 2008 Country Summits
Global Real Estate Jun 23 - 25, 2008 Real Estate
Consumer and Retail Jun 16 - 18, 2008 Consumer Retail
Investment Outlook Jun 09 - 12, 2008 Financial Services / Exchanges
Global Energy Jun 01 - 5, 2008 Energy

What are Summits?

Reuters Summits are your direct link to top business leaders, investors and regulators. Our journalists interview heavyweights in a particular industry, spin out hard-hitting breaking news and sharp analysis that can often move markets. If you want to understand what the insiders are thinking, look for Reuters Summits.  Launch Full Video 

 

Stay connected. Get e-mailed alerts with schedules, speaker lists, and headlines from upcoming and live Industry Summits.