3 ms·

Also interesting to compare these timespans to other networks, like telephone and fax. Not sure how accurate these figures are, but for a ballpark: http://img.p

• wallflower 15y ago
  Since no one has yet brought up Metcalfe's Law: "Metcalfe's law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (n^2)" "The law has often been illustrated using the example of fax machines: a single fax machine is useless, but the value of every fax machine increases with the total number of fax machines in the network, because the total number of people with whom each user may send and receive documents increases. Goods characterize the first component or intrinsic network effect. Services fall under the second component of network effects known as complementary.[6] A social networking site works the same way as the fax machine described above. The greater number of users with the service, the more valuable the service becomes to the community. Deriving from Metcalfe's Law, every new "friend" accepted or added on these social networking sites makes the user's profile ever more valuable in terms of the law. Positive and negative outcomes take place with all network effects involving a service of this sort. New jobs, relationships, and opportunities arise with more people coming together, however, if not used correctly, services of this type can lead to distant relationships." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfes_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfes_law (If you read the Wikipedia entry, also read about "Reverse Effects")