Apple sends a sharp ping to rival social networks as record numbers sign up

In less than 48 hours after launching more than one million users joined Ping, Apple's brand new music-oriented social network.

"One-third of the people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping," announced Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services, on Friday, September 3.

"As many more people download iTunes 10 in the coming weeks, we expect the Ping community to continue growing."

Ping's one million users is just a drop in the ocean compared to Twitter's more than 145 million registered users, the 500 million active users on Facebook, or even the 40 million users sharing music with online social music website Last.fm, however, with more than 160 million iTunes users Apple is no doubt hoping its social network will grow exponentially.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs likened the service to both Facebook and Twitter where ""you can follow your favorite artists and friends and join a worldwide conversation with music's most passionate fans."

While consumers have eagerly signed up for the service, people in the technology industry have criticized it for not being social enough.

"It is fundamentally flawed because it doesn't interact with your iTunes music collection" complained Business Insider's Jay Yarow. "Without the ability to actually to actually [sic] tell our friends what we're listening to, Ping is a pretty useless service."

To join Ping, users can download iTunes 10 from http://www.itunes.com.