Why iYomu, a Social Network for Old People, Expired
iYomu was a social network designed for adults, that launched in August 2007 with a splashy $1 million competition. Less than a year later, the company has closed its doors. Turns out adults didn't want a separate social network after all, or at least not iYomu's one. In this post we explore why this New Zealand startup failed. It wasn't just because of a lack of US funds, the lame excuse given by one of its co-founders. Execution was poor and there were design issues.
In an email to iYomu members this week, co-founder David Wolf-Rooney wrote:
"For almost one year iYomu seemed to make the world a smaller place where 100 000 people came together and found a common space where grown-ups could meet, greet, debate and share interests. Yet it is not only people who rule the world, but money does too. We tried, we thrived and then we died."
In my initial review of iYomu in August 07, I was reasonably positive about the site. I'd met the founders at a local cafe and they seemed like smart, passionate people who wanted to bring the social networking revolution to a relatively under-served market - adults.
The site was restricted to those over 18. The idea was to provide a place for older people to stay in touch with family and friends, as well as store and share media. Initial networks within the site included ones for working mums, property investors, golf courses and book clubs.
I still don't necessarily think this was a bad concept. Although it is certainly very hard to execute, because the Internet and social networking online are not native to the older demographic. However, it's true that older people have different needs online - and those aren't necessarily being met by MySpace or Facebook.
But in the end, iYomu didn't meet those needs any better than Facebook. The failure of the site was due to poor execution on a number of fronts:
1) The design was predominantly in Flash, which isn't ideal for a social networking site. I say that in hindsight, because I too fell for the relative beauty of the design (compared to MySpace) and didn't consider how practical it was. Turns out not very. Note though that a number of RWW commenters were quick to point out the flaws of using Flash in a social network site.
There were other issues with the design other than the Flash. For example Laurel Papworth wrote:
"There was no group function - if you post up that you want "blueberry muffin recipes" in the cooking group, you get email from say 20 people with different recipes. But they don't see who responded, or contribute to making the recipe better. If that explanation is confusing think of it as this way - a many-to-one, not many-to-many conversation."
2) To get started on the site, you had to complete a personality test and a long profile process. I did point this out as a concern in my August 07 review. Even older people have a relatively short attention span online :-)
3) That led to the next problem: there was little incentive to return. I think I logged in a couple of times after signing up in August, but I haven't returned this year. (maybe I just don't want to admit that I might be old)
4) Did the $1 Million challenge backfire? I initially thought it was a great promotional tool back in August. However many people didn't and ultimately, the contest was managed very poorly. Chris Keall of NZ PC World wrote that "iYomu's win $US1 million puzzle competition came over like a piece of spam (an impression not helped by a mysterious, extended process of determining the winner. Apparently some guy in Malaysia eventually pocketed the cash. For some reason, iYomu choose not to promote the handover, or document it in any way, to the annoyance of members on its message boards)."
There were many attempts at gaming the competition. Some of the leaders of the contest were kicked out in December. And then when it came time to announce the winner in February 2008, the Malaysian $1 million winner was removed form the site and their identity was never revealed. Some people in the site's forums even accused the competition of being rigged. The IT Brief website notes that iYomu eventually "made a settlement with the winner that both parties agreed on."
5) It just didn't scale, even with the $1m challenge. At the end there were 100,000 members, according to David Wolf-Rooney's email. Most of them probably weren't regular visitors to the site.
6) Yes, money problems... but with a twist. Apparently it was a geography problem. IT Brief quoted Wolf-Rooney as saying: "We tried to compete with sites in the US, but without access to the sort of funding they have, it was just impossible. We needed millions to really promote and expand the site, money we just didn't have."
I'm sorry, but that's BS. I'm a firm believer that international companies can compete with those in the US in the Web space. And if you need to go to the US to get funding, well then do it. Plenty of kiwi and aussie startups have made the trek to Silicon Valley when they want to raise funds and network. Some even open offices there. There's absolutely nothing in your way if you want to raise money in the web 2.0 world, no matter where you're from. But you have to prove that the site is worth investing in, and that's probably why iYomu couldn't get funding.
Conclusion
An unfortunate end to what was, I thought, not such a bad concept. Probably iYomu in the end didn't have enough to differentiate it. As Ben Kepes wrote in his blog today, "iYomu failed because it was a me-too offering with no real degree of differentiation."
I still think the older demographic is a good target for a niche social networking site. And as a RWW commenter pointed out back in August, there are others aiming for it: e.g. Eons, myboomerplace.com, boomj, elderwisdomcircle.org, family sharing sites like MyFamily, and Geni.
I hasten to add though that this is a very hard target market. ReadWriteWeb's resident Baby Boomer, Bernard Lunn, wrote a great post entitled: Why Eons, a MySpace for Old People, Failed. Bernard claimed that "the idea of targeting by age is just not smart marketing." Instead you should target by content, he wrote. With both Eons and iYomu now having failed, it's difficult to argue with that logic.
In the final analysis though, iYomu didn't get off the ground not because it targeted old people - but because it executed poorly. It had crucial design flaws, little to entice people to return regularly, a PR campaign that in the end backfired, and the site just didn't scale to enough people quickly enough.
Back to LinkedIn I guess. What did you think of iYomu?
Old people pic by Ward
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It can be debated forever, but the simple reason was that the site was slow, sloppy and shite. Filling out long forms to join - bad. Wasting $1m to attract bottom-dweller users only interested in money - bad. Trying to compete with all sorts of services at once (vault - online storage, facebook etc) - bad. Designing it like a dog - bad. Not using the money to employ people who know how to design a good site and keep it fast - bad. And lastly - choosing a ridiculous name that has no flare or meaning - bad.
It's not that the concept was bad, just overly ambitious from people who didn't know what they were getting themselves into and then they act surprised when it crashes and burns. Saw this coming the minute I saw the first press release.
It may have been a geography problem, though not in exactly the way they say.
In Silicon Valley you impress investors by creating something new that works well locally and assuming it will work just as well everywhere else.
In NZ you impress investors by finding something that works well overseas and adapting it to the local market - a me too service is just fine.
If you can't lose that thinking when trying to create something global, you're doomed.
I was one of the first people to sign up to this just prior to their big launch. Initially I was excited to learn that a NZ company was going to try to get a piece of the social networking pie....but then I clicked on the URL.....and was quickly deflated. Shite is right.
Flash? In NZ? Where the Internet connections are insanely slow...
Confusing information architecture even to me, an Internet user who's been on since before it had pictures.
Yes, tis a case of replicating and not inventing something new.
@richard "I'm a firm believer that international companies can compete with those in the US in the Web space."
Do you see many of companies from overseas capturing market in US consumer web?
It is possible, but it is not such a level playing field as you are painting. However Skype is a good example! (and a good question is if Skype's success comes from US userbase?)
"And if you need to go to the US to get funding, well then do it."
You are spot on with this one.
Andraz Tori, Zemanta
"a Social Network for Old People" where "the site was restricted to those over 18" ??
If nineteen is old, I must be a dinosaur ...
Starting up in silicon valley is definitely an advantage but it doesn't mean that other geographical locations don't stand a chance to make it Big.
I think being from NZ is not the point but the genre of business.
Even if somebody has a big innovative idea with a lot of funding but trying to get a pie of an already saturated market then it really succcks....
I don't think the idea of a community site focused by age is necessary as bad is suggested - I always felt that the great idea about Facebook was that it appealed to a more mature audience that Myspace didn't reach.
But maybe directly going by age isn't the way. A better approach may be focusing on the values and priorities of older people, rather than the age directly. Then again, maybe iYomu did. I never signed up, I'm not that old. But judging from the name, I doubt it..
Andraz said...
Do you see many of companies from overseas capturing market in US consumer web?
Yes, why not? I see no reason overseas companies can't succeed in the US.
@Falafulu Examples please... :)
(I am really interested in having a list of good examples since they might provide some clues on best practices)
I'm sixty.
I don't need a social network for geezers.
I don't participate in social networks for geezers. (outside of putting my RSS feed on them.)
Burnard Lunn is spot on! It's the content that keeps me coming back.
TheSavvyBoomer.com does a nice job following all the geezer sites.
http://www.thesavvyboomer.com/the_savvy_boomer/social_networking/index.html
@Mats: and what, pray tell are the values and priorities of people my age? (60)
I cant think of many great OS consumer play sites that have made it big in the US
rememberthemilk.com (aussie)
polldaddy.com (irish)
flirtomatic.com (UK)
Wayn.com (UK)
readwriteweb.com (NZ :-))
Probably a number from Israel to add here
I think there are more technology and service ones that have done okay.
I can't speak to the product quality problems at iYomu, so perhaps they really were primary issues.
That said, I think likely a main problem was the target audience of older people. And I would disagree with Bernard's statement that "targeting by age is just not smart marketing." You CAN target by age if you do it properly. And properly means targeting the content that is shared by that age group, which is essentially the point of Bernard's post.
I suspect that one of iYomu's faults is that it targeted by age poorly. Do older people want a Facebook with different users? And are people over 18 a homogeneous-enough group to create a compelling solution for? Probably no to both.
Then, quite frankly, even if they HAD found a target audience with fairly homogeneous and unmet needs and created a differentiated product that solved those needs, they would still have been in trouble. Because the "older generation" is really hard to reach. What is commonplace behavior in teens and 20's is very difficult to cultivate in people in their 40's and 50's. Getting friends to invite friends for these users is REALLY hard, which makes building a social network for these users very difficult. I suspect that someone will figure it out some time, but as far as I can tell it hasn't happened yet. (LinkedIn may be the notable exception, but it is pretty different from a 'social' network, as opposed to a business network.)
The biggest problem with a MySpace site for adults is that most adults are married and have kids
. So they either don't have time for online friends, or, more importantly, they know their spouse doesn't want them online making friends. Plus, you just don't care about making friends anymore. When you're young, you want to have friends because that's all you got.
The biggest problem with a MySpace site for adults is that most adults are married and have kids.
So they either don't have time for online friends, or, more importantly, they know their spouse doesn't want them online making friends. Plus, you just don't care about making friends anymore. When you're young, you want to have friends because that's all you got.
Because their user base did, too!
In my mind the site failed mostly because it didn't have a clear purpose.
I agree it wasn't particularly attractive (and yes the Flash was an issue), but more importantly I don't think it facilitated meaningful social interactions...to be honest, it felt to me like a social network built by a committee of people who didn't spend enough time online and certainly hadn't spent enough time using social applications.
It might be too that networks built on demographic niches just aren't a good idea either...considering some of the comments here and elsewhere I have a feeling that successful social networks are more about communities of interest and pyschographics. Indeed, contrary to popular misconception I have read somewhere that close of half of all people on MySpace are over 30, and Facebook certainly knows no age boundaries.
There are now thousands of social networks that cater to a whole variety of subjects. These smaller, focused sites allow users to connect with like-minded people and give advertisers targeted demographics. Niche social networks are also good for marketers who have a product or service they want to promote that relates to a particular interest. A good place to find such sites is this search engine for social networking sites.
We have attempted to address a lot of the issues raised in this article, and in the comments. Passions Network is a network of over 110 individual online dating niche social networking sites.
The 'reason' for the network is to give people the ability to create their own personal community of niche sites based on their specific interests (or passions) in life.
Since the network has an online dating theme running throughout it, it tends to be stickier than a generic social network.
And with 110 niche sites, there are sites for just about every type of person...from 'Eco-friendly' singles to 'Gun Lovers' to 'Nerds' to 'Truckers' to 'SciFi Fans, and every combination that can come from large numbers of unique individuals together in one group.
Despite having such a large number of individual sites within the network, there is a single login and account management area.
If you are interested in the concept of niche social networking sites, check us out. Everything is 100% free.
How is it gone? I just signed up for it, just because of your article and I wanted to see what it was all about. Hmmm. Perhaps you are in error of stating that this place closed?
Currently there are dozens of free social networking sites.
Dozens of free blogs
Dozens of free webmails programs
Dozens of free search engines
Dozens of free personal websites
I'm spoilt for choice. And everything is free.
Can't help thinking that we're way past them saturation for most online services.
A me-too startup? Thats just crazy talk!
Any new startup needs a major point of differentiation.
Hello!Some great tips & tricks here. That was really very helpful!!!
Frankly, I didn't find anything unique there to catch and hold my attention. There was not anything there that I haven't seen before on the net. It bored me.