Social Networking: Time For A Silver Bullet
Written by Ebrahim Ezzy and edited by Richard MacManus. Note: there is also a poll at end of this post, which we invite you to participate in.
MySpace is booming in popularity; Facebook is gracing the headlines again; Bebo is growing incredibly; Tribe relaunched; Cyworld, Hive7 and SecondLife are nothing short of a phenomenon; LinkedIn is becoming 'People Search'; ITToolbox relaunched with a host of social networking features; Friendster is now refueling itself to enter the market again.
Put simply, social networking is hot and there is plenty of money and action in the SNS space to prove it.
Short History of Social Networks
Social
Networks have a history almost as long as RSS. Aspects of social networks have long been
present in dating services such as Match and Classmates. The notion of social networking first
formally appeared on the Internet in the late 1990s, with services like FireFly,
eGroups/OneList, ICQ and Evite - which allowed groups of people to coordinate
certain kinds of interaction.
It was not until 2003 that
social networks became truly mainstream - with the advent of Friendster. Shortly
thereafter, there was a wave of social networks. Adopting small-world theory,
services like Tribe, Orkut, LinkedIn and Spoke emerged - allowing users to better
organize and expand their recreational and business networks.
Today: "Social Network 3.0"
Today, social networks are enormously popular. The benefits can be seen at the multiplier level - people mentor each other through the formation of communities; and they network and inspire each other by example and input. Social networks protect people from the vastness of cyberspace and offer tools to find each other, organize and share information, or just keep in touch with friends.
Social networking sites have proliferated in the span of the past year. While I don't have actual numbers, Wiikipedia tells us that there are at least two hundred social networks, with scores of new ones appearing each day. While some of these services focus on teens, others target individual professionals and some aim at organizations like businesses and graduate schools.
Venture capitalist David Hornik recently wrote about what he calls 'Social Networks 3.0':
"I believe that we are now in Social Networks 3.0. After a fair bit of excitement and energy around pure play social networks, it became clear that the building and management of a social network was not, in and of itself, a compelling consumer experience. In a nod back to the earliest instantiations of social networking, entrepreneurs have come to realize that social networks are enablers of other compelling consumer experiences. Thus, social networks are becoming an important ingredient of all sorts of consumer experiences...
I believe that social networking will be a crucial element of virtually all online consumer experiences going forward. And truly compelling online consumer experiences will always make successful companies."
(emphasis ours)
Overview of the current Social Networking Space
There are hundreds of emergent social networks, but I've shortlisted a few that are worth keeping an eye on (apart from the obvious ones, like MySpace and Facebook):
A great resource for finding talented, like-minded, and socially responsible people - upon whom you can network for work opportunities, contract jobs, sales or partnership discussions. There has been some talk about whether LinkedIn will expand beyond its niche. Co-Founder and Vice President Marketing at LinkedIn Konstantin Guericke commented recently that perhaps there is no need for that:
"LinkedIn has been profitable for the past six months, and revenues are growing very quickly. I'm not sure who else can say that."
CollectiveX is social groupware suitable for a user-group, special-interest group, or any other like-minded group of people who share similar goals. It combines certain team collaboration features - including group emails, shared scheduling, file sharing and bulk email services etc.. This sets it apart from other social networks. Michael Arrington's review supports my view, that CollectiveX is social networking "the way it should have been done in the first place."
PeopleAggregator [disclosure: Richard does work for them] is a meta social network system, meaning it enables you to connect other social networking services together. Perhaps the most important aspect of this is the Identity Hub, where you can login to other systems via PeopleAggregator. Another feature of PeopleAggregator is that you can import and export your data with relative ease - i.e. it's an open system, unlike MySpace for example. This vision is still being built out, but the idea is that eventually you'll be able to send messages, create relationships, join or create groups, and post content between social networks.
Wetpaint allows you to create free hosted websites, using wiki technology. It describes itself as a combination of "wikis, blogs, and social networks" and encourages people to create topic-focused sites. For example check out this wetpaint site devoted to dogs, called WikiFido.
Great for those who like the idea of sharing their lives, but not necessarily every facet of their lives. So privacy and user control are its main selling points. There is also a lot of granularity as to how users can define relationships - e.g. husband, roommate, business contact are some of the options. For more on these types of services, check out Ken Yarmosh's R/WW post Smart Social Networks. Multiply currently claims nearly 3 million registered users.
Allows sharing of all types of media content - blogs, photos, audio, and video. In the words of Wikipedia, it "has both a social network structure as well as a content browsing/filtering structure". In that sense it enables you to create a social network dynamically and in real time.
Points to Ponder
Does more members in a network make a users life better?
Instead of simply allowing the users to create and manage friendship flow charts, social networks need to enable them to do something. Users should be empowered to control and utilize their social networks in a meaningful and protected way.
What's the purpose of social networking?
Several mainstream social networks focus squarely on numbers - page views, number of members, hits etc. And there's nnothing wrong with that, it's a valid business approach. But social networks play on our desire to be a part of something big, which might never happen...
So social networking is great, as long as it can serve its purpose by connecting people in a meaningful way - and for a meaningful purpose.
Over time, I believe, people will get tired of the vast and generic theme of mainstream social networks - and move towards niche or vertical social networks that will serve their passions and interests.
So, will niche or vertical social networks take off?
Helping match people with content is a worthwhile pursuit. We're already seeing a new wave of niche social networks that are building social-enabled sites around content-oriented channels - e.g. pets, books, music, cars, shopping, travel.
But social networks require a critical mass to thrive. So it will be interesting to see how the smaller, niche social networks deal with their much smaller user bases.
However, due to their focus, they do seem prepared to tackle the potential social networking bust that lies ahead.
Time for a silver bullet
The value of social networking, in general, is diminished with each new
service entering the field. There's a need for some standards in the social
networking space, as it is difficult to maintain profiles at each social
network.
Many of the fun-seeking Myspacers may actually be the very same respectful businessmen at LinkedIn, just with an adjusted profile (and maybe an adjusted name to go with it). So what we require is a system that connects all social networks - that a user is a member of - and shares basic functionalities. This would allow users to choose a system with the features and approach that best suits them.
Or better yet, instead of being confined to one giant centralized social network, we should move to social groupwares - like CollectiveX and PeopleAggregator - that enable users to build their own meta social networks, based on their passions and interests. This way, numerous social networks will proliferate - each with unique form and function.
Poll
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Also checkout OnMyCity.com for a new approach to niche social networking.
Niche social networking for home improvement...
http://www.houseblogs.net
(yes, a shameless plug)
Exactly. Its difficult to maintain multiple profiles. We do require interoperable social networks (or a 'trillian' of social networking ;-)).
Social gropuware is a good thing too, but I would personally prefer interoporable SNS than it.
Right-on Ebrahim!
Great post Ebrahim and Richard!
"So what we require is a system that connects all social networks - that a user is a member of - and shares basic functionalities. This would allow users to choose a system with the features and approach that best suits them."
Sounds familiar :)
http://SocialNetworkServer.com
See it live here: http://www.ArtistServer.com
Self-serving addition to the list. 3400 site-centric communities and counting...
http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/
Sites like CollectiveX and PeopleAggregator are great for the generic social network but in your article you state that "... social networks need to enable them to do something." Most niche and mainstream social networks allow you to do the same things. Contact friends, send email, post to forums, blog, etc. The niche SN's should have these standard features while adding some type of services that are specific to that niche. The generic social networks can never attain this goal unless they provide a framework to allow custom tools to be easily integrated (widgets on steriods). In the end, no one can predict where SN's are headed, but millions of people today still spend time on niche forums. This give me faith in the niche social network.
LiveJournal is one of the most diverse social networks around. Lots of adults there, lots of niche, lots of very strong network and online community ties. (Hopefully it will survive the SixApart invasion.) I've been there since 2002 and have made many friends there.
Am quite amused by the recent "discovery" of social sites. Does anyone remember the Pods at iVillage in the late '90s?
When you look at some of the niche social networks it seems that these are where the real business models will develop from. When you have something as massive as MySpace it just becomes a giant playground with no real sense of community or belonging to anything. However when you are part of a smaller community it seems to provide a great value to the end user. Another niche soc.net. that is also profitable is the site MyFreeImplants.com and I'm pretty sure it's profitable because it's a niche and therefore doesn't have to depend on advertising alone to pay the bills. People WANT to be there! And they WANT to keep coming back.
I dont think so there can be a social network that rule them all. We all have different circles of friends, and most people I know would like to keep these circles saparate.
Also I believe what Sean meantion that smaller niches have a sense of belonging and more community interaction. Dogster for instance. I am not a dog fan or I think Dogster is an intersting start up but I believe that the community in Dogster will have a greater bond to the community and other members.
As you mention, social network is like a shield of trust and once that trust is gained, it makes it easier for the company to introduce related products to their users.
Does anyone think online forums like those on Big-Boards are niche social networks? They've partnered with zoints.com. Zoints.com is connecting the forums of the net. My forum joined a few days ago and so far, so good.
Hey Guys,
As a developer of social network systems, my interests are to see more niche sites, http://www.petalogues.com (pet site).
There may never be a site as big as myspace again...niche is becoming the new mainstream. If you look at the music scene, radio is fucking dead, no one that knows music gives a shit about mtv. myspace is laughable, but sometimes useful for discovering new bands. purevolume is the myspace that never was. go niche. its the future.
Social networking will follow the same trajectory as internet dating. More niche sites will emerge. Users will have a presence on mainstream sites and add personas on niche sites. 'Profile portability' is needed but has never happened for dating sites. The sites want to lock in their userbase. Social networks, similarly, want to lock in their userbases. But they will take more heat from users for not allowing profiles to be ported to other sites. People like PeopleAggregator's founder (and Macromedia founder) Marc Canter have been pounding on the table for open networks and profile portability for a few years. Marc decided, if you can't join them, beat them, and developed PeopleAggregator independently.
Mark Brooks
http://www.OnlinePersonalsWatch.com
mark@onlinepersonalswatch.com
212-444-1636
I believe it is important to decentralize these social networking sites as to be able to reach people that appeal to you. I look at MySpace as a social networking landfill, where you can hardly find people that you really want to collaborate with. My site, the Madtown Lounge (MadtownLounge.com) is an example of a social networking site, but I am keeping my focus on one city I know well - Madison, WI. I provide information that is meaningful to the city of Madison - as well as visitors of the city: venue addresses, maps, driving directions, event calendars, etc. And better yet, the local and area bands contributions to their own event calendars/profiles enhance the overall Madison event calendar. It is a win-win-win for the venues, musicians, and fans alike. As an aside, I've applied my SEO skills to get many smaller venues and bands more exposure than they otherwise ever would have gotten.
A slightly different take on social networking - PageBuildr. The main focus of the site is to build and design websites with no need for code - uses simple wizards to change the template design, add a blog, add photos to your gallery, etc. The site also utilizes social networking methods - both as a way to build your network of friends, to discover other similar "PageBuildrs" and for privacy controls for your website. Each page has an option for "view by friends only" and "comments by friends only". So, you can use PageBuildr for a public website, or for an intimate community where you and your friends can interact. Still in BETA status, more features are being added every day.
Check out MakeEnemies.com for another (better) alternative to these social networking sites.
On the educational front, I highly suggest
stu.dicio.us
Definitely the best in that slice of "social networking 3.0"
Thanks for including ITtoolbox.com, a poster child for b2b online communities having been at it 8 years. Today we announced today that unique visitors to our three-year-old blogging community has grown by more than 300% in the third quarter of 2006 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/10/prweb446707.htm. Outsell has also been talking about us recently http://www.outsellinc.com
Newly launched niche social networking site for craft people
http://www.designstolove.com
It will be interesting to see how it grows.
Already there are lots of popular social networking site online and scores of other popping up everyday. At this extent i think the concept is going to be saturated soon enough and eventually lose it's popularity. Also managing multiple profiles becomes an arduous task for many.
if you are setting up a social network stay away from peopleaggregator - its like social networking cancer to any independent network or rather more like communisim, 'on network to rule them all and in the darkness bind them'
I like social networking sites like http://blogen.net They focus more on the blogging aspect, the social networking side is just a plus. It feels more like a community and the features rock.
I think too that in the next future there will be niches social networks and that they will rock! On the other side, I think that often people for each niche has different 'personalities' so I'm not so confident in the profile portabiliy among different networks...
We are going too to start a niche social network, as soon as it will be ready, I will ask for your comments!
Has anyone else tried http://commongate.com/ ?
There is a social network where its #1 focus is to bring all your social networks together through the inclusion of links to all your networks, blogs, and other sharing websites. There's also a section to list all your screennames and favorite URLs. Included with this are privacy settings, where you put your friends into privacy groups and define which of the 15 profile sections that group can see. Of course it contains the standard social networking features too. I don't know if this is actually a silver bullet, but it might be the next step towards one. http://www.rantiq.com
In keeping with the spirit of self promotion in the comments thread here, a friend of mine and I recently started a small social network called Meeteor (http://www.meeteor.com) focused on connecting alumni from top academic institutions.
I like the idea of the "silver bullet" but have two comments:
1. There are many people who would NEVER want to link a professional social networking profile to some other profile and want them to be separate.
2. I am not sure that most walled gardens see an incentive to federate or share. What's in it for them?