Social network development in the ‘me too’ phase

Think you’ve got the social network scene covered off now that you’ve signed up for Twitter and Facebook?

Think again. Waves of social networks, designed to connect the masses with each other, are sprouting up by the week, making the array of network choices dizzying for even the savviest of Web users.

The latest notable additions to the social network pile on are Plurk and identi.ca, Twitter-like services that allow people to “microblog” (e.g. leave messages that are less than 140 characters)

The growing enthusiasm for social network development is easily understood when the tremendous popularity of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is considered. These companies have been valued in the billions despite in some cases the apparent lack of a business model. So it’s no wonder there’s a rush to create the next Great Social Network.

There are no less than 200 ‘well known’ social networks (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn) on the Web if one doesn’t count the vertical networks that are made accessible by Ning for example.

There’s even a subset of networks with names like FriendFeed, known as “lifestreaming” services, created ostensibly to help simplify matters for users of multiple social networks.

But it’s still far too time consuming of a task for any one person - as enthusiastic as that person may be about social networks - to maintain active profiles on social networks even with the help of Ping.fm.

This creates a number of unique problems even for the most popular of social network operators - social network fatigue chief among them.

Social networks are useful tools for friends and business people to communicate and exchange information. They may even prove to be viable standalone businesses at one point in time.

But frustration or fatigue is bound to set in for some users if they are forced to keep up with friends or contacts on multiple networks, leading to the demise of the network.

This makes the network’s reason for being paramount. There’s got to be a reason to visit a new network on a regular basis.

If the new wave of social networks of the ‘one to many’ variety are to thrive, innovation (as cliche as it may sound) must be the first and foremost consideration for network operators. Wedding the network’s features to revenue generation is of course key.

Unfortunately, there’s little to suggest social network providers keep these factors in mind when business cases and network development is considered.

Here are least two basic considerations for social networks to keep in mind throughout the business development process:

1) Distinguish the network. This means building in functionality that distinguishes the network from the get go. If it’s a ‘me too’ initiative, it will come off as such.

2) partner with Web application providers. Embedding a social application into a rich internet application created by say Adobe or Microsoft would help give an emerging social network a leg up on the competition and increases chances for longevity.

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July 10, 2008 | Filed Under News Items and Commentary 

Comments

One Response to “Social network development in the ‘me too’ phase”

  1. Adam on July 22nd, 2008 2:13 am

    Kevin - I think the overall thrust of this post is right on - there’s a ton of social networks, for niche networks to survive they need to develop a compelling/distinct rationale for use. I do think, however, that your title - “me too” phase - goes too far.

    If we look at the first gen social networks, what distinguished them was solely audience focus. Facebook = college, MySpace = Music, LinkedIn = professional. At a functionality level, they were all pretty similar. The success or failure of a network was largely dictated by the ability to latch onto a specific audience grouping - Friendster failed because it was too generic though functionality-wise little different than Facebook.

    The current generation of social networks (of which I consider our company - TotSpot, sort of included) aims to build the core functionality of the network around the niche (Last.fm is a great example). This follows your point number 1. I think what is happening now is more of this type of development and far less standard “me too.”

    Just my two cents.

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