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December 08, 2006
Social-Networking Culmination. Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, Linkedin and the like -brennels
Social networking sites are ubiquitous in the online world; the latest estimation is that there are 380 of these sites on the internet today. While following this topic throughout the semester, not a day went by where I didn’t read about another new social-networking idea. Among some of the more interesting sites I came across were:
- Machinima allows you to use video game engines to create movie scenes / music videos / tv shows and share them with other people.
- A Small World is a private online community for the social elite. The goal is to build a network of influential decision makers without having any “normal people” in the mix.
- uPlayMe: after software is downloaded, you just play music on your computer and the site finds people for you based on your musical tastes!
- Dogster is a social-network specifically for dog lovers.
- Zaadz: it’s mission is quite humble: to change the world to make it a better place through positive social consciousness.
- hitchsters allows you to share a cab to or from a NYC airport with another person.
Commercialization
To many people, the future of these sites boils down to one thing: money. The billion dollar question (literally) is, how do we turn a site that has 100 million views a day or has over 100 million different users into cash? Many companies have jumped early on this bandwagon, and this is reflected in the amount of money the most popular social networking sites are being sold for: Myspace sold for 580M, YouTube for 1.65B, and the latest estimate is thatFacebook is looking for 1 billion
Many people are very critical of these prices, citing a lack of any reasonable business model as an indication that there is no way to turn all of these users into profits, and once it is attempted they will ignore it / leave the site. Also people remember the dotcom but of years past and wonder if these prices are warranted or just wild claims.
Others however are on the opposite side of the fence. With the exponential growth of Myspace and these other sites brings possibilities.
Some sites, however, have already shown a viable business model. Unfortunately, these sites are geared solely at sex.
Interesting Trend
Personally, I noticed a trend of the “planned” bombing while the “unplanned” spread like wildfire. Take the introduction of Walmart’s social networking site and company sponsored blog. This was an attempt by Walmart to cash in on this social-networking craze by creating a sponsored site, and to be frank, it was a complete and total failure. Then look at the media sensation caused by Lonleygirl15, due to the fact that people thought they were viewing original, raw content, free from any commercialization (the fact that she was a very attractive girl didn’t hurt either). Once people found out the truth many were outraged because they felt cheated in a way, with a very striking resemblance to way people responded to the “Blair Witch” project once they found out it was not real.
But is it really all about the money?
While many people look at Social-networking purely from a business prospective, my answer to this question is a resounding no. The most useful social-networking sites I found were those built around a purpose.
One of the unique sites I found was Organized Wisdom which is a site based on free healthcare advice from people across the world. Another interesting site I came across was Palore, a free browser plug-in that improves Goggle-Maps’ Restaurant Reviews, by making them much more accessible and relevant. These practical applications of social networks show that many minds can be greater than one. This idea of organized/collective 'wisdom' is an interesting one, as it takes the idea of 'two heads are better than one' to the 6.6 billionth power. Thinking of it this way allows one to believe that there is virtually unlimited possibility to the power of online social networks.
One of the main believers in this idea is a group of people at MIT who created the 'center of collective intelligence' which I recently blogged about. This group is exploring the implications that technology has on information, and in particular, business.
The world is changing, and it’s due to the increased flow of information. For now we are consumed with Myspace comments, Facebook wall posts, and funny YouTube videos, and while most of us are oblivious of the implications these social-networks have for the future of information, others are eagerly awaiting the future. Where will we be in 10 years you ask? I’ll leave that up to the experts at MIT.
Posted by brennels at December 8, 2006 10:50 PM