Danah Boyd who is one of the pioneering researchers in the field writes about why Friendster failed and MySpace succeeded. Based on my time at Tribe.net I agree with much of what she has to say.
Here's a section that I agree with wholeheartedly and which I don't think many people in the Social Networking space understand:
It is not about technological perfection.
Portability of identity doesn't matter. Easy-to-use interfaces don't matter. Visual coherence doesn't matter. Simple navigation doesn't matter. Bugs don't matter. Fancy new technologies don't matter. Simple personalization doesn't matter.
Before you scream "but it does to me!" let me acknowledge that you're right. It does matter to you. The question is whether it matters to the masses. And it doesn't. Especially for teens.
Anyone doing a social network must realize that they are in the media business and NOT the technology business. Think of yourself as a magazine. What's important in a magazine? Is it a really easy to use table of contents? Is it color coded pages that let you find content more easily? No - it's all about really great content.
Why don't more people in the social networking business realize that?
What she fails to realize is it media companies are not about great content. They're about monetizing great content.
What's the ROI on the $600 million Fox spent on MySpace? Friendster is a failure but MySpace is not yet anywhere near a success.
Page views that you can't monetize are an expense.
"What's important in a magazine? Is it a really easy to use table of contents? Is it color coded pages that let you find content more easily? No - it's all about really great content."
Nope, it's the ads.
Posted by: Erik Schwartz | March 23, 2006 at 03:41 AM
hear hear, chris! but you alread knew I'd agree with you!
Posted by: Wade Lagrone | April 12, 2006 at 11:32 AM
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Posted by: oipc aqjfp | May 23, 2008 at 01:16 AM
what a great post, thanks for the info, something to think about!...
Posted by: sildenafil citrate | April 22, 2010 at 07:37 AM
Anyone doing a social network must realize that they are in the media business and NOT the technology business. Think of yourself as a magazine. What's important in a magazine? Is it a really easy to use table of contents?
Posted by: guanacaste costa rica | July 21, 2010 at 11:00 AM