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No one wants to be known as a social network. But social networking is central to how we use the Web.
There was a time when so many startups wanted to be the next big social network. MySpace, Facebook, and its wannabes were gathering huge audiences and garnering stratospheric valuations. Everybody wanted a piece. Oh, how the times and business models have changed.
In a recent Fast Company cover story, MySpace describes its new positioning as a “social portal” in hopes of being viewed by advertisers as more like Yahoo! or MSN and less like…a social network. They’re calling it “a content-rich hub with a social component.” This comes on the heels of announcing MySpace Music, which is intended to monetize the MySpace audience in ways that being just a social network cannot.
These moves reflect the inherent weakness in social networks as a business model. We’ve said that social networking is a feature not a product. In other words, it can be a great way to add value to a product, but it’s not a product unto itself. This has been validated through the inability to monetize the two biggest social networks, MySpace and Facebook. The problem is that social networking doesn’t lend itself to advertising. It’s like being at a dinner party where the television is on in the living room, but everyone is congregating and socializing in the kitchen. The ads on the TV are being served, but no one is seeing them.
Vertical social networks in niche markets are slightly different. If there is a common interest around a topic like green living or a demographic like moms, advertisers know enough about the audience to make it worthwhile. This is like having ads displayed on the cabinets in the kitchen because the kitchen is the only room in the house. In turn, these advertisers have a chance to become a subject of the socializing. Still, long-term viability requires a product. One such example is LinkedIn. It has been and will continue to be successful where others have not. Because it’s Monster.com (a product) with social networking. That’s the key difference.
The difference is between being being a social network and offering social networking. The former will cease to exist, while the latter will become an everyday part of how we use the Web, woven into its very fabric.
We wrote about the Social Networking Explosion in reference to Google’s Friend Connect, and followed that with Yahoo! Finds Social Religion in reference to Yahoo’s developer platform. Both Google and Yahoo! are preparing to socialize everything about them. They will not become social networks but rather they will offer social networking to enhance their product offerings. When Google and Yahoo! offer social networking, it’s safe to say that the feature has become universal…as if the 100 to 200 million users of MySpace and Facebook weren’t universal enough.
We saw an excellent example of this evolution last week when SocialVibe added social networking features in response to demand from its members. CEO Joe Marchese wrote a blog post to explain the decision, in which he clearly states that SocialVibe is not a social network, despite adding friending and personal feeds to members’ personal profiles. The social networking adds value to the product, which is a social media platform that enables members to support charities through brand endorsements…and social networking. But it’s not a social network.
As a feature, social networking provides a powerful set of interactive, communications, creative, and community-building tools. It enables a company’s members or users (also known as its customers) to connect with one another. And what’s most compelling is that they’ll be connecting and socializing in the context of the product.
Disclosure: We consult for SocialVibe.
Photo: SmartMobs
1 response so far ↓
1 James // Aug 25, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Considering that there are now so many social networks catering to such a wide range of niches, my biggest problem is finding ones relevant to me and related to my specific interests or product niches. Google seems to be inefficient and returns alot of irrelevant results. A good resource that I use to find them is this search engine for social networks.
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