Download PDFI’ve been studying and writing about social networks for years now. In a past life, I worked on building the components of my own social networking platform, more aptly considered a profile management system. In this life, however, I find myself more and more entrenched in the innards of social networks as we continue our work here.
I find myself often thinking about how my thoughts have evolved over time regarding social networks. Despite the changes in language, the general premise still holds true: social networking is a fundamental staple of web applications much as electricity drives the Internet itself. That may seem like a bit of a stretch for many, however, it seems that changes in markets and economics are driving production and distribution more and more into our hands. We share these responsibilities with our own networks of friends, associates, co-workers and a multitude of others in between.
As of late, we’re seeing super vertical and niche implementations of social networking and social tools in general. Back in December 2005, I made note that:
I use this analogy frequently, so I’ll repeat it here. Consumers don’t care nearly as much about horizontals (infrastructure) as they do about verticals (applications). Why should they? I don’t care how my electricity (infrastructure) works, so long as I can plug in my computer (application). Businesses fall into two categories (super generalization) - platforms and applications/services. We tend to call something niche when it’s focused on a vertical (another super generalization).
Of course, this relates back to a long line of thinking (from March 2004, believe it or not) on the dilemmas most social networks would feel as we progressed down their development.
There are thousands of potential reasons that users will be attracted to one SNS over another, however, I am confident that the battle will be fought largely over social context and the ability to manage them. As anyone can relate, our world is built of a series of often-interlocking social circles and contexts. Within each of these contexts, we carry different identities and personalities that facilitate our role and participation in that context.
[…]
SNS 2.0 will be championed on 2 fronts: from the incumbent with major improvements and consolidation on their sides versus the newcomers with fresh blood and the experiences afforded them by participation in SNS 1.0 in the public arena. All players will be listening closely to the user experience to learn where they need to go. The most viable players will incorporate social context and broaden the reach in a method that maintains focus while enhancing the experience.
Source: SocialTwister.com, “The SNS Differentiation Challenge”
I’m happy to say that this is coming true ten times over. The types of networks we’re discussing regularly are vertically integrated as opposed to the category stuffers we initially encountered. We’re preparing for exciting times.
As for why it’s so much like DNS? That’s easy. DNS simplifies the connection of one node to another on the Internet. SNS does the same for our relationships, growing with efficiency as we move away from our center (our own internal caches if you will). Without DNS, the Internet would be in significant trouble. Without SNS (the kind we have in our daily, first lives), we’d most likely be dead.
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