What Exactly is Social Anyways?
Social bookmarking sites, and other sites based on user-user interaction all contain some similar features, but then again, some of these “social” sites don’t offer much interaction at all.
What makes a Site Social?
Tagging? Comments? Profiles? Pictures? Blogs? These could be a few of the features, but to me, a social site is this:
Providing the means necessary to your target demographic to allow them to communicate.
This is why MySpace became so popular. It gave their demographic comments, messages and profiles in an easy to share way. Nothing brilliant here, and as well all know it’s not in the best form, front or back end. These users don’t need anything else, per se, but the added blogs, videos, etc… may keep them entertained for a little while longer.
Then there’s a site like Digg, which I see more of an anti-social bookmarking site. What makes Digg social? Submitting your story doesn’t really cut it. Sure, you’re sharing your find, but with strangers who don’t care who you are. There’s the comments, but it’s just a flame war and anti-Bush comments from people who are just as anti-social in real life. Voting is basically anonymous and so is the reading.
So is Digg a social bookmarking site? I say no. I’d just call it a bookmarking site.
Other sites like Facebook also provide the adequate means of interaction for their users, and FB has even taken it to the next level with their new platform. As someone who uses neither MySpace or Facebook, the new platform turned FB more MySpace-like, to me. This is probably great for the users, who all switched off from MySpace when it wasn’t the cool thing anymore.
What’s Under the Hood?
What can you ask for in a social site? Some features repeat themselves, and for good reason, but here are the basics to providing the means to interact:
- A way to add friends. MySpace and Facebook accel at this, and all bookmarking sites pretty much fail. It’s all in the display of the friends showing the relationship, not monitoring their activity.
- A premise. Digg has bookmarking, MySpace has profiles, YouTube has videos. Your site has to be about something to keep users coming back.
- A way for users to communicate in the open/public like comments and blogs, and a private way like messaging.
- Share everything. If a user tags a site (bookmarks it) let them send it to friend, or recommend it. Let them send any page on the site by email to a friend, etc…
- Be unique is some way, no matter how small it is. Many sites may have the same premise, whether it be profiles, bookmarks, videos, tools, etc… but they all have different ways of approaching the main feature and that’s what sets LinkedIn apart from FaceBook and Reddit from Digg.
Leave a comment
Glen Allsopp
August 8th, 2007 at 1:49 PM
Being Social online really is just online communication as you have pointed out. This has become a lot more popular in recent years
Adam
August 9th, 2007 at 11:27 AM
I think being social online can be almost as rewarding as being social online. It’s a good way to make contacts, get work, keep in touch with friends, etc…
I also think its harder because communication is generally harder online (can’t hear the persons voice or tones).
Nils
August 10th, 2007 at 2:20 PM
Interesting read, and a good take on Digg etc. not being social at all. I don’t even find FB all that social. I suppose this shows you can’t be social in large numbers. Compare a big city to a small town, a mega disco to a corner pub. I like Pownce, for instance, because it’s about (more or less) quality interaction between a limited number of people I (more or less) know. I also like 9rules, and not because I’m a member. I think their view of smaller communities as part of a larger one works very well. I suppose that’s why I only read a couple of blogs, not the blogosphere A to Z. In the end, I suppose, social is a scale issue.
Connor Wilson
August 10th, 2007 at 2:32 PM
Good point. I think you could relate the social/scale issue to blogs, too. On a smaller blog such as this, the blogger and the reader tend to develop relationships more often, and there is less intimidation I guess with the will to contact. On larger blogs that see much more comments, emails, etc… it’s impossible to keep up with all them.
I don’t use FB, so I can’t comment on its social skills, so to speak
Nils
August 10th, 2007 at 2:39 PM
Oh, it’s just that I’ve never felt there was anything to do or see on FB. To me, it still is a directory listing. And whereas I did use some of its social tools (esp. those new apps), I never felt there was much interaction.
On that note, another reason why blogs, 9r or Flickr work, I think, is because people produce something of their own there. On Last.fm, for instance, I don’t interact at all, simply because it’s just a big list to me. Just like Digg is.
Oh, well, I shouldn’t monopolize your comment thread with my own musings on social networks
Have a good weekend!
Robert MacEwan
September 9th, 2007 at 6:43 PM
I’m rather shocked that StumbleUpon was not discussed here. Talk about social & bookmarking - nothing like our discussions on Digg where folks get ripped apart.
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