Facebook? LinkedIn? Social networking is rubbish
Well it is - isn't it? Pushed by friends and colleagues, I signed up to a bunch of social networking systems. Several months on, what have I gained? In short, nothing.
Let's take Facebook, for example. Oh the excitement back in 2007, as everyone rushed to find their primary school mates, to add time-wasting applications and to update their profile with pointless information.
Now - in the cold light of 2008 - the Facebook hype looks a bit silly. In fact, can I be the first to say Facebook is the new Friends Reunited - a rush to play with an exciting new internet toy that allows to you find old flames... and then nothing happens (if I'm not the first to call Facebook the new Friends Reunited, it doesn't matter - the point still stands).
Basically, I now sign on infrequently to check I haven't missed some life-changing message. Which I haven't - but you never know, do you? Because some people are still using Facebook alongside email and the phone.
Aaah, yes - email and the phone. They were rubbish last year. Everyone was social networking. Except they're not now. Because everyone has realised that some people join social networks and some people don't. And that means they're pretty much useless.
Because unless everyone you've ever met ever is part of the network and can be communicated through the technology - like they can with the phone or email - people are excluded. And loads of my mates aren't part of Facebook. So, good bye then.
Social networks are cool for Generation Newbie - the up-and-coming kids that are going to take over the world and force me to quickly realise I know nothing about technology, or worse, the world. You see, most new graduates are already on Facebook and so are all their mates. So, it works for them - it is inclusive. But for me and Generation Email, forget it.
And the same is true for LinkedIn. "Relationships matter," says their tag line - yeah, relationships do matter, but only if all your contacts can be contacted - and if half the business world is giving social networking the swerve, something is wrong.
Back in the crazy world of 2007, loved-up critics rushed to make statements in the vain of: "Facebook is more addictive than crack." If crack is that bland, I'm pushing for the re-classification of crack alongside a cup of tea.
Still, I can hardly talk. Just last month, I wrote the following (see link at the end of the post): "You can either join in with the natives, or be a social networking outcast. For the sake of your business, make the right choice."
The choice is simple - until someone creates the right tool that creates perfect connectivity between all users, there is no choice to be made. And I have no idea what that perfect social networking tool will look like, unfortunately.
But if I and a bunch of loved-up critics look crazy, what about Microsoft? They paid $240m for a 1.6 per cent slice of last year's most popular social networking phenomenon Facebook - creating an implied valuation for the total business of $15bn. Good luck and all that.
Further reading
Facebook provides a great business opportunity - http://knowledge.computing.co.uk/2007/12/facebook-provid.html
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I would agree that the big social networks don't appeal to everyone. I find Facebook and MySpace to be messy and unorganised.
What people will find more useful are smaller, niche social networks, several of which are popping up at a quick pace, partly in thanks to websites like http://www.ning.com where anyone can easily create their own social network.
These niche social networks offer users a focus on their particular interests, careers, hobbies etc. They also offer advertisers targeted markets.
There's even a dedicated search engine to help find and promote social networks, http://findasocialnetwork.com
Posted by: Trevor | Thursday, 10 January 2008 at 08:22 PM
So what if LinkedIn only connects half -- or a fourth, or an eighth -- of the business world? For those who choose to participate there, it's much more efficient at what it does than the conventional means. And that means that those who are there have a distinct advantage over those who aren't.
A lot of people don't understand the business case for LinkedIn. Check out "100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn" at http://www.linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin to see just how huge the potential is when you think outside the tiny little box of treating it as just a glorified contact manager.
Posted by: Scott Allen | Thursday, 10 January 2008 at 11:23 PM
Trevor - I think you've hit the nail on the proverbial head with regards to Facebook. All the applications and options make the system too messy. And thanks for the links through to other niche web sites, very interesting. Will take a squizz.
Scott - Again, interesting stuff. But mine are personal experiences - and I should admit that I do have associates that benefit from LinkedIn, particularly friends in marketing that have gained job offers from other firms. I meant to post that bit, actually. Maybe it's a sectoral issue, as well as an age-based issue - maybe certain industries are earlier adopters?
Posted by: Mark Samuels | Friday, 11 January 2008 at 11:02 AM
Facebook, due to the proliferation of over 6,000 new third party applications, is rapidly turning into another MySpace clone, where you fear logging on or clicking on a profile in case you get hit by images bordering on the obscene or videos of overwright ladies performing unspeakable acts. Long gone are the days when Facebook felt a bit more muture, more professional; now it has been dragged down to a lowest common denominator dictated by the youth who embrace it more fully than us older types. Time to, once more, move on.
I share the belief that social networks will become more "vertical", appealing to specific interests or demographics - one for friends, one for family, one for prefessional contacts. All that remains to be seen is which sites get the traffic.
Posted by: Ian Hendry | Friday, 11 January 2008 at 12:59 PM