Windows

Social Networks: We Need Bridges, Not Silos

Posted by on Apr 24, 2007 | 4 Comments

Every day, I seem to receive at least one email or invitation to a new “social network” of sorts – and just about every one of these networks are networks unto themselves. That is to say: they’re community silos, not community expanders.

This is frustrating – and I don’t see the trend changing anytime soon. As someone who has always had a community (or network) of friends, both real and virtual, the last thing I want or need to do is split them up. I don’t need another proprietary chat room – I don’t need another proprietary commenting system.

So, each of these “Web 2.0″ efforts wants to be the next success story – right? Why, then, do they not understand that the “Holy Grail” of social networking is in eliminating the walls between social networks? It’s not just about doing yet another mashup – it’s about bridging existing gaps.

Chat (active interactive) and Comments (static interactive) seem to be communication devices that some people already have (but not everyone, admittedly). Still, for those of us who already have solutions in place – why make yet another silo for us? Why not break down that barrier and allow us to use the tools we already have in our stable?

Dunno. I’m not down on the whole idea of social networking – but I am down on the idea of creating yet another social network to get to the people who are already in my social network. Gawd, that phrase means absolutely nothing to me anymore (I’ve said and heard it enough times).

I understand the validity of creating rich, live chatting experiences – but not at the expense of abandoning (read: ignoring) my existing IRC channels at irc.wyldryde.org. IRC has been around forever – imperfect, but widely adopted. The only reason Twitter “works” for me is that it allows me to receive updates via my IM network of choice. Imperfect, but already running on my desktop.

If you decide to integrate some kind of live chat within your service, at least let people choose to use their own instead of yours. If security is an issue, then you shouldn’t be doing chat in the first place. Live chat, of any kind, is only as strong as the room’s active members and moderators.

Stop creating community (communication) silos, please? Please?

[tags]chat, irc, live video, online community, social network[/tags]

  • MM

    A M E N!!

    I have difficulty reading my RSS feed that scrolls in front of me, much less stopping and going to another login!!

    MM

  • http://www.struction.com/ Brian C. Shensky

    Like Chris, I too just got back from a jolly good time in Northern California catching up on the latest trends at O’Reilly & CMP’s Web 2.0 Conference.

    This conference was really the first I had attended that was not directly related to anything Oracle. My hopes were high as I expected a well-organized initiation into the best of what the Silly Valley now has to offer, perhaps a lot of new IT startups built on the empowering strengths of Open Source.

    Instead, I walked away more jaded than ever. Here are a couple blog posts that nicely sum it up for me:

    The Six Things You Can’t Say In Silicon Valley
    http://www.valleywag.com/tech/modern-and-awkward/the-six-things-you-cant-say-in-silicon-valley-254190.php

    Web Startups and the Lying Liars that Lie About Them
    http://mashable.com/2007/04/21/web-startups-and-the-lying-liars-that-lie-about-them/

    I’m hard-pressed to deny or dissuade the entrepreneurial spirit of The Valley; I’m envious of the guts and money that comprise it. But I was expecting that the next cycle of growth there would at least appear to be better rooted in real, genuine innovation – actual engineering, exciting new concepts in technology that could change how we make information available to each other….the very *networks* Chris has mentioned.

    Instead, I got a lot of “monetization tactics”, “blogosphere mashup theory” and “eyeball gimmickry” – and an overwhelmingly sinking feeling that Web 2.0 really is just Web 1.0 spit-shined up and suitably automated for mass consumption. We’re still drinking last decade’s Kool Aid; only now, we’ve taken to drink /each others’/ Kool Aid. Socialization indeed.

    So, I echo Chris’ pleas – we need bridges, not silos. Enough with the black box social networks already. Show me how I can integrate various multiple sites, each with a distinct function, and then maybe I’ll listen.

    What did I take away from the conference in 50 words or less? A lot of people are adapting dinky old-school would-be client apps to the Web, trying to build business models around them in the name of “socialization”, while really all they’re doing is burning VC until the next market contraction or buyout, whichever comes first.

    Heh! 49 words! I’ve got one credit left.

    Bull$h!t.

  • http://techyoung.blogspot.com young one

    It is true that there are a number of terrible copycat social networking sites out there, however I do believe that they are an inevitable part of the innovation process.

    Copycats often appear in other markets, both online and off. Most times they fail, but sometimes, just once, they do something new that makes all the other ones worth it.

    I just hope that now they get the point and try something truly innovative, as you say, rather than continuing to come out with more of the same. We should be past that point now.

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