The future of social networks

So, what will the future of social networks look like? This is a questions that I ask myself all the time and I find more people asking me. I think there are a couple of ways that social networks could start to pan out in the next 2-3 years.

Big networks are the sweatsuits of social networking
What do I mean by this? It's one-size-fits-all. It's easy and comfortable. These big networks are completely generic and have to appeal to wide ranges of people at the same time. But, like sweatsuits, you don't want to wear them 24x7.

Increasingly, the problem is that people inherently seek value. It's not necessarily a conscious decision, but if you're needs are not met one place, you're going to start looking someplace else. The big guys don't have tailored content and more importantly they lack context. This is going to cause a splintering effect among users as they split up and find their value.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, let's say you are an avid photographer. You want content that appeals to your niche and you'll seek it out. You want to talk to people that love what you love, get cool content, make new relationships and you want advertising (a necessary evil) to at least be personally targeted to you. The entire experience surrounds you with relevance.

The rise of micro-networks
Micro-networks, on the other hand, are the bespoke suit of social networking. These networks are self-contained, hyper focused and tailored to the needs of the community. You see these pop up now with sites like Dogster and Coastr.

Another option to stand-along networks are those that use a hub and spoke model of interaction. Ning is one such example. One key component of Ning is that you have one central user account that logs you in to any micro-network contained within. This allows any member of any network to move around from niche to niche and engage easily.

Here is a graphic representation of the hub and spoke model of user and networks:

Most of the networks inside Ning are completely user created. People go in, design the layout, invite users and manage every part of the content. They're passionate about what they do and it definitely shows. The members of these sites police the content, create new content and engage with each other.

So what do you think? Facebook isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It's still a good meeting place like the offline pub experience where anybody can go in and talk about anything they want with a large number of diverse friends. Have you used Ning's networks yet? If so, what do you think? Are you a member of any micro-networks?

Technorati Tags:
Facebook, Matt Dickman, MySpace, social media, social networks, Techno//Marketer, micro-network

Comments

[Sam]

Matt,

I think we'll see a lot more folks embracing niche networks, though they will use a parent network, such as a Facebook.

For example, my company has product for brands (essentially a niche social networking platform) that actually can integrate with Facebook so that updates in our network will come into your Facebook mini feed -- akin to an aggregator, but without having to go out to a new website.

[Ryan Karpeles]

Micro-networks feel more personal, and they're also better at expediting progress. So what does that mean?

Basically, in a massive network (Facebook, for example) the responsibility is diluted across more people. You feel as if you have less control. It's the classic "small fish in a big pond" syndrome.

In a micro-network, you suddenly become much more responsible. The ties that bind are stronger. The interaction is deeper. And you therefore feel a greater sense of urgency and connection. Which leads to action.

In sum: I think micro-networks have a greater ability to spark and create change. And this is where a big chunk of their value lies.

[Julie Zbeetnoff]

Hi Matt excellent article.

Although we can find our niches within the larger social networks as they are broken down into groups and categories for people of like minds. People like to have something that is more exclusive. They like to feel that their club has definition and it's own personality rather than being just an extention of the larger generic model.

I can see this working especially now that the mobile world is starting to have a stronger presence in the Social Networking world. Rather than a mobile customer having to tediously sort through a larger application to find what they want they can simply download niche targeted social communities for effecient quick access.

[Tangerine Toad]

Nice overview Matt.

Interesting social networking etiquette issue I see popping up on Pulse, which tries to allow you to segregate people into Work/Friend/Family categories: people who I would regard as strictly Work contacts have categorized me as Friends as well. And it's not like I'm about to tell them "no."

I also wish Facebook let me keep certain people as friends but silenced their status updates and the like. Certain Twitter users are up there 24/7 with the contents of their breakfast cereal and the like and I wish I could just hit "ignore" and be done with them.

@Ryan: The problem with smaller private networks is that they require more time and effort and need to be maintained regularly. Not sure how many people want that. The nice thing about FB or LI is that you can ignore it for weeks at a time.

[valerie]

HI,

I have a Ning network that I use for a business concept called NetworkShrub. It takes the hub ideas that you described and applies it to a local business directory of services. You can read about it in the site forum attachments. Now that Ning allows commercial social networks, businesses models should proliferate.

by the way, have you explored the network for educators called Tapped In? It is at
http://www.tappedin.org and is free to all ed groups but does not allow commercial activity within the network. However, its technology and approaches are a model that I find in private educational networks purchased by school districts.

[Seni Thomas]

Matt,

100 % agree. However, the fact of the matter is that social networks are no different from any other media in the sense that they all must fragment to remain relevant.

Some thoughts here:

http://senithomas.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/why-all-media-platforms-must-fragment/

[KwangErn]

Exactly why deviantART survives! Not to mention a plethora of forums that acts like a SNS. It is something way before Web 2.0 ;) Also a reason why Friendster failed miserably, and so will Facebook if they don't do anything about it. Ning is on the right track, a good one in fact.

If Yahoo! acquires Ning, imagine what they can do. ;)