More Online Communities
March 11th, 2008
I am a member of MySpace, Facebook, The Applied Improv Network, LinkedIn, Behance, The SWOM, Friendster, Orkut… there are probably more that I don’t remember. I sign in to Facebook pretty much every day, MySpace every week or so, and the rest… well… the phrase “once in a blue moon” comes to mind.
Two of those communities are created by a program called Ning, which allows you to create your own online community for free, which is pretty cool at first blush. But then I started to think about it. How many online social networks does the world really need? Within MySpace and Facebook (and probably all the rest) you can create groups around anything from your political candidate to your theatre company (insert shameless plug here) to “I like to stick my leg out from under the covers when it gets too hot.” Through these mega communities, we are already finding an awful lot of ways to connect around things we care about. So do we really need to create a whole separate community on Ning (for example) for people who like to stick their legs out from under the covers when it gets too hot? How many usernames, logins and profile pictures can we logically manage before we forget our real names entirely?
I leave my uber question to you: What should be the goals/attributes/missions/activities/etc. of a community that actually warrants a dedicated online venue?
Other posts by Jennifer.
Rob Williams says:
I, too, am awaiting a viable way to connect all of these things together. One thing I’ve written about is that I think the inbox will remain the hub for all of these connections, but it’s just so scattered right now.
One way I look at it all is that each serves it’s own purpose. LinkedIN is professional networking. Facebook is more about friendships. One application we’re trying for Ning is to have a family website. We’ve used Yahoo Groups and it’s been great for family communications (one email address to copy everyone, calendar email reminders for birthdays and anniversaries). Ning seems to be the next step from that.
But each has it’s place. I just wish there was a better way to consolidate this stuff.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:00 amEvan says:
Successful online communities are usually a reflection of off-line communities that already exist. Facebook is a great example. You were already keeping track of your closest pals. You already had a network, a “community,” of friends and acquaintances. Facebook just took that crop and added fertilizer.
What’s interesting to me are the people with 500+ “friends.” I don’t think that’s possible. No one can keep track of that many friends in the real world. So I wonder if the technology is actually helping people expand what’s possible (like a bionic brain) or if there would be some value in limiting your number of friends to at or around 150.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:07 amlinkerjpatrick says:
Before a lot of these mega social networks like Myspace, Facebook and Linkenin came online I had already been active in two communities where I spent a lot of time. The first one revolved around a program I discovered in my early days on the Internet called, Terragen. Most of the interaction revolved around a e-mail list that started on the OneList service that was eventually aquired by Yahoo and became Yahoo groups. branching off from that several fans and talented people also created fan site and contests. While it has cooled off somewhat it’s still an active community.
The other significant community I became a part of was the Myst fan community. At that time it was at it’s height it was centered around a message board called, Rivenguild and an e-mail list called, The Lyst. When both Rivenguild and the Lyst shut down the fan based took over and like the mythological Hydra Monster many more web sites, forums sprung up to continue the discussion.
To this day these two niche products and their online communities mean a lot to me for the depth and breath of the conversation and deep friendships that developed.
I find as good as Facebook and Linkedin (the two mega-communities I am most active with) are they seems to have very little interaction among the members except on a surface level. I also visit Facebook and to a lesser extent Linkedin daily but I’m never their for long. Glad I am reestablishing old friendship and adding to the value of my local networks but they kind of pale in comparison to other niche communities that grow have a passion for products or movements.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:44 amMatt says:
A niche social network may be better than a mega-network if the community is sharing different kinds of information. Some of my favorite communities exchange different things, within different structures:
March 11th, 2008 at 11:29 amSlickdeals.net - very time sensitive data, strict rules around how to format posts with heavy moderation.
Flicker - shares photos, not text. Layout shows the photos and comments, without a lot of distraction.
lostpedia.com - info is neatly organized into sections, users abide by the rules and discussion stays on topic.
It’s possible to cover these things on Facebook or MySpace, but not as easy.
Adwarf says:
Although I have found value in LinkedIn through matching up business colleagues, I don’t understand the rest of them. The world wide web is a social network itself.
I have a web page. My friends know the URL. On it, there are links to web pages for other friends.
Social networks are becomeing brands to wear and show off. Oooh, Jame’s has the new Nike’s AND a sweet new Facebook Widget.
Have your networks. I’ll keep things simple. And, thanks to DST, I’ll be taking my dogs for an ice long walk tonight and networking with the ultimate social network: my neighborhood.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:43 amKristasphere says:
Jennifer:
I’ve had the same “angst” with social sites. I think among the interactive community, there tends to be this hysteria around new tools because people don’t want to “miss out on the next hot thing”. MySpace I use to keep in contact with my younger college-aged cousins because its their primary communication portal. I’m on facebook, but now that I am I sometimes wonder what the big deal is.
I joined Fast Company’s new site, which they’ve morphed into a social media center. Its kind of like going to a big city where you don’t know anyone though. Overwhelming and you don’t know your way around.
That said, maybe niche communities such as the ones you can create on Ning have merit, because they have a purpose. I also think forums are looked at as so 1995, but many are thriving. I challenge you to find one that has better participation than http://www.okayplayer.com, which is a fan site for the band The Roots, as well as affiliated artists such as Erykah Badu, Common, and so on. They are way ahead of the curve on interacting with their fans. It is truly a model for success, check it out.
Good post. I plan to write in more depth on Fast Company’s site, because I think it has some merit.
Thanks for saying what a lot of us I’m sure are thinking.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:28 pmJennifer says:
Adwarf… I just have to say… Amen!
March 11th, 2008 at 1:36 pmJenny says:
sometimes i think about how many usernames and passwords i have all over cyberspace. it’s kind of unnerving…i don’t even remember them all. but so many websites make you sign up to view them (which i usually don’t). it’s kind of annoying.
March 12th, 2008 at 7:11 amDoctorK says:
I think is very good more and more social comunities, but i will need another u/p, this sucks.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pmDavid Burn says:
OpenID is meant to solve the login issues, but it won’t solve the spread too thin problem. Ning is a good idea in theory, but for me, that’s where it ends. The last thing I want right now is to join another online “community.” And there’s no way I’m going to ask my friends to do so.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:22 amking says:
another social networking is x-overprofiles.com/
I think we could say we don’t need all those networking site but If we look at it that way thenwe should also asked why do we need all those brands of clothes, why do we have different banks, schools, why doo we need this website which is also a form of blog.
I think we should be open minded to all that comes our way. If we don’t like them we don’t use them. It is all about preference. But if we like to check different ideas then maybe we should check all o them and see what they offer
March 30th, 2008 at 9:12 am