Want to create a successful social networking site?

Here’s 3 things worth keeping in mind:

1. Pay attention
2. Be creative
3. Be exclusive

This article focuses on purely the social aspects which work for the leaders in social networking right now. I’ll also point out some features of these sites which I think aren’t working as well as they were originally intended.

Thoughts on Facebook vs. MySpace…

Recently I received an email from Facebook letting me know that someone had commented on the same photo of a friend which I had recently commented on. I’ll let that sink in for a second…

With all the buzz around social networking sites, Facebook has a good reputation for very good reasons. Specifically, Facebook is dedicated to truly developing the real aspects of online social networking, and they do this by paying attention. They pay attention to what matters and is socially relevant.

Their products are controlled and well thought out. They think about whether a feature is socially relevant (cross friend photo commenting notification - c.f.p.c.n for short) and invent ways to make networking more social (feeds). Let’s compare this to something like… I don’t know, “My Bulletin Space.” This thing is like that spot in the corner of the garage that collects all the dirt and crap that you don’t ever manage to sweep up, covered in dead bugs, probably bird crap, cigarette butts, mud, oil and some garbage and also dead grass and leaves. It’s like an attempt to do what Facebook’s feeds do sort of but it ends up being just a running board of junk surveys and queer chain mails.

Thoughts on Digg.com…

Digg.com is another great resource. One specific feature that they have which is absolutely genius, is when you comment on an article that someone posted, you have to wait 60 seconds before it’s accepted. This means you can’t navigate away or close the browser, so you’re left with only about 900 other comments on which to read and formulate more comments for.

The fact about commenting - period - is that for a site like Digg, user participation is the key “product” really, which is in turn supplied (for free) by people like you and I who for whatever reason justify the expense of our time with the reasoning that it’s important to “have a voice.” In reality, SN sites capitalize on the fact that most people have nothing better to do with their time, are self centered and being involved in debating a current affair is an interesting alternative to the classic wasteful pastime of watching television. I admit that staying on top of things and getting involved in an intelligent conversation is a far better use of time than many other wasteful activities.

Do we spend our time wisely?…

From the perspective of an entrepreneur, or anyone else who values their time, this type of behavior seems absurd. (I don’t reserve much time for personally talking to an awful lot of people unless it’s business or if I’m planning on meeting them in person.) Luckily, most people don’t think like entrepreneurs and once they’re home from their day job, the rest of their time is spent rest, relaxation and socializing/entertainment.

If a Digg post could be visualized, it might go something like this… imagine the crowd on New Years Eve at Time Square in Manhattan… spontaneously developing around every suave looking guy that can pitch a clever story in under 3 seconds …and everyone in the crowd wants to tell him something …and then they see another guy and run over there and talk to him …etc.

It doesn’t seem like a very productive use of time does it? Masses of people running around everywhere, switching focus every 0.001 seconds. Regardless, Digg has managed to provide a unique combination of elements with which this type of addictive behavior is made possible. If only they could leverage their audience for advertisers as Facebook has…

It’s interesting to watch how Facebook is leveraging it’s traffic with it’s new application feature. It’s nice how the model isn’t monetized (it’s free for all), it’s just another way to attain a larger and more unique supply of targeted traffic which is really what they sell (to adversiters.) It’s nice to see that amidst all the record-setting buyout offers, criticism and volatile changes in SN culture, Facebook has been able to hold steady, remain innovative and become the leader without “selling-out” and at the same time not losing sight of the users even though they are only indirectly their customers.

To summarize…

Digg is - immediately relevant. Even if new people are “digging” content that’s x years old, for the most part, the content is fresh. What sets it apart is it’s exponential growth factor which is getting the attention of companies/people who want to use it to market their product/content to a very targeted audience. Their users are very tech savvy though I speculate that their simple site design + tremendous growth factor will cause the average knowledge/skill/education level of it’s users to come back down towards where the general public is over time.

Digg’s prized features:
- unique rating algorithm
- close relationship with and response to users

MySpace is - out of control and unfocused. It’s a haven for spammers which they have been recently very unable to control. Maybe some people like being “friended” by 900 hot babes every day - I do not. Their saving grace is that they reached critical mass a long time ago. EVERYONE knows about or uses MySpace.

MySpace’s prized features:
- Critical mass

Facebook is - classy and cutting edge. It’s also not even half as intrusive with ads as MySpace, yet they are about 10x more desirable than MySpace (as a company) and they do it by 1) Paying attention 2) Being creative & 3) Being exclusive (at least at first.) They catered to the primary users of the internet (college students) and made it feel like a niche club. Their users are loyal, tech savvy and will thus make us of and promote the unique features Facebook has developed. They will create a foundation which Facebook will recognize and use to build cutting edge resources which will lock in their leadership position.

Facebook’s prized features:
- Loyal users
- Controlled environment with a sense of style & understanding of purpose
- Truly unique features:
- c.f.p.c.n. (see above)
- feeds
- tagging
- asking the right questions: “How do you know this person?” (asked when you add a friend or are added as a friend. Really emphasizes your connection to them)
- Technology:
- advertiser tools
- applications

My online portfolio is http://www.DennisPlucinik.com if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at dennis@dennisplucinik.com

---

If you like this article - link it!