There's no such thing as a "social network"

Paul Buchheit

Of course there are many things that people call "social networks", but that's more confusing than enlightening. The "social network" aspect of these products is just a mechanism, not the purpose, and their purposes are often more different than similar. It's like saying that something is a "Javascript". Many websites use Javascript, but hopefully the Javascript is only there in order to accomplish some other purpose. LinkedIn and Twitter, for example, both use Javascript and social networking mechanisms, but clearly they are very different products and have very different uses. Facebook likes to call itself a "social utility", but to me that's just as meaningless.

That said, there is something "social networky" that unites these otherwise-dissimilar "social networking" sites. The two features that seem to define the social network aspect of a product are:

1. Some kind of page or profile for each user. The contents of this page vary wildly, but it always includes a name and often a picture.
   
   
2. "Friend" links among the profile pages, which may or may not be bi-directional. These "friends" only sometimes correspond to real-life friends.
   

Those two features alone are very simple but also very useless. Real products need more functionality in order to somehow deliver value to their users. It is this other functionality that defines the real purpose of a product, not the "social network", which exists only to enable or enhance the core purpose.

So what ARE the purposes of these many "social networking" products? (in random order)

1. Enable people to send messages to their friends. This functionality basically defines email, which can be considered one of the earliest "social networks", though most email systems lack browsable profiles. Annoyingly, many other social networking products reimplement this function, with mixed results.
   
   
2. Enable people to send messages to non-friends. There are two aspects to this feature: discovery (finding the people) and control (preventing unwanted messages). Email is weak on both aspects, and for many people, this is one of the most useful features of products such as Facebook and LinkedIn (I can easily find and contact people that I don't know).
   
   
3. "Live" address/phone book. Sites like Facebook have fields for phone, email, etc, and since everyone maintains their own page, the information is generally up-to-date (vs the bad-old-world of everyone having to broadcast "please update your address books" every time they move).
   
   
4. Less private communication. Email and IM are often too private. Life would be much less interesting if all of our conversations took place one-on-one in closed rooms. Part of what makes parties, offices, and other social environments interesting is that we can observe other people interacting, overhear conversations, and often join-in. Features such as the "wall" create a kind of public or semi-public email, allowing our friends to overhear conversations. Twitter is often used as a public IM/chat.
   
   
5. Passive communication about my life. I don't want to interrupt or spam my friends every time I have some little bit of news, take some new pictures, or get a random thought, but I have no problem blogging or Twittering those things, or uploading to photo sharing sites (which all have social features now). Similarly, I enjoy seeing this information from my friends (but I wouldn't want them calling me on the phone to tell me about their lunch every day).
   
   
6. Passive sharing of non-personal content. I'll occasionally see an interesting or amusing web page and want to share it with friends. I used to put these things into my IM status, but now I add them to my FriendFeed. Email, Twitter, Facebook, and Digg/Reddit are also sometimes used for this purpose (though obviously Digg is less "friend" oriented).
   
   
7. Self expression. This is most prominent on MySpace, where user profiles are highly customizable and can have embedded music (which starts playing as soon as I visit the page). This behavior is very similar to decorating your house or bedroom in "real life" -- there seems to be some human instinct to define our identity through decorations, fashion, music, art, etc. Self expression is an element of all products which have browsable profiles, but on most sites identity is expressed more in terms of content (favorite movies on Facebook, job history on LinkedIn, tweets on Twitter, etc).
   
   
8. Background information. If I meet someone new (or am about to meet them), I sometimes checkout their Facebook or LinkedIn pages to learn more about their background, see if we have common friends, etc. Obviously this also ties in with self-expression and identity in more social settings -- people "friend" each other after meeting and their MySpace page (or whatever) becomes part of that "first" impression.
   
   
9. Dating. One of the earliest and still most popular uses of sites like MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, etc. It's less "explicit" than on dating sites, but by putting themselves online, people can see and be seen, plus get background info, see who their common friends are, etc. The Facebook newsfeed even tells us when friends break-up (or start dating).
   
   
10. Jobs. Job hunting and hiring are essentially the "professional" analog of dating and seem to work in somewhat similar ways.
    
    
11. Finding old friends. By enabling friend-of-friend and school class browsing, it's much easier to locate old friends, and therefore people do more of it. This also lets people track down old friends without appearing crazy (they can "bump" into them on classmates.com, or whatever -- no private detective needed).
    
    
12. Keeping in touch with "unclose" friends (related to "passive communication about my life"). It's fun to know what's going on with people who we've known in the past, even if we aren't close friends. Profile browsing and newsfeeds make this easier. This can also make unclose friends into closer friends, as we may coincidentally be in the same city at the same time, be attending the same events, or just start chatting.
    
    
13. "Micro-socializing" (I need a better term here). A lot of wall posts, poking, winking, commenting, Twittering, etc can go into the category. The comments on FriendFeed generally fall into this category as well -- someone shares a link or posts some photos, then they and their friends will end up chatting about it. This is somewhat analogous to the traditional "water-cooler" conversation.
    
    
14. Word-of-mouth recommendations. Shared links, news, Yelp reviews, some Twitters, and the like provide us with information about what our friends are doing. Word-of-mouth can be very powerful since we typically trust our friends much more than random people. The new Facebook "Beacon" advertising system is trying to use this effect to sell things.
    
    
15. General amusement for bored people. Clicking around on friends and friends-of-friends and even random people's pages can be kind of interesting. As sites provide more content (such as the links and videos on FriendFeed) or games (many popular Facebook apps are games) there will be even more of this.
    
    
16. Publishing. This especially applies to blogs, twitter, flickr, and the like, but being able to subscribe to the content produced by our favorite authors and artists as well as friends and family is very powerful for both the producer and the consumer.
    
    
17. Group sharing and socializing. This was traditionally done via mailing lists and that's the model behind Google/Yahoo Groups, but of course Facebook, Orkut and the like have have some basic group functionality too, and Ning seems to specialize in it by enabling each group to create their own social network.
    

Social Network Advertising's Promise

How much can social networks net?

Social networking is an Internet success story.

This year, 37% of the US adult Internet population used online social networking at least once a month. That figure will rise to 49% in 2011.

"The continued growth of social networking seems assured," says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report "Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage", "unless teens stop social networking as they become adults."

Don’t bet on that.

Currently, 70% of all US teens visit social network sites on a monthly basis.



"By 2011, one-half of all online adults and 84% of online teens in the US will use social networking each month," says Ms. Williamson. "There is little to suggest that this activity will go away."

When it comes to translating eyeballs into advertising revenues, eMarketer projects that worldwide online social network ad spending will grow from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.2 billion in 2008, 82%.



In the US, spending is projected to rise to $1.6 million in 2008, from $920 million in 2007.

"MySpace and Facebook together receive more than 70% of all US social network ad spending," says Ms. Williamson. "And they are hard at work to convince marketers to allot more of their budgets to social network advertising."

The advertising offerings of the two social network giants are becoming more diversified, and now include not only profile pages but search, display ads, widgets and more.

"But if social network marketing delivers on its promise of peer recommendations the flow of advertising dollars will turn into a flood," says Ms. Williamson.

eMarketer.com

Li Ka-shing buys Facebook stake

Online social network Facebook.com has closed a $60 million investment by Li Ka-shing through the billionaire Hong Kong tycoon's foundation, a source familiar with the deal confirmed on Monday

The source said the deal, which values Facebook on the same $15 billion terms as the stake Microsoft took in the fast-growing social network site in October, involves an investment by the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Li-backed companies such as Hutchison Whampoa and TOM Group were not involved, the source said.

The stake gives Li a 0.4 percent share of Facebook. Microsoft's holdings represent another 1.6 percent.

The All Things Digital blog, owned by Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co., reported the deal on Friday.

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment. Spokesmen for Hutchison and Li's foundation also declined to comment.

Earlier on Monday, TOM denied it had invested in Facebook after reports of the investment by Li, TOM's major shareholder, helped push its shares 48 percent higher in Hong Kong.

"There is speculation that Li's investment could translate into closer ties or a partnership between TOM and Facebook," an analyst with a U.S. investment bank said of TOM's leap. "But I believe it's too early to talk about any co-operations."

Founded in 1980, the Li Ka Shing Foundation has focused on funding a variety of health, education, and environmental projects in recent years.

But it also has taken stakes in various Internet projects, including a $45 million investment in May in Joost, the Internet television site founded by the co-founders of Skype.

Facebook opened the investment round to a variety of partners but only Microsoft and Li's foundation have participated, the source said.

Providence Equity Partners, a $21 billion media-focused private equity firm, looked at joining the latest round but walked away, said a second source familiar with those negotiations, citing the high valuation Facebook had sought.

In October, Microsoft announced its $240 million investment that valued Facebook at $15 billion. Facebook also agreed to let Microsoft buy an additional $260 million worth of shares should Facebook seek further capital.

In prior rounds dating back to 2004, Facebook has taken about $40.7 million from venture capital investors including PayPal co-founder and former CEO Peter Thiel along with Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital Partners.


© 2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Online Safety on MySpace and Other Social Networking Sites

Safety Tips for Social Networking

Social Networks or Online Communities have become an integral part of the lives of many teenagers today. There are some real dangers involved, as there are in off-line aspects of a young person’s life. But rather than attempting to deny access and participation in this form of online socializing, we suggest that with some common sense, open, calm dialogue, and simple guidelines, participation in an online community can be a safe and enriching experience. Here are our tips for making this happen (More information about social networking is available by scrolling down this page.):

For Parents:

1. We recommend a minimum age of 16 for participation in on online community. Generally, children younger than 16 are not mature enough to handle the opportunities and challenges of social networking.


2. Begin an open conversation about your teens' social networking experience. Try to establish a context for discussion that is not combative or accusing.


3. Create your own account on MySpace or another social network. Spend some time browsing the network's site. This will give you familiarity with the world that is so essential to your teen(s) and their friends and will facilitate future conversations.


4. If your child has an account, require that they show it to you. Periodically monitor/read it.


5. Set the expectation that only people they know in real life should be on their "friends" list.


6. Know your children's passwords, screen names and account information. This will enable you to view their pages even if they set their profile to "private". (Private profiles are accounts that can only be viewed by thers given explicit permission to view it. This is a double-edged sword, in that it means strangers [like sexual predators] don't have an easy way to learn about or harass the private account owner. However, it also means that without being granted access, parents and other adults in positions of authority or care-giving cannot view the online activity of the owner either.)


7. Remove online privileges if it becomes a problem. This is only as a last resort and keep it mind that a young person can establish an account and access it school, the library, or a friend's house. Clearly, open dialog and trust is best.


8. As another last resort, consider installing keystroke capturing software on your family computer from www.getnetwise.org. Again, this won't deal with your child's using computers away from home.


9. Talk with other parents, with teachers, and other adults who work with kids. Also, check out the links to other helpful websites below.

For Children:

1. Talk with your parents. Let them learn and understand the role of social networking in your life.


2. Never post anything you wouldn't want your parents, teachers, or future employers to see.
   


3. Never post personal information (phone number, E-mail or address) on the web. The same applies for your friends' information. Be aware that information you post could put you at risk of victimization


4. Never meet with anyone you first “met” online and tell your parent if anyone requests a meeting.


5. Only add people as friends if you know then in real life. Set privacy settings so that you have to approve people to be added as a friend.


6. Include your parents and other trusted adults as friends. If your parents do not have an account, give them access to your profile.

What is Social Networking ?

Social Networking is a term used to describe the fairly recent breed of websites, also referred to as online communities. These sites generally enable their subscribers to post a journal and various forms of media content, to generate and maintain relationships with other participants, and to engage in discussions around common interests with others. Some of the most popular social networks are in the U.S. are MySpace, Xanda, LiveJournal, BlackPlanet, MiGente, AsianAvenue, Bolt, Hi5, Facebook, and Friendster.

These sites are immensely popular with teens and young adults and have become an integral part of their lives, much like television was for their parents. Social networks or online communities offer great opportunities for self-expression, relational support, new experiences, helpful information and just plain fun.

What are risks?

Objectionable Content:
On many online communities, users post material that is not appropriate for children or that many parents would find objectionable. This can include obscene language, racist or violent text or images, and a wide range of sexual content including pornography.

Overexposure:
Parents need to be concerned not only with what their children might see and hear, but also what they may present. Teens can make unwise decisions about what they post online. This includes posting pictures of himself or herself or of friends in a sexually provocative or incriminating manner; publishing personal information that sexual predators could use to learn more about a child or their friends; or bragging about exploits (real or made-up) or making threatening and harassing remarks that could have negative consequences.

Contact with predators: Much publicity has been generated around sexual predators (mainly adults) looking for minors to exploit. There are such individuals who frequent online communities that teens use. Sometimes, these adults will pretend to be teens themselves, but often they will be quite clear about their age and intent.

Contact with other inappropriate adults and businesses: Various segments of the sex industry (legal and otherwise) have a presence on social networking sites, often to recruit customers and workers. Minors should not have direct contact with such sex professionals and organizations, but it does happen. In some cases, teens could become victims of sex-trafficking or be persuaded to provide sexually explicit pictures or video for pay.

Source