Learning to Share - February 19th, 2010
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Learning to Share It shouldn’t take much reflection to realize that sharing and searching are two different activities. Much like shopping and cooking. They might lead to the same ultimate end (landing on a web site in the first instance, or eating something in the second), but the activities themselves are not interchangeable. So while much was made of the report by “Compete” that showed Facebook as the “top source” of web links, that really doesn’t impact what’s going on with google. If you’re looking for a new dentist, or trying to find that book you’ve been meaning to read, you could definitely try out a social networking site to find your answers. But a simple web search will be faster and more immediate. At least for now! It’s often stated that the pace of innovation is always increasing; that technology is evolving at an ever faster rate. For example, comparing the power and functionality of a suite of office software from ten years ago and from today, you’d find tremendous advances in terms of graphics, storage, interconnectivity, etc. In fact, in many cases, ten year old software wouldn’t even work on a new computer. But televisions, toothbrushes, and even automobiles have remained consistently “backwards compatible” as have many other daily aspects of life such as health care, restaurants, and shelter. So while your friends might be spending increasing amounts of time in online social media pursuits like Farmville and Mafia Wars, chances are you’ll still be running into them at the gas station or the supermarket. Home Invasion is not usually associated with social media, although this week the hot topic has been all about the sarcastic website “Pleaserobme.com” which points out that anyone online talking about their whereabouts is exposing the emptiness of their house. While I share a lot of concerns about the reduced value of privacy and personal information in the 21st Century, I have to wonder whether the crime statistics would bear this out. After all, are your typical burglars the type of people who would stalk you on line? Personally, I’m more worried about some gang in Russia stealing my identity online than I am about one of my neighbors making off with my television. Anyone can START a social network, but make no mistake about it — big businesses are the ones that are succeeding at it. The issue, of course, is the “network effect.” In order for a site to be of social value, lots and lots of people have to participate (and no matter the platform, it’s expensive and time-consuming to run). This is even true for a Facebook fan page — my friend Nate Towne says it takes about 3,000 fans before users start generating enough content to get things going on their own. That’s why it’s a VERY big deal that Google just jumped into the game this week. Launching the new “Buzz” platform, they’re probably the only company out there that could waltz into the marketplace and throw down a ready-made social network. And it’s not because they have the money, it’s because they have the gazillion current users of their e-mail system to tap into. In fact, they’re already being compared to such established juggernauts as Twitter and Facebook. |
