(Post) MBA Blog

Those that have had their ears to the ground may have picked up a new phenomenon on the Web grapevine lately - Online Social Networking (OSN) - like real-world networking, but, erm, online. I picked up on it a couple of months ago, although I remember the original prototype (Six Degrees) a few years back. Join the network and see how many people are between you and Kevin Bacon!

No sooner does blogging explode and blogger.com itself sell up to Google, (and Google announce an IPO), does a new phenomenon rise from the flames of the dot-com bubble like an overcooked Thanksgiving turkey, I meant phoenix! Yep, that's what I meant: rising like a phoenix.

The web never ceases to amaze me. The boundless optimism, the sheer energy devoted to finding new ways to help you:
a) make money by selling stuff or getting a better job
b) get a date
...and that's largely what it revolves around. This cheeses me off a little, but it won't stop me jumping on the bandwagon! I've paid my dues - I set up eVolunteer.org.uk a few years ago, so I can grab a piece of the action with a clear conscience!

So what is my take on this new area (sarcasm aside?):

What are the main uses?
As mentioned, making business connections and finding new friends (read: dates). At the moment this is purely B2C (remember that term?) but look forward to OSN being used as a knowledge management tool in the enterprise. And that's my prediction - you heard it here first! The three main uses are:
a) Searching out others with common interests, that ultimately you can sell to (tribe.net)
b) Searching out others who we may like (friendster.com)
c) Searching out others who may be able to help us (linkedin.com)

How will they make money?
Unlike others, I think they can make money, a lot of money. I think this field will exhibit significant barriers to entry once people are locked in to one or two sites. a $15-30 p.a. subscription fee will be more than acceptable to those making new business and romantic contacts, for sure, such as in the case of friendster.com and linkedin.com. Others, like Tribe.net will make money by charging people to sell things online, in the form of classified ads.

Where is the value?
The value is in trust, and that's a huge proposition on the net. The value is trust because we are more likely to trust other who are themselves demonstrably trusted by others. The cultivation of a personal OSN shows a number of things:
a) It shows you are not a random, untrusted source
b) It allows friends and colleagues to write about you in the form of testimonials
c) It provides the possibility that you are actually connected to me through a mutual friend
...all this provides trust, which makes the money-making propositions on the part of the main OSN sites all the more realistic.

So, for those that want to learn more about OSN, and there will be many of you especially of you're going into anything remotely innovation oriented, you can flick through these articles...
Social Networking Press:
http://www.redherring.com/ (needs free registration)
http://webreprints.djreprints.com/866641400895.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/12/01/globaloffice.biz.web/index.html
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7307344.htm
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,61227,00.html
http://www.tribe.net/tribe/servlet/template/pub%2CAbout.vm?section=AboutPress&article=Press001
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=39344

You can also take a look at these main OSN sites:
Social Networking Sites:
http://www.tribe.net:
aimed largely at hedonists who want to find each other, as far as I can tell.
http://www.myspace.com:
free disk space realigned to cash in on OSN.
https://www.linkedin.com/network:
make contacts with people who don't want to know you! yay!
http://www.ryze.com/:
Ryze helps you expand your business network
http://www.Itsnotwhatyouknow.com:
how true, how true...
http://www.friendster.com/index.jsp:
For dating or making new friends. Let's face it, for dating.
http://www.meetup.com:
Meetup is a free service that organizes local gatherings about anything, anywhere. In England, we call it "Going to the Pub".
http://www.ecademy.com/:
Connecting Business People in an Exchange of Trusted Networks
http://www.everyonesconnected.com/:
Meet people through friends you already know whether to date or just have fun
http://www.hi5.com (acquired http://www.sona.com):
Meeting new people, connecting with friends, and sharing ideas
http://www.ringo.com/:
The new, easy way to meet people, acquired by...
http://web.tickle.com/:
Learn surprising things about your friends » See who they know » Meet new people


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