/Big Question/ Social networking
24/07/2007 | Filed under Discover > Big Question
The argument over who is responsible for content posted on the net isn’t a new one, but the recent furore surrounding the posting of a HD-DVD crack on Digg has reignited debate. This month, we ask our panel of industry hotshots where they stand on the subject of online accountability.
Interactive media
Paul Dawson
Conchango
Actually, it’s the rise in professional social networks that interests me a little more. LinkedIn is a professional social network that’s been around for a while – at least six years, I think – and seems to be taking a real stranglehold. I keep my profile up to date, but I can’t say I’ve ever seriously used it to get new business or a job. But I keep it going just in case. You should never undervalue the potential of a good network, even if you don’t know when or why you’ll need it. I guess the most interesting aspect of it is simply “who knows who I know?” – seeing the connections between people you never knew knew each other is quite fascinating.
Like all social networks, though, the loyal user base will think of moving on if they over-commercialise it. There’s a hardcore team of headhunters and recruiters that seem to be using it, and by linking up with them, you’re unwittingly giving them access to your network. If this continues and becomes more problematic for people, they’ll drift away and find something else to use (“MySpace 4 Business”, perhaps?). The owners of the site need to be careful. Social networkers may be loyal, but only while things are good. If they don’t like what you’re doing, they’ll go somewhere else. Just plot the migration of users from MySpace to Bebo after Google took over!
Paul heads the user experience, design, branding and digital strategy team at Conchango, one of the UK’s top interactive agencies
Media & PR expert
Tim Gibbon
Elemental Communications
I definitely love them. However, they’re not exactly new, are they? I first used online communities more extensively in 1991 at university. Believe it or not, initially, it was for study and research. Then you tap into the social aspects of it all and realise how email and these groups can be an incredibly interesting playground. After graduating and returning from travelling (1997), I was lucky enough to be employed to work for a company that wanted to reach out to audiences online.
Newsgroups, MSN, Topica, Yahoo Groups and great applications such as instant messengers (particularly ICQ) and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) opened the web up, and it became apparent to me how communications had certainly changed for the better, and forever. Therefore, the media interest is somewhat late to the party, because these environments have been thriving for years and always will. It’s marketing technology and the platforms that have changed (particularly video), creating dynamic and incredibly sticky and addictive environments. Due to the nature of the work we do and the environments that we immerse ourselves in, I’m a member of numerous networks. They all have their own flavour, so I like different networks for different reasons. At the moment, I’m finding Facebook very appealing because it has a different vibe about it. It’s clinical (by this, I mean no clutter), simple and quite an interesting platform to work with. Advertising isn’t as rife in Facebook and doesn’t engulf the community as it has done so with others. Although, as it continues to grow in popularity with the mainstream audience, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
You know that a social network’s dynamic will change when you have news channels such as BBC Breakfast featuring them extensively, and the presenters talking about their profiles. We equate social networks to clubs and most clubs have a short shelf life. Clubs (and social networks) are only cool as long as the cool people hang out there. When “every man and his dog” try to be cool, the early adopters move on to the next cool club and there aren’t many clubs that stand the test of time, especially if they don’t evolve. There’s much to witness with how social networks will develop before we have an idea of the direction they may take. Like them or not, they’ll always be around.
Tim Gibbon is founder and director of Elemental Communications, a media communications consultancy that caters for traditional and digital media
Hosting specialist
Neil Barton
Hostway UK
A lot of people are using Facebook, MySpace and Flickr at the moment, and content-sharing sites such as YouTube are seeing a lot of user hits. Many companies are understandably wary of such sites because of the potential for security problems and loss of staff productivity. As the complexity of such sites increases, so does the potential for abuse, particularly with the increasing trend for sites to use third party plug-in applications that may or may not pose a security risk.
I use social networking sites occasionally. They’re particularly useful for organising drinks, parties and events and then uploading photos and videos from the night. Also, because of the geographically neutral status of the online world, Facebook is also useful for staying in touch with friends from abroad.
I’ll be very interested in seeing whether the usage of such sites stays constant or begins to decline in the next few months, because it does seem that “friendship management” is becoming the norm. Almost everyone I know is on at least one social network, and you can feel out of the loop if you’re not on the right one. However, I do strongly believe that, although the popularity and complexity of these online communities will undoubtedly continue to grow, you can’t beat real life.
Neil is the director of Hostway UK, which provides hosting services in the UK and abroad
Applications guru
Roger Greene
Ipswitch
I still prefer the old fashioned ones: going to parties and events, meeting people and having conversations. Online social networks don’t work for me for several reasons. First, I find it much easier to get a sense of someone in person. So much of communication is through tone of voice and motion, and that isn’t captured online.
Second, personal, spoken referrals are much more valuable than assuming that someone thinks highly of a person on their social network.
Third, in the case of recruiting, generic referrals, even if written at length, don’t map to the specific job well enough. So I suppose social networks can be a way to get leads of people you might want to consider for jobs, but I find it more effective to call people up and talk to them to ask who they might know. For us, asking employees and colleagues for referrals is more effective than using social networking sites.
Fourth, so many people are connected through social networks that, at some point, it ceases to be meaningful that someone is connected with someone else, even if with only one degree of separation. For example, these days I tend to accept most LinkedIn requests to be polite. Apparently, there’s a natural limit for the number of people with whom one can have a real connection (see Dunbar’s number: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar’s_number). With rare exceptions of extreme and energetic extroverts, when a person’s online connections mushrooms to hundreds or thousands, those connections don’t have much significance.
Some of this is undoubtedly generational. People growing up with online social networks may find them more useful, and they will evolve and improve. I just think they’re still in beta.
Roger Greene is founder and CEO of Ipswitch, developers of innovative IT software
Technology expert
Graham Cluley
Sophos
I may sound like a grumpy old man, but my teeth chill whenever someone mentions the “wonders” of social networking. I’m sure it’s great if you’re backpacking around Asia and want to share the photos with mum and dad back home, or if you want to get back in touch with old classmates to explore a teenage crush, but surely it’s more healthy to “connect” with people in the real world rather than live your life online? What alarms me is the number of people who seem to spend hours every day basically gazing at their own navel, writing personal blog entries that no one is ever going to want to read, rather than getting some sunshine in their diet.
There’s a serious concern here, though, with people rapidly adopting the “Oprah” philosophy of letting it hang out online: there’s a danger that identity thieves and stalkers may find out more about you than you were really comfortable to share.
After years of abstinence, a colleague recently urged me to join LinkedIn, the business network that supposedly connects you with like-minded people in industry that may help you in your worklife. That’s the only social network I’m a member of at the moment, but I’m still not convinced that I’ll find a real use for it other than showing off how many “connections” I’ve managed to make in an act of virtual willy waving.
Graham is a senior technology consultant at Sophos, a globally recognised security solutions company
Content specialist
Siim Vips
Modera
With so many social networks around and daily invitations to join one or the other, it’s inevitable to be registered to more than one. For me, it’s Facebook and hi5. The latter was probably the most popular when it came out and I started using it because I had so many invites from my friends. It’s also user friendly and its privacy settings are rather low, therefore enabling you to view profiles that are not within your network. However, the site is dominated by annoying pop-ups, and it’s highly unstable. Despite its flaws, I’m quite comfortable using hi5 and I like the way the site feels and the way you interact with it.
It took me a while to get into the swing of using Facebook and, once again, I got into it because of invites from my friends and because it’s the most popular social network today. Unlike hi5, Facebook’s privacy settings are rather high, therefore stopping you from viewing profiles randomly unless you’ve been added as a friend. I don’t like this feature because I feel that the whole point of a social network is to be able to navigate through profiles without restrictions. Facebook enables you to upload as many pictures as you want and it also allows you to tag your photos. The site is constructed in a way that enables you to share your thoughts openly via your page and to have “wall to wall” conversations. I’m not a fan of this feature and I’m yet to feel totally comfortable with Facebook.
Siim Vips is a software development and content management specialist at Modera, a software company specialising in CMS development
Project manager
Ane-Marie Peter
on-IDLE
Facebook.com is perhaps the most involved social network out there at this time, and offers its users a sense of security. I would rather chat with people who share my love of Harry Potter in a Facebook group than talk to an anonymous person with god only knows what agenda. People are more likely to provide real pictures, names and information on their Facebook profile than other networks.
If you’re unfamiliar with Facebook (as there are so many out there), this social network narrows down the people you’re in contact with from a global scale to niche and/or regional groups. The community atmosphere is something that other networks, such as MySpace, are still lacking.
Facebook is an all-inclusive network that combines many features from other networks in addition to extra features such as Facebook messages. The Facebook “status” is also quite a laugh – for example, “Karl is suffering” or “Matt is not loving the Sunday night feeling”. This feature is similar to the Twitter social networks. Photo albums are also a great part of the Facebook experience. I love to email links of my albums to family who aren’t in the Facebook network, as well as leave personal albums for my Facebook friends to view and comment on.
A colleague, Gavin O’Carrol, has just launched the beta version of Rememble.com, a sort of digital clothes line of memories. It offers all the expected social networking features, but you can also store text messages, emails, music and video in an intuitive interface over a timeline of your life. This is one new social network to watch.
Ane-Marie Peter is the co-founder of on-IDLE and has a background in business management, communication strategies and technology
Comments
Mathew / 25/07/2007 / 03:10 / http://www.mbwebdesign.co.uk
Facebook is the enemy of productivity.
Matt Stevens / 26/07/2007 / 12:17 / http://www.insidemediagroup.co.uk
Social networks have their uses, but it seems that every new website is starting to incorporate these features - signing up for a profile, filling in all your information again and again... if there was a single point of reference - a global online profile, it would allow sites to use shared content & save the user time. Maybe that's going off on a tangent - my main concern is that the content of the internet, always heralded as a 'great resource', will inevitably become diluted, and as a result, factual information become distorted and hence irrelevant. I think this is more a general issue with user-generated content, but one to bare in mind when considering social networking features when building a site. I'm of the opinion that the user should have reasonable limitations. You wouldn't sell a book with blank pages...
There are positives, as your feature mentions, such as allowing people to share their experiences, and catch up with old friends, etc. An additional plus where sites like Myspace are concerned is the ability to share music as a recording artist, which as we all know has helped musicians come to the fore, and also made direct contact with their target audience/fanbase possible.
Anyway... an interesting feature. I don't think social networks will be old news for some time, and so we will all have to embrace the technology and get on with it!
Emma / 30/07/2007 / 16:43 / http://eduspaces.net/emmadw
I've got quite heavily involved with using Social Networking/ blogging with students. I'm really pleased to see that you have Elgg in this month's mag, as I feel that it's got a lot of features - which others sites lack. For me, the really interesting bit is that when you have a blog (which, unless it's well hidden, Facebook doesn't seem to have), it's possible to have total granularity about who can see what.
I know that most Social Networking sites now allow you to have "Friends" / "Public" etc., for posts, but, I've not found anything that has the power of Elgg - i.e. to have the ability to post a blog post so that just a particular community that you're a member of, or a particular group [which can be formed as you go] can see, etc.
I also like the fact that it's got the option to have community blogs as either a blog view (when you can see all the posts - with the comments hidden, but the most recently posted post at the top), or a forum view, when you just see the title - in order of most recently commented. Once you've opened it, though, you get to see the original post & the comments at the same time. (Rather than the blog view, when you have to open the post to see the comments).
As an educator, one advantage Elgg has, if we're going to get students to use it for learning, as employers block social networking services as such, one that is installed within the University is far less likely to be blocked.
james doody / 07/08/2007 / 14:01
The main problem with all of the latest Social Networking Sites is that because they offer 'free services' for all of their members, they need to constantly hype up their own 'cool status' for the benefits of their only source of revenue, Paid Advertising. But this 'cool status' can also backfire, as members of any Social Networking Site, including Advertisers, can instantly disown a certain site, if a new and 'ultra sexy' site is now attracting the 'in-crowd'.
The most important factor for owners of any Social Networking Site to understand is the need to develop the most 'relevant profile' for all of its members, over the flaky 'cool status' model. But so far there is not one Social Networking Site that has tried to understand how important it is to explore this 'relevant profile' model.
Plus not one Social Networking Site has created a 'killer app' service that will forever bind us into that Site. Think of Google with Search, Microsoft with MSN Messenger, Skype with VoIP, or Yahoo with Yahoo Mail.
I am currently working on a project that is addressing these problems which I have just mentioned.
Social Networking Sites are here to stay, but so far I feel that there is not one Social Networking Site that can make its members remain loyal to that brand, no matter what other Sites turn up in the future.
I honestly believe that I have developed a brand for every web user that can also give them the most 'relevant profile' to use over the internet. Interested? Email me at jamesdvip@hotmail.co.uk for more info.
Rifquah / 17/11/2007 / 13:45
I've just become part of the social networking era. I've been told to learn as much as possible about it and where its going to. I agree that its much better to meet people in the flesh than seeing them online.
But in the same breath, the online personality can very well be your alter ego.
I'm very interested to see where we go to with this and how it may change the concept of socialising.
What if 2020 becomes the era where you child is part of a social network for home tutoring - teaching and learning online! Is that where we headed? Where our worlds are all wrapped up into net and there's no need or desire to want to leave our homes?
Neil Burton / 10/01/2008 / 00:22 / http://enterprise.snockles.com
At Web Spiders we have been busy working on a new Social Network platform called Snockles Enterprise. This is specifically aimed at use within large organisations and integrated with mobile phone technology to create an "always in touch".
I strongly believe this is the future and rather than organisations blocking the use of these platforms will embrace them. For example wouldn't it be better finding a person in your company to allocate to a project based not only on their qualifications but also their personality, interests and recommendations from other people?
Take a peak of this at:
http://enterprise.snockles.com
Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
