tonygoodson

Social Network Software doesn't work

The failure of the Social Network Sites
This is a great weblog entry by Gary Murphy on Social Network Software, and it's attracted some good comments, including mine!
Gary totally gets it, and I think, he's a man ahead of his time, on what it's all about.
the failure of the social network sites

And yes, I do think they will fail, it's inevitable. Whether by intentional design or by blind emulations, these new black-book stop-shops all share several dubious characteristics: they are not social networks, only flat-taxonomy directories of questionnaire replies, and badly designed questionnaires at that. because they do not interoperate, because they cannot share data or interchange or allow identity migrations, they are essentially anti social, building protectionist walls around people (called 'clubs' or 'communities' but really meaning the opposite) they don't work. So why don't they work? Because they are not social networks.

Weak Links in Linked In

Gary completely changed my view of Networking with this entry a few months ago

Leaving Ecademy

I'd better be careful what I write now, because the girls at work might be reading this.
Mind you, if there's one thing worse than having something bad said about you, it's having nothing at all written about you. People love to see their name in lights!!

I've cancelled my PowerNetworking subscription to Ecademy, which is UK based online Business/Social Network. Here in Australia, I don't see the value of it, and as Client/Buyer instead of a Supplier, I seem to have even less incentive and time for it.

Social Networking software, I have my doubts about. I was excited at first with the potential, but somehow the spirit is lost. Well in the case of Ecademy for me, it's lost. And yet there is still a need of online networking. For recommendations of gardners, plumbers, builders, in your local area. For people with common interests to discuss things and form groups and friendships. But somehow through the "Social Networks" online, I don't observe it working that well, unless people physically meet up.

I think it's early days on the Internet, and things will change and improve, but not yet!!
That won't stop me addictively having a look places like Ecademy to see how they're going on.

Does Social Software Matter?

No!! There's a fantastic piece by David Weinberger on Does Social Software Matter? (plus comments which lead all over the place)

....social software of the Friendster/LinkedIn sort necessarily get social relationships wrong:
First, social relationships aren’t transitive: If A knows B who knows C who knows D, there is no sense in which A knows C much less D. We do, however, have a social convention for first degree relationships: A is entitled to ask B for an introduction to C. But not to D.
......real social networks are always implicit. The ones constructed explicitly are always — yes, always — infected with a heavy dose of social bullshit. It’s like thinking that the invitation list for your wedding actually reflects your circle of friends and relatives. No, you had to invite Barry-the-Boozer because he’s your cousin and you couldn’t invite Marsha because then you’d have to invite her husband Larry-the-Ass-Grabber and her daughter Erin-the-Snot-Flinger. Explicitly constructed social networks not only lack the differentiation that makes relationships real, they are falsehoods built to reinforce spectral relationships and to avoid ending shaky ones.

Absolutely spot on. There's something about this Social Software which is phoney, and David Weinberger describes it succinctly. Interesting, that Julian Bond, developer of Ecademy, comments on the article. I'm thinking of leaving Ecademy, because though good, I'm not happy with the quality of the content, or the fact that I'm remote to the meetings which go on in the UK. And here's another reason with suggestions as why Social Software isn't working, Finding The Ebay of Social Capital

And there's a second entry from David Weinberger, Ideas For Social Software, and funnily enough, someone else in the UK contacted me with a similar idea, of how can you really make friends or recommend a local service over the Internet. The problem is, it gets corrupted by things like this,

May I have an endorsement from you please for my work on building up ****** since 1998?
****** would like you to endorse the work you do or did together, with ******* holding the position: ****** at ******.
An endorsement is a short public comment about one of ****** positions, which will appear on ****** profile at LinkedIn. It's an ideal way to help ****** make professional contacts.
This isn't a real endorsement, it's someone hunting down recommendations and then using it for their own devices. It's a scattergun approach that will appear to create an endorsed person, but I think it's false.

I was a great supporter of Networking and Social Software but I'm beginning to become a dissenter. I think it works for some types of things (like MeetUp for a common interest), or for some types of people (who play a large numbers game), but for most of us, if you want to get at the real social networks, you’re going to have to figure them out from the paths that actual feet have worn into the actual social carpet.

Oh and one other thing, my copy of Small Pieces Loosely Joined arrived from Amazon today.

Buying and Selling the Little Black Book

More from our editors Mmmm, I'm beginning to doubt all this Social Software stuff. I thought it would be the next big thing and would work, but there's a kinda magic missing in e-networking.

Friends Reunited

Friends Reunited - About Us I was just surfing thinking of something to write today, and I had a quick look at FriendsReunited. I'm struck by how few new names are being added to the schools I was at, as well as no growth at the Workplaces, and I don't see any names for where I lived as a kid. I'd love to look at the mathematics for the growth of FriendsReunited, and how it's looking recently.
I'm beginning to wonder if people really do "Network" or is it more that events happen through people and with the benefit of hindsight we call it "Networking". It's a shame that FriendsReunited seems to have peaked, and I guess there's less activity than there was, but I don't know that for sure.
And the one pattern I've noticed that happens time and time again, is that each contact with someone lasts for 3 emails! Why is that?

The Connectors

Wired 11.11: The Connectors An interesting article, it's not quite who you know and how you network but identifying the main nodes of influence, who in some cases may be well hidden.

As it turns out, close friends are great for road trips, intimate dinners, and the occasional interest-free loan, but they suck for job leads and blind dates - they know the same people you do. In other words, it's not so much who you know, but who you vaguely know. Granovetter called the phenomenon "the strength of weak ties." He had discovered the human node.
This isn't new I've read it before but it's worth a reminder.