DISQUS

Joe Suh · 2 years ago

Good post. While I'm excited about possible social network interoperability, federated identity, and OpenID, I just don't see it happening in 2007. Myspace will try to keep its garden walled IMHO.

Concerning micro-niche, there's a good discussion on GigaOM about endemic versus demographic. They were implying social networks conducive to endemic advertising (ex. cars, movies, dogs) will win out over demographics (ex moms, teens, Asians).

It'll be interesting to see which vertical SNS will succeed. (feel free to click on my name to see which one I'm rooting for!)

Martin Sielaff · 2 years ago

You've obviously spent a bit of time thinking about this. A lot of what you've talked about is the direction we're trying to go in. ITtoolbox recently launched what we call "Professional Networking" for IT folk. Unlike the purely "social" networks we are trying to couple useful content along with all that networking. So, when your "connected" to someone and they post content - blog, group, wiki, journal - it shows up on your profile page.

I'd like to invite you to sign up and give me your thoughts on what we have and the direction we're going. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts.

Jeff Haynie · 2 years ago

Thanks, Martin, for the tip on ITtoolbox. Indeed, this is exactly what I'm talking about. I just signed up and created my profile and invited some friends. I instantly found 2 groups that I was interested in: AJAX and Javascript, and signed up.

jhaynie · 2 years ago

Hey Joe,
Thanks for the comment. You're right about 2007 - I should have been more clear. I don't think federated identity will make any impact in 2007 - however, I do believe that micro social networks will (and already are) start to become a very real part of our life. I think federated identities need to be in place, however, or they will suffer from the profile creation fatigue in a worse way than the "walmarts of social networks". Just in these 2 comments, to prove my point, there are 2 more new micro networks I have discovered - and in both, I'm already tired setting up my profile information. :)

Chris · 2 years ago

Great read. In many ways I agree with the niche sites, and I think we\'re already seeing it begin.

Jodie Davis · 2 years ago

Hey Neighbor (I live north of you in Canton)

Not only do I agree with your post, I'm working every day to make your prediction come to reality!
Seriously, as in your wife's photography example, with these vertical social networks the social aspect comes second. The special interest, such as photography in your example and quilting and crafting in my business, is the reason for the social network.
The value to visitors (viewers for us) is the content itself.
And hey, there may even be a sustainable revenue model in there that isn't based on advertising!
Jodie
QNNtv.com

MyronK · 2 years ago

Great post Jeff - I often wonder how high the motivation needs to be to get someone to pay to join a social network and how to best trigger that motivation?

Do people think a PayPal payment is a sufficient validation of identity or do you need to get and process a credit card directly? I've used a few site that employ OpenID and IMHO it is not ready for the average user.

@Joe, I like your MyChurch.org site though I still feel it is a bit to "open" for most of the members of the church I attend. People are very concerned about their privacy, spam, stalking, etc. I was very surprised at how many people did not want their pictures used on our church web site (even far away group shots).

Myron

blabto · 2 years ago

The growth of microblogging allows other websites to find niche markets within the 'market'. For example, sites are beginning to appear allowing SMS picture / video capture to be uploaded. This is a real opportunity for users to create a diary of their life in a short snippet...almost like the shift from email to text.

Tim Abbott · 2 years ago

Jeff,

While this is old, I had to comment. I'm not sure social networks work for niche sites. We at Noocleus Media are certainly more about under-represented online communities and think the community format is more inclusive and less labor intensive for users than the social networking model .

Colin Spencer Wood · 1 year ago

Hey Jeff,

I thought you might be interested in our new Free Gig Booking/Talent & Venue micro social network www.igigyou.com.

Please check it out and don't hesitate to contact me.

Colin S. Wood
President/CEO, IGIGYOU LLC
igigyou.com

Zip · 1 year ago

Thanks this was a great blog and inspired me to launch this site:

http://www.micronichesocialnetworks.com

As an online resource for this growing field.

qnahealth · 10 months ago

Niche social networks are a welcome addition to the web. Because they are more narrowly focused, they are better able to serve the needs of their community.

The large generic social networks like Facebook and Myspace are great for keeping in touch with friends, but small social networks offer much more - people just like you who share your same passions.

Qnahealth is a new social network for health related information and support. It's designed to be friendly and easy to use and is focused around users asking and answering questions and sharing their experiences and knowledge.

We invite everyone to take a look as they explore their online health information options.

We welcome bloggers!