Blog: David Loshin

« Seven Meta-Rules for Creating Simplified Lists of Rules | Main | Surprise! Poor Data Quality Costs a Lot of Money! »

2 Sides of Social Networking

In last week's Newsweek, this article talked about the rejuvenation of Silicon Valley with respect to social networking web companies. The focus on sites such as myspace.com and flickr described the business value in terms of the construction of virtual communities, etc. For example, one comment discussed how many musicians and TV/Movie (and other assorted) celebrities are trying to use these kind sof sites (myspace, in particular) as self-promotion vehicles, making connections with fans and trying to grow that fan base.

I wonder whether the authors of this article are missing the forest for the trees. The value of a social networking site is embedded in the network - understanding how the network is configured, looking at the aspects of connectivity, seeking out those individuals whose network positions characterize their personalities or behaviors (e.g., rainmaker, connector, "center of attention," influencer). And that is just looking at the network connections, not even the context of the connections (e.g., music fan, TV star, etc.)

Check out my article on social networking - then let me know what you think.

Share: