Social networking is NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Social networking has exploded in recent years. The wave of social networking sites is reminiscent of the mushrooming e-commerce sites during the late 1990s. The entry barriers are so low that anyone can create the infrastructure for a social networking platform with minimal investment. What is more interesting is the frenetic pace of adoption of some of these sites.

So, what is all this frenzy about? Is it curiosity that drives people to become members of these sites and “network socially” through them? Or, is it just a bunch of kids with too much time trying to play with the latest online fad? Or, is online social networking indeed such a significant innovation that it warrants all this attention? Here's my take on the social networking phenomenon from an “innovation” standpoint.

Social Networking v. 1.0
Social networking in the physical world has existed throughout history. The new, virtual breed of social networking obviously has its roots in the Internet. So, how did it all start?

In my opinion, online forums and groups were the v.1.0 of the online social networking world. Fundamentally, the objective of an online group or forum is to give users the opportunity to converse and congregate in cyberspace, thus sharing ideas, opinions; debating issues, exchanging stuff, seeking advice, and doing any of a myriad other things made possible by the Web. The advantage of making group communication less disruptive (through daily digests and the like) is icing on the cake.

Characteristics
There are remarkable similarities in the way social networks and online groups / forums approach the same objective. Private online groups & forums are typically virtual manifestations of real-world groups (at least the private ones) – in which case they are brought into being primarily to facilitate non-disruptive communication. So, in these cases, relationships exist even prior to the group being set up. Otherwise they are no different from a group of e-mail addresses created in your Outlook.

It gets interesting in case of public online groups and forums because even strangers can join these groups. So, in effect they facilitate strangers with common goals, interests & passions meeting. Additionally, online groups provide a private space for sharing files, photos, etc., polling members, scheduling meetings, planning events, etc.

Present Wave: The key difference
The current wave of social networking (let us say v.2.0) pretty much offers the same functionality. The key differentiator though is that the present breed of social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, etc. allow users to not only browse groups and (public) discussion forums, but also lets them explore and discover other users who share the same interests and passions.

Thus, instead of networking with groups en masse you can connect with individuals separately. But for this difference the current breed of social networking sites is pretty much the same as the earlier breed. This to me is nothing more the same old wine with a twist.

So, what is all this ado about? It is just evolution of technology at work.

Personalization of Social Networks

In a recent article in NYtimes.com the technological landscape of social networks and its future are discussed. The author states that large social networking sites like MySpace & Facebook have attracted scores of people with dissimilar profiles and interests. New social networking players are creating social Web sites tailored to cater to niche interests. So, how are these niche social networking sites differentiating themselves from the large, monolithic sites?

Differentiation
The most common differentiation strategy of niche social networking sites is to segment the market - demographies (teens, tweens, singles, etc.), interests (travel, stock investing, etc.), affiliations (political, business, etc.), geographies (country, city, etc.), profiles (language, etc.) and so on. These new social networking sites incorporate features relevant to the market segments they cater to. So, in that sense the site is personalized to the collective needs of its user community.

Personalization
But, what about personalization of the social network at a more individual level? Many social networking sites offer users display preferences such as 'skin settings,' and 'profile settings' for personalization. Other sites feature filtering systems to display content of relevance and interest to the user.

In general, the personalization that most state of art social networking sites - both large and niche - feature is of a very rudimentary, even inconsequential nature. There is a need to take personalization to the next level. Sites have to go beyond letting users control what they get to see or what they display in their profile pages.

Future
Personalization in the future will focus on what users can do online in their social networks. This creative freedom will pertain to mixing-n-matching media in new ways - for example, publishing a music video with its music sheet and lyrics. It will entail displaying personal profiles in unique ways, such as publishing a list of favorite movies or rock n'roll artistes in the personal page.

Social networking sites in the future will permit personalized collaboration. For instance, some members in a social network might have editorial control over the content that others in the group might post. Personalization of communication channels is another area that social networks will focus on in the future.

Disclosure: I am a co-founder of Cylive - a social application that empowers users to network in highly personalized ways.