Big Social Networking Conversation in the Blogosphere Today
One of the main points of Anil Dash’s talk at last Thursday’s seminar (recap here, slides here) was that social networking sites will become more and more integrated into the blogosphere. I think that the integration of social networking and the blogosphere jibes particularly well with Anil’s prediction that RSS feeds will eventually allow you to share information and insights with others. Perhaps social networking will be one possible conduit for such interactions.
There’s been some major conversation over at Scobleizer about an article written by Danah Boyd. You can also track the conversation over at Memeorandum.
The basic gyst of Boyd’s paper is that MySpace has some key features that separate it from the social networking site Friendster. But despite its success, there is a great deal of moral outrage over MySpace that mostly centers on the danger it represents to adolescents, particularly teenage girls. The site makes it easier than ever for predators to target and stalk teenagers who have not yet developed the mature judgment to use such sites intelligently.
In the end, Boyd posits that social networking sites based in the US will soon be required by law to demand some kind of real-world identification from each person that develops a profile on the site. (Which, incidentally, was also one of Anil’s predictions.) Unfortunately, that may alienate users and give a distinct advantage to companies based overseas.
In the end, I think the Facebook model will win out. Facebook allows users to browse other profiles at their school, and to request that people at other schools become friends with them. There is no option that allows you to open your profile to every user. It also has much more advanced privacy features than MySpace. This makes Facebook a much safer community - and therefore more parent friendly, which is critical when you’re catering to tweens and teens.
Note: Sorry for the incomplete version of this post a little while ago. I accidentally hit “publish” before the darn thing was done. ::blush::
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Funny, I just posted about this myself here:
http://www.marqui.com/blog/marquiblog_03230601.aspx
I’m glad the world is talking about this most important subject. Pass it on.
MySpace is a toilet, a bizarre bloated predator’s paradise. Shame on parents for letting their dorky or sleazy teenager use such a filth hole.
MySpace is so stupid, poorly thought through, it is successful due to factors that make junk food popular. It won’t last. It’s doomed.
I convince teens to abandon MySpace and get a real blog.
Janet: Great post! Social networking and blogging are certainly not going anywhere. And since kids lack mature judgment, it is the responsibility of parents to monitor what their kids are doing on the Web.
By the way, it was so nice to see you LA last week. Let’s chat soon!
Vaspers: I posted about MySpace a few months ago. I tend to agree that it’s terribly put together. They just threw all design standards out the window and put together some sloppy html.
But the idea behind MySpace will eventually spawn a much more universal, and successful social networking platform that will become a huge part of the blogosphere. It’s just a matter of time until social networking, blogging, commenting, hosting, e-mail, RSS, instant messaging and a many other services become one in the same.
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