Comments on: Social networks: public thoroughfares or private tollroads? http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/ Entrepreneurship as life's path Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:26:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Kevin http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-3062 Kevin Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:55:21 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-3062 @Richard MacKinnon Rich- I think that you are right on- that the world is going to be opening up with widgets- I need to post something about the announcement that is being leaked and talked about today- about Google's (and other's) OpenSocial open network standard- I think that it matches nicely with what you are saying. Thank you for the comment, I am glad to hear that LessNetworks.com is doing great- and I really enjoy how you guys are incorporating social networking into the virtual-cafe-office experience! Take care, Kevin @Richard MacKinnon
Rich- I think that you are right on- that the world is going to be opening up with widgets- I need to post something about the announcement that is being leaked and talked about today- about Google’s (and other’s) OpenSocial open network standard- I think that it matches nicely with what you are saying.

Thank you for the comment, I am glad to hear that LessNetworks.com is doing great- and I really enjoy how you guys are incorporating social networking into the virtual-cafe-office experience!

Take care,
Kevin

]]> By: Richard MacKinnon http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-3056 Richard MacKinnon Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:14:42 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-3056 I think blogs and personal websites will become increasingly important as places where users can publish one more links or hooks (via widgets) to the social networks that they participate and want to reveal. Ideally, these blogs, sites, and their widgets will get smarter at vetting the viewer and only reveal information that's suitable. Information includes text and images or links to other sites or social networking sites that contain text and images. The vetting could place a user into classes such as: a) unknown - show only non-sensitive public information or no information, b) trusted - professional: show only non-sensitive professional information, c) trusted - friend: show information suitable for your friends, d) trusted - private: show private information on a case-by-case basis. This way you can have a single domain (eg www.mysite.com) that can serve multiple classes of viewers and you don't need to rely on a single solution provider such as MySpace or Facebook. The excitement will come when these sorts of viewer-vetting smarts come to bear at the same time that widget usefulness matures--allowing a user's web site or blog to become a dynamic portal to their public and private worlds. --r I think blogs and personal websites will become increasingly important as places where users can publish one more links or hooks (via widgets) to the social networks that they participate and want to reveal. Ideally, these blogs, sites, and their widgets will get smarter at vetting the viewer and only reveal information that’s suitable. Information includes text and images or links to other sites or social networking sites that contain text and images. The vetting could place a user into classes such as: a) unknown – show only non-sensitive public information or no information, b) trusted – professional: show only non-sensitive professional information, c) trusted – friend: show information suitable for your friends, d) trusted – private: show private information on a case-by-case basis. This way you can have a single domain (eg http://www.mysite.com) that can serve multiple classes of viewers and you don’t need to rely on a single solution provider such as MySpace or Facebook. The excitement will come when these sorts of viewer-vetting smarts come to bear at the same time that widget usefulness matures–allowing a user’s web site or blog to become a dynamic portal to their public and private worlds.

–r

]]> By: Dee Copeland http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2168 Dee Copeland Mon, 08 Oct 2007 06:39:33 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2168 Kevin, I'm no expert at social networking, but I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of bringing them together. I'm not sure how you can bring together social networks unless there's a partnership based on similarity. Each society has different purpose, dynamics, rules, and applications or features that dictate how you interact. This provides a level of safety and certainty within the structure. For instance, I have a myspace account, but don't use it because I hate all the ads. I recently switched to Facebook because of the cleaner interface and it seems like "everyone" is using it. I also like their open app interface so it seems like it will grow in the future. I have a business account on Linked In, but never really use it....I can go on and on. If someone were to build a platform that allows us to use the various accounts in one single interface, that would be great. Remember chat applications brought together aim, yahoo, msn etc.? Maybe this solution can be developed for social networks. Kevin,

I’m no expert at social networking, but I’m definitely intrigued by the idea of bringing them together. I’m not sure how you can bring together social networks unless there’s a partnership based on similarity. Each society has different purpose, dynamics, rules, and applications or features that dictate how you interact. This provides a level of safety and certainty within the structure.

For instance, I have a myspace account, but don’t use it because I hate all the ads. I recently switched to Facebook because of the cleaner interface and it seems like “everyone” is using it. I also like their open app interface so it seems like it will grow in the future. I have a business account on Linked In, but never really use it….I can go on and on.

If someone were to build a platform that allows us to use the various accounts in one single interface, that would be great. Remember chat applications brought together aim, yahoo, msn etc.? Maybe this solution can be developed for social networks.

]]> By: Chris Garrigues http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2147 Chris Garrigues Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:44:04 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2147 I had a thought the other day of a feature that I'd like to see in a truly open social network. For users like myself who have IMAP based email systems, I'd like the network to be able to use my IMAP server as a backing store for my user id's email functionality. Not only would messages sent through the network appear in my standard mail box that way, but it could also find existing emails that I've exchanged with other members and display threads that we were both involved with when I look at their profile. Just a thought from the maven side of my brain. Chris I had a thought the other day of a feature that I’d like to see in a truly open social network.

For users like myself who have IMAP based email systems, I’d like the network to be able to use my IMAP server as a backing store for my user id’s email functionality. Not only would messages sent through the network appear in my standard mail box that way, but it could also find existing emails that I’ve exchanged with other members and display threads that we were both involved with when I look at their profile.

Just a thought from the maven side of my brain.

Chris

]]> By: Kevin http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2120 Kevin Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:09:08 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2120 From Brian Royce: I am working on a project currently that addresses this stuff. I would like to talk to you a bit and see what your thoughts are - the project is called main corridor it is network connection at its best. From Brian Royce:

I am working on a project currently that addresses this stuff. I would like to talk to you a bit and see what your thoughts are – the project is called main corridor it is network connection at its best.

]]> By: Steve Harper http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2112 Steve Harper Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:07:44 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2112 Kevin, Great post. The simple answer to your question is I don't know. I keep trying to come to grips with what problem are these social networks are trying to solve. The answers are the seeds to the value from which people will recognize and utilize and be willing to pony up either dollars, collaboration, innovation or simple ongoing involvement to make what is available today, valuable and really useful. That being said...I think there is lots of room for improvement and that the tip of the social networking movement has yet to be reached. Look forward to chatting more on how we can collaborate more on this. Steve Kevin,

Great post. The simple answer to your question is I don’t know. I keep trying to come to grips with what problem are these social networks are trying to solve. The answers are the seeds to the value from which people will recognize and utilize and be willing to pony up either dollars, collaboration, innovation or simple ongoing involvement to make what is available today, valuable and really useful.

That being said…I think there is lots of room for improvement and that the tip of the social networking movement has yet to be reached.

Look forward to chatting more on how we can collaborate more on this.

Steve

]]> By: Chris Garrigues http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2107 Chris Garrigues Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:51:17 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2107 A few weeks ago, an old friend of mine from a few decades back posted an interesting article on his blog entitled "How to Take Out Facebook" in which he makes some great suggestions in this area: http://chuqui.typepad.com/chuqui_30/2007/09/how-to-take-out.html A few weeks ago, an old friend of mine from a few decades back posted an interesting article on his blog entitled “How to Take Out Facebook” in which he makes some great suggestions in this area:

http://chuqui.typepad.com/chuqui_30/2007/09/how-to-take-out.html

]]> By: Kevin http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2103 Kevin Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:39:03 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2103 From Jonathan McCoy: <i> look at http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/24/9-ways-to-build-your-own-social-network/ </i> From Jonathan McCoy:


look at http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/24/9-ways-to-build-your-own-social-network/

]]> By: Kevin http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2102 Kevin Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:37:08 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2102 From <a rel="nofollow" target="new" href="http://customerchaos.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Brian Massey</a>: <em> IMHO, you should build your own private Idaho, but make sure it touches every one of the other 49 states.</em> <em>Facebook is already doing this with its open API, and their competitors are following suit.</em> <em>It’s not about where I setup my profile, but what I can bring into it from the outside (video, pictures, my college’s football scores, friends’ comments) and where I can expose my profile (on a web page, on my friends’ phone, on my blog). OpenID is just one teeny part of that infrastructure of sharing.</em> <em>We all know how to manage our passwords, and frankly we like walls between our personal crowd (MySpace) and our professional crowd (LinkedIn). Never should the two meet.</em> <em>If you don’t have something unique to offer, then build your social network inside one of the existing ones. If you have something unique, build your own garden, and accept that:</em> <em> 1. We know how to create and remember passwords. It’s no big deal. 2. We will be members of as many social networks as we have facets to our lives – work facets, hobby facets, fetish facets 3. Even in a walled garden, you don’t have much control over what the community decides to do with itself. 4. Ultimately, it’s not about the roads. It’s the destinations. But you gotta have the roads.</em> <em>Create a cool place to visit and make it easy to mix.</em> <em>Brian</em> From Brian Massey:


IMHO, you should build your own private Idaho, but make sure it touches every one of the other 49 states.

Facebook is already doing this with its open API, and their competitors are following suit.

It’s not about where I setup my profile, but what I can bring into it from the outside (video, pictures, my college’s football scores, friends’ comments) and where I can expose my profile (on a web page, on my friends’ phone, on my blog). OpenID is just one teeny part of that infrastructure of sharing.

We all know how to manage our passwords, and frankly we like walls between our personal crowd (MySpace) and our professional crowd (LinkedIn). Never should the two meet.

If you don’t have something unique to offer, then build your social network inside one of the existing ones. If you have something unique, build your own garden, and accept that:

1. We know how to create and remember passwords. It’s no big deal.
2. We will be members of as many social networks as we have facets to our lives – work facets, hobby facets, fetish facets
3. Even in a walled garden, you don’t have much control over what the community decides to do with itself.
4. Ultimately, it’s not about the roads. It’s the destinations. But you gotta have the roads.

Create a cool place to visit and make it easy to mix.

Brian

]]> By: Kevin http://www.kevinkoym.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/comment-page-1/#comment-2101 Kevin Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:34:25 +0000 http://www.exponentialentrepreneurship.com/blog/2007/09/26/social-networks-public-thoroughfares-or-private-tollroads/#comment-2101 I am going to post some of the emails that I received on this here- a few are private, so I won't, but most everything that I got back might add to this discussion. First from Damon Cali: <i>Have you looked at Ning? Social networking in a box, but all Ning networks share a common login and account. It's a bit of an experiment, but well backed by some serious talent Marc Andreseen of Netscape fame and experienced money ($44 million in series A). Check out Adreseen's blog, pmarca.com for details - there's a recent post on their crossing the 100,000 network milestone.</i> -- break-- <i>I'm not too familiar with it. I do know that Andreesen is a smart cookie, though, and I'd bet on them making something useful. I think you get a "Ning" id (as opposed to an OpenID), which gets you into any Ning network. And I do know that they are planning an extensive API (for lack of a better word) that may provide additional hooks for functionality. Details here: http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/09/the-three-kinds.html </i> I am going to post some of the emails that I received on this here- a few are private, so I won’t, but most everything that I got back might add to this discussion.

First from Damon Cali:
Have you looked at Ning? Social networking in a box, but all Ning networks share a common login and account. It’s a bit of an experiment, but well backed by some serious talent Marc Andreseen of Netscape fame and experienced money ($44 million in series A). Check out Adreseen’s blog, pmarca.com for details – there’s a recent post on their crossing the 100,000 network milestone.
– break–
I’m not too familiar with it. I do know that Andreesen is a smart cookie, though, and I’d bet on them making something useful. I think you get a “Ning” id (as opposed to an OpenID), which gets you into any Ning network. And I do know that they are planning an extensive API (for lack of a better word) that may provide additional hooks for functionality. Details here:

http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/09/the-three-kinds.html

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