During the Triassic period, simple creatures began to populate the net. Websites grew message boards and forums and the first signs of Social Networking began to appear. These invertebrate sites eventually gave way to the Jurassic period, characterized by large reptiles like “Live Journal” and “Friendster.” Their ability to share images allowed them to rule until the giants of the Cretaceous period emerged - Facebook, the colossal MySpace and the long-necked Linked-In dominated the web, clearing tree tops and eating all the vegetation …
So where are we now? Smaller, intelligent mammals with specialized features and practical applications are beginning to appear. These are the niche sites of the future. Tools like Zolve, Lawlinks and Referral Key don’t offer entertainment tie-ins, trendy applications or an astronomical membership pool but what they do offer is….well… a purpose.
We are at least half a decade into the Social Networking phenomenon. As the market becomes fully saturated and users themselves have amassed large amounts of “friends” and exhausted the initial flare, we are all asking, now what? This is the same question posed in Monica Hesse’s Washington Post article, “An Unmanageable Circle of Friends” (Washington Post “An Unmanageable Circle of Friends).
We are constantly bombarded with stories about social networking; tales of staggering membership and rumors of buy-outs and payouts are relentless. As bloggers beat buzzwords into the ground, I wonder if perhaps we have over looked the most basic element of networking… the purpose.
According to Hesse’s article, “Columbia University Sociologist Duncan J. Watts says sites like (Facebook) are failing us because they do not do the thing that social networks are designed to do, namely: network.”
“What is our purpose?” and “What value do we offer?” are difficult questions these sites must now answer. Sites like Linked-In will be quick to defend their positions as professional networking sites, but as of late Facebook and MySpace seem to be heading in a similar direction, with users’ average age steadily climbing (Mashable Article).
As the giants tussle, many professionals are looking for clarity. Naturally, the most driven of us are figuring out ways to utilize networking to evolve their professional goals and see some tangible returns.
Zolve is a tool which exclusively focuses on the real estate industry; it maintains a clearly defined goal of connecting real estate professionals to one another for the purpose of exchanging business. LawLinks is a place for attorneys to pass on referrals. Lawlinks maintains a strict screening which ensures the effectiveness of the site. With a stripped down interface, Referral Key facilitates referral exchange and management between many connected industries, allowing complimentary businesses to benefit from one referral network.
What is so interesting about these tools is that they all share a purpose beyond socializing or job hunting. They are attempting to validate our investment be it time or money with a real business return - ultimately, revenue. Will these niche sites become the social networking sites of tomorrow?
“The focus is shifting to niche community networking sites,” says Sam Sethi of TechCrunch UK. Many users who have claimed territory on the large networking sites may be critical of a move toward niche sites. It is natural to want to defend your network of 5,000 “friends”. They may see the smaller “circle of trust” as negligible and may find the more rigorous process of building a smaller, more precise network more challenging than clicking “add friend.”
But what many of these loyalists may not know is that the decision makers of the larger sites, particularly Facebook, MySpace, and Linked-In, don’t see the future of networking being tied into large sites - the long term shift is going to be toward the niche site. Check out the coverage in PC Magazine (The Future of Social Networking).
The question is, “Are professionals going to work to find the niche sites that work for them, or are they going to wait around for the larger sites to adapt to their business needs?”
What do you think?
