The Next Social Network: WordPress(gigaom.com)
gigaom.com
The Next Social Network: WordPress
http://gigaom.com/2007/12/11/the-next-social-network-wordpress/
4 comments
The next social network is Tumblr. Its the best combination of blogging, twittering, and networking out there.
I think the point of the article was that people want to have control of their own decentralized sites rather than use someone's centralized site.
I agree with your synopsis, but I disagree with the premise.
Any writer knows that there is nothing more terrifying than the blank page. In social networks, it is the empty friends list.
All of that 'pseudo-user-generated' data that is pooh-poohed gives a new myspace page a warm and fuzzy feeling that is would be missing from a "build-it-yourself" network.
It reminds of Joel Spolsky's take on Jakob Neilsen:
"Every time I read Jakob Nielsen," I wrote in 2000, "I get this feeling that he really doesn't appreciate that usability is not the most important thing on earth. Sure, usability is important (I wrote a whole book about it). But it is simply not everyone's number one priority, nor should it be. You get the feeling that if Mr. Nielsen designed a singles bar, it would be well lit, clean, with giant menus printed in Arial 14 point, and you'd never have to wait to get a drink. But nobody would go there; they would all be at Coyote Ugly Saloon pouring beer on each other."
Any writer knows that there is nothing more terrifying than the blank page. In social networks, it is the empty friends list.
All of that 'pseudo-user-generated' data that is pooh-poohed gives a new myspace page a warm and fuzzy feeling that is would be missing from a "build-it-yourself" network.
It reminds of Joel Spolsky's take on Jakob Neilsen:
"Every time I read Jakob Nielsen," I wrote in 2000, "I get this feeling that he really doesn't appreciate that usability is not the most important thing on earth. Sure, usability is important (I wrote a whole book about it). But it is simply not everyone's number one priority, nor should it be. You get the feeling that if Mr. Nielsen designed a singles bar, it would be well lit, clean, with giant menus printed in Arial 14 point, and you'd never have to wait to get a drink. But nobody would go there; they would all be at Coyote Ugly Saloon pouring beer on each other."