Comments on: Do the masses know what they want?

By: notes, thoughts, ideas and responses » The FriendFeed Sponge

notes, thoughts, ideas and responses » The FriendFeed Sponge — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:58:35 +0000

[...] FriendFeed, We’re All TV Channels.” Colin Walker is hovering his finger over different possibilities and trying to pinpoint exactly what all this means. Steven Hodson thinks bloggers worry about their [...]

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:42:22 +0000

People in a hurry or who are new to an area (i.e. who are there without clear intent) will probably gravitate to the first service that’s good enough. Good enough would be inexpensive; simple to use; sufficiently powerful to do some things; and that has enough of their friends there to make it interesting.

Maybe shepherds, guides, mentors, ambassadors… even salespeople should be there, ready to guide you into making a selection of service. In fact, that’s probably what will happen anyway.

Last blog post..I went willingly… to Alltop

By: Robin Cannon

Robin Cannon — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:37:34 +0000

Came up with the idea when talking about general internet behaviour - see Lost On The Internet - but I think very relevant to the idea of social media. Last blog post..Three Great Twitter Sites

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:35:19 +0000

“Tourists on the internet” – I like that.

Exactly, the needs differ based on who you are so it’s not the functionality but the people that are key.

By: Robin Cannon

Robin Cannon — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:20:03 +0000

In terms of social networking we’re looking at the initial craze that’ll lead to future consolidation. A lot of these social media sites are going to fall by the wayside, or at least morph into something different.

We’ll see an (already developing) split between the kind of casual social “networking” as offered by the likes of Facebook and the more in-depth and active networking of other services. In its simplest terms I think a case of networking with people you already know, as opposed to networking with people you don’t.

I talked about Facebook being “useless” in a post on sarahintampa. But I think whereas many early adopters are looking for utility, the masses aren’t. It’s not an issue for them that Facebook has no “use” – as tourists on the internet it’s a place that’s fine for them to pop into, waste a few minutes and look at some photos, and then leave.

Last blog post..Three Great Twitter Sites