Social Networking’s Next Phase

This article discusses the idea of using social networking for customers of a business.  Cisco Systems and other companies are exploring the idea of setting up a social networking service similar to Facebook or MySpace for companies to allow their clients to interact with one another.  This presents an interesting idea since most people on normal networking sites do not share a lot of common interests with others on the site (with the exception of their close group of friends).  In a site set up for customers, most, if not all, of the users will have several common interests in what that company is doing and how the company can help further their own goals.

This also allows for the idea for individuals to now set up their own social networks.  Individuals could custom-make a social network for a group or idea that they are interested in.  This would more closely connect the individuals who are linked on that particular site.  In settings such as MySpace, if users are not actually linked in an offline environment, then it seems that it would be rare for users to become “friends” if they share no interests.  However, in a niche social networking site, these users all share some interest, so it seems like they would be more willing to interact.  This means that triadic closure should be more prevalent in a site such as this.  If users do not already share some offline bond, then they might be more willing to meet others in a setting like this.  For a site such as MySpace, users that are friends online seem to most likely be friends offline.  If triadic closure does occur, it may not have a direct correlation to an online relationship; rather, the new friendship may have be formed when an acquaintance or friendship is made offline (and then it is reflected online).

One caveat for a company such as Cisco is how much attention they can garner for their new business.  Well established social networking sites almost have a monopoly on users; therefore, without advertising or some other way to spread the news about their new service, it could go virtually unnoticed.  The way that popularity is garnered for a project like this is a social networking project in itself.  Presumably users will spread news of this service if they like it and want others to use this.  This could be done by word-of-mouth, or by other means such as a weblink from a user’s own home page (in which popularity for the service is then determined on how many views this website receives).  Assuming that this spread does occur, this presents a very interesting situation.  Users are now presented with the opportunity to “fully” customize their web experience instead of having to conform to MySpace or Facebook restrictions.  This could push these established giants into a battle where they will have to change the way they run their sites.  No matter which site(s) a user chooses, it will be interesting to see how the growth in different social networking groups can affect the overall landscape of the web in years to come.  Will social networking take a more dominant role in how the web is structured, or will things remain constant (or take another direction) in coming years?  This should be reflected in how well these niche social groups can prosper in the current web environment.