Media Hacking

Social Media, communications and how the game is changing

Promiscuity / Diversity in Social Networks

Date: July 31, 2007 Author: Sean Comments: Leave a reply

I have been toying with the concepts of promiscuity and diversity when applied to Social Networks for a while now.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity
Promiscuity is the practice of making relatively unselective, casual and indiscriminate choices.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promiscuity
Diversity is the presence of a wide range of variation in the qualities or attributes under discussion.

We make choices in how we connect to these spaces and places. Some are light connections and without regard and some seriously focused. Our Facebook page is where we connect with our friends and “adds”, where we have fun, add widgets that are entertaining, and annoy friends with question and movie matching requests. We might add people we just met last night at a party or barely know because this space is casual, fun, the opposite of serious in our life (until a future employer finds the keg-stand and bong photos). Our LinkedIn page is where we take things seriously. We dont post goofy photos, we dont ask stupid questions – we respect the space AND show respect for ourselves and others. We pitch in, make referrals, connect and find connections. A Band’s My Space page is their home on the web – while fun and on a more “fun” social network, its their business – the franchise.

Not all of my friends are in all the same networks. I am not in all of their networks. We connect and get close and pull away and break up by increments over time. There is a lot of overlap in multiple networks – between my network of friends, network of business acquaintances, network of people I kinda-know. I have folks following my twitter feed I have only met once, but have tons of conversations over time, in multiple forms. I refuse to add people I don’t know to my Facebook page.

Promiscuity, or having lots of relationships on lots of networks isnt a bad thing. If you only hang out with LinkedIn kids, what is the true value of your social equity? Does it make sense to be in a clique? Does it make more sense to be in multiple networks, with lots of loose and tight connections? Does that diversity in friends, viewpoints, behavior translate into something more (more social equity)? Does Moore’s law really have an effect when we look at the value of each of our social networks individually and in the aggregate?

Chris Messina (FactoryJoe) once wrote “a monoculture is a monotonous culture”. I think this fits really well.

Loving this… Ringblender

Date: July 21, 2007 Author: Sean Comments: Leave a reply

Thanks to a Polyphonic Spree ad in Wired Magazine (who says advertising doesnt work) just found this:

http://www.ringblender.com/blender.html

This site allows fans of the band to take pre-selected tracks and samples and make their own ringtones, share them with friends and download to their phones.

DIY? Check.
Band that values its fans? Check.
Simple, well-done execution? Check.

Ringblender

Social Network Dev Camp – i wanna go

Date: July 15, 2007 Author: Sean Comments: Leave a reply

There is too much fun stuff happening on the west coast these days…

SocialNetworkDevCamp will focus on API and Widget development from Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, Linked In and others. The camp will also start the process of identifying open APIs and data structures which would facilitate the creation of open standards for social networking.

http://barcamp.org/SocialNetworkDevCamp

Marc Canter has sent an open letter to the Ning team (who just got a HUGE investment) that includes this tasty bit:

But one thing we know for sure – users want to control their own data. And they want to move freely between systems. So here’s what I’d like to propose Ning support. Help us create a data structure and support the OpenID2 Attribute Exchange to facilitate the movement (in both directions) of entire social neworks.

http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2007/07/open-letter-to-marc-andressen-gina-bianchini-and-diego-doval

Marc’s open letter should be required reading for those who want to work on social networks (roll your own or customize a service), work with social networks (for your clients or creating your own apps, widgets and webservices) or even play in the space.

Social Network Ettiquette

Date: July 13, 2007 Author: Sean Comments: Leave a reply

For the last couple of days, friends and I have been having running conversations about Social Networks, invites, randoms, personal/digital space with a dash of personal branding thrown in for flavor.

Great post from Chris Brogan regarding how we behave (and misbehave) in the multiple social networks we live in. Is it a free-for-all game of who has the most adds like on My Space? Is it fair to troll through your friends facebook lists to see who you haven’t added to yours? Just how creepy is it to have someone you dont know ask for a link on LinkedIn or Facebook, or does Scoble have it right when he adds everyone to his Pownce list?

Is separating your personal life in one network (like facebook), your professional life in another (LinkedIn) and your ambient intimacy efforts in a third (Pownce, Twitter) really effective, really efficient, or are you just spreading out your personal data into too many places and spaces?

This post should be in the same folder with Cory Doctorow’s How To Keep Hostile Jerks From Taking Over Your Online Community.

Part of becoming a neighbor is getting to know the folks in your community, treading lightly as you learned about your new neighbors, what they are into, what social mores are in place, whats accepted, tolerated and taboo. With the proliferation of social networks, we are jumping into the deep end of more than one pool, in real time and asynchronously, and there is no primer, rulebook or digital scout manual to help us figure it out.

http://grasshopperfactory.com/cbc/considering-social-network-etiquette/

Generation Dobler

Date: July 12, 2007 Author: Sean Comments: Leave a reply

From a post on BoingBoing today is this little gem:

Emotionally, I don’t understand why so many people get so upset at being marketed to, or at gleefully acknowledging the good that comes from crafting a social world that is dominated by people willingly exchanging skills, services, and goods. These types could be called Generation Dobler, after the famous quote from the sad sensitive man-child character, Lloyd Dobler, played by John Cusack in the 1989 film Say Anything.

Dobler certified his soulfulness by announcing that “I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.” (my bold)

I need to get crackin on a “Generation Dobler” group on Facebook

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/12/burning_man_and_gene.html

Gnomedex: Labor of Love as a business model

Author: Sean Comments: Leave a reply

My favorite tech/social software/meeting cool people conference is HAPPENING.

Gnomedex aims to be a tech zeitgeist – where today’s ideas and thinkers come together – although the direction of our conference may change in the following years. The conference industry certainly has affronted us several challenges, since we refuse to play the games that other conferences do. Gnomedex is still largely a labour of love (though also a small part of our business model).

http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/07/11/gnomedex-is-happening/

“I think we can guilt them out into doing the right thing.”

Date: June 30, 2007 Author: Sean Comments: 2 Replies

Marc Canter – one of the most consistent critics of walled gardens/closed systems and the ghost towns they become hits it again with a post about subscribing to people

Well one clear way is to just ’subscribe’ to someone and then find out what they’re doing – wherever they are. This can only be done across vendor’s offerings – so it’s a great use case for open standards.

For a while now I have been a snob of social networks. “I get it, I get it” – I would join, check out early features, and not really invest in the community while trying to get a quick read on the SN. Understanding the theory without being invested. Recently, thanks to having to do the research, friends (like HH) inviting me left and right and some really exciting things happening in the SN space (like Marc’s PeopleAggregator, Facebook opening up, researching SNs in different cultures) I have been getting more invested different worlds, seeing what they have to offer, learning and experiencing (badges to come).

The biggest frustration I have is having to make a new profile from scratch in each of these places. Because, really, my hobbies are the same if I am in facebook or myspace. I might not put my entire employment history in Facebook, but if I did, why would I want to key it or copy/paste it 2x from LinkedIn???? What happens when these data sources become out of synch (like my employment histories or hobbies between social networks)?

The truth Marc has been sharing is simple – open it up (platforms), be free, listen to the customer (radical idea), and anticipate what they want (’cause they dont know it – yet), let them share (on your network and others). I used to think my blog was this center of the social universe for me – and it could become that… we just arent there yet.

We dont have one circle of friends. We don’t have one interest. We dont have only one favorite food. We dont have one email address. We dont only like one musician or singer or group. We dont like only one kind of movie or tv show or magazine. People like choice. They like options. They don’t always make a choice – and that is a choice in itself. They want to engage on their terms in the places and spaces of their choice.

The more you hold them down, lock them out, and box them in the easier it will be for them to invest (time, effort, ideas, creativity) in someone elses platform that is open.

Dave says…

From Marc’s blog:
http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2007/06/subscribing-to-people