Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

[scrivener]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

I like Ning, but I dislike the ads. The no-ads service is twenty bucks a month, which is cost-prohibitive. I'm looking for something exactly like Ning for use in the classroom, but with an ad-free option that won't cost $240 per year since I'll be paying for it myself. Grr.

[Quark]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

I've been playing around with Ning and like the widgets feature. The blog and forum aren't as robust as a forum app like the one behind HawaiiThreads, or the blog software for blogger.com. But I bet companies like Yahoo or Google have their eyes on Ning as an augment to their product line. Yahoogroups is a social network but its features have stayed static for years. The same can be said about Google groups. If you add the customization features, widgets and profile building capabilities of Ning into Yahoogroups or Googlegroups that would be a winner.

One of the addictions for me in this social network space is familiarizing myself with the different platforms out there and seeing which one survives the machinations of the marketplace. It's such a dynamic environment.

[pzarquon]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

Definitely there are a lot of players in the "social network" space. Seems I'm a member of about a hundred or so! Ning stands out because it's not trying to become yet another catch-all network, but rather enable folks to set up their own more focused groups. Of course, there are "group" functions on other services, but Ning is starting out with that model.

Ning gets some extra cred because it's backed by Marc Andreessen (of Netscape fame). And the platform, although limited, benefits from simplicity. I suppose you could deck it out with flashy bits and gizmos up the wazoo, but frankly that's what's overwhelming for a lot of folks when it comes to these web communities.

I've continued to tweak it, and I love that people are starting to upload photos, videos, and music. The blogging, as you mentioned, is pretty bare-bones, but if you really want to have extras on your profile it does support widgets -- embed codes that you can get from YouTube, Widgetbox, whatever.

The latest addition? A live chat room, added via just such an embed from Meebo. I've already bumped into some cool folks there. Check it out!

[Linkmeister]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

Who's on Linked In? I got on Facebook a week or two ago, and got on Linked In about the same time. I'm on both under my real name, not Linkmeister.

[pzarquon]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

I'm on LinkedIn. It's not so much a social network as it is a business networking channel. No funny videos or personality quizzes, just who worked with you where and various professional endorsements.

How are you liking Facebook? It's a little like MySpace but not annoying. All manner of silly things, sure, but a clean interface, and easy ways to keep up with and in touch with folks. It remains one of the hot properties this year, with buyout rumors including some astonishing numbers. I'm spending more time there, despite going months between MySpace logins (usually to clean out spam).

[Linkmeister]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

I'm still getting my feet wet at each place, more quickly on Facebook. There are a bunch of bloggers there, so I have accumulated friends more quickly. LinkedIn is certainly more business-oriented, and I found (through a guy I know from blogging) someone I hadn't even thought of since we worked together 15 years ago. We've both moved on from that annoying place.

I'm not sure what to do at Facebook, though. Lots of discussions I could enter into, but I find those at individual blogs; do I need more places to leave random comments?

[pzarquon]

Re: Social Software: Good Fun or Fruitless Fad?

Keeping track of conversations at different social networks is indeed challenging, not including any other blogs, message boards, or online communities you may frequent. More and more folks sigh over "information overload." I gave up trying to "keep up" a long time ago. I just fail to keep up consistently across the board!

Speaking of Facebook, I've gone ahead and started a Facebook group for HawaiiThreads. No reason to play with "The Wall" or post links or otherwise duplicate the interaction here... just show your HT pride (or insanity) by joining.