Are you confused as to what to tools use for what for all these social networks? Why so many widgets and sites to help you manage your life in virtual life? What? I know you thought you already had a handle on life post DOT COM but why not just download another piece of waste (software). It's free to try it kid. Well you are not alone and quite frankly we predict this wild wild west to continue growing like the crazy weed; as the business verticals (business, sports, entertainment, news, technology, etc) figure out how to get your money. When a clear dominance is re-established and the footing is set we'll all continue to get sucked in like we did with the early days of television and radio. Well ladies and germs we are getting there and the train is moving fast as rapidly as language will permit early adopters and tastemakers to speak and give their opinions. Separating the old business paradigm and connecting life and work in new and innovative ways is what is being created here in this entangled but awesome intraweb.
There are many ways to look at the confounded paths of web trends and analytics. The first is by site traffic which clearly depicts in the graphics how we are using the paths and who has the largest audience but what does it mean to you? The information architects are using the analogy of a crazy train system to define these web trends. Go over there and download the whole map it really is very impressive. Each node with it's own business model. The slice I like the most is the key right below which breaks down all the different social factors that help define success of a trend. Not as straight forward as the concepts are mostly opinion based but the way they did it expresses scale and levels of success. Not monetization necessarily, as that is the end game, but the relationship between all the different properties in the web stratosphere. I tried to get at the issue by thinking of life in terms of the taxonomy of people in my FB notes a few months back and when everybody was posting random photos. Enter social networks to help you organize these ideas and abstract concepts any which way you like to add to the confusion. Everybody would like to tag and categorize stuff but not everybody is good at it.
This key is not everything you need of course but just a understanding of the different types of the intellectual capital that is exchanging at such a phenomenal rate. I'm thinking interactions should work just like a coupon so you can buy something or get something out of the "free" exchange of traffic. You see it happening subtlety on blip.fm where you can give points to users that you can then pay forward or rating videos on youtube. The credit is meaningless of course but what if it weren't? What if that were real money? Would it retain it's value and become virtual spam? Of course it would. The challenge would to figure out how make a smart algorithm to filter a thinly veiled popularity contest or paid linkage. Which is why I like being able to accept friends like on my last.fm itunes playlist or FB account. Not a lot of meaningful interactions happening on last.fm that I can tell. The site is mostly for playlist junkies. Although, I'm sure that is going to change as destination commerce types integrate more with middleware (twitter, tumbler).
As a side bar see the review stalker post that asks the question what if music were free? Which is just one of the verticals that is trying to organize commerce like we have been used to since the invention of buying music not renting for live performances. Basically somebody invented a additional layer just like a new product or brand you can buy at the grocery store.
While these ideas are being exchanged and traffic is being counted by the man (google & yahoo). They are the deciders as to what gets counted for your point of entry in a search. I'm seeing regular advertising running so fast to get intertwined and in front and become a part of the audience building and point of entry process it's scary. This must scare google a little bit being that twitter recently passed on a very large offer. What is curious is that for a lot of start-ups there are no blatant adverts yet mainly because they they have the luxury to be in their audience building mode 44 Million goes a long way. Although 1 Billion sounds good. Think of how many hamburger have been sold?
Which brings up a issue with so many people asking you to take action. Do you really care? How do you measure that effectively? You would think they should know what you like and why shouldn't they? They know people need to work and shop to eat and if the marketeers are not there making noise nobody is going to visit their store. But the question becomes how is having a tumblr account going to help me help them? Ok it is yet another aggravation to figure out but that is half the fun but lets think. What is your in point? What is in "it" for you?
Music to help you understand social Media:
The Thieving Magpie - From Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange
How to skin a cat - Husker Du
Me & You, Remembering - fIREHOSE
Lost in the Supermarket - The Clash
Drug I need - Poster Children
