Social Networking 3.0 – Huh?

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Podcast Show Notes: Social Networking 3.0 – Why Are We Talking About 3.0?

Because we have to understand the enormity of the interactive web, IE., social media optimization strategies are here to stay.  We have to plan for social networking 3.0 now. 

I believe in tackling things in bite size chunks.  So, anyone who has not jumped into Web 2.0 needs to start now (in bite size chunks).  Those who are already active in Web 2.0 can accelerate their strategies by understanding what the future has in store with regard to social networking/social media.

Background:

Summary of a Podcast from a Stanford University Panel session: July 2007

Panelists from MySpace, Facebook, Ning, Demand Media, Wall

Panel moderator: Charlene Li: Forrester Research

Question posed to panelists: What will social networking look like 3, 5 and 10 years in the future?

Not possible to predict entirely, it’s easier to innovate than predict the future.

The way people will use social networking will change by connecting with people where ever you are in real time through mobile devices.  With more broadband connectivity increasingly available and reliable, the types of collaboration will expand with video, slides, pictures, and file attachments and other kinds of media delivered over the air (OTA).

Ubiquity in social media will become more prevalent.  Everyone has at least one email address so that will be your common denominator for your profiles in social networks. 

User generated content is what social networking is about.  Social networks will become more vertical based on interests, niches or demographics.  Vertical communities will explode!

Social Networks will explode according to the millions of interests and passions of groups of people.  The ability to engage with others as one identity regardless of how many interests we have will become easier.  I will be able to interact as a “golfer,” “dog lover,” “fisherman,” (three examples of personal interests) as well as my professional role at Find and Convert.  In the current social networking environment, I must set up different profiles for each interest and interact with others from each “persona.”

The concept of profiles may even become obsolete – especially multiple profiles.  Social Networking will become integrated into software applications and websites (we are starting to see it already).   We will allow people to intereact with each other on websites and software applications.

In 10 years the workforce will be comprised largely of people who have grown up in an online Social Networking environment.  There won’t even be social networks (as we know them today) because they won’t be thought of as social networks.  They will be ubiquitous (integrated into most applications and websites).

Question: When will today’s social networks become open (they are closed today)?  Currently, we have to maintain separate profiles, Myspace, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn. 

Facebook is already open….What does closed and open mean in social networks? 

People want to take their identity with them from one social network to another.  Facebook for example has opened up their social network for developers to build apps that can be added and used by anyone in Facebook.  It’s considered complicated to “port” your identity to other social networks.  But, people have different profiles based on different interests.  For example a dog lover can interact in a social network with other dog lovers.  The same person may be a photographer and want to interact with other photographers in a social network.  They are different profiles but the same person. 

So you have the concept of a portable profile.  You should not have to check multiple inboxes and multiple blogs.  So you can respond to people according to your interest such as photographer, or dog lover, or IT manager.

Question: Monetization: In social networking 3.0 what are the new ways to monetize?

The advertising revenue model is only growing.  As social networks get more vertical more targeted advertising is possible.   It’s a huge market that is only getting bigger. 1.3 billion people are online and less than 15% are in social networks.  Viral videos, etc. offer more opportunities for targeted advertising. 

Another monetization opportunity will be in the ability to dress up our profile to maximize our profile’s exposure.  People will buy forms of self expression to dress up their profile.  In B2B it can be buying applications to use in a social network, e.g., a link to Outlook.

As the long tail is more accepted by marketers, social networks will continue to grow in very specific niches.

Current example: Classroom 2.0: a community of educators who is interested in exploring productive applications of technology for use in education.  It’s ironic that many educators are negative about Web 2.0, yet many of them are very positively exploring social networking.

So, what does all this crystal ball stuff about social networking 3.0 mean to a marketer in a business today?

It’s important for all marketers to understand what trends loom in the horizon.  Marketers must have insight into potential trends that could positively or negatively impact their business. 

There are many examples of businesses that didn’t look out in the near future and got blindsided, IBM/Microsoft, Beta/VHS, Apple iPod/music distributors.  The CEO of Data General (a defunct computer company) once said the PC was a passing fad in the mid 1980s.

Disruptions occur in markets and social media 3.0 will be an evolutionary disruption.  As marketers we need to be aware of it to understand it and avoid making costly mistakes, as well as to exploit marketing strategies available to us today, next, next month and next year.  We can exploit marketing strategies that may become available to us in Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.