nuance intelligence

Everyone likes lists, right? RIGHT?!?

Here’s one I picked up at Google I/O, which ultimately traces back to Jaiku co-founder Jyri Englestrom:

1. What is the object? Social networks need to be about something beyond the connection of people. At Flickr, the object is a photo, at LinkedIn, it’s a job (writ large to include consulting, full-time job, sales lead, strategic connection, etc.).
2. What are the verbs? This is the occam’s razor version of what is going to happen on the site.  At eBay, the verbs are ‘buy’ and ‘sell’.
3. How can you share? Be clear on how people will share the object; early examples are permalinks for blogs and widgets in social network profile pages.
4. What is the gift in the invitation? You’ve got to put some benefit in front of a request for participation. If you anticipate organic (don’t call it viral) growth, what are your users able to offer their friends and colleagues?
5. Are you charging the providers or the spectators? This is the heart of the business model. The zeitgest du jour is the “freemium” model, wherein basic services are provided for free, and you charge people to custom-publish their info. Jyri believes you charge the publisher, not the spectator.

Where’s the nuance?

With the explosion of vertical social networks, monetization and design are elusive to people who have a simple notion of providing social networking tools to their community. This provides a challenging framework which helps to guide intrepid social networking entrepreneurs to a higher likliehood of success.