Second Tier Social Networks on the Rise
Posted by Kellie Parker | Friday, September 29, 2006 12:12 PM PT
The Wall Street Journal is
reporting that so-called "second tier" social networks, like Piczo, Hi5, XuQa are attracting members that are fleeing more popular networks like MySpace and Facebook. Why the shift?
One possibility is that people aren't actually leaving MySpace and Facebook, but they are simply branching out and adding these other networks to their online lives. Social networking has become second nature to a lot of us, and perhaps our abilities to manage multiple sets of friends online are growing. MySpace and Facebook don't seem to be losing any traffic while these other sites grow, so this seems likely.
Another possibility is that people are becoming tired of the "something for everyone", "doors open to the masses" model that MySpace,
and now Facebook, are embracing. Are niche communities the future of online interaction? Certainly, this allows companies to cater to the specific needs of their users more closely, but it also closes off the possibilities of greater membership and ultimately, greater revenue. Maybe this shift to lesser-known networks indicates that people are craving something more tailored to their specific interests. Or, perhaps there is just fatigue setting in from the problems and growing pains of the larger sites.
Yet another possibility is that these sites are like the Ham(p)sterdance site or Snakes on a Plane ? a fad. I think that the concept of online social networking is here to stay, but maybe the particular places we go to meet and interact with our networks are subject to change over time.
How do you see it? Has your participation at MySpace and Facebook changed? What other sites are you starting to explore, and why?
I think that facebook made a huge mistake opening up their site to everyone. They are trying to sell this to students by saying they added all these great new privacy settings that will allow you to choose who can see you etc.. Here is an interesting figure I recently read regarding privacy settings - "Students can limit parts of their pages, such as photos, to specific people. Still, JUST 17 PERCENT of customers ever change those privacy settings"
A few of my friends and I just joined a new site for College Students Only that just launched called Uspot.com. I think if they can get the word out about this site to enough people it can really hurt the facebook now that they have lost their niche. Looks like the college market is wide open and a new site like Uspot has a good chance of taking advantage of this.