Social Networks, Blogging, and Human Web with Soul

"The Friendster patent isn't a reason why I don't do social networks anymore. I simply find that they are annoying. I get TONS of emails asking me to join things like LinkedIn, Friendster, Orkut, and other social networks. . . I hate these things. Why? Cause I have a blog. My email address and my cell phone number are always on my blog. Why do I need a social network?"

That's Robert Scoble ranting his frustrations on social networks. Can't blame the guy because he's popular, so naturally tons of people would like to "network" with him and become his "friends." Ditching social network is of course, Scoble's and anybody's prerogative. (And ditto on the Friendster patent. I think it's lame too.)

Social networking is a useful technology but it's not for everyone. But unlike Scoble, most people join social networks not to be found, but to find others who they already know, to link up with others whom they want to know, and/or to have those serendipitous encounters, in hyper-speed (as opposed to going to bars or walking down the streets). Of course these are all possible with blogging (as Scoble had implied), but not everyone likes to blog. A lot of people don't check blogs. A lot of people don't like to have blogs. Blogging is not for everyone. Unlike Scoble, you cannot just google other people and then have their email and phone number spit out on search results pages. Most people would be terrified to have their email and phone numbers on google pages anyway. Now this is where the usefulness of social network services comes in. 

Social networks insulate people from the vastness of cyberspace. Social networks offer tools that help people find each other easier than googling one another. Most social networks also offer tools such as blogging, photo sharing, dating, meetups, calendar sharing, etc. that make it easier for groups of people to organize things, share information publicly or privately (within their network), or just to keep in touch with each other.

However, due to the explosion of social networking services, with each of them promising to give people the best social networking experience, it's easier for people to get lost in the sea of social networks especially if they've joined everyone of them. The trick of course is to pick the social networks that are right for you and stick with them. Some social networks have specialties (e.g. Flickr for photosharing, YouTube for video sharing, etc.) while others have the "good ole networking" theme (e.g. MySpace, Friendster, Orkut, Bebo, Tribe, etc.). The more one limits the number of social networks with the same networking theme, the more one would benefit from social networks, and the less annoying social networks would be.

Allow me to use myself as example. I love blogging. Blogging has enriched me in a lot of ways. I've met wonderful people because of my blog. But I also love social networks because I use them to enrich my blogging and my personal life as well. I post pictures a lot on my blog so I use Flickr. Using Flickr also enriched my photographic skills because I get immediate and inspiring feedbacks from my Flickr network. I also keep a Friendster account to keep in touch with my high school and college classmates, friends, and relatives who are overseas (e.g. Friendster is more popular where my relatives live.). Also, most of my friends and relatives don't care about my blog, so I engage them in their preferred location in cyberspace. Since I already have a Friendster account, I didn't bother to be active on MySpace, Orkut, Bebo, and Tribe because they share the same social networking theme. I have accounts on those but I don't use them that much. I only use those social networks that serve my purpose. I only use those social networks that give more meaning to my cyber-existence.

Speaking of meaning, here is Anil Dash (Vice President of Six Apart) blogging about making something meaningful:

"If you believe that tools influence content, and I absolutely do , then the most important thing we can do with all this technology is to try to build tools that encourage meaningful expression. In fact, I'd say it's even stronger than that; One of our obligations is to build tools that help people connect with their friends and family in a meaningful way."

In the context of social networks, Anil Dash hit a key ingredient: meaning. Anil also asked this crucial question, "Is this damn thing making my life better?"

A lot of social networks out there play the numbers game, focusing on the number of members, page hits, ad spaces, photos, videos, and audio content, etc. The bigger the better. Nothing wrong with that. It's big business. The only time it goes "wrong" is when the "bigger the better" approach doesn't provide real meaning to its members anymore. Does more members in my network make my life better? Does more page hits on my profile make my life better? Does uploading cool music and videos make my life better? Does my hundreds or thousands of "friends" in my social network make my life better? What's my purpose of joining this social network in the first place? These are just some of the questions that we can ask of our social network service. These are the questions we can use to evaluate the meaning of our social network. These are the same questions I used to evaluate my primary social network of choice: Zaadz. And these are also the same questions I asked myself before I've chosen to work for Zaadz, because I want my social network, and work, to have a conscience.

Going back to our friend, Scoble, he may not like social networks but I think he's in agreement with Anil Dash when it comes to using technology to give more meaning and express our humanity. In his blog post, The Next Web is the Human Web, Scoble mentions that Web companies are now gearing up for "a bloggy Web," -- "A Web with real people talking about real stuff on it. Not a manufactured site that has no life. No soul." I agree with Scoble, even if I'm not sure what his definition of "soul" is. I'm also in agreement with Anil Dash that technology should encourage a "more meaningful expression."

Mark Cuban recently announced that "The Internet is old news and boring." He's of course partially right since he focused on the "exterior" technology of the Internet. But the Internet is far from boring if you look at it from the "interior" point of view (e.g. psychological development of people using the Internet, or lack thereof) of the people who are impacted by this technology, because everytime we find some meaning, everytime we're empowered to make more meaningful expression, it takes away our boredom, replacing it with inspiration, creativity, and passion. I think Mark Cuban also implied it when he said, "Its the brainpower that is changing our world. THe internet is just a utility to deliver the digital bits they create."

Blogging tools and social networks did wonders for me, as I hope it would do wonders for others. In the personal domain of expression, blogging is my tool of choice. In the collective domain of interpersonal and collaborative expression, social networks are my vehicles. Most social networks are now trying to marry the personal and the collective domains of expression by integrating blogging with social networking. This is ideal. But still, there are times when there's nothing more satisfying than having your own personal blog, where you can post anything that your heart desires, with passion, compassion, and awareness.

~C (for Collective expression)