Social Network Dead-Ends

For all the hype of the Summer of Facebook, the direction social networking is headed will lead only to dead ends. A discussion of social networking at the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit the other day demonstrates that, for the most part, social network providers only want to keep their members on the inside of their walled gardens.

Social activity doesn't exist in narrow parameters, and no one wants to do more to manage their relationships, despite the assertion by Ning cofounder Gina Bianchini that people will want to have to have identities for different [millions of] social networks.” Making socializing into work isn't how you make it popular. Managing isn't what makes life fun.

Moreover, making socializing into an activity that enriches others doesn't add to the attraction of social networks. Consider that if I currently earn Amazon affiliate revenue when I mention books that are purchased through my personal blog, I lose that revenue when I share books using the Visual Bookshelf application in Facebook—the app provider now earns my affiliate revenue.

The whole approach to friending, which typically grants carte blanche access to a person's information or to a Facebook application provider, treats personal data as though it was the least valuable feature of the social environment. Instead, it is the most precious thing, something that we struggle to share selectively throughout our lives. Simple categories of access to personal information, suggested by social network providers, such as "friend," "family" and "colleague," will not suffice, either, because we don't have uniform relationships with our friends, family members or coworkers.

Here's the rule of social success: Our personal data shouldn't become someone else's asset. Instead, we need to be able to turn it into value for ourselves. Yes, a network provider can claim some of that value for facilitating the interaction, but not all of it.

Social networks as they are conceived today are cul-de-sacs where our personal data goes to die, returning minimal value before it becomes the property of a company or part of the public record.