The Social Network Model Considered

There’s a saying that imitation is the best form of flattery. If that saying is to hold true then Facebook ought to be flattered by the fact that Toyota has announce plans  to launch its own social network so that it can provide  information to it car buyers and create a support network  with other like minded owners. This can on only be a trend of things to come as other companies realize the advantage of using social networks as a way to communicate with their customers. Though as Toyota will find out I think there are some challenges to the idea of personalized social networks. One of the challenges that I for-see is how does a company get people to return time after time to the network? Sure as a first timer to say car companies network the idea might seem awesome after all they just bought this wonderful brand new shiny machine that they are proud of. But after the first six months the novelty of the new car, and the accompanying network might ware off on people, and they will be back on the grand-daddy of them, Facebook. Another challenge that a company will have in attracting people to  their own networks is to find  ways to keep these networks profitable. Since people visiting these networks are going want constant  fresh content, a car company for example might be hard pressed to keep the network fresh, as opposed to a company that is already on Facebook then in my mind the freshness of the content does not have to be so constant since people can take a quick peak to see whats new versus logging into  another network and entering another login set. This constant renewal of content might prove expensive. Then again the argument within the corporation is how is the success of  the network viewed? The idea of going off and creating a separate social network from Facebook might see like a good idea but I think in terms of success and appeal for the Small Business owner it’s not a good idea for the simple reason that people can easily find you on FaceBook! Do you want further proof of failed social networks? Can you say My-space? But what about the success of LinkedIn you ask? Let me ask you this unless you are looking for work how often are you on LinkedIn? What more can you do on LinkedIn that you can’t possibly do on Facebook? (Disclaimer: You won’t find me on either LinkedIn or Facebook I refuse to succumb to the invasion of privacy provided by the networks.) You could if you wanted to just as easily network with others looking for work on Facebook, just as easily as you would on LinkedIn. Though in LinkedIn’s defense it does comes across as a more professional place to find a job. Truth be told I know a number of geeks like me who use neither social networks or prefer the professionalism of LinkedIn. When it comes to social networks IT geeks are wary of giving out to much info to others, that’s why we’re in IT! So why would we join other social networks based on a companies products? If a company wants to keep me up to date about their products then they ought to give me the option of getting their on-line newsletter.
Those are my Two Bits on the Social Network Model.
Surfs up!........................Eric