SocialNetworksAreNotMarkets

ThoughtStorms Wiki

UmairHaque reminds us not to confuse

markets
communities
networks

He's right, and the differences are becoming more obvious. This page for capturing some of them

the following, extracted from my discussion with ZbigniewLukasiak about YasnsAsPlatforms ( ) http://blahsploitation.blogspot.com/2007/10/hmmmm.html#c2955517550089113514 )

:: Ultimately YASNS are not communication / conversation infrastructure. If they were, then everything the critics say about the values of openness would be true.

:: Ultimately the web is the best, most open substrate for communication. And will always remain so.

:: But, like I say, YASNs are NOT communication services. They are "social-network management" services. And that's a completely different kind of animal. This is where Umair Haque's insight is crucial : communities != markets != networks.

:: An effective network provides exclusive access to the right resources rather than mass access to a lot of resources. An effective network is good at keeping secrets in contrast with a good market which needs and encourages information flow.

::Tribe was a community. MySpace is a market. Facebook may be a real network.

::But you may be right, that, today, most YASNS don't really know which they want to be. Some will fail because they can't make up their minds, or they will be judged by the wrong criteria. If people expect Facebook to be a community like Tribe, they'll be disappointed and leave, just as those who thought Tribe was a market like MySpace judged it a failure. (Agree too that because Facebook is not a market it's also no good for collective intelligence and decision making)

::But what Facebook (or something similar that knows it is a network) will be good at, is letting people build and manage private relationships and empowering these exclusive groups with software tools.