June 12, 2008 26 Comments

Social Networks Today are a Token Ring Configuration

I was just talking with Nick Saber, President of CrossTech Media about social networks, and we were specifically talking about how people will make a living off this stuff. One of the great lines out of Nick’s mouth early was, “Social networks today are an IBM Token Ring.”

In some ways, this is spot on. We’re passing the token of our content around a network, and people are consuming parts of it, and some of what we’re trying to accomplish is slow. Organic seems to equal slow, and maybe that’s okay, but that’s what gives us the mindset of the Ring.

Anyhow, I thought it was worth a quick post, and wondered if any of you network heads could expand on, refute, or otherwise take the ball and run.

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http://www.crosstechmedia.com Nick Saber

Thanks Chris!
http://www.crosstechmedia.com Nick Saber

Thanks Chris!
http://businesscard2.com Lief Larson

Hey Chris. What we’re dealing with now is a situation where we’re looking for the token passing mechanism (and this isn’t feeds just in case that’s what you were going to ask). If you would have talked to me 14 months ago, I might have said widgetization, but I’m more convinced than ever that we’re all probably spending too much time looking for a method to repeat rather than challenging conventional wisdom.

The “slow” and “organic” part (from my humble opinion) is the waiting game for connecting the hub to previously disconnected nodes. I’d say that’s a rather passive way to go about this. A potential solution is a proactive approach of making connections with those disconnected nodes by co-location with contextually relevant content already being consumed by the node.

[For those of you reading this and wondering what the hell this node is I'm talking about, I mean YOU.]

I can’t say we have all the solutions, but we think our company is getting very close to cracking the first nut to making $$$ of it in a new way.

When you talk about many people making a living off it though, I just don’t think that’s realistic; maybe supplemental income. It’s sort of like day trading. Someone’s going to make a living off it, then go on to sell books to all the people who can’t, but want to.

- Lief
http://lieflarson.businesscard2.com
http://businesscard2.com Lief Larson

Hey Chris. What we’re dealing with now is a situation where we’re looking for the token passing mechanism (and this isn’t feeds just in case that’s what you were going to ask). If you would have talked to me 14 months ago, I might have said widgetization, but I’m more convinced than ever that we’re all probably spending too much time looking for a method to repeat rather than challenging conventional wisdom.

The “slow” and “organic” part (from my humble opinion) is the waiting game for connecting the hub to previously disconnected nodes. I’d say that’s a rather passive way to go about this. A potential solution is a proactive approach of making connections with those disconnected nodes by co-location with contextually relevant content already being consumed by the node.

[For those of you reading this and wondering what the hell this node is I'm talking about, I mean YOU.]

I can’t say we have all the solutions, but we think our company is getting very close to cracking the first nut to making $$$ of it in a new way.

When you talk about many people making a living off it though, I just don’t think that’s realistic; maybe supplemental income. It’s sort of like day trading. Someone’s going to make a living off it, then go on to sell books to all the people who can’t, but want to.

- Lief
http://lieflarson.businesscard2.com
http://businesscard2.com Lief Larson

Hey Chris. What we’re dealing with now is a situation where we’re looking for the token passing mechanism (and this isn’t feeds just in case that’s what you were going to ask). If you would have talked to me 14 months ago, I might have said widgetization, but I’m more convinced than ever that we’re all probably spending too much time looking for a method to repeat rather than challenging conventional wisdom.

The “slow” and “organic” part (from my humble opinion) is the waiting game for connecting the hub to previously disconnected nodes. I’d say that’s a rather passive way to go about this. A potential solution is a proactive approach of making connections with those disconnected nodes by co-location with contextually relevant content already being consumed by the node.

[For those of you reading this and wondering what the hell this node is I'm talking about, I mean YOU.]

I can’t say we have all the solutions, but we think our company is getting very close to cracking the first nut to making $$$ of it in a new way.

When you talk about many people making a living off it though, I just don’t think that’s realistic; maybe supplemental income. It’s sort of like day trading. Someone’s going to make a living off it, then go on to sell books to all the people who can’t, but want to.

- Lief
http://lieflarson.businesscard2.com
http://wm1ke.us Mike Staines

Interesting… in truth, it is far from TokenRing. In Token Ring, only the guy holding the token talks. On social networks, IMHO, everyone is talking at once. It is a lot like the concept of the “talking stick” used in some therapy groups. You pass the stick around and whomever has the stick talks – everyone else shuts up.

This highlights a flaw in the social networks that I have joined (because Cris told me I should 8-). There is little to no deliberation. Anyone, at any time, can post their comments, thoughts, ideas. They are not required to review, deliberate or cogitate on any of the rest of the traffic (e.g. other posts, comments, replies). Nobody is told to wait their turn and use the time to consider what they want to say.

If it was a real TokenRing I would have held this post until it was my turn with the token. And, perhaps, I may have listened better. And had a better reply.

Mike
http://wm1ke.us Mike Staines

Interesting… in truth, it is far from TokenRing. In Token Ring, only the guy holding the token talks. On social networks, IMHO, everyone is talking at once. It is a lot like the concept of the “talking stick” used in some therapy groups. You pass the stick around and whomever has the stick talks – everyone else shuts up.

This highlights a flaw in the social networks that I have joined (because Cris told me I should 8-). There is little to no deliberation. Anyone, at any time, can post their comments, thoughts, ideas. They are not required to review, deliberate or cogitate on any of the rest of the traffic (e.g. other posts, comments, replies). Nobody is told to wait their turn and use the time to consider what they want to say.

If it was a real TokenRing I would have held this post until it was my turn with the token. And, perhaps, I may have listened better. And had a better reply.

Mike
Anonymous

But don’t you want to be Ethernet vs. being Token Ring? :)

We know how the original Token Ring vs. Ethernet fight went.
Anonymous

But don’t you want to be Ethernet vs. being Token Ring? :)

We know how the original Token Ring vs. Ethernet fight went.
http://jeffpulver.com Jeff Pulver

But don’t you want to be Ethernet vs. being Token Ring? :)

We know how the original Token Ring vs. Ethernet fight went.
http://www.exitrealtymetrodallas.com/?page_id=398 larrylawfer

Social networks are just methods to reach out and speak and listen, there are few dollars in that unless you are a pundit of consultant. The dollars exist, as they always have, in the value of your product or service. Before Social networks there was newspaper, tv, radio and other more tradtional methods for communication, now there are social networks. It is a platform from which to speak and share, not a place to gather dollars.
http://www.lawfer.com Larry Lawfer

Social networks are just methods to reach out and speak and listen, there are few dollars in that unless you are a pundit of consultant. The dollars exist, as they always have, in the value of your product or service. Before Social networks there was newspaper, tv, radio and other more tradtional methods for communication, now there are social networks. It is a platform from which to speak and share, not a place to gather dollars.
http://www.crosstechmedia.com Nick Saber

I think my comments are being somewhat misunderstood. I was reffering to the factor that social networks are currently disconnected. Referring to Token Ring as the state of the network and that 3 years from now these networks will all be connected and provide easier information flow.
http://www.crosstechmedia.com Nick Saber

I think my comments are being somewhat misunderstood. I was reffering to the factor that social networks are currently disconnected. Referring to Token Ring as the state of the network and that 3 years from now these networks will all be connected and provide easier information flow.
http://www.crosstechmedia.com Nick Saber

I think my comments are being somewhat misunderstood. I was reffering to the factor that social networks are currently disconnected. Referring to Token Ring as the state of the network and that 3 years from now these networks will all be connected and provide easier information flow.
http://www.lynetteradio.com lynette {radio}

Oy, I just had a wicked flashback to “beacon errors” – does that give away my age?
http://www.lynetteradio.com lynette {radio}

Oy, I just had a wicked flashback to “beacon errors” – does that give away my age?
http://www.lynetteradio.com lynette {radio}

Oy, I just had a wicked flashback to “beacon errors” – does that give away my age?
http://www.socialstudiesblog.com Vemrion

I’d say today’s social networks are like a torrent that hasn’t completed (and may never complete) because the there’s no reliable tracker. Until unified under OpenSocial or some other platform people will continue to have fragmentary and repetitive experiences. Why do we need to maintain multiple profiles when we should be blasting our thoughts out to everyone at once? It seems confusing and ad hoc at the moment, but hopefully as things mature we’ll get streamlined and useful services that work together rather than at cross purposes.
http://www.socialstudiesblog.com Vemrion

I’d say today’s social networks are like a torrent that hasn’t completed (and may never complete) because the there’s no reliable tracker. Until unified under OpenSocial or some other platform people will continue to have fragmentary and repetitive experiences. Why do we need to maintain multiple profiles when we should be blasting our thoughts out to everyone at once? It seems confusing and ad hoc at the moment, but hopefully as things mature we’ll get streamlined and useful services that work together rather than at cross purposes.
http://www.socialstudiesblog.com Vemrion

I’d say today’s social networks are like a torrent that hasn’t completed (and may never complete) because the there’s no reliable tracker. Until unified under OpenSocial or some other platform people will continue to have fragmentary and repetitive experiences. Why do we need to maintain multiple profiles when we should be blasting our thoughts out to everyone at once? It seems confusing and ad hoc at the moment, but hopefully as things mature we’ll get streamlined and useful services that work together rather than at cross purposes.
http://www.davekawalec.com Dave Kawalec

Token ring is probably an inexact analogy. Token ring networks worked sort of like bucket brigades – where the token was passed linearly from computer 1 to computer 2 then to computer 3, and so on. Social networks don’t work that way, in that there are always multiple paths between nodes. I don’t have to pass my social object through person 2 to ensure that it gets to person 3. In fact, I can share it with person 2 and person 3 (and person 3,000,000!) simultaneously.
http://www.davekawalec.com Dave Kawalec

Token ring is probably an inexact analogy. Token ring networks worked sort of like bucket brigades – where the token was passed linearly from computer 1 to computer 2 then to computer 3, and so on. Social networks don’t work that way, in that there are always multiple paths between nodes. I don’t have to pass my social object through person 2 to ensure that it gets to person 3. In fact, I can share it with person 2 and person 3 (and person 3,000,000!) simultaneously.
http://www.davekawalec.com Dave Kawalec

Token ring is probably an inexact analogy. Token ring networks worked sort of like bucket brigades – where the token was passed linearly from computer 1 to computer 2 then to computer 3, and so on. Social networks don’t work that way, in that there are always multiple paths between nodes. I don’t have to pass my social object through person 2 to ensure that it gets to person 3. In fact, I can share it with person 2 and person 3 (and person 3,000,000!) simultaneously.
http://www.savetubevideo.com youtube downloader

What we’re dealing with now is a situation where we’re looking for the token passing mechanism (and this isn’t feeds just in case that’s what you were going to ask). If you would have talked to me 14 months ago, I might have said widgetization, but I’m more convinced than ever that we’re all probably spending too much time looking for a method to repeat rather than challenging conventional wisdom.
http://www.savetubevideo.com youtube downloader

What we’re dealing with now is a situation where we’re looking for the token passing mechanism (and this isn’t feeds just in case that’s what you were going to ask). If you would have talked to me 14 months ago, I might have said widgetization, but I’m more convinced than ever that we’re all probably spending too much time looking for a method to repeat rather than challenging conventional wisdom.

Social Networks Today are a Token Ring Configuration

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