Why Join Another Social Network

July 1, 2007 · Comments

I’m messing around with Pownce, a Twitter contender run by Leah Culver, Kevin Rose (of Digg), Daniel Burka, and Shawn Allen ( more about the company). It does a few things differently, including having “replies,” sending files, handling links better, etc. It doesn’t have a search tool (like David Troy’s Twittersearch), or an @ replies feature (for those of you not on Twitter, this sounds like gibberish, I know). But otherwise, it’s fairly solid, has a few neat things about it, and is another “add friends” fest waiting to happen.

But Do You Need It?

Twitter and Pounce and Jaiku are conversations. So is Facebook. Myspace not so much, but someone more passionate about the app could say that. LinkedIN isn’t a conversation. It’s a fat address book.

So do you join all the conversations? I’ve resisted Jaiku. I just didn’t want to contend with two Twitters in my life. I admit that I joined Pownce because it seemed cool, likely was going to be all the conversation for the next several weeks, and because it was a bit of a trick getting in (which suckers me every time).

But do you need it?

No. Flatly, no. You don’t need to be in on every conversation. You don’t have to go everywhere. As king creator Eric Rice is often pointing out, all his friends are surfing across the social networks, staying for a while, moving on, leaving their digital squatter camps all over the net. People like me are trying out all the conversations, wiring up the social networks, getting the systems in place IN CASE I need them, or IN CASE I want to have a conversation, or in case Twitter falls into the ocean.

What If We’re Diluting Our Streams?

Rosa Say, a great and wise author and leader from Say Leadership Coaching, very politely turned down my friend request on Facebook. In her case, she said she was cutting out the digital clutter, and was also deciding to keep a slim profile via Google. Her thought was that Google is going to pick up on her at Facebook, and see her on Twitter, and throw all kinds of other pointers into people’s searches that won’t bring them back to where SHE wants her conversation: on her site.

It’s not wrong. I thought about it. She’s got a great point. What if you want all roads to lead back to your site? It might not be a great strategy to get out there in every social network and establish a presence and a page.

The Rocketboom Method

Or you could take the advice of the most distributed Internet TV show out there: Rocketboom. Andrew Baron and team have worked from the start at putting Rocketboom onto as many platforms and in as many formats as possible. Sure, in the case of distributing media this becomes tricky (aggregating downloads/plays across multiple distribution threads), but it ensures that people can find the product where they want it, not just at one location. This makes for a great way to get your stuff seen and noticed.

Should you distribute your identity this way as well? So far, I’ve been taking this tack. I don’t have much in the way of hooks at all these various sites, though I always provide a link back to [chrisbrogan.com]. Maybe this is a way to get more audience for my site, and more voices for the conversation. That’s what I’m counting on.

In my case, I treat all these social networks like phonebooks or directories. I want a listing in these directories, or a number in these books, as a way to make sure I have a place at the conversation’s table.

Should YOU Join All These Networks?

If you’re a marketer, maybe. If you’re a marketer whose target market is also heavily online, maybe even more yes. If you’re someone who has few geographical outlets of like-minded-ness and you’re seeking friends who share your thoughts and opinions, you might consider it.

But why are you using these social networking tools? How much of it is just plain chat? How much of it is relationship building? I’d recommend that you consider what these tools do in a day for you. Are you using them to reach out and strengthen friendships? Are you using them to direct people’s attention to interesting things? Swell.

Are you using them to fill empty time? That’s the problem, isn’t it? Are you on the next network just because your friends are? Reconsider. Ask yourself if you need to be there. Even if you wait a few months.

Your Take

What do you think? What are you using your various social networks for? Do they bring you value? How much of your time is getting consumed by the Twitter / Jaiku / Pownce / Facebook / MySpace / Blogging / Podcasting / BlogTV / uStream / Skype / AIM / Yahoo! / MSN / social network dance?

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  • For me I like to know what is available out there and like to at least try something before I give it the thumbs up or down. It's also important for me to keep my finger on the pulse of social media and networks to advise clients. There is so much going on you can get caught up in the trees and forget you are in a forest or some such metaphor as that.
  • I wrote about this in January. It's one of the reasons I quit my main blog in June, after three years. It's YouTube generation attention span stuff, inimical to reflection, almost entirely narcissistic. However, on the plus side, I get to hear about new stuff really quickly, far quicker than any other route yet devised, especially the press, who in fact rely on the Twitterati for their stories.. Go figure that out! Snake eats tail...
  • I agree with you on this, it's becoming harder and harder to spend all this time on various social sites,. It just seems like noise to me. I'm on Myspace, twitter, facebook and the 3 sites I help out on, not to mention my own. It's too much, I want conversation but it's getting harder and harder to achive that becuase I am spending to much time "networking" Watch my stuff or don't, listen to my thoughts or don't. That's were I am anymore.....but then again I might change my mind tomorrow...
  • I have a Pownce invitation in hand, but I'm not sure at all I'm going to use it. Why do I want to go through all the bother of befriending people I'm already friends with either on Twitter or in real life?

    Dude, we've seriously got to talk about user-centric social networking. :)

    Joe
  • neilgorman
    Hey Chris,

    I totally agree with what you have said here. I've been using twitter as a way to talk to people who I know. It has been a way for me to continue to interact with people who I feel I have a meaningful relationship with.

    The same thing is possible with pownce, or Jaiku, but do I need it? At this point my answer is no.

    Like you I have spent a fair amount of time today laying with Pownce, but I've sort of got the feeling that it is like a new gadget, all shiny and fun at first... but as time goes by... well some better gadget comes along.

    Twitter is a simple thing that I have used, and enjoyed using. The thing I think I enjoy the most about it is that it is simple, while Pownce is (IMHO) a everything and the kitchen sink sort of thing. More than I need.

    Shameless plug: I also wrote about this on my blog. http://neilgorman.org/?p=195
  • In the early days of blogging, before Blogger had its own commenting system, there was a commenting system called YAACS. YAACS stood for Yet Another Commenting System. Probably still exists today - I wouldn't know.

    I keep waiting for someone to start YASMN - Yet Another Social Media Network. All of this talk of more places to put oneself online is frustrating. I can definitely understand how it would feel cliquish.

    I haven't yet decided what to do with my Pownce invite yet, nor how to develop my Facebook profile. I feel okay about holding off for a bit and using the current tools I'm using.
  • I have a Pownce account but really only to see what all the fuss is about.

    I've already made my opinion of Facebook public.

    The places I hang out most? Flickr and Twitter. Anywhere else I exist is because I use a 'service'.

    - Neil.
  • it's just a really good way for the governments of the world not to just give us a "number" but to rss feed our brainspace out for free rent.

    Welcome to the Borg.
  • Dan
    Great read, Chris. I think one has to sample the options out there and make an informed decision from that - I tried Jaiku, glanced at Pownce and settled on Twitter. That's not to say I don't still have accounts with other sites/services, I just focus on one of them more the next.

    Right now, Twitter/MySpace/Blogging/Skype/MSN/Flickr are the main items I use. I must say, I find Facebook annoying and cluttered. The fact that it has a tiny local (Ireland) user base only adds to my dislike of the site. In comparison, MySpace or (dare I say it) Bebo have thousands more local users - thus making them undoubtedly more "sociable" and appealing.
  • As I said in my post about Pownce all it is right now is a big YAWN especially without having an API for developers to mess around with.

    With Twitter as soon as there was an API it really began to florish which is evident by the number of 3rd party goodies available for it.

    Maybe Pownce needs a special event to get it kick started much like SXSW conference did for Twitter
  • Although... Pownce has SETS. That's important. Groups.
  • Seems like today was the day for blogging this [lynetteradio.com]. I think the whole Pownce'd thing brought me to my limit as well. If I have to Twitter to get an invite to Pownce, maybe I'm not as cool as I'd like to think some days. Do I really need to have the same conversation, with the same people, on a different platform?
  • As someone of is often unable to spend time in front of connected devices (when I'm on a shoot I can't direct or do camera work and Twitter at the same time, nor can I do it when I'm in an intense editing session) I have kept the active social network count low, but there's something about Twitter that keeps me checking in once in a while. It's the specific people who are on it and what they are saying. It starts with the quality of the conversation. Do we need more networks to be on? I'd rather see the good ones evolve to meet the changing needs of users.
  • Aloha Chris, good article. One thing to include is the possibility that we will change the way we interact with these applications. The notion of "keeping up" is not sustainable across the plethora of locations. However, perhaps this could be supplemented by other possibilities. Stowe Boyd has some great ideas on this: http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2007/06/steve_... and http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2007/06/lauren...
  • Evo
    I get asked these same questions on a fairly regular basis. Like you, my friends look at me a little strange when I start preaching the SM Gospel. And while I agree with many of the points you raise and those raised by others you cited, there is one thing to keep in mind:

    Regardless of how hard you try and control a conversation -- you can't. People can and will talk about the things they want to talk about where they want to talk about them. It may be on Facebook. It may be on Jaiku. It may be in dozens of niche social media applications yet to be discovered -- and a few thousand yet to be created.

    You *can't* control them. But you can try to keep informed about them and then try and add your own commentary where you feel it appropriate.
  • Rob
    Thanks for this Chris. I had just turned on my computer to sort through the new media tools I am using and begin the process of deciding how I wanted them to work for me.
    I had been following the conversation on twitter re: pownce and couldn't help but mutter a muffled 'ugh'.
    So, very timely my friend. Thanks.
  • I don't think it's possible to properly give all of these networks the proper attention and not make it a full-time job. There's just too many of them now and too much involved with each one. It would drive a person insane to try to keep up with all of it.

    That being said, I keep an account on almost all these services, but most of those profiles are plain pointers back to my home page.

    I resisted Twitter for the longest time, then I remembered the words of Eric where he said you can't slam on things and claim to "not get them" if you don't give them a chance.

    Twitter has expanded my potential audiences and expanded the width and breadth of my virtual social circle, but it also harkens back to the old IRC-style chat rooms as a good place to slough off the occasional "random" thought or idea. For that, it serves its purpose for me - simply and effectively.

    To me the best social networks are still the old simple ones: e-mails and blogs with comments, along with, to a lesser extent, instant message systems. Twitter is an extension of those. Like any service, it will hopefully take feedback from its users and make future improvements.
  • jeffpulver
    Hi Chris,

    Really enjoyed the analysis.

    For the month of July, I have decided to continue to be loyal to twitter, to continue to invest my time with Facebook and when the urge to share my experiences real-time happen to broadcast on BlogTV.
  • Aloha Chris, I appreciate your sharing our conversation here, for it's always good to get more thoughts ... and I've been known to change my mind!

    This is the (current :-) thinking I'm at; dedicated quality versus web-candy quantity. I own a full-time business that is blessing me with tons of activity both offline and on, and there are only so many programs I can concentrate on and sound half-way intelligent with.

    And Chris, we'll always be connected; even if the web sent away tomorrow in some magical puff of smoke.

    Keep up the brilliant conversation you energize us with, Rosa
  • It's interesting to read this and then consider the ramifications of it all. I was invited to Pownce today and tried it out. I really like it and it has some huge potential. The ability to send to specific groups of people? Heck, the ability to GROUP people rocks.

    I've already invested so much time and effort creating a community of friends on Twitter that the move to Pownce seems such the daunting task. It is incredibly interesting and like I said, it has potential. I'm vested in Twitter and that's where people know to look for my updates about personal, business or fun.

    It's saddeningly time-consuming spending time working and conversing within each of these different social networks. Yes, it builds great conversation and community for friendship and my business; if only I had a clone of me to manage and converse within those networks so I could spend more time getting the actual work done.

    Is the idea of getting an account with each of these social networks, posting your website or social network of choice and pointing them in that direction to converse with you out of the question? But then does it come back down to each user's preference for a social network? I wonder.

    Maybe it's a matter of staying focused and being realistic.. setting boundaries for ourselves and creating goals in which we use these networks for.
  • With a bit of work you can route all the status updates from all your friends on all the services into one place. Typically using Twitter to combine them all. Note here that Facebook is the least open of all of them. It's Ecademy centric but I wrote some instructions here
    http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=86531

    You wrote: "Twitter and Pounce and Jaiku are conversations. ". They're really not. Like Blogs, they're monologues. One-to-many, one-to-few. Neither of them answer the need for few-to-few conversations. Few-To-Few is a neglected area of study which is ironic when Mailing lists and IRC are some of the oldest technologies on the intarwebs. It's somewhat comical watching people try to use the @name convention on Twitter to turn it into something it isn't.
  • Fleep
    You know what's funny? Twitter is just like a really poorly designed BBS with a catchy web/IM/sms interface for the "new" digital age.

    It's no surprise to me that Twitter has caught on so heavily with the SL crowd since SL provides absolutely NO reliable asynchronous message system for a group audience/conversation. If I had any doubt, reading the comments convinced me since the single feature that seems to be distinguishing Pownce is the ability to group your mates and have more specific conversations with a more specific set of people. Rooms anyone?

    Maybe I'm just showing my age, but tweets are like x messages over time, over IM, and over the phone and now Pownce is trying to get back to grouping your conversations around a common topic.

    So do I need another? Like a hole in the head, but my BBS community is stagnant so I keep searching for good conversation with smart people and Twitter is partly filling the niche but doesn't do it all, so I'll keep looking for the right interface and the right group of people that suits me best. And every time I try a new app, I find at least one or two new people who make an impression or become a new source of information and you can't beat that with a stick.

    Even if it did overrun my email with all those notices. Yikes.
  • Jean-Ann (Jane)
    Hi Chris,
    First of all great post...thank you. As you know this is something I have struggled with as well. How many social networks is enough, but yet I still keep joining the new ones and playing with them. :-)

    The only problem is that for the most part besides Twitter and Facebook it is the same group of techno-geek friends that I am associating with in most of those social networks (myspace is a bit different because that is more mainstream and common ) so I am not really expanding my universe in the social media realm. However, occasionally one of my friends introduces me to a new friend and makes it all worth it.

    Social networks are definitely addicting and fascinating. I was in love with Facebook for the lifelogging aspect long before the open API, however, now I really am. Personally for me even though all these new social networks take up a bit of my time they are all also passions and interests of mine. I still have my favorites that I return to and regularly use, but I definitely like to be in on the new/hot ones....even if it is with just me and my posse.

    Why do I join endless social networks? Networking, education, new forms of communication, and simply just because they are fascinating. :-)
  • Good points everyone! For me, it is more about experimentation in connectedness and avenues to cultural channels and information feeds. The social dialogs, focused threads mixed in with randomness, are stimulating and create a convergence buzz. The challenge for me, is to wrangle the various models and channels into one centralized feed - an "über social network" of sorts. There isn't enough time in the day to sift through the complete aggregation, but found gems and nuggets are true intellectual treasures. The dynamic nature of personal relationships and social bonds evolving make the quest very worthwhile.
  • As we join more and more of these, we really need Marc Canter's vision of being able to easily:-

    1) Populate a profile with standard text from our definitive source

    2) Import our list of friends list from our other YASNs.

    There's not a lot of mileage in the first for the YASN owner except to reduce friction during the signup process. But the second should appeal to them. Which is why the few that do it tie it into their invitation system. But even there it's usually one way. "Give me all *your* email addresses so I can send invite spam but no you can't have the friend's list you've built up in *our* system."
  • Julian- I totally agree with both those needs. I definitely want to do that sort of thing.
  • It's funny, when I joined Twitter I couldn't wrap my head around what it could do for me, especially having no friends. But it opened up my world and I have friends who are active in social media like you and Jeff Pulver, Jim Long, etc. By being active on Twitter I stay connected with the ever changing world of social media.

    I resisted joining MySpace for such a long time but ended up joining because that is how my nieces and nephews connect with each other and I could become part of their network.

    Facebook has become an extension of my Twitter friends and contacts I have made in the blogging world. It's nice to be able to follow what people are up to and joining in on different groups. It is more a professional networking tool than MySpace.

    I agree with you that LinkedIn is really just a large address book. I don't visit that site daily or even weekly.

    Twitter resonates with me because of its ease of use and the number of tools available (see my post 4 Tools That Make Twitter Easier For Me (and Maybe You)). Pownce is nice but lacking the tools to make keeping track of friends and sets easy. Hopefully those tools will start appearing because Pownce does have potential to really fill the microblogging/instant messaging market with its ease of posting content, sharing files and links.

    I would love a desktop app that ran in my system tray that would notify me of new messages/posts for all of the different networks I belong to and when I open it up would allow me to see all of what is happening under each of my profiles while allowing me to post content. Sort of like a start page of my social networking profiles but making it so I don't have to have a browser window always opened. Does that makes sense?
  • Honestly, I dread it when a new social networking site emerges. I KNOW I'll end up joining it, not particularly because I want to but because that's where all my friends are and I don't want to be left behind talking to no one but myself if I don't. sigh......

    I have accounts on them all but Twitter and Flickr are the ones that I use faithfully and check daily. All the rest, I join but don't really push or get that involved in. I read all of the email, and click on the links but I don't aggressively promote anything myself (just not enough time in my life as it is...) Of course, if everyone in my social circle abandons Twitter for Pownce, things will change and I'll go with the crowd so as not to be on the outside looking in...
  • Hi Chris-

    I use G-Talk as an extension of Gmail, AIM, Facebook, and Livejournal. I have a linked in profile, which I should leverage more.

    I got "suckered" into Facebook when it was just a new way to organize contact information with a reliable way to reach people system built in. No one had to sell me on the benefits of "social network." The Harvard online facebook sucked and this was easier than going into SSH and using PH to get someone's info. I wasn't looking for more than an address book that I never had to update and a failsafe messenging system. By and large, I don't use it for much more than a "Directory+" suite of services. Walls are fun, and mini-feeds let me "stalk" all but effortlessly. I like to know what's happening in the lives of my friends.

    When I started, I wasn't concerned with "building a brand" or "my online presence." Now, these concerns are inescapable.

    Sometimes, I kind of want my innocence back. I'm not saying I was EVER the type to do "CRAZY SHIT"(tm) and have pictures of it everywhere or things like that but there are things I consider it useful to let my friends know that I don't know it is as useful to let anyone who might contact me for business know. Without groups (and you know, even if facebook HAD groups, I feel like I would shy away from setting it up that much for this purpose) it's hard to filter.

    Meanwhile, I want to categorize my contacts, but everyone else* wants me to have them everywhere at once so they can know about ANY opportunity for ANYTHING ever, cause even if they can't help, maybe one of their friends can. Even ideologically, social networks work cause they break down boundaries, right?

    For example, I'm getting friend requests from 2 degrees removed, people I really don't know.

    Am I obligated to say yes to these people just because they may be "useful" to me as a social networking tool, because I might meet them and people take rejection badly? Should I let them see/know as much about me as people I actually consider my friends?

    LJ seems to have a pretty big disconnect from the blogosphere as a whole. I can keep that personal pretty easily, but Facebook lost that when they became a "platform."

    So, is there something to do about this issue? Other than be Friends with EVERYONE you know and deal with businesswise too? (not easy in many cases, not possible in some). Not that I'm unhappy that you and Jeff are on Facebook with me, but I think the answer for some is that maybe, different platforms for different actual networks. It gets VERY tough when platform identity = your name/your real identity, as it does for Facebook. You balance these concerns wonderfully. Do you just not have them?

    -Dave

    *("I" and "everyone else" are generalized pronouns representing people with competing interests in this situation based on perspective.)
  • As has already been said, its a full time job to keep up on all these sites. I use Twitter mainly, have a MySpace page for gardenfork..tv, a linkedin page for myself, and will start a facebook page. But one can't work and join every new social media platform that launches, its too much social media clutter.
  • There probably isnt too many, each usually has some unique quality thats makess joining sometimes irresistible. I just recently joined
    www.caribnu.com which is tailored more to the caribbean,so i had to join
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