Social Networking Fatigue Syndrome (SNFS)
- 2004: Created a profile on Friendster
- 2005: Created a profile on MySpace and Xenga
- 2006: Created a profile on Facebook, Linked-In, Flickr
- 2007: Created a profile on Vox, the Org
Like most Gen Xers, over the past few years I’ve built up quite a social networking track record. But after years of creating, maintaining, and reviewing so many profiles and so much content, and after participating in all those interest-driven discussion groups, I’m kind of over it.
Actually, I’m really over it. I hereby proclaim myself America’s first identified sufferer of Social Networking Fatigue Syndrome (SNFS).
Web 2.0 is supposed to be about integration and collaboration—not segmentation. Having to update and communicate through all of these different sites sucks the “cool” right out of them, which is one of the reasons why I’m so skeptical about the push to build segregated social networking components into corporate websites (see Jay’s and Jason’s past blog posts about Rolling Stone and USA Today’s efforts).
While the first batch is creating buzz capable of achieving the desired results (USA Today’s effort has been extremely successful), I have to believe that most users are going to get tired of having to create, update, and maintain separate profiles, relationships, and conversations on separate sites. I predict that SNFS is going to spread and users will drop off.
But there’s hope. The antidote could come in the form of some kind of Web 3.0-style “semantic” tool that could, in a user-customizable way, intelligently weave all of these networks back together. Imagine an RSS aggregator combined with a Yahoo! Wallet profile generator.
Until that SNFS antidote comes around, I’d advise companies to hold off on creating their own social network-driven websites, and instead focus on getting target-audience buy-in and boosting brand relevancy by crafting and developing their profiles on existing mainstream social networks. Looking forward to some of you proving me wrong….
RSS
Jay Ferrari said,
on April 24th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
This lines up nicely with Eric’s post yesterday. What if every company/agency/organization created its own social network? Like a blog or message board, it would only be used by that bunch exclusively, but it would be used effectively (provided it was well-built and maintained). Sure, social networks are popping up like mushrooms after a good rain — but all save the most well-rendered or established will fade fast. The phenomenon of social networking, however, that’s getting entrenched. Organizations should be participating in the leading SNs as well as considering the benefits of building their own industry-specific versions (for employees? clients?) As individuals we’ll bop around until we find the ones we like best (and are pulled in to the ones we’re required to join). It’s going to take smarts and patience — two rare commodities, I’ll grant you.
Cynthia Creelman said,
on April 24th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
This is definitely an interesting debate; I’m looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out. A recent study (http://tinyurl.com/226cwm) found that 40% of those polled claimed they get information about brands and products from SNs. Some brands (Adidas and Electronic Arts) even credit SNs with providing a staggering 70% marketing ROI. The organizations that recognize the importance of tapping into this huge marketplace, whether by creating their own SNs or piggy-backing on existing ones, most certainly will find themselves far ahead of their competition.
Sara Isacson said,
on April 26th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
WOW–a 70% ROI? Astounding stats, Cyn–thanks for the link!
Jon said,
on April 27th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
You do know that one of the biggest newspapers in Norway just used your blog as an example for their article?
Christian Sterner said,
on April 27th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
This is funny: the coined “SNFS.” I was infected with your syndrome almost immediately. SN(s) suck the life right out of you, and I bet it wouldn’t be difficult to prove that those engaging heavily in SN(s) make less money as a result. It would be easy to prove this:
Get a salesperson that is not swallowed into SN(s), make them dive in, and measure their revenues before and after. I cannot even IM do to a lack of attention span. I could finally be doing something great, and an IM would set me off to the moon.