During class, we discussed a few examples of social networks other than the standouts Facebook and Twitter.
I came across a couple of interesting sites over the weekend which I'd like to highlight for the class:
Meetup.com- You may already be familiar with the site, but basically it lets you join groups that are already meeting; allows you to start new meetings; provides resources to find likeminded people who will want to do things with you; and creates opportunities for these groups to get sponsors. This site was extremely useful for me in looking for social media classes for work. It doesn't seem to have any advertising yet, but clearly there are great opportunities for targeting along with sponsorship for PR purposes. For example, a knitting store can post ads to knitting clubs or provide yarn for the club to create awareness of itself.
MePorter.com- I am brand new to this site, on which people can sign up to post their own hyper local news. They can then share news with their friends and invite others to comment, add to the story, sign in as eyewitnesses and post pictures. The site already features ads and has the potential for lots of hyper local targeting.
On all these social networking sites, including Meetup.com, Facebook, Twitter and all the dating sites, it's interesting to note that their success ultimately depends on how many people the site can attract, as well as whether others want to associate with the people on there. Ads and networks are both only as useful as the eyeballs connected to them.
3 comments:
Interesting post @Lenore.
I'm actually running a startup called Sportaneous (www.sportaneous.com) which allows people to easily find group fitness activities and pick up sports games in their surrounding neighborhoods using an iPhone app and website. Many of the challenges we face are relevant to our class discussions, and your point in this blog post is well taken -- the utility of many social networks, including ours, is hugely tied to the number of active users. I'd love your feedback on Sportaneous, and to hear everyone's suggestions on how best to spread the word about our service.
Omar,
You're site is really interesting- I think it's a great idea. How are you finding the games that come up in a search- do they come from the people who register? I think this is one of those cases where you promote the heck out of this online, to your friends, and at every sports event and outlet you can think of. I'd suggest maybe adding some more fitness related options, like Pilates and Zumba. And down the line there's definitely the opportunity to partner with gyms and sports leagues...
Thanks Lenore! What you described is pretty much our strategy -- the games you see now are organic pickup games listed by our users, but we are in the process of morphing into a discovery tool for sports & fitness activities. We also have some really cool features in the works that I can tell you about offline. In case you feel like being Sportaneous, I'd love to hear your feedback as a user!
Post a Comment