I got into a very engaging conversation yesterday with a web developer at work on the topic of social aspects of the web.
So, what does social really mean?
According to Answers.com it is defined as: Living together in organized groups or similar close aggregates.
So what does social mean on the Internet (also known as a social network)?
According to Wikipedia it is defined as: A map of the relationships between individuals, indicating the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds.
The discussion started with an assumption that blogs are social entities on the Internet, whereas other (traditional) websites are not.
So, this led to a very specific question, are blogs inherently social?
I think not. A blog is actually short for web log as know as an online journal. This is not anything that implies social. in fact a journal is not a conversation, rather a form of communication that has a single path. Now, many blogs, just like this one, allows comments from readers and that is a social aspect, however, the blog is not defined by it’s social aspects, rather the social aspects are defined by the blog.
My opinion is that you can have a blog that is not social (see Google Webmaster Central Blog).
This led to another great question, are marketing messages lost in a social environment?
They may be discounted by many, however, I think with transparency a marketing message isn’t lost within a social arena.
Even within social networks such as myspace, facebook, mybloglog and others their intention is to be social, however an online property like a blog or a standard website does not mean it is social just because they typically are. Other “social” portals online are not social at their roots, this includes social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us. Likewise, other types of online properties, like standard websites, can become social with the addition of social aspects like forums. But, does this mean that a marketing message is lost because it is from a marketer?
I think that in any instance, online or offline, if a marketer is trying to reach a new audience, like online social networks, it is appropriate to have a voice in the given arena, however, if you try to game the system by acting as a user then you are tying to using a black hat technique to artificially inflate your values within that context.
Similar to other black hat techniques, it can help to inflate your rankings, but this is not something that you want to employ for long term success.
My opinion
Don’t fear other platforms like the social networking online, but make sure that you are transparent in your efforts. I do think that you can be more successful in the short run, but the rewards will be greater if you do it right in the first place.
What are your thoughts?
related posts >>
- Link Bait and Viral Marketing = Traffic – So What!
- Must Have for Social Optimization
- Mash – Yahoo!’s Answer to MySpace and Facebook
- The Value of Trust
- GWC – Revival of the Penalty Notifications
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think “inherently” is the key word. It seems that blogs started out as journals, like you say, but it seems they are evolving into social tools. I like having a journal platform that I have total editorial control over and that can be used socially, a best of both worlds kind of thing.
Clickfire,
Thanks for the comment. I think that the evolution of the Internet has changed everything. Not only have online journals, blogs if you prefer, become social but so have other platforms. Inherently is the key word, just because something starts with a particular context does not mean that it must always remain that way!