Read this fascinating post by Jyri Engeström. I want to know what you think.

In it, he argues that "the social networking services that really work are the ones that are built around objects." [my bold here and below].

Namely, Flickr is about photos; Youtube is about videos; LinkedIn (when it works) is about jobs, etc. "...the term 'social networking' makes little sense if we leave out the objects that mediate the ties between people. Think about the object as the reason why people affiliate with each specific other and not just anyone. For instance, if the object is a job, it will connect me to one set of people whereas a date will link me to a radically different group. This is common sense but unfortunately it's not included in the image of the network diagram that most people imagine when they hear the term 'social network.' The fallacy is to think that social networks are just made up of people. They're not; social networks consist of people who are connected by a shared object."

I very much agree with this and I do believe that this is one reason why some social networks fail. They may start off right, namely by inviting a group of people with similar interests to congregate online, but the "relationship" part of it is, it seems to me, just one criteria for who might be interested in checking it out, but NOT something that will keep someone involved just on its own.

I am on the Technology Section Council for ASAE and we are planning on setting up an online community, initially for technology-related ASAE folks. Now, we have the audience (which of course can be divided up into various subgroups with different interests). One reason our audience may want to come and have a look is to meet other association technology people. But that can't be the objective of the community. It sounds like a valid objective - but once these people meet each other, then what? There have to be "objects" within the community that will engender relationships. Maybe the object is "help" - like a helpdesk or discussion forum. Maybe the object is "news" like a one-stop-shop for relevant news feeds, or a blog to discuss particular issues. Maybe the object is a project, or several projects. Or all of the above...

When we're thinking about the functionality we want this community to have, I think it will be crucial to identify what social objects will make our audience want to interact in our community rather than anywhere else.

The other side of this coin is that when you recognize the objects that keep people involved in a network, you realize that it's totally OK and even desirable for people to be equally active elsewhere, for other reasons, and that does not detract from the viability of your social space.

Thoughts?

Originally posted @ Diary of a reluctant blogger ;)