Social media is moving…
KickApps is a great application where you can design your own social platform and on-line community to share video’s, blogs, etc. It is a really great example of SaaS (software as a service). It will take you all of 30sec to create your own community on-line (this blog entry talks about: Using Social Media in the Real World with Results), check this example SystemicLogic Research page.
If you want to see a quick overview of how to configure KickApps, check this…
The social media platform is an emerging concept making great inroads. MySpace is looking at moving onto the Google OpenSocial platform. Does this mean that the platform will be dominated by one major vendor? Will Google with “open” approach really embrace all the other potentially competing platforms?
These sites implement Google OpenSocial: Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING. Looking at KickApps from the outside it seems that a business like this will be great acquisition option for any of the competing major players.
If you want to see a quick overview of Google OpenSocial, check this…It is much more technical and more complex for the non-technical person.
Something that concerns me – how big is the on-line advertising market really as social media companies all rely on this component of their business models? There are so many competing views as only a few really big players make money through this model as micro content companies all rely on the success of this approach.
Managing economies of scope (some lessons for small players):
1. Know the hype curve behind a business concept (separating the Participating Customer from the Economic Customer)
2. Identify the leaders and key players and define your context
3. Craft a clear competitive landscape where you are the leader
4. Focus on surprise by out-innovating the big players
5. Wait to be acquired OR become the next platform