Liz Gannes of GigaOM looks at the social network landscape, and where the opportunities lie.
“There is a difference between setting up yet another ‘meeting place for pet owners,’ or a network for people who work-out, or a ‘MySpace for old folks’, and waiting for them to arrive, versus using social tools to connect people who already share a common interest or real-world relationship.”
She offers an interesting taxonomy of social networks:
- Blank slate (e.g. MySpace)
- Target audience (e.g. any of the many SNs for mommies)
- Existing interest (e.g. Flixster)
- Existing community (e.g. local soccer league website)
- Purpose-driven tool (e.g. LinkedIn)
She proceeds to dig into each, and gives her thoughts on which still hold potential.