What better could social N/Ws have .. ?

27 February, 2010 | | 2 comments |

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My last blog was on Social Networking - Now & How ? - Here. But it's still not over for me. There's more which is going in my processor even now. So moving ahead - what’s falling short in the most prominent N/W’s like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn ?

So here I go with my analysis :




Twitter :

  • TwitterMade on ROR's (Ruby on Rails) light-weight framework, it is the numero-uno choice for socialites, celebrities, business tycoons and even a common man who wants to make their presence felt or heard using a 140 character text. Additionally you can include URLs, hash-tags and cross-mentions.
  • Has caught the eyes of all with 3 lakh new accounts created everyday.
  • But being developed and running on ROR is itself turning out to be a curse for Twitter with down-times, overloads, multi-threading delays in browsers, scalability problems, etc. ROR is a light-weight framework which cannot handle images/videos under high load. So they have to do away from the Rails Framework and probably migrate to PHP, Java, etc before it's too late.
  • Also, the web-interface of Twitter has always given an unpleasant and slow experience for users and hence Web-Apps. leveraging the Twitter API spawned and have taken prominence. If this continues, Twitter soon will find users eating their food in other’s plate which is not a very good thing for them. Agreed that finally it's their own API which is being used but they're losing on the revenue which the App-makers snatch from Ads.
  • 140 characters – The biggest subject of criticism. Some people could just not get their vocabulary, grammar and URLs’ within this available space. Incrementing it by 20 characters would negotiate this problem for now. Yes, its desperately needed.
  • Getting tweets to have comments below it (like in Facebook) is another much needed feature addition. Opening the page for @Username to view the replies is too cumbersome.
  • Also, if tweets can be bundled with a photo/video/link, exactly in Facebook style would have been even more enjoyable.


LinkedIn :

  • LinkedInIt started off as a professional network and slowly collaborated Twitter and other services but it still remains a choice for a selected few. While some claim to have benefitted personally, others are totally dismissive about it and label it as a place where you should just have your professional profile!
  • Frankly speaking, it hasn’t evolved at a speed it should have (or say as we expected). Its motives are still vague and don’t justify its purpose.
  • Has started collaborating with other social engines like Twitter, Facebook, etc with some Apps. and services, but still a lot has to be done in the long run for it to stay in the dominating league.
  • Just having professional contacts in your network doesn’t mean anything, probably if CHATTING would have been embedded then having a live conversation would have made sense. Add to it, the need for getting the organization to which a user is affiliated to come more into picture.
  • Also, the IntelliSense engine of LinkedIn doesn’t suggest anything fruitful to the user, except some related users and groups.
  • Improving and adding on all of the above points, plus innovating on some more would surely help it grab a good share. And mind you LinkedIn, socializing features has to be packaged to the user even if it intends to be just a professional network.

Facebook :

  • FacebookApart from being a billion-dollar enterprise currently, it has previously turned down acquisition proposal of giants like Yahoo and is currently bearing a 1.7% stake by Microsoft. It has literally held the interest of all Internet users. No surprises, surfing and being on Facebook is now synonymous.
  • As per a survey, businesses are being affected due to their employees spending an average of an hour on Facebook and Twitter. Add to it, Facebook Apps. has added the tang which was just unimagined. Remember Farmville and Mafia Wars .. ?
  • Facebook's user-friendly and well-documented API’s like Facebook Connect is a boon for web developers like us and more of these just keep coming!
  • Facebook is in such a success stage when nothing seems to be competing against it – no full-fledge social N/W (forget about Orkut, etc). The only thing which users feel hurt with it are its bugs - which are ample. But, I guess the speed at which it has proliferated its wings just dwarfs this issue.
  • Getting Office documents for sharing and collaboration across users is already on the anvil with Microsoft’s Fuse Labs in BETA. Getting the notion - Work & Socialize - to come into picture would be awesome. It’s just gonna redefine the wheel.
  • Themes, customized home-page would be welcome coz the Home-Page is just too loaded with items and updates which not all would like to view all the time. Getting it to be as per users’ wishes would just add more action and productivity.

Social Networking - Now & How ?

14 February, 2010 | | 0 comments |

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The social networking scenario is currently hot & abuzz and just refuses to die. Bad for some critics and who made predictions - by 2010 it’ll die the way the DotCom bubble had burst after its initial apogee !!! Take my judgement on this – it’s just gonna get better and better. The social networking is at its peak in this generation and hence it’s better for novices or skeptics to rework your psyche on this. It’s time for people to get their pie out of the web by getting to connect with their old buddies, their idols, their wannabe mates or potential business contacts. The benefits are ample. Web 2.0 has made sure you don’t have any room to complain – there’s Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, LinkedIn, etc – everything to satiate the thirst of all. It’s just that people got to learn which form of networking suits them.



Social Networking - Now & How ?

As for me, personally, I’ve benefitted from all P.O.V. - business, social and personal. Call me a cynic, but I feel social networking is one good platform to win over and impress the one’s you desire by showcasing your innovative vocabulary, creativity, chatting and impromptu skills. And believe me, I am able to tickle their bones using all what I’ve just listed. People do get amazed, leave comments or give you an applause. And that motivates you to do it even better next time. Ya, you can call it an addiction, but for better if you got time to spend.



But people may differ in my above mentioned views !!! Just read a blog post of my 16-year old friend cum entrepreneur and he’s of the opinion that social networks are to be used for socializing or for the purpose – what are you doing right now ? Now, frankly speaking he’s true to some extent but not completely and he’ll never be. Primarily, because you can never bet or define rules on the web. Secondly, the very reason the web has grown manifolds is due to its liberty which it offers (which some exceptions exploit). One good example to quote here, which all have witnessed - Twitter. Did anyone predict that Twitter which spawned as a small socializing-via-update service would grow so big and drive other applications on the web like online video/audio sharing, URL shortners, micro-blogging, etc. A less know matter of fact among those who still are not on Twitter – even jobs, life partners, shopping items, contests and profanities are being traded on it.



So what are you waiting for .. ? Start your social-networking voyage with no prejudices if you haven’t started as yet.



Use it to your advantage.