I ran across this today and I thought it was funny to look at this comical representation of how social web has developed like a bunch islands and separate land masses.
It will be interesting to see how things progress over the next few months and years, considering the recent announcements about the Facebook/Microsoft deal and Google’s new OpenSocial project.
I think this could be a turning point for social media, but there are a lot of ifs. Here are a few of questions I have been asking myself:
- What does this recent news mean for users like us?
- What does it mean as marketers?
- Conversation is the key. Will these alliances ultimately aid or hinder conversation?
What do you think?
(Note: I don’t know who to credit for this comic. If you know who did it please let me know and I will rightfully credit their fabulous work.)
Update: Razboz informed me that the comic comes from XKCD.
What a great picture!
Those are good questions. One of the most beautiful and frustrating things about online marketing is that everything that happens in this arena is so unprecedented. Some aspects of marketing will always remain the same – human psychology is unchanged. But from a media standpoint, it’s totally unknown.
As a marketer, I’m a lot more interested in the niche networks. Since nobody I know plans to be the next Apple, I think the customers I work with are more likely to see success being a big fish in a small pond. I’m not going to say Facebook is a fad, but I think the very nature of their hugeness may be their downfall as a marketing medium for a lot of little guys. I’d rather have everybody on Sphinn know my kid’s name then have a big network on Facebook. I know that’s not the most popular viewpoint, but it’s mine.
Great site. Very cool.
ND
Naomi,
You are very smart to point out the power of the niche network/market.
It is very easy to get caught up in the keeping up with what’s hot without focusing on what’s effective.
I do think there is great importance in keeping up with what’s happening with the big boys, because it effects everyone. Eventually the decisions that happen up high will trickle down and impact even the niche networks/markets.
You have a nice blog yourself!
Its from a great comic called XKCD
i love the lonely island! a very important bit in the landscape of web culture.
Stephanie,
The Lonely Island guys are great.
It’s too bad that their island is small (largely unknown) in the grand scheme of things. On second thought, maybe that’s part of the appeal.
This is already out of date though cos facebooks rapidly overtaking myspace