What features make for a good Social Media site?

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Permalink Reply by donplotner on February 10, 2009 at 9:28pm

The social media site has to be fun and hip, yet simple. A Look at twitter you can't get any more basic that that yet it has taken off like a house on fire.

http://tinyurl.com/dhxm2u

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Permalink Reply by msaunders on February 11, 2009 at 12:48am

Wiki integration might help depending on the target audience.

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Permalink Reply by Roxanne on February 11, 2009 at 10:59am

Ah thanks msaunders! I'll add that to my list :)

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Permalink Reply by Rick Mans on February 11, 2009 at 5:35pm

People make it a good social media site. People do not need tons of feature, they need a feeling they belong there and that they can find others that belong to the same group. Which features really matter depends on the group and their needs.

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Permalink Reply by Roxanne on February 11, 2009 at 5:52pm

Yes, I see your point here, and I agree. I would add though, that people do also like particular features, some more than others. In today's social media age, no one wants to come to a site with just a bunch of text on it. I was trying to nail down some of the more "must have" features of such a site. Thanks for your input Rick!

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Permalink Reply by Rick Mans on February 12, 2009 at 3:12am

I agree, text alone is not enough. I do think that the option to interact with one another is very important. It does not really matter in which way this is implemented as long as it easy for people to do (mail list are a good example, although I think they are horrific). I find it hard to really specify a feature in detail that is useful, I tend to stay on the concept level since for every group of people the details of the feature are different (e.g. to stay up to date concerning discussion my mum would love to have emails, however I would prefer RSS, not saying that one feature should exclude the other).

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Permalink Reply by Roxanne on February 12, 2009 at 11:05am

Yes, that is a good point - features should be "market" specific! I might try to work that in. I just took it as a given, but you've raised the issue that really, it is a very significant point that should be added.

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Permalink Reply by Larry Brauner on February 12, 2009 at 3:54pm

Roxanne,

There are many great social media sites out there that collectively offer users just about any feature they might want.

To develop something new that has the potential for mass appeal, it's not so much features that will make the difference. Rather it's overall design, the paradigm or metaphor governing the site.

Facebook, Ning and Twitter have benefited in a big way by giving third party programmers a window of access to their software. These third parties have extended and customized the functionality of the underlying software to provide end users with some of the trendiest and coolest features and capabilities imaginable.

End users want to be able to access their favorite sites their own way. They use special web clients and various mobile devices. New media developers must begin with that end in mind when designing their site.

For a couple of years already there have been numerous attempts to develop site aggregators that let users manage multiple sites from one interface. I write this now in my Flock browser, an example of such an attempt. A site developer should have aggregation and the use of open identification of users in mind when developing the site, so that it will have the right hooks in place for the site aggregators and third party developers.

These are just a few examples of paradigms or what you might call meta features that can make the difference between modest acceptance, i.e. failure, and mass acceptance of you social site.

Careful thought should also be given to monetization. The site needs to generate revenue, but the method of generating revenue needs to be congenial for the users.

For more ideas, please read my blog or contact me directly.

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Permalink Reply by Roxanne on February 12, 2009 at 5:05pm

GREAT info Larry! I shared these concepts with our group today during our presentation. Though we were more focused on features, specifically, I shared your thoughts with them so that we could all step back and recognize the need to look more holistically at the site as well, and considering future/pending/up-and-coming uses as well.

THANKS so much! We're going to continue to develop this list, so everyone's comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated :)

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Permalink Reply by Andysp on February 13, 2009 at 12:00pm

I beleive that some intergration of some sort towards microblogs would also be something to consider. A possibility to feed into Twitter or any other microblogging service, and to choose what to feed into there.

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Permalink Reply by Cherie Wallace on March 11, 2009 at 9:32am

I am new to the social media field, but I can tell I am definitely hooked. I would add if a site has sub-communities that finding them needs to be clear and easy. I am finding that sometimes I have to "dig" on a site.
Love your information.

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