Bubblegeneration Strategy Lab

Monday, August 28, 2006

Rise of the Edge

Metafilter jobs is verrrry interesting.

I won't say too much, but this is the kind of domain that true communities like MeFi are going to absolutely crush, own, and monopolize in the future (like Goog has done with ads) - their economics utterly dominate these value activities.

Note how not LinkedIn MeFi jobs is to make this understanding intuitive - ie, LinkedIn = zero social value creation.

-- umair // 12:24 AM // 5 comments

Comments:

How do you think the social filtering or "digging" could be/ should be adopted by LinkedIn? For one thing, I think LinedIn should "smart feedburn" relevent info about the person / company to a sidebar when you look up a contact....

# // Paul Sweeney // 6:05 PM

I think you're looking a little too micro about Umair's comments about LinkedIn Paul. Think about it from a macro level. What social value does LinkedIn provide to the online business community as a whole? The answer is about as much as Friendster provided to the online younger, non-business crowd. Creating social value isn't as simple as plugging in some stereotypical web 2.0 website function.

# // Marc Love // 1:47 AM

Point well made Marc and point taken. I guess "where my head was at" was that just knowing a bit about who knows who isn't value producing enough in itself. When it started LinkedIn was (I thought) going to be a place where I could vouch for other people I had worked with. Now I see people with 170 connections, 1,250 connecions, and it seems a bit useless. But would this not make a great discussion thread? How to make LinkedIn actually useful?

# // Paul Sweeney // 10:47 AM

Umair can tell you but he has to charge :)

Linked in is a delicate field. A reputation system will not work.

# // Batu // 11:56 AM

Its about a) control and b) value. MeFi gives more control to its users and that is out-front-and-centre... LinkedIn is trying to lock-in a far more centralized kind of control and doesnt allow the users much. MeFi offers simple and straight forward value, its value is clear and useful,real JOBS. Linkedin offers the ability to flaunt your "connections" and this has almost become meaningless as so many linkedin users stack their lists with people they in fact hardly know. Most people realise this, so the system starts to become meaningless, and therefore lack value. In fact it kills the brand.

# // Simon Edhouse // 5:10 AM