While those who know me will never accuse me of having product development skills, I like to think that I can at least appreciate good development when I see it (or use it). With so much 'Open' talk these days though - from Google all the way to Verizon, of all companies - it's getting more difficult for someone of my skills to evaluate just how open platforms or products are going to be.
Facebook has clearly set the bar for openness; every time I log in I see a boatload of new widgets and applications to ignore. Given Google's track record I have to assume that their open, will be really open - as long as it can sell more advertising. As for Verizon, the jury is surely out by what I read. Great concept and a great step for telephony, but they are after all an 'old' phone company.
This brings me to LinkedIn, something I have used since well before the average person felt obliged to try it. And while I like it, I have pined for it to be more meaningful in my broader networking efforts. Yes, it gives me a simple way to grow my posse, but my access to people in my network - or worse, to those once removed from me - is the furthest thing from instant. Some time ago, they announced 'open' intent, but with few details. Still few details are available to this day. We are starting to see some external movement around it, including the SightSpeed announcement I posted about earlier this week. But nothing yet that has changed my LinkedIn experience.
I want presence in my LinkedIn. I want to know when people in my network are online so I can quickly IM, voice or video communicate with them to achieve whatever networking benefit I am after. This may even accelerate the process of getting in touch with those separated from me by a degree or two. Today, I just don't bother anymore if the target is not in my own network.
Because of the job they have done in building these personal databases, there are many other wonderful 'open' possibilities. Conference calling, SMS, integration to your corporate UC applications, to name a few. But this brings me full circle - I just don't know how open is open. Lets hope it's wide. I want a better LinkedIn.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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1 comments:
While I do not have any experience with LinkedIn, I know well enough the effects "openness" can have on an application like Facebook or MySpace. The application platform on Facebook has, as you stated, allowed for an endless stream of invites to applications that I will never use. The new advertising scheme of Facebook, in which sponsored products are embedded into your home page News Feed, is an interesting take on personalizing a marketing experience; however, I think it will eventually lead to the demise of the popular social networking site. Just as MySpace is no longer seen as "cool" or even necessary by twentysomethings and college students because of the spam advertising and pop-ups all over the site, so too will Facebook continue to lose loyalty as its open advertising and application policy continues.
The openness you prescribe for LinkedIn sounds like it could have some real benefits - perhaps the development team there should take note of your ideas. But the open policies of FaceSpace are exactly the types of things that social networking sites need to be aware of. There must be a balance between the marketing potential of these social giants, and how the core of their users are going to react to the growing intrusions.
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