Comments on: Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them, Part 3 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/ A Blog about Social Web Design Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:45:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Thomas http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-165847 Thomas Thu, 15 May 2008 20:51:45 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-165847 Thanks for a really interesting read. The absolute key message, in my opinion, is to have a community concept which offers real benefit to your target audience. Return visits and site loyalty is essential. Watch this space as we have the killer niche concept!!! Thanks for a really interesting read.

The absolute key message, in my opinion, is to have a community concept which offers real benefit to your target audience. Return visits and site loyalty is essential. Watch this space as we have the killer niche concept!!!

]]> By: Ponle http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-151920 Ponle Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:49:13 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-151920 I came across this article while searching for tips on how to incorporate social networking into my website. Thanks for the great tips here. They're valuable. I came across this article while searching for tips on how to incorporate social networking into my website. Thanks for the great tips here. They’re valuable.

]]> By: Srđan Prodanović http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-147430 Srđan Prodanović Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:06:46 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-147430 Beautifully written. The story about Flickrs investment of human resources to make the thing take off is quite similar to Last.FM/AudioScrobbler, and probably a few other web services which are up and running in full throttle at this time. However if you look at it, even today both are probably primarilly funded by premioum accounts, which couldn't be set up in the beginning, when features were sparse. So their service of sharing photos/logging music appeared to be entirely altruistic at the beginning, which probably appeals to users a great deal more than a grand monetized scheme. Beautifully written. The story about Flickrs investment of human resources to make the thing take off is quite similar to Last.FM/AudioScrobbler, and probably a few other web services which are up and running in full throttle at this time. However if you look at it, even today both are probably primarilly funded by premioum accounts, which couldn’t be set up in the beginning, when features were sparse. So their service of sharing photos/logging music appeared to be entirely altruistic at the beginning, which probably appeals to users a great deal more than a grand monetized scheme.

]]> By: CSFF Blog Tour The Restorer — A Book Readers blog http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-145417 CSFF Blog Tour The Restorer — A Book Readers blog Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:18:02 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-145417 [...] people arent biased in the way the publishing house is. Netflix Tell a Friend Many sites source: Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web…, Bokardo - Social Design by Joshua [...] [...] people arent biased in the way the publishing house is. Netflix Tell a Friend Many sites source: Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web…, Bokardo - Social Design by Joshua [...]

]]> By: Dopo ASK, anche Microsoft dice di voler divenire… — Advertisement Methods Slogans Agencies http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-144920 Dopo ASK, anche Microsoft dice di voler divenire… — Advertisement Methods Slogans Agencies Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:16:34 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-144920 [...] are the best possible way to increase your user base. It is word-of-mouth in action source: Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web…, Bokardo - Social Design by Joshua [...] [...] are the best possible way to increase your user base. It is word-of-mouth in action source: Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web…, Bokardo - Social Design by Joshua [...]

]]> By: Gus Svendsen http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-144315 Gus Svendsen Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:13:56 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-144315 <strong>12) Inflated Bags of Chips</strong> Another pitfall is thinking you are the end-all social network <em>(“All that and an [inflated] bag of chips”)</em>. It goes back to what you said in Monterey and here about it being more about <strong>Social "Design"</strong> than "Networks." Too often Web apps think they are going to build THE social network. They close themselves off to the world and struggle to bypass the “cold start.” In contrast, I love how other apps reach outside themselves to connect with your social reality. (e.g. 30boxes enables you to connect to your other calendaring systems, Plaxo is so amazingly open, and social networks like MySpace and MyChurch enable you to import your contacts from other SNs.) It’s all about understanding social structure, not just one affinity group. The more Social Web Applications understand this, the better they are to find cross-application synergies and actually connect with the social lives of consumers. 12) Inflated Bags of Chips
Another pitfall is thinking you are the end-all social network (“All that and an [inflated] bag of chips”). It goes back to what you said in Monterey and here about it being more about Social “Design” than “Networks.” Too often Web apps think they are going to build THE social network. They close themselves off to the world and struggle to bypass the “cold start.” In contrast, I love how other apps reach outside themselves to connect with your social reality. (e.g. 30boxes enables you to connect to your other calendaring systems, Plaxo is so amazingly open, and social networks like MySpace and MyChurch enable you to import your contacts from other SNs.) It’s all about understanding social structure, not just one affinity group. The more Social Web Applications understand this, the better they are to find cross-application synergies and actually connect with the social lives of consumers.

]]> By: roots.lab » Blog Archive » links for 2007-07-11 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143946 roots.lab » Blog Archive » links for 2007-07-11 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:42:26 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143946 [...] Bokardo » Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them, Part 3 Josh Porter continues his invaluable series: “8) Not Enabling Recommendations; 9) Failing to Set a Good Example; 10) Failure to See the Larger War (a Digg win is not same as real WOM); 11) No Business Plan other than to Grow (we cant all be FB or MySpace” (tags: socialsoftware socialdesign socialweb bestpractices strategery community onlinecommunities web2.0) [...] [...] Bokardo » Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them, Part 3 Josh Porter continues his invaluable series: “8) Not Enabling Recommendations; 9) Failing to Set a Good Example; 10) Failure to See the Larger War (a Digg win is not same as real WOM); 11) No Business Plan other than to Grow (we cant all be FB or MySpace” (tags: socialsoftware socialdesign socialweb bestpractices strategery community onlinecommunities web2.0) [...]

]]> By: Roundup of blogs and ideas « eme ká eme http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143901 Roundup of blogs and ideas « eme ká eme Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:42:18 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143901 [...] Through Bokardo (this series of posts on building social web applications is good), I came across this:  Seth Godin’s written a short post about one “job of the future” called Online Community Organizer. It’s nice, but the general response is better and quite telling. As mentioned earlier here, the abundance of community (and networking) users is leading too many people to believe that just about anybody can do the job of setting up and running them. And that’s just not true… [...] [...] Through Bokardo (this series of posts on building social web applications is good), I came across this:  Seth Godin’s written a short post about one “job of the future” called Online Community Organizer. It’s nice, but the general response is better and quite telling. As mentioned earlier here, the abundance of community (and networking) users is leading too many people to believe that just about anybody can do the job of setting up and running them. And that’s just not true… [...]

]]> By: Costruire applicazioni web sociali « Marketing For Nerds http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143784 Costruire applicazioni web sociali « Marketing For Nerds Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:39:37 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143784 [...] Ultimamente è stato pubblicato il terzo post della serie Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them (pt.1 e pt.2). [...] [...] Ultimamente è stato pubblicato il terzo post della serie Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them (pt.1 e pt.2). [...]

]]> By: Josh http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143655 Josh Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:00:03 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143655 acneron...stay tuned! :) acneron…stay tuned! :)

]]> By: avneron http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143651 avneron Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:18:54 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143651 great piece. is there going to be a part iv? great piece.
is there going to be a part iv?

]]> By: links for 2007-07-12 | innonate http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143637 links for 2007-07-12 | innonate Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:31:00 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143637 [...] Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them, Part 3 Good ending to a three part series on this blog. (tags: development advice articles social socialsoftware design) [...] [...] Common Pitfalls of Building Social Web Applications and How to Avoid Them, Part 3 Good ending to a three part series on this blog. (tags: development advice articles social socialsoftware design) [...]

]]> By: Rob May http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143633 Rob May Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:42:05 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143633 Right, I bought lots of books by reading Amazon´s reviews. The word-of-mouth is the key. I think this is the best article written about social networks. A must to read! Right, I bought lots of books by reading Amazon´s reviews. The word-of-mouth is the key. I think this is the best article written about social networks. A must to read!

]]> By: pepelicious http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143627 pepelicious Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:59:02 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143627 I had to smile reading these. I just left a social apps company that will most likely never be a player because they've fallen in to many of the traps you outlined. I think the biggest failure has to be losing sight of what the ultimate value add is for the customer. Over the past year I saw them go from being extremely focused around one value proposition to blindly emulating new features their competitors were rolling out. This was precipiated by an intial moderate financial success which changed not only the direction of the company but also the culture. In a drive to build on this early success to cash out quicky the goal became to make the product as similar to whatever social apps product was hottest at the moment. I had to smile reading these. I just left a social apps company that will most likely never be a player because they’ve fallen in to many of the traps you outlined.

I think the biggest failure has to be losing sight of what the ultimate value add is for the customer. Over the past year I saw them go from being extremely focused around one value proposition to blindly emulating new features their competitors were rolling out.

This was precipiated by an intial moderate financial success which changed not only the direction of the company but also the culture. In a drive to build on this early success to cash out quicky the goal became to make the product as similar to whatever social apps product was hottest at the moment.

]]> By: heri http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143619 heri Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:44:02 +0000 http://bokardo.com/archives/common-pitfalls-of-building-social-web-applications-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-3/#comment-143619 Hi Joshua I agree with #10. Too many entrepreneurs focus on getting dugg or on reddit (which sometimes does more harm than good if they have server overload for instance) however, I discussed it with a friend who is doing web marketing yesterday, and he said getting dugg get his service mentionned on dozens of blogs. He says he gets links from irrelevant blogs but it builds hype, for little effort. So he is not going to stop submitting to digg any day. Hi Joshua
I agree with #10. Too many entrepreneurs focus on getting dugg or on reddit (which sometimes does more harm than good if they have server overload for instance)

however, I discussed it with a friend who is doing web marketing yesterday, and he said getting dugg get his service mentionned on dozens of blogs. He says he gets links from irrelevant blogs but it builds hype, for little effort. So he is not going to stop submitting to digg any day.

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