Welcome to Social Media, Volume 1
- Introduction
Defining Social Media and its relevance
- The Breakdown
Analyzing and Evaluating Social Media Technology
- Discussions
Featured Recommendations, Observations, and Inspiration
- Personal Best Practices
Utilizing Social Media for Personal Growth
- Professional Best Practices
Social Media in the Workplace
- Technology and Applications
The Power and Possibilities of Social Media
- Alphabetical Index
- Download Welcome to Social Media, Volume 1 (.pdf)
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Things to Consider When Building a Social Media Web Application
May 24th, 2009
Jim England and Tim Gasper
While developing our own social media web site at CorkShare, we found there are a few trends in the leading social media platforms that are no longer just neat tricks, but essential components for success. Any new platform has the following features on their time line to attract the user base necessary for a thriving social media web application.
Enable easy content sharing across multiple platforms
With the unprecedented reach of social networks and social media, information can be distributed virally and reach millions of people though blog posts, Twitter feeds, email, and status messages. Why not incorporate this network effect into your social media startup?
Allow users to easily share and embed content from your service onto other web pages. Build in features such as a one click "Post to Twitter", or enable sharing through an external widget like ShareThis. People are lazy; removing as many barriers to sharing content will help your service reach more potential users faster. All the major players are including these features (such as Digg's recently released DiggBar). We think you should too.
Allow developers to build new features with an API
Tweetdeck
An application programming interface, or API, allows outside developers to build products that leverage an existing service. These community software developers can test out and implement new features of a service while having access to an already established user base. Microblogging service Twitter benefits greatly from an API ecosystem, with hundreds of API applications ranging from desktop clients (TweetDeck) to photo posting (TwitPic) to iPhone applications (TwitterFon).
By providing an API, you can crowdsource the creative discovery of new features to the public. If a user-developed API project becomes popular and adds value to the overall community, you can then make an offer to acquire and integrate the application. In July 2008, Twitter acquired search engine Summize for $15 million, thus integrating search functionality into Twitter's core product.
Provide mobile applications for portable access to content
If you build it, they will come. As seen by video game juggernauts Nintendo and Sony, outside developers can thrive in an open environment with direct access to paying consumers. Companies such as Apple and Google are allowing developers to write third party applications that add advanced functionality to our mobile devices. Web service providers should build apps in the emerging smartphone market to enhance the user experience.
Applications written for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry platforms provide users access to the complete feature set of their favorite Web pages, including uploading content from their mobile phones. This allows for arguably a superior experience than on a desktop or laptop computer, as users can access the service at any time.
Provide users mobile access to your web service to remove barriers and increase the amount of time users spend with your service. Mobile applications will increase the popularity of your overall community through word of mouth. For example, an iPhone user can demo an installed application to friends in public.
Engage your community directly
Diggnation
Social media applications are a product, but also more importantly a community. In order to foster lasting relationships and experiences, the community must be thoroughly and consistently engaged. Twitter cofounder Evan Williams uses his platform to converse with many other Tweeters. Digg cofounder Kevin Rose uses weekly online video podcast Diggnation to engage his user base and discuss top articles of the week. Williams and Rose stimulate active users to stay involved, causing a unique culture and identity to emerge within their sites.
Upcoming social media sites should learn from the successes of Twitter and Digg. Find activities for your users to participate in and engage with them directly to build your brand and foster a greater sense of community. People want to be a part of something bigger; give them the maximum number of opportunities to contribute and interact.
Moving Forward
Let's be honest: the social media startup scene is becoming increasingly crowded and chaotic. For every success story, there are scores of failures. With limited resources and talent, it can be overwhelming to compete against top dogs such as Facebook or Twitter.
The key is to focus on your core competencies while allowing the community to fill in the gaps. Set up an API and let developers go to town. Have the site spread virally by letting users share content in one click. Get buzz with the release of an iPhone app. But don't ever slow down, and don't ever give up.
Topics: Technology and Applications
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