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Desperately Seeking Authentic Online Communities

The concept of social networking via the Internet brings up a few uncomfortable questions: What constitutes real friendship? Why do people feel the need to have their most personal information readily available to others? The answer, in part, is that we simply can't help ourselves. We are inherently connected to and interested by human relationships. The idea that at any given moment one is able to document and witness the narrative of their friends' lives unfold before them is a fascinating one. Social networking sites like MySpace.com and Facebook enable users to passively observe the goings on of their "friends" at no social or emotional cost to them.

A page on MySpace.com may not seem like much, but each user essentially owns their profile. All accounts are assigned unique web addresses and are fully customizable. Users may choose to divulge as little or as much as they like about their personal lives. Developing a presence online has never seemed so simple. While MySpace.com and its trendier sister Facebook were developed to be platforms for social networking, however, few true friendships ever spring from their user base. Although any given MySpace.com user may boast thousands or even millions of friends, chances are he or she rarely communicates with even a few hundred of them. Sure, it is possible to be friends with a band or product, but it's not likely that users will be hanging out with Justin Timberlake on a Friday night or confiding in their iPod. In this age of viral videos and Internet celebrities, it's difficult to tell who your friends are. While sites like MySpace.com have made it easier to interact with people online, they do not, for the most part, succeed in fostering collaboration or in-depth communication between users.

DOWNLOAD » Social networks sites provide members with a platform to see and be seen, speak and be heard, and reach out and make a connection. Whether it is through sharing videos, music, or photos, communicating with one another has never been easier. But with websites tailored to suit so many different needs, what is driving consumers to use social networking sites? What do online communities say about the way consumers are viewing relationships? Click to download the Tinderbox primer on social networking, Adventures in Social Marketing » File Type: PDF File Size: 1.2MB

Although MySpace.com, YouTube and PhotoBucket boast huge user bases, Vimeo and Flickr are rapidly gaining in popularity. Why? Unlike their larger, more impersonal predecessors, each authentic online community is actively maintained by an enthusiastic group of developers, all of whom visibly use the tools they promote. Vimeo and Flickr were founded in direct response to sites that just didn't seem to motivate or function at ideal levels. While Facebook is not at the forefront of this movement towards specialized social networking, it has gained enormous popularity this year as a cleaner, better-designed alternative to MySpace.com. Taking tips from authentic online communities, Facebook has attempted to set itself apart by launching easy-to-navigate interactive applications intended to increase and deepen relationships between users. Many applications feature content by specialized networking sites, making Facebook profiles one-stop collections of friends' media portfolios.

The development of successful social networking sites has prompted a movement towards increased online collaboration. By developing new ways to network online, individuals are able to define and deepen their online presence and move away from more impersonal forms of interactive media. As larger groups of devoted developers work together to create functional applications and inspired ways of collaborating online, innovation is limitless.