Today’s Wired article discussing Friendster vs. Tribe is quite interesting.
The basic critique against Friendster is:
1) They lack a sense of humor
2) They treat people as individuals rather than parts of communities or groups
3) Service is slow; there is no consumer service
4) They use heavy-handed politics and their dictator tendencies are not winning them fans
Yet, compared to Tribe, it has succeeded because it is so dating-focused and because:
“I like Friendster because it is more people-oriented,” she says. “Tribe is more geared towards selling used blenders and looking for a job. I don’t need to be reminded how many jobless people there are, or what awful things people will do for a buck…. What I want is the fantasy that we are all rock stars, that everyone’s ass looks great in leather, that everyone is sexy.”
Anyhow, read the article!
something you might find interesting – http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/23/magazine/23ONLINE.html?pagewanted=1&th
I was just about to suggest the same article. On an aside, I must say that I have been reading this blog for months and it has fueled my interests in social networking. Keep up the great work.
like Brad, i too have been enjoying your blog for several months now, and was curious if you had ever seen flight-club.
the site hasn’t ever really taken off, but i thought you might find it of interest.
One should definitely consider the question which of the two concepts are more economically viable. Sure, Tribe appears not to be as “sexy”. On the other hand, it has the potential to deliver serious value-added to the people using it that they are probably willing to pay for. With Friendster, since it is not an Match.com or E-Harmony-type of straight-forward dating service, this still has to be proven.
hi i”m dennis.47 s.f/c.a.if u laides would just take your other by the gruff of his neck look him in the eye’s and say IF U DONT WANT TO GIVE EVERYTHING U OWN EVERY 4 OR 5 YRS Then U better learn how to LICK “SOMETHING” “GODDAMNIT”!!!!!!!
I would agree with Honymann – business models that either entail paid transactions themselves (e.g. ebay), or those that are at least very ‘close’ to the actual online transaction (e.g. dealtime.com) tend to be more promising from an economical point of view. Don’t really see how friendster is going to make some real money.
Personally, I prefer to ‘own’ the transaction… that is why I run an online shop for contact lenses / Kontaktlinsen.