Sometimes I think we use terms like community and social network and collaborative filtering and mashing as if they were all going out of style; we pontificate about their pros and cons and pass judgment about all kinds of things. We’re in grave danger of believing our own propaganda, believing that all the value to be had is in our conversations.
Which is why we need to keep reminding ourselves of what’s really happening out there. People using the web to club together to buy a football club, Ebbsfleet United. People taking shares in emerging bands and helping them get to market, as in what Sellaband are doing. People changing the way you find emerging music, like what the sixty one are doing. People making it easier to share what you watch, like what vodpod are doing. People coming together sharing comments on what music lyrics mean, as in what songmeaning are doing.
All these things have some key similarities, some characteristics that are worth understanding:
- Low barriers to entry, anyone can come in; where there is a price, the price is affordable
- Aggregation value: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, there is something being created that no person could create on his or her own
- Democracy:Â Each person has the same voting rights
- High cohesion, loose coupling: The services offered are entire in themselves, yet can attach themselves to social networks quite easily; they aren’t trying to solve the world, just to do one thing well.
- A belief in community and in sharing.
I have been quietly compiling a list of these sites, covering a whole variety of topics, subjects and areas. Maybe it’s time I packaged them for sharing here, any interest?
Sounds pretty neat to me! I’ve had a problem keeping track of them all and this stuff is really important to the very structure of companies themselves and their role in the marketplace.
Please share. There was an interesting side thread on a city-focused discussion board I annoy about leveraging our aggregated expert recommendations about food/drink/fun toward a tourism-related website that pays us back a little sumpin-sumpin.
Yes, like to see the list; interested to see if they are loosely coupling themselves to *a* social network…
Definitely please share JP!
I think you are right in that there is, ironicly enough, a certain insularity among those that believe they “get it”.
I don’t doubt that there is value in the conversations, but there is a shared purpose in the successful sites that you mention above. That they have a cause is something that you might add to your list? A desire among the community founders to alter the status quo, not just talk about it.
I’d be interested in seeing the list, and probably adding, or querying it…I know there are similar sites to Sellaband, such as SlicethePie…
And I’m always amazed that more people don’t take advantage of the low barriers to entry, rather than writing about them…
I think some are still working in large organisations, and trying to change that company.
And I think others might have the ideas, but perhaps lack the technical knowledge or contacts to implement their ideas…
Great idea J.P. ..I’d love seeing your list. I was thinking along the same lines when I started my own list. Then I thought it would be nice to link it with my personal selection of informational resources and I ended up with Duzzio.com. You’re all welcome to suggest new companies/services, sources of commentary not yet included, and ideas on how to make Duzzio more useful.