Some school colleagues and I, recently did research for a presentation on the Present and Future State of Social Networks; and it’s amazing how they are progressively playing bigger roles in our daily lives. Social Networks are like a phenomenon. Users from all over the world are signing up in droves. Facebook alone has over 400 million users. In fact, if Facebook were a country, it would be the 4th Largest in the world! People are logging in multiple times a day from work, home and more recently their mobile phones. But what does this really mean?
It means that it’s not long before businesses will figure out ways to understand and satisfy consumer requests based on online behavior and stored data – most of which dwells within the walls of your Social Network. The goal is to know you better than you know yourself; so that you can “enjoy a Semantic Web Experience;” where the flows of information will be filtered and tailored just for you. In other words, your online social behaviour will be used to create “smart” applications and business strategiess that make your online and offline experiences more seamless.
Advertisers are learning how to use information from your social network profiles to create better-targeted messages. Think about it, how many times have you or your friends put up comments about new products you’ve bought or places you’re visiting? All this information can be stored and translated into marketing profiles that help businesses speak directly to you. To put it simply, an innocent “status update” about looking forward to a getaway in New York, could lead to NY Travel Ads splashed all over your social network homepage.
Offline, new mobile social network applications are being created almost daily. Now, you can easily add Facebook or MySpace Apps to your IPhone or Smartphone’s to stay connected on the go. In addition, there are location specific applications that go a step further and allow cell tower triangulation and GPS to pass along your physical location to whomever you allow. “People Finder,” for example, lets you know which of the friends in your network are online, and also which ones are nearby. So, it wouldn't be a stretch to see LinkedIn apply this technology so that business travelers could more easily rendezvous with coworkers and clients at conferences and trade shows. Or to have Online dating sites like Match.com add the ability to chat with potential mates sitting in the same room. Well, what if this were taken even further? Location-aware services could be used to match local businesses or entertainment to your physical location in order to send you text advertisements.
Bottom line is that Social Networks are becomming embedded into our culture; and our continous addictions to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and countless other sites are creating invaluable opportunities for marketers of all types. And that begs the question: Do we have ANY privacy rights when we sign onto Social Networks? I admitedly never read the privacy settings before I signed up to Facebook, surely I'm not alone, so next time I'll explore that question a little more...
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