Articles

Social Networking Is Hot, but Research Is Hotter

Most people refer to MySpace or YouTube when they discuss online communities. But the future may be those organizations that create smaller niche communities."

Reporting from Ad:Tech, Ad Age reported on the impact of communities and how “advertisers are trying to reach audiences on a large scale through MySpace and YouTube, but the trend that the industry will be seeing in the coming months and years is a focus on smaller, community-based platforms, said Bob Desena, director-active engagement at Mediaedge:cia. "There seems to be this sense of, if you can't do something with 3 million people, is there still lots of engagement?"

As Roy deSouza, CEO, Zedo, pointed out during a panel that afternoon focusing on the ubiquitous topic of Web 2.0, smaller online communities that didn't exist at this time last year are already making major impact."

Social-networking hubs such as the consumer-written restaurant reviews of Yelp, and Dogster, a canine-centric version of Friendster, are helping define the new movement by staying out of their users way and letting them provide editorial content. It's not about the technology. It's about making the kind of site that allows users to talk with friends," Mr. deSouza said.

What will keep the sites relevant, said co-panelist Charles Buchwalter, senior VP-industry solutions at Nielsen/NetRatings, is continuously surveying users.

Posted on December 18, 2006
Permalink