cre8Buzz Blog

It is hard to believe but being part of a popular and growing Social-Network, people are beginning to ask me my thoughts on Social-Networking and Web 2.0. Can ya believe it, an Ant givin’ folks the 411 on Web 2.0 and social networking?

One of the questions I was asked the other day was what I thought the best Social Networking sites were. Ya know my answer, cre8Buzz baby, and then the rest. I really do believe cre8Buzz is the bomb, but thinkin’ through it I began to ask why.

What makes one Social Network better than another? What makes one User-Generated Content site (youTube) better than another? As I thought it out, it whacked me in the head. It’s the reason I think cre8Buzz is all that. It is the people ya’ll. But more importantly; it is how the people on the site provide these 3 components; authenticity, engagement, and content. At the end of the day, a Social Networking site relies on; it’s people being authentic, engaging with one another and providing good content.

Lookin’ at it that way ya start to see why Myspace and Facebook and the early players took off. They got the engagement piece down tight! Facebook was off the hook on the engagment piece and did well with authenticity, (being school centric), while Myspace killed it with engagement and did a decent job with the content piece (at least with Music and Comedy). But something happened as they grew, they cemented themselves in the engagement piece, while authenticity became and after thought and well content, I’ll let ya’ll decide how much good content is on Facebook and MySpace.

Social Networks work because of authenticity, engagement and content:

-Authenticity; the folks chillin in a Social-Network have to believe the folks they’re talkin’ to are real. They gotta believe they ain’t being duped or that the person(s) they are diggin on are who they say they are. Nothing breaks down a Social-Network like inauthenticity. Folks want to know, have to know, ya real. They need to believe the comments are true, that the compliments are genuine and that the folks comin’ to their page really do dig em. Spammin, is the antithesis of this, it get’s old gettin’ messages from folks you know don’t give a dang about you, what you have to say and or who you are. They’re just about them. It ain’t authentic.

-Engagement; Social-Networks are about gettin’ folks together. They are a place for people to engage. Unfortunately, far too often folks join, then sit and wait for people to find em. They do little to reach out and “engage” others. They gussy up their profile and sit and wait, then wonder why they ain’t got no friends. Social-Networks are about venturing out, being part of something, engaging others, providing feedback, letting people know what you think and connecting. Ya gotta give to get in a Social-Network!

-Content, now here is the big boy, few folks pay enough attention to this one. Without good, relevant, content; Social-Networks loose their appeal. How often can folks talk about what they did today or the party last night. Eventually, a conversation of substance has got to take place. Without good content, this becomes very difficult. The trend toward vertical, niche, Social Networks such as Dogster, BakeSpace etc. is an example of how people are looking to connect on more than just a superficial level. Getting good User Generated Content is something users of Social Networks will demand as their sophistication level grows. Social Networks and User-Generated Content sites have the ability to harness the collective knowledge, expertise, experiences and intellect of a vast group or organization of people. If done right this is a powerful offering.

So, my answer to the question. What are the best Social-Networks out there? I’ll let you decide. But, I say it is the ones that give ya an ample dose of engaging people, who share fantastic, relevant content and who are honest, real, and truly authentic. Therefore, my answer stands . . . cre8Buzz baby!

Peace, I’m out!