One of the interesting, and sometimes frustrating, things about this era of instant communication is how new ideas are adopted and modified within a very short time period. As a result, one good idea is used by twenty different people (or a hundred, or a thousand, or etc.) to create the same product, all with a different angle.

This is true with modern social networking sites (SNS) in particular (by “modern” I am referring to web-based, graphics-driven applications, not Usenet or forums or listservs). The earliest sites, like Friendster, Classmates.com, and Six Degrees, all grew from the capacity of the database-driven web to store and identify connections between individual persons. These sites were able to fulfill a need for like-minded people to meet and explore interests, while storing and displaying user-generated content to generate new subscribers. However, most of the early sites were not able to sustain their memberships and, with the exception of Classmates.com, are either defunct or barely hanging on.

Today, there are two major SNS: MySpace and Facebook. Each of these has a very different look and feel and target audience. MySpace was originally built around the indie music scene and, as a result, has a large population of alternative young folks. Facebook was designed to connect college students together (originally, only Harvard). Thus, its population tends to be more professional and the look and feel is very slick.

Both of these sites can be used for promoting a business or a club or an individual, but you’re going to get a very different audience. For bands, having a website is not enough anymore. According to a local listserv I’m on, promoters are booking bands based on the number of “friends” the band’s MySpace profile has. Likewise, a technologist such as myself earns some benefit by being on Facebook and connecting with other technologists (though I would hope that my future job opportunities is not based upon my Facebook profile!!). I feel much the same pressure to join LinkedIn right now, for the same reason.

Where these sites differ is in the approach. MySpace could just as easily be called MeSpace with its focus on me, me, me, me, and, oh yeah, me. A MySpace profile displays pictures, comments from friends, a blog, embedded music and video, and often the most painful HTML on the planet, individually designed by the profile’s creator to display their individual style. To connect with other users, one has to interact with them through other profiles or subject groups.

Facebook differs in one major way: although the capability to customize one’s profile page is actually far greater in Facebook than in MySpace, users are not permitted to blind and deafen other users with auto-playing audio and flashing fonts. The look and feel of the site is static for all of the users. I know that this seems like a very superficial point, but it’s a telling one when trying to determine which SNS fits your needs and if the psychology of the site’s visitors is compatible with yours.

Personally, I use two other SNS on a regular basis: Livejournal and Tribe. Livejournal is my personal blogging site, and I’ve also subscribed to a number of RSS feeds and Livejournal Communities, which are topical discussion profiles. The downside to Livejournal is that one has their content fed to them in list form, so I must remember to bookmark a post I particularly find of interest (or use Livejournal’s Memory feature). Contrast this practice to that of Tribe, which utilizes a forums methodology where the topics for discussion are listed within a Tribe and it’s relatively easy to refer back to the topics of interest for days at a time. A small orange asterisk notifies the user that there is new activity with in the Tribe and the topics within.

Because Tribe is designed with social interaction and community in mind (its original target audience is the Burning Man community), all activities within the site are centered around the subject Tribes. Compare this practice with MySpace and Livejournal, where interacting with individuals (or showing yourself off) is the name of the game. Facebook tries to incorporate both of these principals, and it’s fun to read about others’ activities, but the site ultimately leaves me cold, since the group communication features are fairly cumbersome and not front and center.

I do want to take a moment to mention Ning, the interface of which follows the topical, community-based methodology, but offers all of the features of the others. What’s different about it is that it is an umbrella site, where individuals can easily create their own SNS within the site, using their options and interface.

For museums looking to join the SNS wave, it appears that the winner right now is Facebook, due to its community of professionals and its clean interface. However, they should not dismiss MySpace out of hand, as MySpacers are often very artistic and interested in museums. It may take a bit more work, however, to speak their language and to get them to participate, but the Documentation Generation will help you promote your museum just by talking about you (and by sharing pictures and video and blogging about the fact that your current exhibition has an awful lot of photographs of people in underwear).

If you can, go to each SNS and take some time to sign yourself up and join a few groups (don’t forget to put up a profile picture! This matters, believe it or not. People won’t take you seriously without one). Learn what language the natives are speaking and try to communicate on their terms. See if the site works for you and your institution and strategize how to best get your information out there. Often, one of the best ways to do this is to get staff to join and participate, since individual interactions will link back to the institution as well as promote it – even without explicit promotion. I can’t even begin to count how often I have met an interesting person online and looked at their profile to see their interests. I’ve joined a number of groups I wouldn’t otherwise have discovered without the active participation of an interested individual.

Other popular sites:
Orkut (Google product, mostly used in South America and Central America)
Bebo (AOL product, Europe)
CyWorld (Asia and Pacific Islands)
Hi5 (South America)

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