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September 16, 2003
Henshall on Skype as a social platform
Posted by Clay Shirky
Fascinating post by Stuart Henshall suggesting that
Skype is a better social platform than any of the self-declared social networking servicesI fully expect people to leave AIM, Yahoo and MSN for Skype. Skype's already carrying a profile. It could be made significantly richer and I'm sure progressive disclosure could be enabled quickly. My question is what access do I want to enable. My buddies and buddies buddies? Those that have read or linked to my blog? Sure! The doctor's office, dentist etc. Yep. Then those that perhaps I don't know but are prepared to provide a verified profile, including those verified to contain no adult content...
Comments (7)
+ TrackBacks (1) | Category: social software
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1. Abe on September 16, 2003 7:13 PM writes...
Its a bit of a leap now isn't it? This is VOIP not any sort of networking... Doesn't seem to go beyond the IM clients in terms of enabling connections. But hey, free phone calls are good.
Permalink to Comment2. Clay Shirky on September 16, 2003 8:28 PM writes...
The interesting thing to me is that there is a handle (phone number), a named lookup (name -> number), and meta-data (a simple profile.) That's actually a strong base for building social networking on, and could be stronger if the meta-data included both generic descriptions and pointers to people you were willing to acknowledge a connection to publicly or semi-publicly.
I don't know if Skype cares about this idea, but I think Henshall's larger point -- social networking may be easier to build in the context of communications services than as standalones -- is probably correct.
Permalink to Comment3. Seb on September 16, 2003 9:09 PM writes...
Some of Stuart's ideas remind me of the premises of Allen Searls' http://www.globealive.com/ - he may be right, the coupling of profiles to a phone network instead of IM could make it much stickier.
Permalink to Comment4. Ulises Mejias on September 17, 2003 4:52 PM writes...
Does it have to be either/or?
http://ideant.typepad.com/ideant/2003/09/skype_voice_vs__1.html
Permalink to Comment5. Abe on September 17, 2003 8:43 PM writes...
Hmmm, still not sure why Skope is any better then Say AIM which could build a massive network out of the data already in its network (although I think the buddy lists are stored locally). Still I think the there is an even larger point here that is crucial:
any successful social network is going to need to give the users a really compelling reason to commit energy to construction.
Friendster has succeeded, and no one else has approoched that scale, although apps like IM and VoIP have the userbase and some of the necessary metadata.
And lets not forget that Metcalfe's Law is still applicable here, the larger the network the more utility...
Permalink to Comment6. Abe on September 17, 2003 8:44 PM writes...
hmmm, no html links, there was a URL in there:
http://www.abstractdynamics.org/archives/2003/09/16/the_idiot_savant_friendster_triumphant.html
Permalink to Comment7. rene on November 15, 2003 9:25 AM writes...
Ah Skype! 'Tis all so simple: to love and not to pay! Great things thy codes bringeth, to bear upon the wary & suspicious. Move onward move on.
Permalink to CommentAll will be well. Everything is inevitable.