June 22, 2007 12:51 PM PDT
Social networks geared for offline success?
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While the Yelp parties have sprung up over time in response to popular demand, Going's creators had every intention from the start of connecting people both offline and online.
As a result, there's much more administrative control than on Yelp, as the site has been carefully pruned to create "a lifestyle brand," in the words of founder Evan Schumacher, encompassing everything from barbecue festivals to black-tie charity events. The content is not entirely user-generated; members can post events, but Going also scouts out partners and promoters to keep a diverse range of events on the calendar.
Despite the fact that Going clearly comes from a different, less organic mold than Yelp, Schumacher highlighted its early success--at last count, more than 80,000 active members in four cities--and attributed it to the fact that Going taps into a community that already existed.
Cities are home to hordes of young people who want to be socially in-the-know (just look at Yelpers), and according to Schumacher, there wasn't an online hub for that until now.
"I think it's a big world when you think about what to do, and we've got a pretty good focus, now that we really nailed early adopters or hipsters," he said. But the jury's still out on whether Going will be able to develop a core base as loyal as Yelp's.
It's also still too early to predict success for I'm In Like With You. Forman is working on expanding the site's functionality as well as combating some misperceptions about it: members' propensity to meet up with each other offline has given the site a reputation as being more in the league of dating sites like Lavalife and eHarmony--a reputation he's trying to change.
"We're not a dating site," he insisted. "We're really just a time waster on the Internet. If you can meet somebody new, that's great."
It's not clear whether any of the current upstart social-networking sites have stumbled upon the "secret formula." But if Yelpers are any indicator, the next successful online-offline social network may have to go beyond simply offering profiles, friends lists, and photo sharing.
"The secret to Yelp bridging the online-offline gap is the reviews," Yelp user Adrian said. "Someone's writing can reveal a lot about that person, so before I meet a reviewer in real life, I have a general idea of who they are and what they are like. With Facebook, I might get an idea of what a person looks like, what movies and music they enjoy, but reading something (that) someone has put a piece of themselves into makes a complete difference."
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see link http://lsvp.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/we-need-a-standard-for-social-network-advertising/
In a separate reply on the same Blog,Shervin Pishevar also invited Greg (Tseng),who was also in the blog discussions, and "Lance (Tokuda), Jia (Shen) and Ro (Choy?) as well".
The Widgetcon 2007 is happening at NYC. See http://www.widgetcon.com/, and some of these guys invited will be speakers at the confernce.
love is narrow schisophrenic and of no use.
When you look at a successful couple it's the compassion that keeps them going.
There love is of near non exsistance but they can still be of a very sexual nature to each other with greate compassion.
Compassion allows the mind to see and feel with all understanding.
Love is fear ridden and usless and is the base of control.
Compassion is of workng with the natural makeup.
Love is hiding away from it.
love swings blocking out our mind.
compassion gives you understanding and reaches far beyond the social ignorance of gender.
Theres loads that social networks can do now to premote compassion whereas with love you'll end up all trying to get a peice of the pie.
http://bp2.blogger.com/_ApAhsj6rJ14/RmoAcTcFVoI/AAAAAAAAAEc/SS9hItmWrVA/s1600-h/comparison.jpg