Social marketing is gaining interest in the commercial world at rapid rate and it is not surprising that niche micro social networks are now becoming popular.
Peter Bowman’s article on micro social networks published on Internet Evolution provides a good insight into the direction the new networks are heading.
As social marketing becomes popular it becomes harder and harder to get noticed. With millions using these networks and the categories moving into the hundreds, gaining credibility within your niche has not only become super competitive, it has become extremely spam ridden.
As Bowman’s article points out:
However, many members get the feeling of becoming lost in crowds of millions. Micro-social spaces offer less diversity to users, but directly identify with their specific desires and interests.
This will become the key to social networking through these micro networks. Each network serves a particular niche drawing individuals from both sides of the commercial fence. This concept is not new. In the past, forums have served very well as niche networks, however the very term forum seems to turn people off. Call the site a social network, or better yet, call it a social bookmarking site and people will come in their droves.
Bowman’s opening paragraph really sums up the trend where he states:
…..they mirror what micro-sites have done to promote brands for many years. Will this growing micro-social trend dilute the existing power of social network elites like Facebook and MySpace , or will they empower more people to participate in a wider selection of online communities based on their individual needs and wants?
The future of micro social networks will be interesting to watch particularly as larger corporations make more use of the concept and develop their own networks. As social marketing opportunities there may be obstacles put in place as the micro network owners try to protect their ‘turf’ by preventing many of the marketing opportunities that are available through the larger networks.
It will be interesting to see how they balance their own needs with those of the social marketing users and the needs of the general public at large – ultimately their own customers.
