Social Network Development
The past few years have seen the rapid rise of the virtual interaction on the web, paving the way for what we know as the social networking revolution. Right from the inception of the first portal that provided facilities to connect over the web to the present day state-of-the-art multifunctional portals; the IT industry and the world in general has been witness to the intense growth of social media networks. The current social networking portals offer much more than that such as: meeting people with similar interests, making friends, finding lost pals, finding love and romance, technology assistance, business networking and a lot more. And the popularity of such networks bring the window of advertising opportunities, in essence, to make good money. You would think why anyone would want to own a social network when facebook is already leading? Well, Facebook already got the name for teenagers toy so where would the other age-groups hang out? Maybe at your network!
Social Network Benefits
Social networks keep people interested. Note how huge ones like Facebook and Twitter are thriving. (Well, they aren’t doing as well as they could be profit-wise. But they still have millions of users). People want to socialize on the Internet. It’s the new trend, why not join?
Once you get going, you’re good. When you run a blog, you have to write posts very often to keep it going. With a social network, once things are started and your social network is solid, you can take time off. You should work hard to make things better, but if you need a break to just socialize you can take it.
Friends will tell friends about your website. I have been a witness to a friend of mine convincing another friend of mine to join a social network. This can happen with your social network. People will join simply because their friends have joined, and then they will get other friends to join. It’s exponential growth.
Disadvantages
It’s A LOT of work. Despite being able to take breaks (pro #2), it takes a lot to create a social network. You want your social network to be unique. You can’t just take a social networking software (such as Elgg), throw it on your server, and then expect to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.
It’s harder to profit using a social network. All of the huge social networks are facing this issue now. Who wants to click ads on Facebook? You’re already on Facebook, which you can do pretty much everything on, so why would you want to go somewhere else? Also, Facebook has extremely well targetted ads (for the most part). If people won’t click on well targetted ads, would they click on not-so-well targetted ads at all?
You have to compete with other social networks. Although there are people that use lots of social networks, you will basically have to ‘convert’ people from using a more popular social network to using your social network. This can be a gradual process.
Branding
If controlling the appearance of your site is important, then why would you give up that power when it comes to the world of social networks?! While white and blue may look cute for Facebook, those colors may not compliment your site or appeal to your users.
Creating your own forum/social network would allow you to take charge of your business's social appearance, without sending users to a domain whose colors may clash with your own brand.
Google is launching its own social network in order to ensure that it retains some access into the daily lives of its users. While the upcoming failure/success of the social network has yet to be determined, the fact that a multibillion dollar company thinks social networking is important should justify why you need one as well.
Bottomline
If you are not looking to work hard for your social network business, you should not start one because it will require a lot of time and effort. However, there is still success to be found. You won’t become the next Mark Zuckerberg, but you can still fairly well by making a social network. Only opt to take this route if you know your stuff quite well, and if you are sure that you can put the time it will require then lets us know and we will see how we can provide you with a cost-effective solution.
