Scaling the Social Web

Move over, MySpace. Online players from media giant Viacom to auctioneer eBay are adding networking features for their users

by Catherine Holahan

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Who needs Facebook? Web users who want to find community with like-minded people no longer have to sign up with traditional social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster, or Facebook. They can build ties with friends and family on the sites they're using every day.

A broad array of online players, from major media companies like Viacom (VIA) to e-commerce providers such as eBay (EBAY), are adding networking features to their online destinations, letting users create detailed Web identities, connect with people over common interests, share content, and, above all, socialize. "Our audience loves to connect through shared passions, whether it is the music that they love or the causes they believe in," says Christina Norman, president of Viacom-owned MTV, which on Sept. 20 announced the creation of think.MTV.com, a network that encourages youth activism.

In some cases, such as with Yahoo's (YHOO) long-rumored "Y! Mash," which began invitation-only testing this month, and Playboy Enterprises' (PLA) newly launched PlayboyU, companies have created full-fledged MySpace competitors. Like News Corp.'s (NWS) leading social network, these sites revolve around keeping in touch with friends, making new contacts, and carving out a personalized Web space. In other cases, such as with MTV's site and StreetCred.com, a social network for hip-hop fans, the new sites are focused on developing communities around niche content or interests (BusinessWeek, 3/14/07).

Fierce Competition for Eyeballs

The integration of social networking tools into all manner of Web sites is not entirely new. Sites have dabbled with features such as message boards for years. However, over the past 12 months or so, many sites have fully embraced the MySpace model, asking people to set up profiles and bring personal contacts onto their sites, as well as to view their online destinations as a place to socialize and meet new people.

In fact, there's been such overwhelming adoption of social networking features that many people are using the term "social Web," rather than Web 2.0, to refer to a generation of sites built on user-generated content and interaction. The idea is that any site worth its salt needs to enable user interaction and content-sharing. It's a concept that Yahoo, the Web's largest destination, has taken to heart, says Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo's senior vice-president of communications and communities. "Making Yahoo more social is a critical priority.… We need to do a much better job of thinking of Yahoo as more of a social experience, not just a certain silo of Yahoo."

Behind the race to be social is a fierce competition to capture user attention. There are more than 135 million distinct sites on the Web, and the number of active sites is growing by a rate of more than 5% each month, according to Netcraft. With so many places for Web surfers to spend time, the challenge has become not just attracting large numbers of users, but keeping them there long enough that they'll see a few ads and maybe even spend some cash. In July, Web measurement company Nielsen//NetRatings underscored the importance of this challenge by announcing that time spent, along with the number of unique users, was a key measure of a site's popularity (BusinessWeek, 7/11/07).