Brian Solis, @briansolis, has an excellent post on The Future of the Social Web which inspired me to make some comments focusing on the implications and opportunities for brands.
"The biggest opportunity for the expansion of social networks is to build bridges between these isolated islands (social networking sites) to deliver a more fulfilling, meaningful and productive experience. As I see it, we will start to see the social web not as a collection of distributed islands, but as one greater collective better known as a human network – a contextual and relationship-based network that consists of like-minded individuals no matter where their profile resides."
Context is key, and as is for now technology/the existing solutions is limiting our ability to strengthen or build new relationships. People do what other people do and people are also continuously seeking resonance. Enter the social colonization and most of all the era of social context.
As of now Facebook and Twitter is already our main source for news and information. They are also our main communication hub. As a brand you need to become a part of this flow of information. You have the chance of becoming more relevant than ever.
How? First of all you need to have a big ideal. Then create initiatives based on the ideal, tool or content, that helps groups of people with common niche passions to continuously strengthening their relationships or build new ones across different niche networking sites - seamlessly as possible. It´s not what your product does that matters most to people. It´s how they SOCIALIZE AROUND IT that matters. Facebook Connect and to some degree "sign in with Twitter" allows you as brand to become a part of this information flow. But you need to contribute with something that empowers those who create these information flows - people. And what´s coming is the possibility to join a new service that you as brand can make, where people can join and bring with them their data and friends so that you can serve your users instantly with customized content and already recommendations, history, stats from your existing network. Now that´s relevance and gratification on a whole new level.
"Portable IDs mean you’ll be able to flip a switch to tell Nike you’re a woman who runs 12 miles a week and immediately see the shoes that are best for you — along with input from experiences of your running buddies.”
Brian Solis - The Future of the Social Web. http://www.briansolis.com/2009/10/the-future-of-the-social-web/