7 Deadly Signs Your Social Network Is Fat

Sat, Feb 6, 2010

Business, Digital Anthropology, Tech

7 Deadly Signs Your Social Network Is Fat

We’ve reached a level of social saturation that is no longer sustainable. Online networks are so saturated with that they’re on the verge of nor valuable.  At first, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSqaure, etc. provided value in receiving information of those in your network.  The purpose of these networks is to connect people online and create value from creating hospitable environments for online relationships to flourish.  But when you take this concept and apply the buckwild methedolgy the whole value in the initial endeavor is lost.

Now, these social networks are so obese (with information) that digesting the information is not the problem – it’s digesting the right stuff in an appropriate enough amount of time.

Think about it: broadcasting a message to my 2,957 followers does not yeild 2,957 @replies.  It just doesn’t.   That’s because on a given day I’m only a handful of people’s radars.  And if you flip this around, I only have about 150 people on my radar (according to Dunbar’s number, which I don’t entirely disagree with).  It’s not just Twitter. It’s everything and frankly it’s really annoying.

There are 7 deadly signs that your social network is obese, and busting at the seams:

1. You no longer talk to your actual friends online. You only talk to the people who are the most obnoxious (read: tweets a lot and FB status updates 12x a day).

2. You know those Facebook birthday reminders?  If you can’t place a face with the name within .2 seconds, yeah, you’re saturated.

3. Of the people you follow on Twitter, you only actually talk to a dozen of them.

4. Your LinkedIn account has more LIONS than it does former bosses.

5. Your normal FourSquare friend requests starts at 35.  You have to sift through the randoms to find your actual friends.

6. The random guy you emailed ONCE appears in your Gchat box.  Like you’d ever want or need to talk to him again.

7. Your social networks are no longer a good way to keep tabs on people because THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE.  It’s less passive stalking, more pro-active stalking.

Photo credit rutthenut
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  • I like this post Sarah - I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's a great perspective none the less. For me, it comes down to your objective. If your use of social networks is simply to keep tabs on personal relationships, then you are spot on.

    If you use centers around growing a business, then the game changes a bit. Social networking becomes much more about Brogan's idea of "I see you" rather than "we're friends".

    In business, things like twitter become a numbers game. You will always have your core 150, but in the end, if you are trying to spread content (and you understand that .001 percent of your network will actually convert on your content and be interested in a relationship) than your use of the tool changes.

    At any rate, it comes down to your objectives and the choices you make on how you use the tools... Just my $.02
  • I feel you, Nate. It is all about how you use them. Because they're so global now, I need to re-evaluate how I use each network.
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