Social Utopia

Everyone likes to have a say in what the future will hold, so if you were in charge of creating the next social media platform, what would it look like?  The first “must have,” is a nonsensical name like GraVoo or FizBa with no links to any language family, classifying yourself as edgy or new.  Then it is important to identify some key features for your platform.  Maybe you’re like my friend who loves to post pictures of himself on sunny Hawaiian beaches for those of us experiencing a cold winter back home.  In this case, a better photo editing interface makes sense.

The features that are important to you, might not be useful for the next person, and the important thing is a balance between usefulness and a bloated program.  Proponents of Twitter like its ease-of-use, 140 characters at a time.  This social platform thrives on a staccato-like simplicity, but some feel the technology a bit too minimalistic.  Facebook users enjoy posting their own interactive content, or just perusing the content that others create.  It’s the expansive content sharing that helped Facebook rise to fame.  Facebook has been able to keep things personal by surrounding you with people and things you like, while their business is growing like a hungry teenager.  When your personal friend posts a picture of their new car, it is kind of cool to see it while not worrying about getting their floor-mats dirty.

Think about your friends.  Aren’t you closer to some than you are to others?  In your ideal social media platform, perhaps you can place friends at different distances and create new circles of friends who are all talking about the same thing and your grandmother doesn’t have to hear about you painting the town on Saturday night. This is doable in Facebook, but a user must create a special Facebook page, and then hope that people will visit you there.

Whatever the next big thing is, I hope you create it and I want to be involved, helping others make sense of it all and facilitating valuable connections, blurring the line between business and friendship.