4 ms·

Fred Wilson on Social Networking vs Email

20 points by taykh 16y ago

plesn 16y ago
So in 2007 we switched from the Republic of Email to the Kingdom of Social Networking. Where is the Rebel Alliance of open distributed social networking protocols?
rokhayakebe 16y ago
Facebook surpasses Google in US traffic. Does that mean Facebook is/will be more important than Google? I think not. SMS traffic grew rapidly as well, but it did not take away the voice business.
sh1mmer 16y ago
If you have to have an email address to sign up to most if not all social networks, how is the sign-up figure correct?
- jfornear 16y ago
  You can use the same email address to sign up for multiple social networks?
eplanit 16y ago
So, let me get this straight: People _prefer_ non-private communications, with advertisers, site operators, and a vaugue sense of "friends and followers" listening in? I don't buy it. Either he's focused on only one segment of the internet population (individuals, not businesses), or it's more wishful thinking regarding social networking. Just what, exactly, is deemed so terrible about email? Shouldn't this be analyzed via mass correspondence vs. individual-to-individual? I think the author is greatly overgeneralizing, and thus drawing misleading conclusions.
- hexis 16y ago
  This seems like a good place to mention that the author of the OP is an investor in twitter.
ohashi 16y ago
This post doesn't make sense. It's comparing email to social networking all as time spent communicating. It doesn't classify that time though, is time spent reading emails really the same as any time I spend on social networking sites? How many hours of farmville equals one hour of emailing?
- hussong 16y ago
  It all comes out of the same time budget for computer-mediated communication.
_pius 16y ago
Key point IMO: The Gotham Gal looked at me and said "why are you checking twitter and not email?" ... I told her that email required a reply and twitter did not.
- davidedicillo 16y ago
  The major success factor is that social networks are by default one to many, while email is one to one. Think if you had to email all your friends to tell them you are in town...
  - FluidDjango 16y ago
    If only email were one-to-one. Unfortunately I have to keep on lots of blast-email lists... where I'm expected to filter through what impacts my responsibilities. And sometimes I dare not ask to be removed from some senders' lists for political reasons. Time-sucking. Soul-sucking. grrrr... EDIT: forgot to mention that sorting through the krap via Twit, FB, etc, would not be much more fun.
ableal 16y ago
In this case, the value vs. volume may be debatable. Lately, I've been taking notes on this. These are not bad observations: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1223346 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1223346 - Networking advices from legendary Silicon Valley networker, Heidi Roizen - 90% of my interactions are on email (and I will say that is the same for almost all highly efficient people I know) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1248503 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1248503 - Ron Conway Explained - (quoted email) “AM ON IT.” http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/03/28/Compartmentalization http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/03/28/Compartmen... - Communication Silos - They differ in their latency, reach, and persistence and, on another axis, in length of form.

20 points by taykh 16y ago

plesn 16y ago

So in 2007 we switched from the Republic of Email to the Kingdom of Social Networking. Where is the Rebel Alliance of open distributed social networking protocols?

rokhayakebe 16y ago

Facebook surpasses Google in US traffic. Does that mean Facebook is/will be more important than Google? I think not. SMS traffic grew rapidly as well, but it did not take away the voice business.

sh1mmer 16y ago

If you have to have an email address to sign up to most if not all social networks, how is the sign-up figure correct?

jfornear 16y ago
You can use the same email address to sign up for multiple social networks?

eplanit 16y ago

So, let me get this straight: People _prefer_ non-private communications, with advertisers, site operators, and a vaugue sense of "friends and followers" listening in? I don't buy it. Either he's focused on only one segment of the internet population (individuals, not businesses), or it's more wishful thinking regarding social networking. Just what, exactly, is deemed so terrible about email? Shouldn't this be analyzed via mass correspondence vs. individual-to-individual? I think the author is greatly overgeneralizing, and thus drawing misleading conclusions.

hexis 16y ago
This seems like a good place to mention that the author of the OP is an investor in twitter.

ohashi 16y ago

This post doesn't make sense. It's comparing email to social networking all as time spent communicating. It doesn't classify that time though, is time spent reading emails really the same as any time I spend on social networking sites? How many hours of farmville equals one hour of emailing?

hussong 16y ago
It all comes out of the same time budget for computer-mediated communication.

_pius 16y ago

Key point IMO: The Gotham Gal looked at me and said "why are you checking twitter and not email?" ... I told her that email required a reply and twitter did not.

davidedicillo 16y ago
The major success factor is that social networks are by default one to many, while email is one to one. Think if you had to email all your friends to tell them you are in town...
- FluidDjango 16y ago
  If only email were one-to-one. Unfortunately I have to keep on lots of blast-email lists... where I'm expected to filter through what impacts my responsibilities. And sometimes I dare not ask to be removed from some senders' lists for political reasons. Time-sucking. Soul-sucking. grrrr... EDIT: forgot to mention that sorting through the krap via Twit, FB, etc, would not be much more fun.

ableal 16y ago

In this case, the value vs. volume may be debatable. Lately, I've been taking notes on this. These are not bad observations: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1223346 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1223346 - Networking advices from legendary Silicon Valley networker, Heidi Roizen - 90% of my interactions are on email (and I will say that is the same for almost all highly efficient people I know) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1248503 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1248503 - Ron Conway Explained - (quoted email) “AM ON IT.” http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/03/28/Compartmentalization http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/03/28/Compartmen... - Communication Silos - They differ in their latency, reach, and persistence and, on another axis, in length of form.