Can't we all just get along? (Saturated Market)

« Power to the People | Main | Why you should avoid these common mistakes »

Can't we all just get along?

Blogging Competition. It's absolutely inevitable. But it doesn't always come from where you'd expect.

I'm going to talk about blogs again. Aren't you thrilled? If you haven't hit the "next blog" button or gone down the list on your bookmarks menu yet, then I'm going to take that as a yes.

Now then, I'm going to look at the big 4: Livejournal, MySpace, Blogger and Facebook. Each of these sites is supposedly in competition for users. But I'm not entirely sure that's the case. First of all, there is absolutely nothing to stop someone from subscribing to more than one. I mean, they're all free (with the exception of livejournal's paid account level). Now, you might be inclined to say that they all serve the same purpose, so nobody would need more than one. However, that isn't necessarily the case. Each is more geared towards certain purposes. Some are more geared towards the purpose of blogging, whilst others are more for social networking. I've drawn up a graph of where each of these falls on these two continuums. B stands for Blog, SN stands for Social Network, with + or - denoting whether the site is more applicable for either of these purposes.

Blog graph

So you see, each of these sites serves a different purpose. I'll go through each of these one by one, in a minute. But first, I need to outline the true form of competition faced by these sites: themselves. Or more appropriately, their reputations. The primary reason not to use a specific site always seems to be that the potential user has a problem with the way they perceive it.

Blogger: Since this is where we are (note: at the time of writing this, I was still at Blogger), it's courteous to start with our current host. Blogger is, well, entirely devoted to blogs. There is no network in place to connect you with your friends, or to let you quickly check the blogs you enjoy. The best you can do is just to bookmark them or to put links on your own page. So for the user who wants to write a journal but doesn't feel the need to check up on everyone elses or collect a useless list of "friends" online, this is the way to go. They are free of some of the stigmas facing the other sites, but they are plagued by a reputation for unreliability. Most of the complaints that crop up about Blogger are that it has a tendency to go down. Whether or not this has been corrected is largely irrelevant; until that perception can be altered (which is tremendously difficult), they're going to have to live with it.

Facebook: Facebook is almost entirely social networking. All a user does on there is add friends and leave comments on their "wall". People can also join interest groups, and post pictures. It exists entirely to communicate with other people (which is particularly handy when it comes to people you haven't seen in a long time, or who are a distance away). I didn't put it at the very bottom of blogging, though, because they do have a blog-like option: notes. Here the user can write up a short blurb very much like a blog, which can be commented on (and you can even "tag" friends that it pertains to). However, it is tucked away on the side, and rarely used as somewhere to pontificate on a topic. Therefore, it is clearly not the primary use. Facebook's major stumbling block for attracting users is that many fail to see the point. Several people I have spoken to about the site have vowed never to sign up, since they have heard that it is addictive, and a waste of time. There is also a growing amount of discontent over the fact that high school and elementary school students are signing on, when it was originally designed for college and university students. What's worse is, employers are now checking Facebook to find applicants' pages...and pictures. Due to the "tagging" option on Facebook, anybody with a picture of you can tag you, and everyone can see it. There is a way to remove tags, but to search carefully for all references to you and delete them before your potential employer can find them is a process nobody wants to undertake.

MySpace: MySpace is a mix between blog and social networking. Nearly equally balanced. Though the main profile page has the list of friends, a comment wall to post on, and simply links to blogs. Also, it is not necessary to use the blogging option available on the site. Many people instead choose to use it simply to keep in touch with friends, post pictures, and check out new bands. The networking aspect of MySpace has allowed for great reach by new artists showcasing their work, and even advertisers. MySpace is not without its problems, though. First off, it is mocked as being a haven for self-important teenagers, most of whom are referred to as "emo". I'm not going to get into what "emo" is right now. But let me put it this way, for those who need a definition: Emo is like the whiny little brother of punk. This has turned off many potential users. The other major problem is that MySpace is widely considered to be, if you'll pardon the term, a playground for online predators. You need only look through the news to find background on that problem. MySpace definitely tapped into a major section of the population with great success, but it has some image problems to deal with.

Livejournal: Livejournal was one of the first. Like MySpace, it similarly balances blogging and social networking, but is more heavily involved in the blog aspect, as that is the primary form it takes. Users do network, but mostly in the form of reading and commenting on the journal entries of their "friends". However, there is no doubt that blogging is the primary aspect of livejournal. Like MySpace, it shares the perception that it is mostly for whiny teenagers. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, it is currently under fire from a portion of its own userbase.

Since each of these sites differs from each other in some drastic ways, there isn't really much direct competition between them. There is a tendency for Livejournal and MySpace users to make fun of one other, but there is a lot of go-between. So basically, it all comes down to what the user is looking for. Often they will be more loyal to one, but will join another because of friends being members. Instead, they are competing against their own image difficulties, and against the tendency for much of the general public to say that they have no use for a blog.

Until next time,