The Future of Social Networks Is Vertical

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Even as social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook grow, in order to remain relevant they will need to evolve. In my opinion that evolution will contain the formation of vertical marketplaces. Social networks for artists, attorneys and consultants already exist, but none of them have attracted the kind of adoption that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter enjoy.

Think about it, how many real estate agents, designers and accountants are on Facebook already? The tough thing about building a social network is to get the kind of adoption and participation you need to make the network a viable place to hang out. The major networks already have that and can tap it by creating networks within the network. The time might be right for outside players to insert vertical pushes if the networks don’t partner with associations and other data providers poised to offer an impact in a vertical market. (Seems to me that most industry associations and interest groups should be considering this kind of approach.)

Next week LinkedIn is announcing a partnership with a real estate industry player that will push to create a real estate portal on LinkedIn that can provide agents and consumers with commercial and residential listings within LinkedIn. A healthy recruiter community already exists on LinkedIn so a jobs database would be pretty easy to create. This approach would reach beyond the typical “groups” implementation to something much richer in terms of content and specific opportunities for engagement. Twitter lists combined with a Google search for job title or industry in a bio is one way to craft a list of any profession on Twitter. That process alone might be a good place to start. Look for more on this from the networks as they continue to evolve for business use.

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Posted by: John Jantsch on Jul 05, 10 | 5:05 am
Category: Social Media | Tags: , Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter

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kellybriefworld

Great post! Clearly, Social Media can be a very useful tool in boosting your business. It would be interesting to see this "vertical evolution" of social media sites and what it can do to/for businesses (and even individual users). In the meantime, it you have your business on a social networking site or if you're still considering it, you should check out "To Block or Not. Is that the question?” here: http://bit.ly/d2NZRp and know the issues surrounding social media in the workplace.
Robert

Nice post and was useful too. The list is primarily to group based on interest.
Ryan Hanley

I'm still more interested in seeing greater ways to localize SM. Industry groups seem to be doing a pretty good job of carving out their place within LinkedIn, Facebook, etc so this is a good next step.

Thanks,

Ryan H., www.RyanHanley.com
Erin

Great post, I have been waiting so long to see this discussion surface.

While I don't think we'll see people leaving major networks like Facebook and Twitter, I think niche networks that tailor to people interested in specific verticals.

You particularly hit the nail on the head when you mention real estate professionals pushing for vertical networks-- the company I work for, DevelopmentNow, builds these sorts of niche networks and you would not believe how many inquiries we have received from that market recently!

As always, excited for the opportunities in store with social media!
Erin

**"While I don't think we'll see people leaving major networks like Facebook and Twitter, I think niche networks that tailor to people interested in specific verticals" are going to see an exceptional amount of growth over the next few years.**
Asteraki

Interesting post. With all the communities now forming online through social networks we will soon need to start thinking of how we manage those communities. Many people sitting on thousands of twitter followers and hundreds of facebook friends will soon be looking at ways to better communicate and interact with them.

www.schoolofdigitalmarketing.com
jon

that was great
Social Media Manager

The Linkedin/real estate portal news is huge. These sites really are going to take over the internet, if they haven't already!
Lloyd Burrell

# "This approach would reach beyond the typical “groups” implementation to something much richer in terms of content and specific opportunities for engagement."

I wonder if this isn't going to evolve in a different direction at the same time. Given the group orientation of the social networks, in a few years we could witness a topic-related vertical market, based on the various relations between the members of the group. This would be interesting as it would prove the theses of flexible economy and adaptive marketing.

Lloyd Burrell
Publisher
www.officedeskreviews.com
boomer54mark

John,

I completely agree...If any of us are going to use the social networks for business then we have to create very specific verticals.

It will be interesting to see what the big players come up with over the next year to take advantage of the data compiled on Facebook and Linkedin.

Great post...

mark
Justin Popovic

Very interesting and I completely agree. I imagine we will be seeing more of these partnerships like LinkedIn is about to announce. The major networks already have the audience and new players can simply come along an enhance an already-proven community structure. It will be very interesting to see how this evolves moving forward.
JayTurn

Interesting thought John. We have been seeing the small community phenomenon occurring socially on sites like Facebook and Twitter for a while now.

It only seems natural that the same thing would occur for business groupings. Convenience has been a major factor for customers in the offline world so it makes sense that it would be converted to the online world. Instead of taking the time to skip from site to site, you can simply go to one destination and compare services provided by everyone in a particular market.

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