The Business of Being Social
Social networks and social applications are clearly fueling the next generation of the Web. Below you will find examples and articles related to the rapidly moving business of the social web. We also encourage you to read the Ringside Networks Team Blogs for our technical and business perspectives on the industry.
Social Window Shopping Use Case
Sites like Amazon provide a great source of information for shoppers but are missing the crux of what makes window shopping so powerful; the input and social camaraderie of friends. This Social Window Shopping article illustrates how the social web can add the concept of window shopping to the online shopping experience. The article also incorporates analysis from Forrester Research regarding why the opinions of friends and acquaintances are valued and trusted the most.
Social Payment Service Use Case
E-Commerce has been the key driver of the web for the past 10 years, with on-line payment totaling more than $200 Billion last year in the U.S. alone. While Social Networks like Facebook are beginning to roll out early payment services to their communities, there is a need to more broadly enable social payment. This Social Payment Service article describes how providing a social context to today's online payment services can increase revenue, open up new channels of distribution, and build in the ability to participate in new markets as they emerge within the large social networks.
Fulcrum Gallery Use Case
Social networking can enable a whole new generation of advertising if the focus is placed on extending corporate websites and brand with social applications that engage the community and prospects directly. This arguably offers a more efficient way to spend advertising dollars since it provides a way to build ongoing competitive advantage. This Fulcrum Gallery article describes how an e-commerce website has chosen to spend some of their advertising budget on creating a social application that directly engages their passionate abstract art lovers across Facebook and FulcrumGallery.com.
Voomaxer Use Case
Every day, millions of people lace up their sneakers and go outside for a run. Whether they are simply trying to make it around the block or attempting to break a four minute mile, runners all achieve a sense of personal accomplishment. The Internet provides this large group of people with the ability to track their successes online. This Voomaxer article describes how Haddonfield Running Company deploys the Voomaxer Facebook application on both www.runningco.com and Facebook so its customers can seamlessly share their running successes no matter which site they are interacting with.