Alright, I’d like to start off with an explanation of what this article is not. This is not a rant against MySpace (or its apparent lack of aesthetics) in particular, or social networking. I’m not going to say that it’s a waste of time.

I’m pretty sure we all know, that when done right, social networking can be incredibly useful for making new contacts in your field of work, finding creative people, or just meeting new friends. It’s a good idea, and a tool that we should probably all be using.

So what’s the problem?

Well, any problems that occur within a social network almost always come from (gasp!) the users themselves. Let’s face it, humanity is very efficient at taking a good idea and turning it into something ugly. Take, for example, the infamous MySpace:

Well, letting non-designers hack at the markup of their pages is a bad idea in my opinion, but the real problem comes from the people you find on the site. It’s so hard to get around all the twelve-year-old emo kids, spammers, stalkers, and Amway representatives these days that it takes the fun out of the whole thing. To say it plainly, social networks are getting less useful, even as they get more popular. I could go on, but I’m sure you’ve all experienced these things for yourselves.

Alright, alright… solution?

There may be a few:

Give the entire network a single focus:
Humblevoice has a good model going. If you make a social network centered around one thing (in this case creative arts) then it’s much easier to see and root out spammers and the like. Conversely, it’s much easier to find the creative talent you’re looking for.

Relentless, ruthless moderators:
It’s hard to find enough people to help you manage your site, especially if your site is as big as MySpace, or Tagged, but you have to do it. Some (if not most) of us will not push that little “report button”. We’ll just move on.

Friends only:
Not all social networks are about creativity. The most popular ones seem to be just about meeting people, and it can sometimes be a little harder to distinguish between the regular users, and the undesirable ones. Hi5 uses the “friends only” model, where only people you invite can actually see your profile, and many people tell me it works. I believe it can, if implemented right, and if the users (gulp!) don’t screw it up themselves.

Artificial intelligence is no match for artificial stupidity. - Author Unknown

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