Social networking has evolved from early platforms like AOL in the 1990s to modern giants like Facebook. It began by focusing on communication and connecting with known contacts, but has since expanded to include sharing photos, videos and other content. Early social networks appealed mainly to specific demographics but became more universal as platforms opened up. Issues around privacy and third party access to personal information are growing concerns. The future of social networking involves portability of social graphs between platforms, focusing networks around true relationships rather than all being combined, and integration into other websites and applications.

1. Social Networking Past, Present, Future Mark Suster Caltech MIT Enterprise Forum October 9, 2010 @msuster www.BothSidesofTheTable.com

2. Where Did Social Networking Start?

3. In our debates we tend to focus too much on technology

4. It’s about shared experiences & we’ve replicated this online

5. It’s about meeting people & communicated with those we know

6. Online social networks mirror offline lives

7. It’s about the 6 C’s C ommunications C onnectedness C ommon Experience C ontent C ommerce C ool Experiences (ok, entertainment ;-)

8. It’s why Becomes

9. It’s why Becomes

10. Pre Internet had social networks

11. Pre Internet had social networks

12. Anyone around then will know what one of these was

13. AOL bridges gap between pre-Internet & Internet

14. People advertised “AOL Keywords” not websites AOL Keyword: Swordfish

15. Web 1.0 made it easier to have personal pages on “the web” (e.g. not AOL)

16. And “groups” have been around for ages Mothers’ clubs Church groups Education

17. Social networks have been around for a long time. Usability is better. 3 rd -party platforms. More people are connected. But same old shit.

18. And then spam-based social networks began

19. Mostly for professional use / older demo

20. And it was really about extending your network

21. Web 2.0 was born and we evolved online social expression

22. Web 2.0 was born - social contribution Blogging Photos Video

23. Web 2.0 went social - skewed back to youth

24. Facebook launched. Was exclusive Teenage Middle America Scantily Dressed Design chaos Ads galore Not verified Up market University Exclusive Urban elite Clean Ad free Verified

25. It started as .edu

26. And they captured the tech elite

27. They each captured 100m users, who increasingly wanted to share photos / video

28. MySpace Bought PhotoBucket & Google Bought YouTube And MySpace declared war on developers

29. And this guy (22) Schooled this guy (75)

30. He understood software business was different than media business

31. Within a SINGLE YEAR the game was over

32. And Facebook went mainstream

33. And then some !!!

34. And we’re back to advertising non-web pages Brands are spending big & abandoning web pages

35. Social networking then went “open” Asymmetric Public

36. Twitter really is a totally new concept Marketing channel RSS reader Instant messaging Chat Room Data mine Customer service Dept

37. And perhaps “open” went a bit too far Social Spending

38. I think we all know that social is going mobile

39. And people are building platforms to enable this Business Logic Mapping Layer Points of Interest

40. OK, OK But Where are Things Headed Next?

41. 1. Social Graph Becomes Portable

42. 2. We Form Around True Networks Friends Family Business Associates Areas of Interest Networking Dating

43. 2. We Form Around True Networks Friends Family Business Associates Areas of Interest Networking Dating “ I’m coming home for Thanksgiving” “ Check out how wasted we were ;-)” “ Why did you choose MongoDB?” “ I can’t believe we’re working again this weekend  ” “ I love The Decemberists, too!” “ I’m looking for a role as a Director”

44. It’s ridiculous that these are all combined today

45. Example: Quora

46. Example: HackerNews

47. 3. Privacy becomes a bigger concern 3 rd Party App Pictures of your Kids Personal Info Date of Birth You Your Friend

48. 3. Privacy becomes a bigger concern 3 rd Party Apps Can Access @ messages DMs (private) Tweets

49. 4. Social Networking Becoming Pervasive

50. So advertising & content curation are instantly more targetable But most websites don’t know what to do beyond this

51. 5. Third Party Tools (e.g. Meebo Toolbar) Will Bring Social Networks to Websites Twitter / Facebook Chat

52. 5. But Also Bring Social “Features” like sharing

53. 6. Social Networking Will Split into Layers Business Logic EC2 S3 Mgmt Tools Mapping Layers Network Layers Social Graph / Features Open Source Data Totally New Opportunities

54. 7. Social chaos creates new markets Social Support Social SFA Social Analytics Personal Relationship Mgmt Reputation Mgmt / Authority Social Marketing

55. Fuck “Check Ins & Badges” Skate Where the Puck is Going

56. The definition of social networking will cease to exist in the way that we seldom think about Internet companies

57. And for those who wonder if Facebook now IS the Internet, remember ….

58. Plus ça change April 2000 May 2007 Jan 1998

59. It’s why Zuckerberg remains paranoid And why there’s still a dream for those of you who work hard & innovate

60. Social Networking Past, Present, Future Thank you