If Only I Weren’t So Lazy …

 Social Networking, Web, Web 2.0  2 Responses »
Dec 282006
 

Remember back when I mentioned that I should build a little centralized social networking manager where you could manage your profile in one place?

Well, I don’t have to anymore. ProfileLinker did it for me.

TechCrunch pointed to them today, which means they’re bound to get a good bit of traffic today. Reading through the comments, folks are hitting on many of the reasons I never got energized to actually do anything about it: the networks could cut you off; users would have to really trust you to give you their login/pass; there are so many networks that you’d be constantly trying to keep up as new networks emerged (as well as keep old networks working).

Partnering with the networks is the only way to make it work long term, I think, and that’s a tall order given that any centralized management system removes page views from their site, thus removing ad views from their site, thus directly reducing their revenue stream.

Still, it’s an idea that needs to happen because managing multiple profiles is just silly.

 Posted by Ryan Toohil at 10:13 am

My New Crappy Business Idea

 Friendster, MySpace, Orkut, Social Networking, Web, Web 2.0  3 Responses »
Jun 072006
 

When I was running the other day, I think I figured out one of those silly business ideas that people come up with and then other people go “that’s a really dumb idea … I bet people will pay for it.”

With the prevelence of social networking websites on the web, particularly the big three of MySpace, Friendster, and Orkut (or maybe LinkedIn), it seems like people are always encouraging you to the join the one they’re a member of. That usually means you start with like a Friendster account, get convinced to join Orkut (leaving your Friendster setup wilting …), then you move to MySpace (and they both wilt). Then one day you remember your Friendster setup, and you go back in there to find now there’s a bunch more people there.

Or at least I assume that’s what people do. I don’t have a MySpace account, but I do have an Orkut account (I don’t think I’ve logged in for over a year) and a Friendster account (which I check maybe once a month). But, if you really cared about these networks and keeping your data up-to-date, wouldn’t it be handy if you could update it in one place and have it magically update the rest?

That’s my idea: to build MyFriendKut.com (I should probably removes some vowels to make it very Web 2.0). You’d setup your account on the site, and then give the logins to your social networking accounts (yeah, privacy issues, but whatever, it’s all about convenience). The site would have a bunch of settings that are common to most of those sites. When you want to change something, you change it at the MyFriendKut.com site, and the site pushes it out. So then you keep all of your sites up to date through one interface, saving you time to stalk people on MySpace. Fun!

Better yet, maybe the site also throws up a tabbed interface or something that authenticates you to the social networking sites so that it’s one-login-shopping. See! Amazing idea!

Now I just have to get motivated and build it. And probably check to see that no one has already built it. Then figure out how to make money off it. Sell out and become a millionaire. Just like the Underpants Gnomes.

 Posted by Ryan Toohil at 7:12 am
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