Commercial social networks
While I was selling my car, I noted that it was still hard to sell items via the social network. Theoretically, transactions between friends in an established network is efficient because the trust factor needs to be maintained... any transgressions will create network friction. Facebook provides a social selling widget Radical Buy that allows the seller to set any commission to an intermediary who connects the buyer with the seller.
In the larger scheme, the widget could make Facebook users eBay-like hubs who extend their networks commercially.
The social network is being leveraged to facilitate peer-to-peer financial transactions. Read Gartner Group's study on how social banking platforms may account for 10% of retail lending within two year (a striking claim...)
It begs the question... will the social network eventually facilitate real estate transactions? Can commercially oriented social networks extend beyond 2 to 3 degrees of separation to connect buyer and seller?Non-bank competitors are pushing aggressively into banking and investment services, threatening to undermine banks in the financial relationship, according to Gartner. The threat is particularly pronounced in two businesses that are at the very heart of banking, namely lending and payment. Gartner predicts that by 2010, social-banking platforms will have captured 10 per -cent of the available worldwide market for retail lending and financial planning.
I never knew about that widget from Facebook until now, thanks a lot!
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General social networks like Facebook & MySpace are not inherent places to generate business. Industry specific networks will evolve into destinations where commerce is socially acceptable...even expected. We're in this evolution stage where companies are just figuring out how to develop the proper sense of place and purpose. They're also figuring out how they can monetize these networks. When you look at sites like Zolve and PropertyQube you get the sense that they're learning. But traffic, revenue and /profit generation is a significant challenge. Second mover sites that figure out these challenges from launch should create inertia and ultimately create real value in these areas. In terms of going beyond 2 or 3 degrees of separation, it would be a good start to get some business from the primary connection let alone the 4th. It'll happen...eventually.
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