How Networks Too Big for Their Own Good

 

How Networks Too Big for Their Own Good 

 Talking about the increasing size but diminishing quality of business 

networks, Jon Picoult observes in the New York Times , “As the defi ni-

tion of people ’ s ‘networks’ has expanded to include not just colleagues 

they ’ ve known for a decade, but also practically everyone they pass on 

the street, the quality of those connections has been greatly diluted. 

What rational conclusions can companies draw from this relationship 

game?”2

 

 Beyond Dunbar ’ s Number, a group really ceases to be an effective 

interpersonal network. Larger groups require more restrictive rules, laws, 

and enforced norms to function. Yes, technology may be able to expand 

our effective networks somewhat. I keep my LinkedIn network tightly 

focused on businesspeople I know, mostly within my industry, and that 

network is larger than 150 people. My wife Elizabeth and I send out 

slightly more than 150 holiday cards each December (or, sometimes, 

January). 

 But our networks cannot expand indefi nitely without hurting the quality 

of their connections.

 As our friend networks grow and bloat, we may fi nd 

it impossible to compose messages that feel right and relevant to everyone. 

The status feeds of our countless “friends” scrolling by may become dis-

jointed and unfamiliar. 

Have a Little Faith 

 Now that I ’ ve laid out the risks and problems, let me say that I sincerely 

doubt that social media will crumble under its own weight. 

It ’ s no passing 

fad—too many applications are building social aspects into their projects 

from the ground up. Too many millions of Web users expect social interac-

tions, recommendations, user-generated content, and other social-media 

innovations to be part of their online life. 

 New technologies and fi lters are being invented every day to improve 

the social-media experience and make it more intuitive and effortless. 

 Social media helps us make sense of the Web. It makes our online lives 

richer, more personal, and more satisfying. 

 Nor will Dunbar ’ s Number write the epitaph of social media ’ s growth. 

We don ’ t depend on our Twitter followers to help us hunt a mastodon. We 

don ’ t rely on our LinkedIn network for a barn raising or our Facebook 

friends for a quilting bee. Web 2.0 social networks are a hybrid: They take 

some of the best elements of human social life, transplant them to the 

Internet, extend them, and change them.

Online community may not mean precisely the same thing as commu-

nity in its pre-Internet sense. But it ’ s clear that online community is a real 

thing, a powerful thing, and it ’ s here to stay. 

THE GAP SCENARIO 

 John Battelle is one of the Web ’ s intellectual and business leaders. A 

founder of Wired magazine, The Industry Standard , and Federated Media, 

Battelle wrote the best-selling book The Search: How Google and Its 

Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture . He is 

a popular blogger who has invested much thought about what the future 

convergence of search, mobile, and social will look like. 

 He describes what he calls the Gap scenario 3

 to highlight the intersec-

tion of physical and digital spaces in the world of commerce. It ’ s a double 

entendre: When Battelle uses the clothing store the Gap as his example, he 

says, “I ’ m also talking about the ‘gap’ between where we are as an indus-

try, and where we are headed.” 

 Imagine you walk into a bricks-and-mortar Gap store. You ’ ll have your 

smartphone, and because you ’ ve installed a mobile app that interacts with 

the environment around you, the moment you cross the Gap ’ s threshold, 

your phone buzzes. 

 Battelle pictures the Gap ’ s mobile app of the not-too-distant future mes-

saging you personally, guided by its awareness of your purchase history, 

preferences, and social network. “The Gap app will welcome you into the 

store, and perhaps ask if you are enjoying the jeans you purchased at the 

downtown store last month,” writes Battelle. “It also shows that four of 

your friends have recently been in the store lately, and another three have 

purchased something online. Would you like to see what they bought?” 

 You might also be alerted of a special 15 percent off discount “for folks 

like you, who have ‘liked’ Gap on Facebook.” 

 You stroll over to a blouse, hold your phone up to it, and focus the cam-

era on the tag. The Gap app immediately scans the tag to display every-

thing you ’ d want to know about the item: name, price, available inventory 

in-store and online, customer reviews, related items, and a map function to 

guide you to those items in the store. 

 Meanwhile, when you walked through the front door, you were immedi-

ately and personally identifi ed as a returning customer: “All the data about 

your interaction with Gap, as well as any other related data that you have 

agreed can be publicly known about you, has already been sent to the store, 

and to the mobile devices of every Gap associate working in the store today.”

He pictures a Gap associate who smiles, checks her phone (which lights 

up with your profi le), and says hello. But what does she say next? She 

knows who you are, what products you ’ ve been browsing, what you ’ ve 

bought in the past, and how often you visit. Does she speak to you natu-

rally and with empathy—or is the interaction creepy and corporate? 

 Battelle is mindful of how wrong it could feel to have this kind of data 

in the palm of the wrong sort of employee. But he gives his scenario a 

happy ending: “This day, you ’ ve come to your favorite store, where the 

employees are fl uent in the dance between social data, commercial intent, 

and real-time physical interaction. Your associate simply nods and says 

‘let me know if I can help you,’ smiles, and lets you pass.” 

 You fi nd your favorite jeans, but don ’ t want to dig through the piles to 

fi nd your size. Instead you point your phone at the stack, and the Gap app 

tells you the store, alas, is out of size 34. Would you like to purchase them 

online and have them sent to your home? They ’ ll be there later today, 

because a store across town has them in stock, and Gap provides same day 

delivery within a 50-mile radius. You press “Yes,” the purchase is con-

fi rmed, and, your retail desires fulfi lled, you head toward the door. 

 As you leave, the associate you passed earlier thanks you for your 

purchase.

 What I like about Battelle ’ s Gap scenario is how many pieces need to 

work in concert: mobile phone app, social-network integration, and the 

interplay between bricks-and-mortar and the Web store. Yet it is probably 

not the technology that will be the trickiest piece of the puzzle. It ’ s the 

new social understanding that will be hardest to pull off gracefully—

how comfortable we are with store employees knowing our identity and 

following, however discreetly, our movements. As consumers, we ’ ll be 

willing to surrender our privacy as long as it ’ s handled respectfully, and 

we gain something valuable in return: convenience, effi ciency, a “pre-

ferred customer” discount, and a more fun and satisfying shopping 

experience. 

SOCIAL SHOPPING 

 Social shopping puts the reviews, recommendations, and purchase his-

tories of fellow shoppers front-and-center in the online shopping experi-

ence. Case studies have amply demonstrated that consumers trust the 

advice of customers like them, above all else. 

 Several specialty e-commerce sites have arisen to marry social network-

ing and shopping. These Web sites cater principally to those members. 

our species who most like to make shopping a social experience—that is 

to say, fashion-conscious women. Here are some of the best: 

• Etsy : Specializing in handmade items, Etsy supports its community of 

artists and craftspeople with chat, forums, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Mys-

pace, Flickr, YouTube, even Meetups. 

• I Like Totally Love It : Formatted like a Digg bookmarking service for 

social shoppers, this site covers fashion, green products, pets, food, fur-

niture, and much more. Features include tag clouds and sharing across 

Twitter and Facebook. 

• Kaboodle : “Your guide to the Web ’ s best products hand-selected by 

shoppers like you.” Kaboodle is strong on fashion but also covers other 

product categories, including housewares, furniture, and cosmetics. 

• MyItThings : A fashion-forward online magazine driven by a social 

community that shares favorite fashions, as well as books, music, and 

movies. 

• ProductWiki : A bit like a wiki-built Consumer Reports , this site offers 

price comparisons, user reviews, and pro and con lists. 

• ShopStyle : Social shopping focused on designer fashions, it features 

“looks” assembled by members, stylebooks, and favorites. 

• Woot : Pioneered the concept of selling just one product a day. These 

“woot-offs” generate fun and a sense of urgency as the community gives 

feedback on the item and competes for the limited quantity. Woot was 

recently acquired by Amazon. 

• Zebo : Social shopping powered by chats with other social shoppers, 

product tips, surveys, and more. 

 If your company sells products online—especially if your target market is 

mostly women—social-shopping sites should be part of your plan. But no 

matter what market you serve, male or female, young or old, B2C or B2B, 

customer-generated reviews and ratings are all-important. Any Web site can 

now be integrated with review engines like PowerReviews or Bazaarvoice. 

 More and more, online shoppers will ignore the marketing messages 

and descriptive copy written by retailers. Instead, they will gravitate to and 

be guided by the reviews and advice of shoppers like themselves. 

 Yelp!, the people-powered restaurant-review site, offers social-network-

ing tools for reviewers to establish profi les and build friend networks. 

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