The Social Map

There has been a lot of discussion to understand the social ecosystem that has been built around a person’s online existence. Because of my interest in anthropology and sociology, I spend a significant amount of my time studying online trends. What’s most interesting is that when you start plotting your social network on a graph it comes up with such an intertwined complex network consisting of different platforms and nodes - all relevant to your online existence in some way or another.

A lot of people have used complicated ways to illustrate our online social maps. In theory it’s actually quite simple. If you think about the different websites or applications that you use, you’ll notice that there is an actual thing (or object) that forms the basic cohesive power. When I go to Wikipedia, the object is information. When I go to Ebay, the object is the product. When I go to Flickr, the objects are the pictures. The objects are the underlying value that the site offers and differentiates itself with. Websites that forget to focus on an object, lose the social media game. The reason why we call them objects is because we want you to feel like they are actual entities that form the heart of the application. Building your own applications may be difficult in this fast-paced cut-throat business, but associating yourself with existing social networks is easy. Instead of spending 5 to 20 thousand dollars to build a site which will have zero traffic initially, you can build a presence on different social networks at no cost and create hundreds of thousands of dollars of opportunities through it. The purpose of this book is to help you figure out how to do that on your own.

The image above is my view of the social map. It contains two key elements: collaboration and sharing. A few categories of sites emerge from these (marked in grey boxes), like “information”. These basic categories are sub-divided into different types of online applications (marked in red boxes). Everything outside the dotted box is based on an object of value offered. For example, when sharing information on your personal blog, the object of value is your “thoughts”.

In practice, when I started plotting those graphs I realized that Milgram’s “Six Degrees of Separation” theory isn’t that far from reality. The way the internet has evolved - specifically web 2.0 technologies - we can effectively reach out to people we could never have previously dreamed of. The important thing for us to learn is how to make the most of these online networks without giving away or risking too much.

Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)

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  • I like the analogy of the mountain. My previous experience with the computer is equivalent to going over a speed bump. The desire to build a social medial platform is like conquering Mt. Everest. A road map an essential element, especially so in an ever-changing media. A team to carry the heavy packs when necessary. A leader who knows and has planted his flag on the summit. All of these are presented throughout the book. The book covers hundreds of media available and explains them into easy to understand terms, thus making the climb to the summit a reality.
  • Very interesting, I wonder if there are information about what is the motive's to move for that "object". Sometimes I think that the majority of companies that have a real business in Internet are those that offer or make easier the fun and conversation.
  • Jonathan, you make an excellent point about how easy it is to get overwhelmed in this social media or Web 2.0 space. There are so many thousands of sites out there and more coming online every day. So the real key is to use maps and blueprints like Simon has provided here to narrow down the universe into just a few select power and authority sites to use and invest your energy into. Since I started doing this I have gotten much better results and a much more powerful connected network than I had doing the scattershot way before.

    And Bob it is always good to remember that especially on the web having a website that does one thing really well at the top of that market is the way to be successful. It's easy to forget that and try to be everything to everyone but that just doesn't work.
  • bobbicknell
    I couldn't agree more with Jonathan's comment below about Simon's mentorship. The map above that Simon demonstrates in the Social Traffic course and book blows me away every time I look at it for its value!

    Any business that gets this and follows the tips outlined in the book "Social Traffic" will rise to the top of their field and beat their competition.

    Simon your comment that jumps out at me in the blog above is the line"websites that forget to focus on an object lose the social media games". To teach folks to build a presence and community using social media for zero cost and then give the community answers to their problems with your website instead of spending thousands initially with their great idea without having talked to their audience is so powerful!

    Thanks for the great book "Social Traffic' Simon!
  • I remember the first time I saw this map in the Social Traffic training. To say I was overwhelmed would have been an understatement. I looked at it and thought, "What the Hell am I going to do with all this information?"

    Now, after being trained by you Simon, this map is not so tough after all. When you're going to climb a mountain, isn't it best to have someone that's climbed that mountain guide you? Well then, wouldn't it make sense when you're going to take on social media that you do so with someone who's conquered social media?

    Thanks for you mentorship Simon.
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