On a recent weekend I took a Defriend Hatchet to my Facebook account, lopping out a good 50 people including a fourth grade classmate, a barber from a time when I had hair, and a colleague from a job 17 years ago whom I didn’t like even then.
Apparently I’m not alone in my desire to tame my online social world. David Armano, co-founder of social media marketing firm Dachis Corp., predicts that social networks will actually become less social in 2010. He writes on his Harvard Business Publishing blog:
With groups, lists and niche networks becoming more popular, networks could begin to feel more “exclusive.” Not everyone can fit on someone’s newly created Twitter list and as networks begin to fill with noise, it’s likely that user behavior such as “hiding” the hyperactive updaters that appear in your Facebook news feed may become more common. Perhaps it’s not actually less social, but it might seem that way as we all come to terms with getting value out of our networks — while filtering out the clutter.
That sounds right to me, but the question for BNETers is what does this winnowing mean for Internet marketers and service providers? If people become more selective about who they tether themselves to online, it might be harder for you to grab their attention. On the other hand, smaller lists usually present better defined potential customers.
Does this trend change about how you think of social network marketing?
By the way, read Armano’s entire post, Six Social Media Trends for 2010.
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