Read/Write Web has two posts today that deal with the content and personalization. The first is Alex Iskold’s look at the vertical expansion of social networks, which he prefaces with a distinction between generic networks (which “exist primarily to keep in touch”) and specialized networks (in which “people are brought together based on the specific common interest”). E.g. MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn vs. del.icio.us, Flickr, LibraryThing and Flixster.
The main advantage of a specialized network is that it can offer a better user experience. Because of its specialty its user interface can be more focused and rich… The disadvantage of specialized networks is that they are somewhat limited to their specialty.
Sramana Mitra then offers a look at Yahoo! Travel based on the Web 3.0 framework, coming to the conclusion that it’s “heavy on content, light on personalization.” The site integrates Flickr, allowing users to share their travel photos, but is otherwise lagging in community features, Mitra found. In addition, “there is no personalization based on travel styles…budget ranges, amenity requirements, etc.”
Paper travel guides have always provided this sort of segmentation information. However, websites have always the unique advantage of being able to provide better search and personalization facilities, which so far remains unaddressed. It is also Yahoo’s greatest opportunity for strong differentiation in a market landscape that is fast standardizing.
These articles raise the question about what users want from their online experience – breadth or depth? Facebook’s photo-sharing and event-planning features lag behind specialized sites, but the aggregation of features means Facebook’s larger membership use these features anyway. But Mitra suggests that greater success for Yahoo! Travel will come from increased personalization highly specific to users, rather than the “see how much we know about everything, relevant or not” approach.
So what is the real wave of the future, higher specialization or more aggregation?
