A Social Graph Can't Last 10 Years

Image by Spark Capital via CrunchBase

I am saying this before I have read the blog post. I am responding to the title of the blog post. Now let me go read.

Bijan Sabet: Can a social graph last more than 10 years?

Because the graph we have today is much more interesting and useful than previous graphs. We are connected in new ways that touch us deeply. And they have their own characteristics.

Hunter Walk: Trying to be the one true social graph is like trying to hold water in your fist

Facebook needed to buy Instagram because it was creating a mobile-first photo-centric social network. Snapchat is interesting to Facebook because it's creating a mobile-first ephemeral content social network. Twitter was threatening enough to Facebook because of an asymmetric follow graph that Facebook added the equivalent 'subscribe' option. And so it goes... I don't believe Facebook's position as the 'one graph to rule them all' is established. They'll continue to be successful and useful for quite a long time - and they may even be the largest single graph - but it's not going to be the only one of consequence. .... There will be another Instagram, another Snapchat. Facebook can't buy or fast-follow all of the innovations. Can they?

These guys are talking about particular products like Facebook, Twitter, and so on. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the real social graph, the one technology tries to emulate. Solitude is when you want to be left alone. What is your social graph then? A good service would know that. When you are with someone you really want to be with, you do not want to be bothered by anyone else. What is your social graph then? The most engaged people in your life - that list changes over time. What I am saying is none of the mentioned services have been able to grab that real social graph.

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Facebook Search Can't Be Bing

Image via CrunchBase

That is the obvious point. Facebook search necessarily has to be social, relying on data Facebook already has. Of course.

Why Facebook's Search Engine Won't Be Anything Like Google's

By mining users’ updates about vacations, music listening interests, online habits, and more, Facebook Search could be better at answering subjective questions, about what products, experiences, and businesses you might be interested in, than a traditional search engine. ..... “Because Google is so big,” says Gerasoulis, “they have data for the long tail”—the uncommon queries for which relatively few pages are a match. .... Since 2009, the Redmond company has spent more than $5 billion on Bing ..... serves only 15 percent of U.S. searches, compared with Google’s 65 percent. .... answering queries about the things that people share and discuss on Facebook, such as vacations, movies, recipes, and more. “When you go to specific subjects, the signals Facebook and other social networks have are amazing,” says Gerasoulis. ...... Mining users’ comments could help Facebook unlock even more useful data ..... “Facebook and Twitter both have teams working on search” ..... Digging deep into social data can uncover a wealth of information and forgotten content related to things people care about ... most of it not accessible by conventional search engines. ...... “Search is about what you want right now,” says Gerasoulis. “You go to Facebook and hang out; it doesn’t currently have the same directness.”

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Online Learning

This is tremendous news, although I don't understand why elementary and secondary education is not the primary focus of these online education disruptors.

The global implications of free online college courses are enormous.

Lifelong education for everybody everywhere with people moving at their own paces on their own schedules is the goal. The term high school dropout or college dropout is weird. Unless your internet access has been taken away by the unknown you can not drop out. It is not possible.

Beam online education to the inner cities. This disrupts the whole voucher debate in politics.

Online Learning and Upheavals in Social Networks

For all the attention lavished on the Web’s growth on mobile devices this year, one of the most interesting Internet trends is still best experienced on a desktop computer: online education.

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Twitter's Growth Rate Accelerating?

They say that about the universe. Not only is it expanding, the rate at which it is expanding is accelerating.

Twitter Passes 200M Monthly Active Users, A 42% Increase Over 9 Months

This does not surprise me. Twitter can come across as geeky. But once you know how to use it, it is actually more delightful than Facebook. I am glad I am not being forced, but if you were to force me to pick between the two, I'd pick Twitter.

But the experience can be simplified further. And photo filters on Twitter would be a big hit, I think. One huge blind spot Instagram has is it is not on the web.

I have not yet joined Instagram because my first smartphone is still on its way. But if Twitter filters show up I might not even join Instagram. Except that I am on Facebook, and if there is closer integration I might have joined by default.

An Hour Spent On Twitter
Twitter Was Great On Election Night
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No, Biz, Twitter Has Real Issues

I still don't understand why I can't access all my tweets, why all my tweets don't show up in Google search results, why I can't embed multiple tweets at once. Why can't I search through all tweets, mine and that of others?

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User Friendly Twitter? Get Out Of Town
Goal: A Billion People On Twitter
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Twitter: Too Complex

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Why Is LinkedIn Winning?

This is about cold, hard cash. A few months back the reality was LinkedIn kept doubling its revenues every quarter. That might still be true, I have not checked. LinkedIn does not make its big money because you visit the site often or click on ads. It makes money based on your behavior at the site.

All Facebook has to do is what LinkedIn is doing, and it will become the next Google all over again.

Silicon Valley's Stock Funk

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