Aug 3

Written by: Myra Norton
8/3/2010 2:51 PM

To tackle the big question of how to think about the role of online social networks and the complexities of buzzwords like “influence” or “engagement,” let’s start by looking at some different perspectives on the form and function of online social networks.  I think this article is a good place to start.  Here, the author talks about a distinction between “relationships” and “relations.”  I think this is a good way to think about the differences inherent in the types of connections we see in online social networks.  For most people, their online social ecosystem (I use this term to describe the combination of all the various types of online networks to which a person might belong) is comprised of some combination of relationships and relations.  There are some individuals with whom we have actual relationships – they are our friends, our families, our co-workers, etc.  There are others with whom we are related (not in the familial sense) in some way – we may have similar interests, have participated in the same conference, have friends in common, etc.   

Both types of connections in our online ecosystem have value. This author highlights these two roles to advocate for large online social ecosystems – his point is that it doesn’t matter whether you can have “relationships” with all of your connections – that there is value in the “relations” as well.  I agree – but we need to be clear about what that value is.  It isn’t fostering trust; but it is fostering a more targeted audience.  If you think about the traditional advertising world – and even online advertising for that matter – the name of the game was to put your message in front of people who met the demographics and psychographics of the likely buyers of your product or service.  In my view, online social ecosystems just take this approach a couple steps further.  We’ll explore this concept more next time. For now, think about the distinction between relations and relationships – does it make sense to you?  If so, how do you think about the value of each?

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