An interesting article, positing where Facebook might be weak, and where competitors have a chance to entrench themselves. It isn't just about privacy concerns (which are discussed here http://alexschleber.amplify.com/2011/05/27/finally-a-possible-facebook-competitor-with-real-privacy/ ), but also perhaps a malaise stemming from not having active competition in this space, indicated here http://alexschleber.amplify.com/2011/06/06/no-not-really-can-facebook-kill-google-completely/ by the attitude of "Greg."

Amplify’d from thenextweb.com

The Unlit Social Graph

Flash forward to 2011.  We are now witnessing a similar dynamic, but the battlefield has shifted from search to social.  Just as Google had early dominance in lighting up a portion of the web, Facebook has early dominance in lighting up a portion of the world’s social graph.  But much like the Dark Web, there exists network upon network not yet graphed by Facebook, waiting to be mapped, organized, and optimized for communication.

This is the unlit social graph, and this is where Facebook is vulnerable.

For years I have been looking for a solution to the pick-up basketball problem.  I have a large-ish network of people that I play hoops with in San Francisco.  This network has not yet been lit up by any online service.  While most of these people are on Facebook, they are hard to organize as I don’t know many of their last names.  And furthermore, even if I did know their last names, I would feel awkward friending them on Facebook, as they’re not really my friends.

It’s a network, but it’s not a friend network, not a professional network, and not a work network.  This particular network is a place based network, aligned around various basketball courts in San Francisco.

And the opportunity is far larger than pick-up basketball, or even sports.  Every school is a network, every employer is a network, every bar is a network, every office building is a network, every hobby is a network, every neighborhood is a network, and at an extreme level, every shared interest is a network, regardless of location.

All of these networks share two common characteristics.  1) They are not yet graphed in a mainstream way by Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Jive, or any other dominant, online social service; and 2) They are all mappable with a smartphone.

Much like Google moved decisively to index huge swathes of the Dark Web, Facebook will almost certainly look at ways to better map some of the relationships discussed in this article.

But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t huge opportunities for thousands of startups.

As an entrepreneur, there is a lot to be excited about right now.  But for me it doesn’t get more exciting than finding and mapping the unlit social graph. Read more at thenextweb.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a14nqj