What attracts you to social networking sites and what features are still missing?

What motivates and attracts you most in social networking sites?

What kind of technological features are still missing?

What attracts you to social networking sites and what features are still missing?funny videos myspace

You need to be unique or you are "just another one of those network sites".

Most people are attracted to a social networking site by referral from a friend, or they are looking for someone who hasn't been heard from. Social sites are not new so if someone invites me to a new one I usually just reply with the URL of my old one, without even visiting the site.

There is seldom anything unique or even different. If it requires a long registration then forget it. For security though, I do like the practice of some sites requiring that everyone phone or SMS a message in. Non-verified people should be restricted, but allowed to see how the site works. I also like the old Tribal Voice program where you could absolutely suspend, and ban Spammers and Stalkers.

More features are still missing, than exist today. What has been added in the last 10 years? Honestly, look at what the old Firefly network offered back in the early 1990's. You could use html tags, chat worked in a browser, and all private messages were saved in an archive, so you had an option to save on the web or to your desktop. Even the avatars that Yahoo are using now were already available 10 years ago.

Single people want to see actual, recent, photographs though. In the singles market you only need to market to the females, as the males will follow.

I am sure that you will get a lot of good suggestions here, but if you really don't know how much of a market you are missing here then I am not going to tell you for free.

Just look at the success or failures of such sites as:

myspace.com

classmates.com

friendster.com

tickle.com

belief.net

sherdog.com

ancestry.com

match.com

lonelyplanet.com

--and then get back to us about how your service is going to be any different and why it is even worth taking the time to fill out yet another registration, learn a new system, etc. The desire for social networking online is fast declining due to trolling, stalkers, and misrepresentation. Anyone who is going to operate this type of business better take a serious interest in security.

I am a businessman and an artist who would love to connect with other people who are genuinely looking to work on projects together. We used to do this 15 years ago and because so many qualified people were able to contribute, we could complete a 6 month project in 2-3 days. I would be interested in a site that could just use a solid verification process, and even a live customer support department with a feedback meter like they use on EBay. Security is the main deterrent to the explosion of E-commerce. I would even be interested in paying for such a service after a trial period to see if it was what it promised. We have learned to believe very little of what we read on the Internet.

We use the Internet as a tool for communication but we do not allow anyone who we haven't met into our circles. We did 15 years ago when most people had their name, address, and phone number on their page or profile. That was safe at that time. Now it isn't.

What attracts you to social networking sites and what features are still missing?myspace commentes myspace.comAfter reviewing all the answers the consensus seems to be that the most important issues in a Social Networking Site are: functionality, security, and progressive improvements that adjust to the wants and needs of the members. Report It


um what attracts..pretty much all the things on myspace...a profile that you can express who you are, pictures of yourself, songs, comments, messaging, instant messaging, and all that stuff.

stuff that needs work or i hate...is tops, i hate them because people fight over whos where on your top and I hate bullitens I mean there cool and everything but some of the things people post is wierd...What needs to change is your privacy and safety..youll get freind requests from people you dont even know and safety because alot of people put pics of them naked or in there underwear or something..
I like using them because I can keep up with friends (as long as they keep their profiles up to date). It's also a good way to catch up with people I haven't talked to in awhile and keep up with bands I like (on Myspace). I like on Facebook that they tell you whose profiles have recently been updated so you know whose to look at if you want the latest news. I also like the applications that Facebook added. It's more stuff to keep you amused and keep you coming back. I like Myspace's customization options better since you can do all sorts of things to your page layout that you cannot do on Facebook.
I like ones that have a wide range of people, the people are searchable, and modifiable profile, either through htm/html or an application. One's with little or no hacking of profiles and no spam are good too.
C'est blue sites are kinda like myspace.

They have good things but their bananas need more work in my opinion.

Great question!
Well they all have something that's keep coming back. I love the way Face Book has security features for a user to use in order to protect their account. My Space is a little too open to viruses and other unwanted attacks. Face Book is now starting to get on the ball with the profile customization game. Something MySpace and BlackPlanet has done pretty much it seems like since the beginning. Overall, I like all three, but I had to get rid of Black Planet due to personal issues, I don't use My Space because all my friends on there use Face Book or Yahoo and it's makes no sense to log into three or four different accounts to talk to the same people. Face Book is getting better, but it's starting to allow too much which in turn will eventually make it into something like MySpace.
I like the ones that give you a chance to rate pictures and profiles. When you do you can earn points toward prizes. I don't like a boring site.
Many of them are missing standards compliant code with good id/class attributes to hook the CSS onto.
The two websites that are most common to go to are FaceBook and MySpace. A couple years ago, it was Xanga. Most people go onto MySpace to keep in touch with their close friends or far distance friends same as FaceBook, but its harder to find friends on there, they are able to create their own homepages. However, I am starting to see the competition between MySpace and Facebook.

They find ways to make things better and attract more people to their website. That's the number one thing that bothers me. Like companies of cell phones. This one has a camera, this one has internet, this one has a camera, internet, and its a iphone, this one etc.

Other websites other than myspace and facebook, like hi5 or Tag tries to attract more people by copying their ideas. They should start making their own ideas, and make the networking links easier to use.
myspace is good..

BUT SOMETIMES THE PROGRAMERS SUCK!
Nothing attracts me, maybe there's some way to make it more convenient otherwise it's just more time spent (wasted?) sitting in front of the PC.
Good reasons

1.) To find others with similar interests

2.) postings of your interests

3.) Photo sharing

Bad Ideas

1.) Security of minors sneaking in

2.) Too much vulgar profanity

3.) Pages getting too filled with flash, videos, junk
The topics are what attracts me. That and if my friends are logged on to that site.
I use facebook as my main soial networking site. I like using it to keep close contact with my friends and family who live abroad. It's also a good way to find old classmates/friends. Another good feature it has is finding new friends who have similar interests as you. However, someone who is planning on using a social networking site should always be careful about what kinds of friends they meet online. While it's a good idea, it can have dangerous aspects.
what attracts me to social networking sites is it is another way to stay in touch with friends and family. they offer a way to meet people and find out information. what better way to find out about a company or location than to ask someone who works or lives there.

if two sites are similar i would choose the place that has similar values and goals to my own. if i want to stay in touch with certain friends and they are only on one website then i might consider joining that one. whereas if i want to meet people then i am more willing to try a site my friends are not on.

there need to be better safeguards for privacy and safety. some information in someone's profile would be difficult to confirm but other things would not be as hard. in addition, some information is not as relevant and does not matter as much if a person exagerates to make themselves sound better. age is a key area minors are often able to get into content that may be age inappropriate. they can put themselves at risk for being targeted. granted parents need to know what their children are doing, but many sites have insufficient safegards to keep children safe. even adults are not always safe because social networking sites do not use the available technology and try to make safety a priority.

profiles can be personalized, but only to an extent. some questions only allow for certain answers but do not allow people to type their own more appropriate answer or skip the question.

most sites allow you to personalize your profile, send email, chat, send instant messages, save profiles/ make a list of friends. sites that do not have all the "usual" features would benefit from adding them.
What motivates and attracts you most in social networking sites?

-What motivates and attracts me is the sheer volume of spam, pop-ups, and excessive ad placement because everyone knows I care more about free ringtones and iPods than I do about staying in touch with my friends and family on a social networking site.

What kind of technological features are still missing?

-Cybergasms...
It's an excuse to post up a photo of yourself in a way that doesn't seem overly self-centered.

I like the idea of something meant solely to increase a person's amount of socializing...

What I think they could use is more music... LOL.
I agree with the first post you got. Too much HTML gives really long, annoying load times from people who don't realize how annoying it is to wait for them to load all their dumb videos. Facebook has done a good job stopping that, and the adds. I just wish they didn't give you all those updates about what your friends were doing. It's kind of creepy.
A critical mass of people I know combined with some unique features would pull me towards a new site. I currently use orkut and see no complling reason to migrate out of it, since all my friends are already here.
The best thing about social networking sites is the ability to re-connect with old friends while meeting new ones. It's also a good way to find out about people that you are newly aquitanited with.

The most important technological feature that is missing is the quality control of these sites. There is way too much spammers and fakers on these sites. If only there were a way to limit one account per person... but that'd be too costly.
Social networks are considered for me as the best window on the whole world. Best thing in it is letting all cultures and extremely different way of thinking meet together and each and everyone finds a common point or at least cross roads with different ppl and various cultures. It breaks all the barriers and help nations/ generations to get closer despite all politicians' actions and all wars all over the world.. I'm sure u get What i mean..

what missing?? .. well i don't know .. for me .. as a simple end user .. so far so good.. just let us keep what we reached and benefit the most of it.. hoping for a better peaceful world.
We like it because our friends are on it, we use whats popular myspace is the popular one so dont bother trying to make something else cause myspace will probably add that feature anyway.
I think what attracted me the most about MySpace was being able to express myself. It was also great that I have regained contact with some of my high school friends and have made some new friends.
I've made some really great friends on Yahoo's 360. (I refuse to use myspace - waaaay too many children, perverts and viruses.) I've 'met' people from many different walks of life, from other countries, and found that we're all pretty much the same. We're all looking for that human connection.

The technology provided is fine - I just wish it worked on a consistent basis.
What attracts me to a social networking website like Myspace is that you can find virtually any of your friends on there. You can also find and socialize with other people, search through music, and check out videos. A big plus with a website such as myspace is that they allow you to change the layout without much restriction from them.

However, what's missing from Myspace is security and stability. Millions of people log onto Myspace everyday and the system can sometimes fail and keep you from accessing the "home" page once you are logged in. Also, the threat of online offenders is ever present. Plus, there are currently too many scams that can easily fool you into giving up your password.
The fact that I can link up with my friends without the hassles of email or phone calls.

We need more technology guarding against child predators. The last thing I need is my son to get buttraped by a gay pedophile.
If I were college age, I certainly would have both myspace and facebook; but now, I am way too busy for that. I will be putting up advertising sites for my videos and other stuff, but that's just to get 'presence' and not really go into it on a daily basis.

Technologically missing? It's too easy for abusers, flamers, and other obnoxious unfriendly people to get on the sites (including Yahoo! Answers). You can delete and block but they just come back under another name...

Too bad there isn't an Internet etiquette course you need to pass (and I don't mean just agreeing to the "Terms and Conditions"). Once you pass the course, you get an assigned ID which can only be associated with one e-mail. That should bring civility back...

Mind you, I am not against well thought out arguments. I am against people who resort to name calling and or other put-downs as opposed to giving a succinct argument with data backing up any claims and counter-claims.
I like meeting new people! Talk about all kind of things, checking messages...
what motivates me? the ability to stay in touch. what annoys me is myspace and the rediculous layouts with too many bells and whistles. simplicity is best. in designing your site basically copy facebook. use them as the blueprint. but skip the new applications features. in terms of your using us as unpaid guinea pigs and the yahoo answers forumsas a market research tool, my feedback is that you should be more upfront, its transparent and makes me want to avoid your product.
sites like myspace don't allow all html.
What attracts me? Why the hot chicks (presumably) of course!

What features are missing? Holograms of the naked hot chicks you're corresponding with, of course!