This morning I read a refreshing article by Sean Ryan at Sharkjumping.com talking about a 2nd revenue stream for Social Network Sites. Mostly, it’s refreshing because it shows that people are starting to recognize that just because you have a million users, doesn’t mean you have a million dollars. Perhaps the Internet is starting to move away from the “Step One: create website, Step Three: Profit” model of business.
In the article, Sean says
The best reason for them to pay is that in an SNS, which is really about people interacting with each other, the #1 goal is STATUS – how can I be different, better, have more authority, etc, and most importantly, how can I impress those around me with that status?
And he’s absolutely right. So right. If kids were willing to pay $200 for Marithé et François Girbaud Jeans for a little status in the Social Network of Jr. High 1992 dot awkward, then won’t they be willing to pay $2 for some digital status?
Maybe – but there is a link missing from Ryan’s argument (and his company, . Status is a funny thing – like a new McMansion in the OC (any of the OCs around the country, really) – we all know that Money = Status/Power/Authority, but in order for it to really count, there has to be a middle-man in there. Unless we’re talking about strippers, something has to wash the status of its “I have this because I bought it, not because I posses any redeeming quality.”
The good news is that as a society, we’re really, really, really easy to fool. So, Money = Nice Jeans = Status works just fine. We’ll buy that. Anything, really, to lightly nudge the our collective whoring into the subconscious is needed.
XBox Live is a perfect example. The Achievement system is all about status – it’s what drives the addiction, and the need to play online. Plenty of users are willing to pay $50/year to jockey for status – but what they’re selling is time, games, and more opportunities to get those gamer-points. The new-map-pack for Call of Duty 4 even had double-experience points for the first week; they know what’s up.
Sean Ryan is right: Social Network Sites need to sell status – but for it to really work, they need to sell something that enables people to achieve status.
I agreed with you