I think the point about how an app needs to do one thing well is becoming outdated because there are too many functions people are doing to spend time jumping from app to app. People probably only have time to really use about 3 or 4 apps in a regular day.
Please understand that I'm only making a wild conjecture based on my experience with end users in the real world, not any sort of data based claim.
My point is, at some point apps get too specific because people are using the social web for more than 4 or 5 functions. Skipping between 4-6 social apps is confusing and exhausting for me personally and, I suspect, most users.
photos - Facebook keeps expanding its capacity in this area. I suspect that Flickr is mostly being buoyed by it's current community of users.
video - Youtube is the workhorse in this area, Vimeo is the smooth luxurious sedan that keeps all the crap out. Basically these networks are hosters, not viable mainstream social networks.
email - Gmail killed this. Google wins. Move on to next function.
broadcast of one's thoughts/links to one's friends- Twitter/Facebook haven't quite settled who will win this one. I suspect Facebook will even though it's becoming quite played out.
all other blog related functions - most people don't blog. all other services that help blogs are natural products of services demanded by bloggers. until blogging becomes more prevalent, demand for these services will not grow. I don't see demand growing for content sharing services. I barely know what I'm talking about so don't take me seriously.
I'm working on something different to appeal to mainstream users who are not bloggers. I don't want to share what it is until you sign a form and submit a blood sample.
Please understand that I'm only making a wild conjecture based on my experience with end users in the real world, not any sort of data based claim.
My point is, at some point apps get too specific because people are using the social web for more than 4 or 5 functions. Skipping between 4-6 social apps is confusing and exhausting for me personally and, I suspect, most users.
photos - Facebook keeps expanding its capacity in this area. I suspect that Flickr is mostly being buoyed by it's current community of users.
video - Youtube is the workhorse in this area, Vimeo is the smooth luxurious sedan that keeps all the crap out. Basically these networks are hosters, not viable mainstream social networks.
email - Gmail killed this. Google wins. Move on to next function.
broadcast of one's thoughts/links to one's friends- Twitter/Facebook haven't quite settled who will win this one. I suspect Facebook will even though it's becoming quite played out.
all other blog related functions - most people don't blog. all other services that help blogs are natural products of services demanded by bloggers. until blogging becomes more prevalent, demand for these services will not grow. I don't see demand growing for content sharing services. I barely know what I'm talking about so don't take me seriously.
I'm working on something different to appeal to mainstream users who are not bloggers. I don't want to share what it is until you sign a form and submit a blood sample.